Gone to Italy....

In order to get ready for hiking the Amalfi Coast... 

I won't be posting again until we return in mid October.  

God bless and see you soon!

Wisdom (Luke 7:31-35) 5 of 5 The Baptist

Luke 7:31-35   31 "To what then will I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like?  32 They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, 'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not weep.'  33 For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, 'He has a demon';  34 the Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, 'Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!'  35 Nevertheless, wisdom is vindicated (justified) by all her children." 

*****
Wisdom is justified by all her children.  People have a tendency to make up truth as they go along to justify their desires at the time.  But this kind of truth and this kind of wisdom doesn't lead to life.  We really have to guard ourselves against this or we will find ourselves on the wrong road - hurting ourselves and those in our paths.  Those who accept the wisdom of God and realize they don't have to understand God's wisdom in order to obey God - their lives will demonstrate true wisdom.

*****

The other gospels weigh in...
Matthew 11:16-19  16 "But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another,  17 'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.'  18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon';  19 the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds." 

Baptism (Luke 7:29-30) 4 of 5 The Baptist

Luke 7:29-30  29 (And all the people who heard this, including the tax collectors, acknowledged the justice of God, because they had been baptized with John's baptism.  30 But by refusing to be baptized by him, the Pharisees and the lawyers (the experts in religious law) rejected God's purpose for themselves.)

Think of the worse person you know... the very worse person or worse kind of person.  The way you feel about that person is how the 1st century Jews felt about the tax collectors.  The tax collectors took their fellow Jew's money and kept some for themselves and gave the rest to the Roman forces occupying Jerusalem.  But the tax collectors believed what John had taught - that they were sinners and needed to repent.  And in turn, they believed Jesus too.

BUT the religious rule keepers (Pharisees) and religious theologians (lawyers) rejected both John and Jesus.  I doubt they could see why they needed to repent since the Pharisees knew all the right rules to keep and kept them.  And the lawyers knew all the right truths.  Why did they need a Messiah... they were already good enough?

But it wasn't about being good enough... it was about recognizing that you weren't good enough and turning toward God.  Who do we identify with?

Violence (Matt 11:12-15) 3 of 5 The Baptist

Matthew 11:12-15  12 From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force.  13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John came;  14 and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come.  15 Let anyone with ears listen! 

John the Baptist had begun to preach the Kingdom of God (the reign of Jesus).  Opposition occurred on all sides:  the Jewish leaders attacked Jesus - they wanted a political Messiah, not a spiritual one.  They craved the materialism and power they thought the Messiah would bring, but they did not crave worshiping him.  The Pharisees (think of a Jewish denomination of strict rule keepers) thought their rule keeping would cause the Messiah to promote them, but Jesus was unimpressed with their lack of love and compassion for others.  John the Baptist is in prison for ruffling the feathers of the immoral royalty. The fact that violence would be perpetuated against Jesus and his followers (including John) did not mean that they were not the real deal.

Jesus is not only promoting and confirming the work of John, but he is calling them/us to accept that the reign of Christ has begun.  Those with ears - listen!  Let it change the way you greet this day!  

Messenger (Luke 7:24-28) 2 of 5 The Baptist

Luke 7:24-28  24 When John's messengers had gone, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: "What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind?  25 What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who put on fine clothing and live in luxury are in royal palaces.  26 What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.  27 This is the one about whom it is written, 'See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.'  28 I tell you, among those born of women no one is greater than John; yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he."

Many of the people who are following Jesus first followed John the Baptist.  Jesus puts John and John's work in context for us.  John the Baptist was the greatest prophet and his great purpose was to prepare the way for the Messiah.  But participation in the Kingdom of God is even more important than participating in John the Baptist's foretelling of the Messiah.  In other words, Jesus is saying to the crowd, "Good for you that you participated in John's proclamation of the coming Messiah, but don't stop there.... participate in the Kingdom!"

This is important for us to hear today.  Many of us participate in learning about the Messiah, but we hardly participate in his Kingdom.  We need to do both.

*****
Other Gospels weigh in....
Matthew 11:7-11   As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: "What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind?  8 What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces.  9 What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.  10 This is the one about whom it is written, 'See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.'  11 Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 

Expectations (Luke 7:18-23) 1 of 5 The Baptist

Luke 7:18-23   18 John's disciples told him about all these things. Calling two of them,  19 he sent them to the Lord to ask, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?"  20 When the men came to Jesus, they said, "John the Baptist sent us to you to ask, 'Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?'"  21 At that very time Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind.  22 So he replied to the messengers, "Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.  23 Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me." 


John the Baptist, the one who watched the Spirit descend upon Jesus - the one sent to go before Jesus to prepare the way for Jesus, is having a crisis of faith.  John is in prison  - unable to watch the miracles that Jesus is doing - unable to talk with Jesus face to face.  And if I had to guess, I would say he is experiencing depression and doubt. Because of his bold declaration of the gospel, John is being persecuted and has been imprisoned   It feels like he has been taken out of the game to sit on the sidelines.  And it feels as if Jesus is going on without him.  How can this be?

Jesus' answer is an affirmative.  He is the Messiah.  However, he challenges John to examine his presuppositions about who the Messiah should be and what he should do.  And not to fall away because his personal expectations aren't being met.  The Jews expected the Messiah to save them from Roman occupation.  John may have expected Jesus to free him from prison.  Whatever it was, we know from Jesus' answer that he had wrong expectations of Jesus.  

What expectations of the Messiah hold us back from faith?

****

The other gospels weigh in ....

Matthew 11:2-6   2 When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples  3 to ask him, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?"  4 Jesus replied, "Go back and report to John what you hear and see:  5 The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.  6 Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me." 

We are tied together in Christ's Kingdom (Matthew 10:40-42)

Matthew 10:40-42   40 "He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me.  41 Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man's reward. 

Anyone besides me feel overwhelmed at this?  Jesus ties his followers so closely to himself that if people reject us, they reject him.  Of course he is talking about followers who are actually doing his work - followers he has sent - not impostors.

Western Christianity doesn't handle this well... we want to think we can be "Lone Ranger" Christians.  But Jesus ties us all together with him in his kingdom.  We serve one another along with him!  Our destinies are together.

*****

Other Gospels Weigh in....

Luke 10:16   16 "He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me." 

John 13:20  20 I tell you the truth, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me."