Pastor Scott Andrews | November 17th, 2024
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Luke 7:29-35
We are a spiritually privileged people. We have more available to us than most in the past. For example, there’s likely a church within walking distance of many of your homes – you probably passed several driving here this morning. If you’d lived just a couple hundred years ago – there may have been one or two churches per community. Just over a hundred years ago, you might have had a family bible in the house, but that’s all. Today, most of you own a Bible, some of you have several copies – even on your phone.
Then there’s all those Christian books – they’re being released at a rate faster than anyone can possibly read – even though some aren’t worth reading. Along with books comes Christian music, filled with soul-strengthening theology. Again, more than you can possibly keep up with. Further, with Christian music comes Christian podcasts and Youtube, Christian television, even Christian movies. The fact is, biblical truth, Christian stuff, and the gospel of Jesus are more readily available to us than ever been before.
We are truly a privileged people. Which begs a question, why are we less spiritual, more ungodly than we’ve ever been? I would suggest this privilege carries inherent dangers of eternal consequences. You see, having Christian privilege doesn’t necessarily make you Christian. The truth is, despite all our spiritual advantages, with all that biblical and godly truth so readily available, we are quickly becoming a post-Christian culture. Why? Is it true familiarity breeds contempt?
While mainline Christian denominations are on the rapid decline, the fastest growing religion in America is Islam. Further, equally as disastrous, I would suggest the prevailing thought, even in the Bible belt south is, being good is good enough. And so with all that, it has been noted the United States is the largest mission field in the western hemisphere when you consider the sheer number of non-Christians who live here. The challenge is, most think they are Christians, or are at least, alright. You see, you have to get people lost before they can ever be found.
I would also suggest Satan has pulled the proverbial wool over our eyes – he’s lulled us to sleep – he’s masterminded one of his greatest deceptions ever, right before our very eyes. Our peace and prosperity have deceived us – we are rich and increased with goods, even Christian goods, and have need of nothing. We’re pretty good, just ask us – as if being good, even spiritual, redeems us. It’s the greatest deception since the first century – it’s the same danger the Jews faced when the Messiah showed up. Yeah, they said, unbelieving, pagan Gentiles need God. They need truth, but not us – we already have a handle on it. And their response to Messiah when He did arrive, because He didn’t fit their self-created profile, was largely criticism, rejection and blasphemy. For others, He was treated with a ho-hum indifference. They just ignored Him. We’re going to see today the danger of treating Jesus that way carries significant consequences.
Our text today is found in Luke 7:29-35. I have said on occasion, not regularly – but the truth of this text is incredibly important – one of the most important I’ve ever preached. But, when I read it, some of you are going to wonder – what’s the big deal. Some of you are held so firmly in the deception that you’ll ho-hum it – after all, I’m in church, right, with my Bible right here. Just like the Jews had the Temple and the Word of God available to them. We’re okay, right?
In our study of Luke, we have found the early chapters proclaim Jesus is the Messiah. Luke has proven, by Jesus’ powerful words and miracles He was the Expected One to come. Now, in chapters 7 and following, we’re examining the different responses of people to that claim. We began with John the Baptist – the response of doubt, which we looked at over the past couple of weeks. This morning, we arrive at the next two responses: the response of criticism and the response of indifference. You see, when the Expected One came, He wasn’t what the religious, dare I say, He wasn’t what the spiritual expected. Let’s read the text together, Luke 7:29-35.
All that spiritual privilege, and they did not receive it. Let me remind you of the flow of the chapter. You’ll remember in the first few verses of chapter 7, Jesus is still proving who He is – He healed a centurion’s servant boy without even being there. Then, He raised a widow’s only son from the dead – restored him to his mother.
Which brought us to the first of several responses to what Jesus was doing. Yes, the Pharisees had already opposed Jesus from the beginning. But now we’re going to see a variety of differing responses. We saw John’s response of doubt. We saw Jesus vindicate Himself – John, you don’t have to doubt Me – here are a few more miracles to prove My identity – I’m doing the things only the Messiah can do. You see, all these words and works of Jesus are supposed to impress us – more, convince us, and cause us to give our lives to Him. What we are not supposed to do is be critical of Him, or just as bad, be bored by Him.
From there, Jesus gave His impression of John – He vindicated John and his ministry. We looked at that last week. What did you go out to see? A reed shaken by the wind? A man in soft clothing? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This was the forerunner, the one designated by God to proclaim the coming of the Messiah. This was the greatest man who ever lived. But the incredible news was this: even the least in the kingdom of God is greater than John. How so? Every believer post cross and resurrection is living in the time of fulfillment. John was simply the greatest of the old covenant, the OT – and served as a bridge to the New. John was a child of the promise – you are children of fulfillment. Makes you greater.
