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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadBob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - Luke 7:31 - 7:35
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NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Luk_7:31-35
31"To what then shall I compare the men of this generation, and what are they like? 32They are like children who sit in the market place and call to one another, and they say, 'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.' 33For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, 'He has a demon!' 34The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, 'Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' 35Yet wisdom is vindicated by all her children."
Luk_7:31-34 This paragraph is paralleled in Mat_11:16-19. John and Jesus came with different styles of ministry (John as an ascetic; Jesus as socially available), yet the Jewish leaders rejected them both. Luk_7:30 shows the close-mindedness and self-righteousness of the Jewish leaders.
Luk_7:31 "this generation" This term is used in a negative sense of current hearers who see and hear God's truth, but refuse to respond appropriately (cf. Luk_7:31; Luk_9:41; Luk_11:29; Luk_11:50; Luk_17:25). This may be an allusion to Deu_32:5; Psa_78:8; Jer_2:31; Jer_7:29. There is far more guilt connected to those who hear the truth and refuse to embrace it than to those who never have seen or heard.
Luk_7:33 "John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine" John the Baptist was a Nazarite (cf. Numbers 6). He also lived in the wilderness and did not freely socialize with those to whom he preached (like Elijah). See Special Topic below.
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▣ "and you say, 'He has a demon’" This was the same charge that they used of Jesus (cf. Luk_11:14-26). They could not explain away God's mighty use of this man so they attributed his power to a supernatural force of evil.
▣ This accusation reveals
1. the animosity of the religious elite
2. the compassion of Jesus.
Luke was writing to Gentiles who were also poor. This shows Jesus' love and identification with the common person.
Luk_7:35 This was a cultural proverb much like Luk_6:44, "each tree is known by its own fruit." The actions and attitudes of those baptized by John (cf. Luk_7:29) were clearly distinct from the religious leaders (cf. Luk_7:30). The Jews often used the OT idiom "son of. . ." as an adjective to describe a person.