The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
Luke 7:24-35main passage read aloud and discussed throughout the sermon
24 When John’s messengers had departed, he began to tell the multitudes about John, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?
25 But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are gorgeously dressed, and live delicately, are in kings’ courts.
26 But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and much more than a prophet.
27 This is he of whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’
28 “For I tell you, among those who are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptizer, yet he who is least in God’s Kingdom is greater than he.”
29 When all the people and the tax collectors heard this, they declared God to be just, having been baptized with John’s baptism.
30 But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the counsel of God, not being baptized by him themselves.
31 “To what then will I liken the people of this generation? What are they like?
32 They are like children who sit in the marketplace, and call to one another, saying, ‘We piped to you, and you didn’t dance. We mourned, and you didn’t weep.’
33 For John the Baptizer came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’
34 The 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!’
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
Brian walked the Tribe fam through Luke 7:24-35, where Jesus compares the Pharisees and religious experts to children who refuse to play along no matter what song their friends sing. The conversation circled around a single, pointed idea: the problem was never the messenger or the method. It was a settled resistance to the truth itself.
What was said
Jesus addresses the Pharisees and teachers of religious law not with a sophisticated theological argument but with a children's playground song. Brian explained that in Jesus' day, kids would role-play the two biggest community events, weddings and funerals, and when a friend refused to join in, they would taunt them with this little ditty. Jesus reaches for the most elementary cultural reference he can find and aims it at the most educated people in the room.
The point of that choice matters. Jesus could have gone to the Old Testament, which he does elsewhere. Instead he addresses the religious experts as though they are children, because that is how they are behaving. Brian put it this way: it is not the tune you reject, it is the truth that you resist.
The pattern Jesus describes is airtight and inescapable. John came with strictness and fasting, and they said he had a demon. Jesus came eating and drinking, and they called him a glutton and a friend of sinners. No adjustment to style or approach was ever going to satisfy them, because their objection was not to the style.
Brian pressed into the word "rejected" from verse 30, noting that in the Greek it also carries the sense of treating something as casual, setting it aside, not taking it seriously. That quieter meaning sits alongside the stronger one. A person can resist the truth without ever mounting a loud, dramatic objection. They can simply not take it seriously.
The closing verse drew a good amount of conversation in the room. "Wisdom is shown to be right by the lives of those who follow it." Brian landed on the idea that Jesus is pointing to his own full life and John's full life as the evidence. He said people were clipping and trimming moments, standing outside the dinner and cataloguing the guest list, rather than looking at the whole picture. Wisdom, he said, comes from looking at the whole record, not a curated edit of it.
Brian connected wisdom to the fear of the Lord, meaning deep awe and reverence, the posture of coming to God without preconceived conclusions and asking for his truth even when it cuts against what you already want to believe. He contrasted that with the more common move of forming your own opinion first and then bringing it to God to ratify. Quoting James, he noted that hearing the word but failing to obey it does not bring judgment down on you. It deceives you. And he said a far worse outcome than God saying no is God simply stepping back and letting you go ahead.
Touch points
Things you could actually do this week.
Read Luke 7:24-35 slowly this week and notice what details grab your attention before drawing any conclusions.
When you find yourself forming a judgment about a person or idea, ask whether you are looking at the whole picture or only a carefully clipped piece of it.
Sit with the phrase Brian offered from the passage, 'It's not the tune you reject, it's the truth you resist,' and honestly ask yourself whether there is a truth you have been treating as casual.
Practice beginning your time in Scripture or prayer by setting aside your preconceived opinions and asking God for his truth even if it corrects you.
Do a word count on a passage you are reading this week and see which words repeat, then ask what the writer is trying to drive home.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages
in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
Brian pointed out that the word 'reject' in the Greek can mean to treat something as casual or to dismiss it without taking it seriously. Where in your own life have you noticed yourself doing that with something God was saying to you, not outright refusing it, but just setting it to the side?
Brian said, 'It's not the tune you reject, it's the truth you resist.' John came with strictness and people pushed back. Jesus came with joy and people pushed back. What does it look like when we find reasons to push back on God's messengers no matter how they come to us?
Brian tomó como punto de partida Lucas 7:24-35, un pasaje en el que Jesús compara a los fariseos y maestros de la ley con niños que se quejan en la plaza porque sus amigos no quieren jugar. Lo que muchos lectores no saben es que Jesús estaba citando una canción infantil muy conocida en su época, parecida a las rondas que cantamos de niños, que los niños usaban para burlarse de sus amigos cuando no querían participar en sus juegos. Al usar esa canción, Jesús no fue sutil: les estaba diciendo directamente a los expertos religiosos que se estaban comportando como criaturas, encontrando excusas para rechazar tanto a Juan el Bautista, que vivía con austeridad, como a Jesús, que comía y bebía con pecadores. La frase que quedó resonando fue esta: no es la melodía lo que rechazas, es la verdad la que resistes.
