Author: Bill Hall

Luke 7:33 “”For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say,`He has a demon.”

   John was the wild-eyed prophet type. He had no concern for people’s considerations of what was socially acceptable. As Elijah of old, he could stand before kings only because he was so outlandish and unique that he could and would stand before anyone. Bold as a lion and brash as a parakeet, John was well equipped for the large task that God had assigned to him.
   But, the Jewish leaders had a heyday with thus uncouth messenger. It was just too easy to show how different he was, and different had to be bad, right? They accused him of everything in the book except being a pretty boy. They thought they were so smart, but were condemning themselves all along. Careful, so careful, we must be when we say anything about the ministers of the Lord. It should never be done quickly, or lightly.

   Heavenly Father, thank You for the message of the gospel. It is so beautiful, and reasonable, and good, and true! You have given us so much in Christ! I can only live my life to enjoy proclaiming Your truth. You are the desire of my eyes and the joy of my heart. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 7:32 “”They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, saying:`We played the flute for you, And you did not dance; We mourned to you, And you did not weep.”

   Jesus here uses the illustration of children playing ‘grown-ups’ in their market place haunts. He paints a picture of a group of kids playing a celebratory song and expecting their fellows to dance in response, just as the grown-ups would do for occasions of great joy. And, similarly, the same group tries a funeral dirge and expects their fellows to pretend to weep as mourners. In both cases the children find their companions unwilling to play the game.
   Jesus often used children to teach the ‘grown-ups’ a lesson. Here the kids were trying to play with their friends, but their friends would have none of it. In the same way, John and Jesus both ministered to the nation of Israel. But the national leaders would have none of it. Regardless of the styles and methods of Jesus and John, the result was the same. The problem was not the minister, but the disobedience and rebellion of the listeners against the Divine command.

   Heavenly Father, we think we have everything figured out, and then we realize how little we really understand. Thank You so much for the constant stream of truth that You pour into our lives! Your wisdom is absolute and irresistible. I praise You for it! You alone know the end from the beginning. Your plans and purposes are perfect. The Lord Jesus is Alpha and Omega, and encompasses all in all. I will praise You forever, Father, for Your Christ! He alone is the Source of Truth for all humanity. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 7:31 “And the Lord said, “To what then shall I liken the men of this generation, and what are they like?”

   The translation of this verse sounds a bit repetitious. I would translate Jesus thus: “To what then will I compare the men of this generation, and what do they resemble?” By this Jesus introduces a short discourse in which he speaks of the reception of His ministry, as well as that of John the Baptist. This is actually one of the most helpful passages in Scripture for ministers who seek to understand one another.
   The ministry style of Jesus and John was quite different. Though, at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry especially, their messages were almost identical. Why the difference in styles? The easy answer is that they were two different individuals, and this answer holds up in Jesus’ discussion here. There will be different ministers with their own unique style and methods, but the message will be that of Christ in any case. That is the key, the content of the message. Many will say they just have a different style, and change the message too. These avoid. But, very often people will reject one with the right message only because his style and methods are not to their liking. This should not be.

   Heavenly Father, as I sit and think of Your glorious power I ask myself how much of it I will understand while on this earthly plane. I see Your works, but even they are often mysterious to me. Am I always to praise the mystery of Your power? Or should I focus more on what I know and understand of it? I will sing Your praises, and take my understanding for what it is, limited. Mystery is there, but it is but a temporary limitation. One day I will see so much more. I long for that in a sense, but am even now content to praise You for what I know of You. How much I know may change, but the fact of praise will not change. A million million years from now I will still praise You, and how much more I know of You then will not have changed the fact that I have praised You all along. May praise be my state of being, not just an activity. I want Your glory to be my constant goal and delight. I love You! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 7:30 “But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the will of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.”

   And why not? Why were harlots and tax collectors baptized while the spiritual leaders of the Jews were not? Was it just that they did not go to John? Did they simply shun him? No. They went. But they came to him as a show, and everybody knew it. John’s baptism was for the repentant. It meant that a person knew he or she was unprepared for the Messiah. The Pharisees and teachers of the law thought they were already prepared. They came to John, but he wouldn’t baptize them. Instead, he called them out for their unrighteousness.
   So, against the will of Almighty God, the leaders of the Jews maintained their pride and did not take advantage of the opportunity to illustrate humble obedience. The ministry of John had been very successful among the mass of the people. Had the leaders of the Jewish nation validated his ministry, the preparation for the Christ would have been complete. As it was, they did not validate John because he identified them as the hypocrites they were. They refused to come to repentance for they felt they had nothing to repent for.

   Heavenly Father, You alone are worthy of all praise and honor. I often forget that means You are worthy of repentance in my heart as I approach You. I need not know of a specific sin to ask of You forgiveness. A contrite heart is a condition happy enough to maintain at all times. I seek to glorify You by an attitude of repentance when I come to praise You. You are worthy of more than I can be on my own. I must come and bow and humbly say that only by the salvation that the Lord Jesus has secured can I even be seen before You. I will put my hand on my mouth and humble myself in awe. You cannot be compared to anyone or anything completely. I may understand You better by some things in Your creation, but nothing is a complete picture. You are always far above it all! Thank You for being the One Whom I may contemplate forever, and yet still be understanding better even then. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 7:29 “And when all the people heard Him, even the tax collectors justified God, having been baptized with the baptism of John.”

Even those who in the Jewish mind of the day were the lowest of the low, John was a prophet. Make no mistake, though Jesus was born in a manger, and though he knew He would be rejected, the expectation that the leaders and great ones among the Jews should have recognized and accepted Him was no less real. The glory brought to God by the ‘sinners’ among the Jews served only to highlight the sin of the leaders for rejecting the Christ.