Which brings us to our text today. We’ve seen what John thought of Jesus. We’ve seen what Jesus thought of John. Now, we get to see what people thought of Jesus and John in this text. Now listen, I want you to understand when Jesus came, He came to Israel, the people of God, religious people who were supposed to know and worship the true God. What we have here is Luke describing the responses of those religious people to who He was and what He did. And I believe we have the same kind of response to Jesus today – among the religious people, the so-called people of God, right in the church. Today, church people are critical of Jesus, they’re critical of Christianity, and some of you treat Him with ho-hum indifference. You see, the Jews to whom Jesus came thought they had it all together – they thought they were the okay ones – the ones accepted by God. And when God showed up, to those self-righteous, religious people, He said, you’re in big trouble. Why? Because they looked at who Jesus was, what He did for them, they yawned, turned away, and didn’t repent. I don’t want anyone in this room to leave today, yawning. I want you to understand the importance of what we’re talking about. You’ll see what I mean as we get to the text.
We begin with a couple of verses Luke inserts in which he describes the people’s response to the person and ministry of John. The normal, everyday people and sinners – like tax collectors –were glad Jesus approved of John, because they had been baptized by John. Notice, by doing so, they acknowledged God’s justice – God’s way of justifying people. And it was a baptism of repentance, preparing them for the Expected One to come. Notice the ones who believed – sinners like tax collectors who knew they were broken and needed a savior. But the religious ones, the spiritual ones who had it all together – the Pharisees, the lawyers or interpreters of the Law – oh, they had not been baptized by John. They didn’t have the need. They were alright. And so they were not prepared for the Expected One. It’s so sad to read the words, they rejected God’s purpose for themselves. I’ll do it my way.
Now, to be clear, John’s baptism was not Christian baptism, but it did prepare the way for the Christ. They were lost, and knew they were lost. They knew they needed something outside themselves for salvation. The spiritual ones – church-going type – nope, they were okay. They didn’t need John, and they didn’t need Jesus either.
Which brings us back to what Jesus had to say. Luke gave some commentary, now we’re back to Jesus speaking. He began with a phrase often used at that time to introduce a parable or an allegory, “to what then shall I compare the men of this generation? What are they like?” It was a way of saying, “How can I illustrate my point?” And He began by comparing this generation to children in the marketplace. The marketplace, or the agora, was the gathering place in most communities to conduct business, to buy, sell, trade items, and to socialize. It was the place where life happened. And while parents were doing whatever they were doing, the children would play games.
Apparently two popular games played at that time were wedding and funeral, two common events in the lives of people. Both those events were big deals, with weeklong celebrations of the marriage, and hired mourners and musicians for the funerals. So, the children would mimic what they’d seen their adults do.
Let’s play wedding, they’d say. You be the bride, you be the groom, you be the parents of the bride and groom, you be the friends, you be the attendants, whatever. And there would be dancing, singing and merriment. But sometimes they wouldn’t be in the mood for a wedding, so they’d play funeral. As morbid as that sounds – remember, they didn’t have TV, video games or smart phones. So, they’d pretend someone had just died, someone would play a dirge, and everyone would weep and wail and mourn – I’m sure it was great fun.
But notice, inevitably, there would be some children sulking in the corner, whining, spoiled brats, saying, I don’t want to play wedding today – that’s a stupid game. So the other children, wanting to be accommodating, would say, okay, let’s play funeral. And the spoiled little brats still wouldn’t play. You see, for them, it wasn’t a matter of the game – it was a matter of the heart. They wanted to be in control, they wanted to set the rules, they wanted to decide what was played, if it was played, when it was played, how it was played. Do what I want, do it my way.
This generation, Jesus says, is just like those spoiled children. You see, John came with the funeral approach. He was very austere – very serious, very somber. He didn’t wear party clothes, he wore camel’s hair. He didn’t eat wedding cake, he ate locusts. No bread, no wine. He came preaching a message of repentance. Now, it was a true message. In fact, remember, He was sent from God – and his message was basically the same as Jesus, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” But, John’s message was also a message of judgment. John expected mourning, he expected a little wailing and gnashing of teeth, like you’d see at a funeral.
And some of the people looked at that and criticized him. In fact, they went so far as to say, look at the guy – he smells, he looks bad, he needs to shave, his message is negative – he’s a madman, he has a demon. We’re not going to play that game. Understand, it was God’s game, God’s way, and they said no. I will not repent and turn from my evil ways.
