March 26

 

They are deceived into thinking they are saved when in reality they are not. They live a false life, filled with false promises and false hope. Ultimately, they are missing out on the true joy and peace that is found in Jesus. 

“To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? 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 sang a dirge, and you did not weep.’ For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by all her children.” ~ Luke 7:31-35

Christ used strong derision to rebuke the Pharisees. He suggested they were behaving childishly, determined not to be pleased, whether invited to “dance” (a reference to Christ’s joyous style of ministry, “eating and drinking” with sinners—Luke 7:34), or urged to “weep” (a reference to John the Baptist’s call to repentance and more austere manner of ministry—Luke 7:33).  MacArthur Bible Commentary

  
Read Listen
Deuteronomy 5:1-6:25
Luke 7:11-35
Psalm 68:19-35
Proverbs 11:29-31

 



New Testament

Luke 7:11-35
  

Summary
Jesus Raises a Widow’s Son
Messengers from John the Baptist

 

Now as He approached the gate of the city, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a sizeable crowd from the city was with her. When the Lord saw her, He felt compassion for her, and said to her, “Do not weep.” And He came up and touched the coffin; and the bearers came to a halt. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise!” The dead man sat up and began to speak. And Jesus gave him back to his mother. Fear gripped them all, and they began glorifying God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and, “God has visited His people!” ~ Luke 7:12-16

 

Jesus Raises a Widow's Son

Jesus Raises a Widow’s Son

 

This is he of whom it is written, “‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’ ~ Luke 7:27
This was written in the old testament speaking of John the Baptist. “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts. ~ Malachi 3:1

 


Overview: Luke 1-9  Video


 

Yet wisdom is justified by all her children.” ~ Luke 7:35

 

Listen to John MacArthur on today’s scripture below

 

Brat – A child, especially a spoiled or ill-mannered one.

In this parable He identifies His generation as brats, impossible to please, impossible to satisfy, belligerent, and all of those things we just mentioned.

These words of Jesus are directed at the people who are surrounding Him at the moment in which He spoke. He describes those people as brats. And while they are the immediate object of His words, the principle here is timeless. And there have been and there are and there will be brats by this kind of definition in every generation. He is speaking of people who respond to the gospel like a brat. The message of God to sinners about repentance, faith, forgiveness, salvation, does not receive from them the response that it should. And we know in the context of this particular chapter, since back in Luke 7:18 John the Baptist has been the main topic of discussion, so it really features Jesus talking about John the Baptist. And, of course, at this particular point in the history of the gospel there are only two preachers. There is John the Baptist and there is Jesus. The twelve have not yet been sent to preach, but there is John and there is Jesus.

 

So there are essentially two gospel preachers in the world, two that are preaching repentance and faith and forgiveness and salvation. But whether or not it has been the preaching of John or the preaching of Jesus, the men of this generation have given the same essential response and that’s that intractable, recalcitrant, obstinate, bratty kind of response.

 

The effect of these religious leaders was significant. They basically turned a populous who had affirmed their trust in John as the true prophet of God away from John. They effectively turned a populous who saw the miracles of Jesus, the wonders that He did, and heard His teaching, and saw Him cast out demons, and even raised dead people, they turned the people away from Jesus as well by their powerful influence. And ultimately in the end they got the whole population to scream for the blood of Jesus and have Him executed. Nobody seems to have minded either that Herod Antipas chopped John’s head off.

 

This is a tremendously important passage because this is Jesus’ own assessment of His generation. And what does He say? He says they’re basically brats. They’re like spoiled children who can’t be satisfied, who refuse to be satisfied. And all of this was the influence of the religious leaders, the scribes and the Pharisees, who were self-righteous. And because they were self-righteous they thought.

 

So Jesus confronts them and describes them as brats. And I…I just would remind you that Jesus never hesitated, neither did John the Baptist for that matter, to label people. I know that’s sort of not politically correct today in a tolerant environment, but it’s amazing how many pejorative terms are used to describe people by Jesus and John. When the religious leaders came down to the Jordan River to meet with John, he greeted them with this, “You snakes! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” And in Luke’s record it would indicate to us that he even went…he even used those terms to extend even beyond the scribes and the Pharisees and to embrace all the people who were under their influence. And then after that description of them he further said to them, “You are nothing but chaff for burning.”

 

What Jesus said is even more extensive. Jesus called these self-righteous people hypocrites, blind, sons of hell, fools, robbers, self-indulgent. He said they were unclean tombs, outside whitewashed and inside dead men’s bones. He called them snakes. He called them vipers. He called them murderers. And all of that in one speech in Matthew 23. So by comparison, “brats” is mild but it really does open up insight for us.
Why? Why did they say it? Very simple, they hated his message. They hated his message. Please, folks, understand this, they hated his message. Their hearts were hard, impenetrable. They rejected the divine diagnosis of their true condition. The Pharisees and the scribes, they would not accept the fact that they were snakes, that they were chaff, that they were sinful, that they needed to repent. They hated to be called sinners and they hated the fact that there was forgiveness for those who were wretched. They hated the message of sin and grace. They hated it. It was the message they hated, but they attacked the man and they attacked his style to justify their rejection of his message. They said he’s a maniac. He’s a madman. He’s demented. He’s demonic. They made his style the issue because they hated his substance. That’s why I subtitled this message “Style or Substance.” When people don’t want to receive the truth, very often, in order to justify their rejection of the truth they will attack the style of the preacher. So many preachers fall for that and they think that if they’re going to be able to be received by people, they’ve got to change the style. They’ve got to be slick, suave, and glib, and acculturated somehow. And they’ve got to be up-to-date with the vernacular of thinking in their society.  ~ John MacArthur

 
   

   
Dr. J. Vernon McGee - Thru the Bible

Dr. J. Vernon McGee – Thru the Bible

 

Luke 05-07 – J Vernon Mcgee – Thru the Bible

 

 
 
 

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