Beloved, I am glad to share with you today the above theme from Luke 7:31 and following. Indeed, Children in the Public Square, or Children Playing the Flute, is an image used by Jesus Christ to illustrate the theme of wisdom. This comparison contrasts the conciliatory attitude of Jesus of Nazareth with the austerity of John the Baptist. For the fact that Jesus is the friend of sinners shows that he wants to be our friend and expects us to open up to him. God’s love for us is beyond anything we can imagine. His incarnation, the fact that He left heaven to be born as a defenseless human child in order to grow up among us and experience life among us, offers us a glimpse into the depth of His love, even more so when we add His sacrificial death to the cross.
To become a friend of sinners, Jesus had to come and live in a fallen, depraved world, for “all have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). Despite our sin, Jesus wants to have a relationship with us. The expression “friend of sinners” is taken from several parallel passages of the Gospels: “Who then will I compare the men of this generation, to whom do they resemble? They look like children sitting in the public square, talking to each other and saying, ‘We played you the flute and you didn’t dance; we sang funeral songs and you didn’t cry.’ Indeed, John the Baptist has come, he does not eat bread or drink wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man has come, he eats and he drinks, and you say, ‘He is a eater and a drinker, a friend of publicans and people of bad life.’ (Luke 7:31-34)
Thus, Jesus denounces the immaturity of those who considered themselves righteous and spiritual based on their rigorous application of rituals, the law, and their outward appearance, rather than on a proper understanding of God’s heart and relationship with Him. These people called Jesus the friend of sinners and criticized him because he spent time with the excluded, those whom society rejected. The parable of the lost sheep shows how important the lost and vulnerable, who have moved away from where they were safe, are to God, to the point that He seeks them until he finds them and brings them back. For “All tax collectors and sinners approached Jesus to listen to Him. But the Pharisees and scholars of the law whispered, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So he said this parable to them: “If one of you has 100 sheep and loses one, doesn’t he leave the other 99 in the wilderness to go in search of the one who is lost until he finds her?” (Luke 15:1-4).
This is why Jesus made it clear that He “came to seek and save what was lost” (Luke 19:10). He was willing to associate himself even with those who were not good enough for the Pharisees: all that mattered was that they were willing to listen to him and that God loved them! Matthew 9:10-13 speaks of another occasion on which Jesus responded to Jewish religious leaders who criticized Him for his connections: “I have not come to call righteous, but sinners, [to change their attitude].” In Luke 4:18, Jesus quotes Isaiah 61:1-2: “The Spirit of the Lord, of the Lord, is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the unfortunate; he sent me to heal the heartbroken, to proclaim freedom to the captives, and to the prisoners deliverance; to publish a year of eternal grace. And to proclaim the Good News to the poor, prisoners, blind and oppressed, he had to be in contact with them.
Jesus did not condone sin and did not participate in the destructive behavior of the ungodly, but by being the friend of sinners, He showed them that “god’s goodness causes us to change our attitudes” (Rom 2:4). Jesus, who lived a perfect, sinless life, had “the power on earth to forgive sins” (Luke 5:24). For this, our hearts and lives can be transformed. Jesus, our friend, spent time with sinners, not to participate in their sin, but to tell them the good news of forgiveness. Many sinners were transformed by His words of life, with Zacchaeus being a good example (Luke 19:1-10).
Jesus’ enemies called him the friend of sinners, as an insult, but for his glory and our eternal bliss, for “He who has many friends has them for his misfortune, but such a friend is more attached than a brother.” (Pr 18:24).
For if Jesus addresses to John words that were to reach his conscience and strengthen his faith, he turns to the crowds and bears witness to him, calling him “the greatest of the prophets,” and he shows the guilt of this generation that John’s exhortations did not touch more than the grace of Jesus. Then he asked the crowds what they had been seeing in the desert where John the Baptist was standing. He was not a great of this world; these inhabit the palaces of kings. It was, “A prophet,” he said to them, “Yes, I said to you, and more than a prophet. This is the one of which it is written: Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you (Ml 3:1); for I say unto you: Among those born of women, there is no prophet greater than John the Baptist; but the least in the kingdom of God is greater than him.” John was the greatest of the prophets because only he had the privilege of seeing this Messiah announced and awaited by many. However, it was still part of the legal order of things that had preceded it, while Jesus rejected introduced a new state of affairs, called the “kingdom of God,” characterized by such blessings, heavenly and eternal, that the smallest in this kingdom would be greater than the greatest prophet of the age of law. All believers possess this privileged part, as long as they are under the economy of grace.