So God said, fine. Let’s play wedding. And along came Jesus with the celebratory atmosphere of a wedding. Now remember, it’s not that His message was different from John’s. He still required repentance. But it was the attitude, it was the way He came. He was wearing normal clothes. He ate and drank – not only did He eat and drink, but He seemed to party with the less than desirables of the day – with tax collectors and sinners! Of course, we understand why – He came to those who were sick – He came to those who needed a Savior. But the spoiled children didn’t like that either. Why, they said, He’s nothing but a glutton and a drunkard!
Do you see the point? They criticized John for not eating and drinking, and they criticized Jesus for eating and drinking. It didn’t matter what God was doing, they were critical of it. God sent John in funeral attire, and they said, we don’t like that game. He sent Jesus in wedding attire, and they said, we don’t like that either. The fact is, they were just critical. No matter what God did, they didn’t like it, and they tore it apart. And of course, all along they sounded very spiritual. He’s a demon; he’s a glutton; he’s a drunkard. Sounds real good – only it wasn’t true. These were the Pharisees who wanted things their way – and they didn’t want it God’s way.
I thought about that this week. In what way might we see that kind of attitude expressed today – you know, in the church? Let me give you this principle: show me someone with a constantly critical spirit, and I’ll show you someone with an unbelieving heart. You see, Jesus isn’t talking about kingdom people here. He’s not talking about redeemed people. He’s talking about those on the outside, looking in, being critical of all that’s happening.
They’re close enough to see it, to occasionally, grudgingly take part in the activities of the kingdom, to be critical of it, but they are not in the kingdom. Show me someone who is constantly critical, and I’ll show you an unbelieving heart. They’re always complaining about something. They’re always looking at what God is doing, and they don’t like it. I don’t like that music, I want to sing this music. I don’t like the way he looks, I don’t like the way she acts, I don’t like what he says or the way she says it, I don’t like the joyful spirit, I’m uncomfortable with the way people talk about sin and repentance. Whatever God is doing, they dismiss it – that’s of the devil, it doesn’t fit my ideas of the way Christians ought to speak and act. Listen, I’m not saying we shouldn’t be discerning – I’m saying someone who sits on the sidelines and never joins in – never does the work of the kingdom – is constantly critical of those doing the work – they’re not in the kingdom. It’s evidence of an unbelieving heart.
Jesus is talking about religious people here. He’s talking about Pharisees, people who knew the Bible, who went to the Temple – they even taught Saturday School classes. But they didn’t know God. Theirs was just an external observance of ritual. And they were critical of anyone who didn’t do it their way. And they criticized John, and they condemned Jesus.
Notice, by the way, their criticism didn’t matter. Verse 35 says wisdom – that is, God’s wisdom in revealing salvation through the ministries of John and Jesus, is vindicated. The kingdom produces changed lives, and in the end, there can be no criticizing that. While through the centuries the church’s detractors have found it easy to criticize its people and work, they are hard-pressed to explain how so many lives have been changed from wickedness to righteousness, from despair to hope, from anger to love, from sadness to joy, and from selfishness to selflessness in the life-giving power and grace of Christ. They may criticize us, but in the end, God’s wisdom wins out. What kind of person are you? Are you just critical of everything, or do you find joy in the life-giving grace of Christ?
Which brings us to the next response: the response of indifference. It’s not in this text, and I don’t typically do this, but I want us to go back to the parallel passage in Matthew 11, because I think it critically important. We see this response of indifference verses 20-24, let’s read that.
This really is an amazing and sobering passage of Scripture. Jesus lists three cities that were seen by the Jews as really good cities: Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum. They were inhabited by Jews, and the people of those cities were considered to be God-fearing, holy people. People who followed the Law. People who followed the tradition of the elders. Upright, law-abiding people. They were good people, good people who didn’t associate with bad people.
All three cities were in Galilee. Capernaum was located on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee. You remember it was where Jesus set up His base of operations. While He grew up in Nazareth, Capernaum came to be known as His town. Chorazin is only mentioned in one other place in the New Testament, and most locate it about two and a half miles north of Capernaum. Bethsaida was further east of Capernaum, also on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. It was the home of Philip, Andrew and Peter. It was outside Bethsaida that Jesus fed the 5,000.
Apparently, Jesus did a lot of His teaching and miracles in and around these towns. We know in Capernaum, for example, He raised Jairus’ daughter from the dead, healed a leper, healed the nobleman’s son, healed a demoniac, cured Peter’s mother-in-law of her fever, healed the woman with the issue of blood, gave sight to two blind men, healed the centurion’s servant, and healed the paralytic who was lowered by his friends through the roof.
The people of this region were able to see a lot of what Jesus did. And what was their response? Indifference. You can almost see them yawning. They didn’t take any action regarding Jesus. They didn’t try to kill Him like some towns did. They didn’t openly and viciously oppose Him. They simply ignored Him, carrying on their business and lives as usual, seemingly unaffected. While God’s acts of kindness on their behalf should have led them to repentance, they were simply disinterested.
