RESPONDING TO SALVATION’S SONG

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on April 29, 2020 under AM Bible Study |

AM Bible Study Group: April 29, 2020 from Luke 7:29-35

Theme: To respond rightly to the Savior of sinners, we must first respond rightly to God’s judgment regarding sin.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

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Do you remember songs and phrases you used to sing or shout as a kid with your neighborhood friends?

Some of them didn’t exactly make much sense, did they? “Olly olly oxen free“ was one you used to call your friends out of hide-and-go-seek. But why? None of us had oxen. We’d join hands and say, “Red rover, red rover, send so-and-so right over”; but no one really thought much about what “red rover” meant. I’d bet every kid in the world knows the “Nya-nya-nya-nya-nya-nya” song. It’s the ultimate taunt. But what exactly does it mean? And where in the world did that tune come from? I suppose it came from the tune of the most famous kid’s song of all: “Ring-a-round the rosie, a pocket full of posies. Ashes! Ashes! We all fall down.” Look that strange little nursery rhyme up some time! The variations on it are many—and some of the theories behind its origin are just plain disturbing.

Children have probably been singing play-songs for … well … as long as there have been children. Here’s one that’s at least two-thousand years old: “We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we mourned to you, and you did not weep.” You apparently would have heard children singing it or shouting it to one another in the streets and marketplaces of ancient Israel. It seems to be a way of saying something like this: “I play a happy tune for you, but you just won’t be happy. And so, instead, I play a sad song for you, but you just wont cry. You just don’t respond as you should to things. You’re sure hard to please. You sure are dull.”

The Lord Jesus used this ancient kids’ song once in a very serious way. He used it to describe how the religious people of His day would not respond rightly to the spiritual truths that were being set on display before them—and as a result, they were losing out.

The story of it is found in Luke 7. That’s where we’re told about how the Lord Jesus was correcting some misunderstandings about things. In verses 18-23, He corrected some misunderstandings that John the Baptist had about Himself. And then, in verses 24-28, He corrected some misunderstandings that the people had about John the Baptist. And now—in verse 29-35—He corrects some misunderstandings that the people had about how John’s ministry and His ministry fit together.

Let’s look back to verses 24-28. Jesus had been telling the people about John the Baptist. Luke tells us that He said;

“What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed those who are gorgeously appareled and live in luxury are in kings’ courts. But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written:

‘Behold, I send My messenger before Your face,
Who will prepare Your way before You.’

For I say to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he” (Luke 7:24-28).

John was an impressive man—a mighty prophet of God. He preached to people powerfully that they should repent because the kingdom of God was at hand. And He pointed people to Jesus and declared that He was the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. People had been coming to be baptized by John in great numbers. Even the most notorious sinners were repenting of their sin and were being baptized.

And that’s when Luke tells us of Jesus’ words about this ancient children’s song. In verses 29-35 he writes;

And when all the people heard Him, even the tax collectors justified God, having been baptized with the baptism of John. But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the will of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him. And the Lord said, “To what then shall I liken the men of this generation, and what are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, saying:

‘We played the flute for you,
And you did not dance;
We mourned to you,
And you did not weep.’

For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is justified by all her children” (Luke 7:29-35).

This passage has a very important spiritual lesson to teach you and me. Its significance is shown to us in the way that poor needy sinners repented at the preaching of John, but the self-righteous religious leaders would not do so. John’s ministry was a ministry of declaring God’s condemnation for sin; and of issuing the call to repent in anticipation of the Savior. And Jesus’ ministry followed on the heels of John’s preaching; and provided salvation for those who sought forgiveness. The two ministries on earth—in their time—worked together. And how people responded to the message of the condemnation of sin and their guilt before a holy God determined how they would respond to the good news of the coming of the Lamb of God who takes that sin away.

This passage—and the kids’ song we find in it—reminds us that to respond rightly to the Savior of sinners, we must first respond rightly to God’s judgment regarding sin.

* * * * * * * * * *

Now; look first at …

1. HOW PEOPLE RESPONDED TO THE PREACHING OF JOHN (vv. 29-30).

The people had been listening to Jesus expound on the ministry of John. John was the God-appointed messenger who proclaimed the coming of the Messiah. He was, as we learned in our last time together, the last and greatest prophet of the Old Covenant era. He represented the holy demands of God’s law. It was a law that people could not keep. But he also pointed the way to the One who would bring in a New Covenant in which God’s righteous and holy standards become written in the minds and hearts of His people by faith (see Jeremiah 31:31-34).

Jesus talked about how people went out to hear John preach. They didn’t go out to hear a soft-spoken sermonizer who would only tell them nice things. They intentionally went out to hear exactly what they expected to hear—a mighty prophet of God who cut it straight with people and called them to repent of their sin and be made right with God. His message was summed up in the phrase, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” (Matthew 3:1). And as Jesus spoke all of this to the people, we’re told, “And when all the people heard Him, even the tax collectors justified God, having been baptized with the baptism of John” (v. 29).

