Luke 7:24-35 Dirge-ing and Dancing
Good morning! Turn with me in your Bibles to Luke 7. Today we are going to look at verses 24-35, and that’s on page 864 in the pew Bibles.
You may remember from last week that we dealt with Jesus’ interaction with the two disciples of John the Baptist when he sent them to Jesus to ask if He truly was the Messiah or if they should be waiting for somebody else. Jesus showed them by healing the blind, the deaf, the lame, by raising the dead, and preaching Good News to the poor that He was in fact the One that they were waiting for.
And that’s where we pick up the story this morning, Luke 7:24-35.
24 When John’s messengers had gone, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 25 What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are dressed in splendid clothing and live in luxury are in kings’ courts. 26 What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 27 This is he of whom it is written, “ ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’
28 I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” 29 (When all the people heard this, and the tax collectors too, they declared God just, having been baptized with the baptism of John, 30 but the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.)
31 “To what then shall 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 sang a dirge, 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 at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ 35 Yet wisdom is justified by all her children.”
Let’s pray.
As I said last week, I have always found the question from John the Baptist perplexing but it’s clear that even John expected a different kind of Messiah, one who brought the fire of judgment not the grace of God. But even though John may have faltered, that didn’t disqualify him from his calling.
As soon as John’s disciples left the scene Jesus gives him a glowing commendation.
What did you go out into the wilderness to see, a reed shaken by the wind, some wimpy, wispy blade of grass, weak and unable to stand up whenever the wind blew?
No, John the Baptist was strong in his message and his character. He was unyielding to the pressure of popular opinion. He had no qualms about standing up against the establishment and calling them a brood of vipers.
What did you go out into the wilderness to see, some fancy guy in fine robes, dignified in the eyes of men, outstanding in his cultural relevance, and walking on a red carpet?
No, John the Baptist was far from culturally relevant in his appearance or his message. Cultural relevance was totally irrelevant! Culturally relevant, finely dressed people are easy to find in the palace, in the places of societal importance. Not John, he was out in the wilderness, out in the desert.
So what did you go out to see, a prophet? *DING, DING!* John was a prophet and more.
What made John a special kind of prophet is that he was Messiah’s herald, preparing His way. The other prophets of the Old Testament prophesied about Messiah with symbols and shadows from a distance but John was up close, even at the door.
Jesus quotes Malachi 3:1, ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’
When Jesus confirms this He is saying a lot more than just who John is.
Johannes Riggenbach wrote, “He is, if ye will hear, Elijah who is to come as Malachi prophesied; and before whom is Elijah to go prepare the way? Malachi says: ‘Before God Himself.’ What does Jesus therefore testify about Himself when He says that John has gone as Elijah before Him? Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.”
I’ve said it before and I‘ll say it again so we don’t waste time with subtlety: Jesus is God and John was His herald preparing His way, a prophet who was prophesied about.
Jesus also gave Him this ringing and curious endorsement: 28 I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.
Can you work out that math for me? No one born of women is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he?
I really wanted the “greater’s” to be two different Greek words so as to explain this a little better but they’re not. How is John the greatest ever born and yet somehow not greater than the least in the kingdom of God?
Even though John was written about in the New Testament he is still and Old Testament prophet, he was still looking forward to the redemption through Jesus. John was beheaded in prison before Jesus was crucified, he didn’t witness His resurrection, he didn’t get to experience the tongues of fire on Pentecost.
It’s not that John wasn’t included in the kingdom of God through faith in Jesus but his station and his work was still under the Old Covenant.
JJ vanOosterzee wrote, [Jesus] speaks of the least of His disciples, and this not only so far as they appear as apostles or evangelists, but without any distinction. He thinks of their preeminence above the most distinguished men of the Old Covenant, the array of whom closed with John. They had, through the light of the experience of His redeeming power, deeper insight into the nature, the course of development, and the blessings of the kingdom of heaven, than had been the portion of John.
Now when Jesus makes this bold statement about John’s greatness and the greater-ness of those in the kingdom of God those listening to Him had two very different reactions.
29 (When all the people heard this, and the tax collectors too, they declared God just, having been baptized with the baptism of John, 30 but the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.)
The people who believed John and were baptized for the repentance of sin, looking forward to the coming of Messiah “declared God just,” meaning that they declared that God’s will that called them sinners in need of repentance was right. He was right then and He is right now.
The Pharisees and the experts in the Law were a different story. Instead of embracing the will of God, which called them sinners, they rejected the purpose of God for themselves.
Why? Self-righteousness.
Over and over in the New Testament we can see this group representing self-righteousness, whether it’s the Pharisees and teachers of the Law in this case or the Sadducees and Elders of the people in other places.
Unfortunately, this group is still alive and well today. They made not be called Pharisees or Sadducees but the spirit is still there.
They don’t want to hear about judgment from John and they don’t want to hear about grace from Jesus because in either case they would have to admit their own sin and sinfulness. Good thing we’re never like that!
Jesus said in verse 31 “To what then shall I compare the people of this generation [meaning this self-righteous group of Pharisees and teachers of the Law], 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 sang a dirge, 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 at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ 35 Yet wisdom is justified by all her children.”
What is Jesus saying, what is He comparing the self-righteous to? He is saying that He played a happy, joyful, gracious tune, but they didn’t want to dance, John sang a dirge, a sad song played on an organ in a funeral home but they didn’t want to weep.
Neither one of them could move this group with their message, either the message of judgment as with John, or the message of grace as with Jesus, because both messages would force them to accept their guilt and they wanted nothing to do with that.
It wouldn’t have mattered who played the song or what kind of music it was, if it pointed out their guilt and sin they would not dance and they would not weep. The same is still true today.
The gospel gets watered down because nobody wants to hear about their guilt and without guilt there is no need of grace.
It’s those who have the wisdom from God to humbly see the truth of our sinfulness and our need of saving by the grace of God through Christ’s work on the cross that show that God’s wisdom is just.
Is that you? Do you recognize your guilt before God, do you recognize your need for His grace? Have you asked for His forgiveness? He will forgive you, He will make you new, He will make you His own. All you have to do is ask Him.
Amen.
