On Line Bible Study - For the Week July 12-18, 2010

Lesson 448

Luke 7:¹⁸John's disciples told him about all these things. Calling two of them, ¹⁹he sent them to the Lord to ask, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?"

³¹"To what, then, can I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? ³²They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to each other:

" 'We played the flute for you,
and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge,

and you did not cry.' ³³For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, 'He has a demon.' ³⁴The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners." ' ³⁵But wisdom is proved right by all her children."

On average, how many times and in how many different ways do you need to hear or experience a message before it sinks in?

Let's think about this another way: If you were to compare the way you imagine John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth, what would be the differences? Was their message the same? Perhaps you could refer back to Luke 3 where John addresses the multitudes who came to hear him: You brood of vipers! With that as an opener it is amazing anyone stayed around to listen to John at all. But there must have been something attractive in that confrontational style of his, for people engaged him: What shall we do?

Contrast this with Jesus. Luke presents Jesus' first words in Nazareth (following his being tempted or tested in the wilderness) as these: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor ... This teaching got him run out of town.

Of the two approaches, which one is most palatable for you?

The point of the passage in Luke 7 under consideration this week (you can fill in verses 20-30 as you read your Bible) has to do with the fact that, while both men come with the same message - Repent, believe, and experience the Kingdom of God - their approach is radically different. The people, while initially attracted to both John and Jesus, will ultimately turn from them and the message they bring.

If you don't take the message straight up, and you reject it watered down; if you refuse it because it is too harsh, or not harsh enough ... Well, after a while it becomes apparent, doesn't it? It's not the manner of presentation you are rejecting; it is the message itself!

I think we do the same thing with Jesus and Paul. This is not to discount the difference in style; it is simply to say that the heart of the matter is what is important. Do you get it? Are you willing to receive it? Or have you convinced yourself that, if only you had a different pastor, or went to a larger (or smaller) church, or they made the worship time more convenient, that would make all the difference?

Do you ever wonder ... To what would Jesus compare this generation of ours ...