Then the people, who heard what Jesus said about John, as well as the publicans and sinners, gave glory to God, for they had received John’s baptism. But the doctors of the law and the Pharisees who had not been baptized, “rejected against themselves the counsel of God,” which was fulfilled by the sending of John and Jesus. Those who claimed to be wise and intelligent rejected the blessings decreed by God for the people, for they would turn against them in judgment, while those who had listened to John the Baptist “justified God” who fulfilled his promises.
The following verses have been compiled for your edification and grouped together for your better understanding.
The critically motivated generation is reprimanded:
· Perverse generation
Dt 32.5 If they have corrupted themselves, it is not his fault; Shame is on his children, False and perverse race. Pr 30:12 There is a race that believes itself to be pure, and is not washed of its filth. Mt 3:7 But, seeing many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them: Races of vipers, who taught you to flee from the wrath to come? Luke 9:41 Unbelieving and evil race, Jesus answered, “until when will I be with you, and will I bear you? Bring your son here. Acts 2:40 And with many other words he conjured and exhorted them, saying: Save yourselves from this evil generation.
· Hardening, examples
2 Kings 17:14 But they did not listen, and they kingified their necks, like their fathers, who had not believed in Jehovah, their God. Neh 9:29 You beseeched them to return to your law; and they persevered in pride, they did not listen to your commandments, they sinned against your ordinances, which sustain the one who puts them into practice, they had a rebellious shoulder, they stiffened their necks, and they did not obey. Jer 6:15 They will be confused, for they commit abominations; They do not blush, they do not know shame; That is why they will fall with those who fall, They will be overthrown when I chastise them, says the Lord. Dn 9:13 As written in the law of Moses, all this calamity came upon us; and we did not implore Jehovah our God, we did not turn away from our iniquities, we did not pay attention to your truth. Rev 9:21 and they did not repent of their murders, nor their enchantments, nor their immodesty nor their robberies.
· Places
Mt 20:3 He went out about the third hour, and he saw others who were in the square without doing anything. Mk 7:4 And the Pharisees and scribes asked him: Why don’t your disciples follow the tradition of the ancients, but take their meals with impure hands? Lk 7:32 They resemble the children sitting in the public square, and who, speaking to each other, say: We have played you the flute, and you have not danced; we have sung laments to you, and you have not cried. Acts 16:19 The masters of the servant, seeing the hope of their gain disappear, seized Paul and Silas, and dragged them into the public square before the magistrates. Acts 17:17 So he spoke in the synagogue with the God-fearing Jews and men, and in the public square every day with those he met.
· Slander, examples
2 Sam 10:3 the leaders of the sons of Ammon said to Hanun, their master, “Do you think that it is to honor your father that David sends you comforters? Is it not to recognize and explore the city, and to destroy it, that he sends his servants to you? Jb 1:11 But stretch out your hand, touch all that belongs to Him, and I am sure He curses you in the face. Ps 50:20 You sit down, and speak against your brother, You defame your mother’s son. Lk 7:33 For John the Baptist came, not eating bread and drinking wine, and you say: He has a demon.
From all the above, we note that Jesus compares the incredulous generation that does not receive him more than it received John, to little children in the market square, who reproach their companions for not having danced when they played the flute, nor cried when they sang laments. Like those children who did not respond to the desires of their comrades, the Jews remained indifferent to John’s calls to flee judgment through repentance and baptism. The austerity of this prophet and his kind of preaching makes his ministry compare to the complaints that have remained without effect. That of Jesus who came next, deploying an unparalleled grace, in the midst of the people, does not touch him any more. It is the sound of the flute to which very few have responded, except to accuse Jesus of being “a eater and a drinker, a friend of publicans and sinners”. However, wisdom had children, those who had listened to God’s voice and did not trust in their own thoughts. This is the great teaching of Proverbs, especially in the first nine chapters. Christ personifies wisdom; it is he who makes his voice heard in this book as in the gospel (Proverbs 9:1-6 and Matthew 22:1-14). Listening to him, “one finds life” (Pr 8:35).
PRAYER OF ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite every person who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me the following prayer:
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I admit to having sinned against you and ask your forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as Lord and personal Savior. I recognize that you died on the cross of Calvary and rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me every day to the eternal life that you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal yourself to me and strengthen my heart and faith, so that your light may shine in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for accepting me into your divine family, so that I may also contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby waterpoint to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All adoration, power and glory are yours, now and forever and ever. Amen!
I would be happy to respond to any questions and comments you may have, before sharing with you tomorrow ” the parable of the fig tree.”
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you abundantly.
David Feze, Servant of the Almighty God.