Heavenly Father, may we never fail to see and know the working of Christ before our eyes. I will praise You for Your wonderful works in this present hour in this world of Yours. You are the King, and You alone are Wonderful! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 7:28 “For I say to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

   Only Jesus would know how to say something so flattering about someone else and yet bring great glory to Himself at the same time. He here mentions those ‘born of women’, and it is easy for us to pass over that and miss the significance. This is not a generic reference to humankind. Adam had no mother or father, but though the first man, he still counts as a general member of humanity. However, there is another human who was born of a woman, but not of a man. That is, of course, Jesus Himself. So Jesus is here referring to humanity in a unique way in that He is at the same time highlighting that which we share with Him, and that which we do not. We share with Him a human mother, we do not share a human father.
   Jesus goes on to say that there is not a greater prophet that John, but that one who is least in the kingdom is greater than he. Though this has been taken variously, I believe it is a reference to Christ Himself. I say this first for the reason mentioned above, due to how He frames this whole sentence. But then secondly, Jesus later tells His disciples that whichever of them would be great, should seek to be the least, and that He had come to minister to all. So it would not be incongruous for Him to speak of Himself as the ‘least’ while at the same time confirming He is the greatest.
   Also, John had made statements about Jesus increasing and himself decreasing, and Christ knew that. In addition, Jesus did not enter upon this discourse for the purpose of bragging on John. Instead, though He does John great honor, he is pointing out Who John came to lead humanity to, Himself.

   Heavenly Father, make me always full of wonder a the Person of Christ! Jesus is Brilliant beyond all imagining. He is Your Glorious One. I will forever praise You Father in Your Son! You have made everything perfect in Him. I cannot but put my hand on my mouth in awe at His wonderful wisdom and truth. I love You Father! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 7:27 “This is he of whom it is written:`Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You.'”

   This quote comes from Malachi chapter 3, verse 1. It is important to do your homework when you are trying to learn from Jesus. Our Lord is not interested in un-interested followers. Jesus quotes only part of this verse here. He could have gone on to quote more specifically about the Lord coming to His temple suddenly. But He is not recorded here as doing so. Why? Jesus wanted people to connect the dots. He wasn’t ministering to the spiritually ignorant, just the spiritually blind. The Jewish people had the truth in hand, but did not see it for what it was.

   Heavenly Father, give us ears to hear and eyes to see wonderful things in Your Word! Thank You for Your truth! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 7:26 “But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet.”

   Jesus here confirms that John the Baptist was indeed a prophet. He was to be included in the long line of God’s men who had spoken to the people of the Messiah. But, he was different in so many ways. And he was so much more than they could have ever hoped to be.
   John’s rank among the prophets is here established by the One Whom the message was about. As the heralds of the Messiah, these prophets were all servants of Him. Jesus is eminently qualified to determine the importance, significance, and preeminence of the ministry of John the Baptizer. We cannot argue with the designation.
   What, however, is the goal of Christ in bringing this ranking of the prophets to light? What is the motivation here? The cold indifference of the religious leadership to the coming of the Messiah is all we need look for as the reason. This generation of the Jews stood poised to completely reject the Son from heaven. They needed to understand that John was not just another of the prophets, but that he was the forerunner, the one who would signal the coming of the Lord of Sabbath to His temple.

   Heavenly Father, we live in a day in which everywhere we find those who would embrace the message of ‘love thy neighbor’ and yet stand ready at all times to stab their neighbor in the back. This present, confusing, spiritual landscape is full of information, indoctrination, and inflammation. But dedication, discipline, and determination, these are rare gems, hard to find. The time for good to be called evil and evil to be called good seems just around the corner. Yet, in spite of all this, we dare not interpret the signs without Your Word as our guide. We know we live in the last days. We know we approach the end even now. But, we also know this is the time for Your grace. You are claiming a people for Your Name. You are at work. You have not stopped, slowed, or slackened. Thus we must, to keep with our Lord in all things, be busy about the work You have left us to do. We must make disciples. And we may cry for Your blessings when it is Your work we are trying to do. Bless us we pray, but only as we seek to obey! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 7:25 “But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed those who are gorgeously appareled and live in luxury are in kings’ courts.”

   Jesus does not here mean to say that a prophet cannot live in a king’s court. Daniel, Joseph, and Nehemiah were great men of God who did indeed enjoy this luxury. However, these Men, like John, did not take full advantage of the luxury for their own fleshly enjoyment, but instead used their advantage for the benefit of others. In the same way Jesus means to say that John was a man who could have, by his abilities, served in a king’s presence. But instead of being in that place of honor, John had been set in a place of low esteem. And it was his low position that gave his particular message such great power. His words reached the king’s court, even though he himself never enjoyed its company.

   Heavenly Father, we spend much of our lives worried about our position in this world. But in truth our position before You is all that matters. I will cast off considerations of my own importance and focus on Your grandeur. You are in that high and holy position as King over all. It is my privilege and honor to serve You all the days of my life. In eternity forever and ever we will wonder, awed by Your glory and majesty! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 7:24 “When the messengers of John had departed, He began to speak to the multitudes concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?”

   John the Baptist was not one influenced by his time, but who influenced his time. He brought a great change to the Jewish people of his day. His ministry was quite successful. And he never once let his success go to his head. He stayed on target and on task and made a big impact as he prepared the nation for the Messiah.

   Heavenly Father, You are glorious and wondrous! Your creation is a beautiful witness to Your grandeur. Thank You for making Yourself known to us. Only You can make these wonderful things. Make us to know Your great wisdom and love. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.