That phrase “even the tax collectors” is important. Back in those days—in the minds of most pious Jewish people—there couldn’t be a greater sinner than a tax-collector. He collected taxes for the occupying, pagan Roman government from his own Jewish people. He was considered a traitor; and was thought to be beyond redemption. But even the tax-collectors repented at the preaching of John. But the religious elite would not do so. Luke tells us in verse 30, “But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the will of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.” The Pharisees were the careful, exacting practitioners of the law of Moses; and the lawyers were the scholars who studied the Old Testament Scriptures. They ‘rejected’ the will of God for themselves; that is, they would not repent of their sin and believe on the promised Redeemer. And they wouldn’t come to John to be baptized; because to do so would be to admit to sin. They certainly wouldn’t want to get in the waters of baptism next to a tax-collector!—as if to admit that they were in as much need of repentance as a tax-collector would be!

This sounds very much like a parable that Jesus told in Luke 18;

Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:9-14).

And before we move on, let me ask you: Which of those two are you? The message of God’s word to us is that we are sinners. All you have to do is read the Ten Commandments all the way through, and you’ll see where you stand. We have all broken God’s law, and we can—in no way—make ourselves righteous in His sight. We are no better than that humble tax-collector; and can only say, “God, be merciful to me a sinner!” He went home righteous in the sight of God; but the self-righteous Pharisee did not. And before you and I can be saved by the Savior, we first must become like that tax-collector, and admit that we are hopeless sinners that truly need to be saved.

Well; Jesus went on to speak to the self-righteous ones who were standing in the crowd among the repentant sinners. Both groups had heard John’s call to repent; but this is where we see …

2. WHAT THE DIFFERENT RESPONSES WERE LIKE (vv. 31-34).

Jesus—as if knowing what the self-righteous ones were thinking—turned to them and said; “To what then shall I liken the men of this generation, and what are they like?” (v. 31). I don’t think Jesus asked the question because He was truly wondering; do you? He asked it to draw everyone’s attention—including the attention of the Pharisees and lawyers. And I’m not sure that they expected to hear; but they sure got a surprise! He said, “They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, saying:

‘We played the flute for you,
And you did not dance;
We mourned to you,
And you did not weep’” (v. 32).

There’s that song! And I don’t think that the Lord Jesus was directing it toward the poor, repentant folks who knew they were sinners. They’d already heard John’s message; and they’d already repented at it. But the self-righteous didn’t think they needed to enter the baptismal waters of repentance. Jesus once told these self-righteous religious experts:

“Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him” (Matthew 21:31-32).

They were like people in the children’s song. Someone would play a joyful wedding tune on the flute; but they wouldn’t dance with joy. Someone else would play a mournful funeral dirge; but they wouldn’t mourn. They were spiritually dull; and would not respond as the occasion demanded. Jesus went on to say, “For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon’” (v. 33). John came in the austerity of a sober, serious prophet of the Old Covenant era—a man of God who lived on a higher plain than that of this world—and they all thought that he was a weirdo for being so other-worldly. But Jesus came proclaiming the coming of the New Covenant. He called Himself the ‘Son of Man’ (which was another name for the Messiah), and said; “The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’” He came as the Redeemer who would pay for our sins and save our souls—a Savior who would display the wondrous joy of New Covenant redemption—and they thought He was too worldly for their tastes.

Jesus played a happy tune for them, but they wouldn’t be happy. John played a sad song for them, but they wouldn’t weep. They just wouldn’t respond to things as they truly were with respect to the need of their soul. And as a result, they were losing out.

And that leads us, finally, to …

3. WHY PEOPLE RESPONDED AS THEY DID (v. 35).

Jesus said in verse 35, “But wisdom is justified by all her children.” The word “justified” in this verse is the same one as the word that we find in verse 29—where we’re told that the needy people and the tax collectors who were baptized with the baptism of John “justified” God. Those repentant people were, in effect, saying, “God; You were right to condemn my sin. I was a sinner. I agree with Your verdict—that I am a sinner who needed to be saved.” But the Pharisees and lawyers would not enter into the waters of baptism in repentance. They disagreed with John’s preaching about their situation. They didn’t think they needed to repent. They responded as they did because of the unrepentant orientation of their hearts.

This phrase of our Lord’s—that “wisdom is justified” or “declared right” by “all her children”—is a way of saying that when we reject God’s verdict about our sin, we find ways to prove to ourselves that we’re right. As a result, we deceive ourselves about our sin and end up losing out on God’s grace.

* * * * * * * * * *

In the Book of James, we read these words;

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up (James 4:7-10).

‘Repentance’ is a sad tune that very few people want to hear. But it’s very much one we need to hear right now. It sets us, ultimately, in the direction of God’s grace. As this passage shows us, we must first respond rightly to God’s judgment for sin before we can respond rightly to the good news of the Savior of sinners.

EA