And as a result, Jesus had some rather strong words to say. He lists three other cities: Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom. To the Jews, Tyre and Sidon epitomized pagan, Gentile corruption. Both cities were typical seaports, noted for their immorality and godlessness. They were deeply involved in the worship of Baal. The Old Testament prophets had vigorously denounced them for their wickedness, and Tyre’s violence, profanity, pride, injustice, greed and immorality were so excessive the Lord had destroyed the city at one point.
Then there was Sodom. Sodom was, and still is, synonymous with moral depravity. Its name has been linked with the most extreme forms of sexual immorality. We speak of the evil of such cities as San Francisco and Amsterdam the same way the people of Jesus’ day spoke of Sodom. It was the pinnacle of wickedness. And we would all sit here, like the Jews, and say, it got what it deserved. God rained down fire and brimstone from heaven on Sodom – and they deserved it. Just like one day the evil, immoral people of our society will get what they deserve. And there is a sense in which that is true.
But, Jesus had some startling words for the self-righteous, religious people of His day, and the self-righteous religious people of our day. If Sodom, Tyre and Sidon had seen the miracles Jesus had performed at Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum – you know, those things we’ve been reading about for the last year and a half, they would have repented. When presented with the mighty miracles of God, they would have fallen to their knees, put on sackcloth and ashes as a sign of repentance, and they would have turned from their sin. You see, when you witness the divine acts of God in your presence, it should cause you to fall to your knees.
But the self-righteous people of these three Jewish cities did not. Why? They thought they were just fine. Tyre, Sidon, Sodom – they need God’s grace – they need His forgiveness. These self-righteous people of God, they were doing just fine without grace. There was no brokenness, there was no repentance, there was no turning from sin, there was no breathless sense of gratitude for grace. You see, in performing these miracles, Jesus wasn’t just looking for amazement, He wasn’t looking for admiration. He was looking for radical life change. But they simply ho-hummed His presence. His grace never pierced their hearts, His truth never changed their minds, His warnings about sin never provoked repentance, and His offer of salvation never brought faith. The person who grew up in Capernaum thinking that way is the same kind of person who grows up in the church, lives a moral life, thinks they’re okay, but never receives God’s grace.
As a result, it will be more tolerable in the judgment for Tyre, Sidon and Sodom, than for the cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum. Translated, it will be more tolerable for sinful, immoral people in the judgment than for self-righteous people who don’t think they need grace. The self-righteous, orthodox person is more repulsive in the sight of God than the idolatrous, immoral pagan. While we may think the Stalins and Hitlers and bin Ladens are going to get hottest hell; hottest hell seems to be reserved for those who have heard the truth, who know the truth, and turn from it. Who say, thanks Jesus, but I’ll get there on my own. I don’t need what you have to offer. Listen to a couple of unnerving passages of Scripture:
Hebrews 11:
26 For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
27 but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES.
28 Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
29 How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?
These are meant to be shocking words. II Peter 2:21 – For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them.
The principle is this. Those who have great privilege – who have had the opportunity to hear of the works of God, who have heard the gospel, who have had great spiritual opportunity – much will be expected of them. The greater the privilege, the greater the responsibility, and the greater the light, the greater the punishment for not receiving it. That takes us back to where we started. You see, those of us who live in the U.S., those of us in this room, who have had the opportunity over and over to hear of the mighty acts of God through Jesus Christ – through what we’ve been looking at in the gospel of Luke – God expects much. He doesn’t just want you to be amazed at Jesus. He doesn’t want you to just admire Him, or be impressed with Him. He expects you to repent and receive the grace of Jesus Christ by faith.
But, if you ho-hum it, if you yawn at grace, if you think you don’t need it, it will be more tolerable for the worst sinner who ever lived and didn’t hear about Christ, than for you. I have some good news for you, and some bad news for you. Since you’re here, you’ve heard about Jesus – what He has done for you. If you choose to reject it, or just ignore it, you’re in big trouble. It would have been better for you to have never heard the name of Jesus, to never have stepped inside a church, than to have heard it and dismissed it – and not allow the truth to change your life. But the good news is, salvation is as simple as faith – believing who Jesus is, what He has done on the cross for you, and receiving it by faith. It’s one reason, the primary reason, we study the Gospel narratives – to know Jesus, be amazed by Jesus, and to repent and give our lives to Jesus.
Have you done that? My invitation for you is heartfelt and strong. I invite you, to not be bored, but to believe and to receive Christ as Savior. To turn away is to invite certain and fearful judgment.