Brian señaló que el problema de fondo no era el estilo de Juan ni el de Jesús, sino que esas personas ya habían decidido de antemano lo que querían creer. Llegaban con sus propias conclusiones y buscaban que Dios las aprobara, en lugar de llegar con humildad a recibir su palabra. La congregación también conversó sobre el versículo final, donde se dice que la sabiduría se demuestra por los frutos de quienes la siguen, y Brian conectó eso con la idea de que Jesús señalaba su propia vida y la de Juan como evidencia: miren el registro completo, no recorten lo que les conviene.
El llamado final fue a abandonar esa actitud infantil y crecer en madurez espiritual, lo cual comienza con el temor del Señor, entendido no como miedo sino como reverencia genuina, dejando a un lado las ideas preconcebidas para recibir la verdad de Dios tal como es. Brian advirtió que una de las cosas más peligrosas no es que Dios nos diga no, sino que nos deje seguir adelante con nuestra propia voluntad sin corregirnos.
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Pasajes bíblicos mencionados:
Lucas 7:24-35
Mateo 11 (pasaje paralelo al de Lucas, mencionado por un miembro de la congregación)
Santiago (referencia a oír la palabra sin obedecerla y el engaño que eso produce)
Read the full transcript3,429 words
No.
How are
you? You can't leave me. Shit. How was how was the week?
It was great. Yeah.
Yeah. Not a bad not a bad way it's been the week.
Yeah.
Gonna be pretty cold next week too. I think it's gonna be pretty cold. It'd been cold in the mornings.
Yeah.
Marathon man, dude.
What's up, boss? Going downstairs in my garage. Are you sore? I was like, garage. Good morning.
Happy ending up September. Where did September go? Wow. On your seat, there's a connect slot until they get old enough to say, damn, stop. This is my pastoral right to use the Luke joke every single time.
And you love it. Right? Yes. Luke chapter seven. We're gonna read several verses together, verse 24 through 35.
And if you are new or visiting us, one of the many distinctives about tribe that make us tribe is, number one, when's the last time you ever sat in church and if you got thirsty, you could walk over to the refrigerator, open it up, and pull out a fizzy water for yourself. And another distinctive about Tribe is that we like to have a conversation here. Instead of just me doing all the talking, I would like us to go on a journey together and we engage with the material that we're gonna read and we talk about it and we consider it. And if you have questions or comments or connections, I would love to hear from you. And for all of our families that are out of town and traveling on the livestream, if we get your question, comment, or connection on the mic, then that way, all of our families watching the livestream get to participate as well.
And so we have a mic in the room. So if your hand goes up, don't worry about it. A mic will be thrust into your face just talking to that mic, and that's for all of us. And do it when you will. Luke chapter seven, we're gonna start reading a passage that I'm sure is familiar to many of you.
You've read it before, but have you really stopped to consider what all it means and what is being said, what is intended for us to get out of the text. That's what we're going to get into today. And so Luke chapter seven starting in verse 24, would somebody please read that? Read a few verses and then you can pass the mic off to somebody else in the room and they can keep reading.
After John's messenger... Excuse me. Let me try that one more time. After John's messengers left, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John.
What did you go out into the wilderness to see?
A reed swayed by the wind? If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No. Those who wear expensive clothes and indulge in men are in palaces.
But what did you go out to see? A prophet?
Yes. I tell you, and more than a prophet, this is the one about whom it is written. I will send my messenger ahead of you who will prepare you who will prepare your way before you. I tell you, among those born of women, there is no one greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.
All the people,
in your translation, but but rejected is what... How it reads in the NLT. That word reject, it does mean to oppose, to stand against all of our typical classical understanding word reject. But in the Greek, it also means to treat as casual or to set aside or just to dismiss as something not to take seriously. We think of that word reject as something really strong, but it also includes to treat as
What can I compare the people of this generation? Jesus asked. How can I describe them? They are like children playing a game in the public square. They complain to their friends.
We play wedding songs, and you didn't dance.
So we play funeral songs, and you didn't weep.
For John the Baptist didn't spend his time eating bread or drinking wine, and you say he's possessed by a demon. The son
of man, on the other hand, feasts
and drinks, and you say, oh, he's a glutton and a drunkard and a friend of tax collectors and other sinners. But wisdom is shown to be right by the lives of those who follow it. But wisdom is shown to be right by the lives of those who follow it.
The Lord bless the reading of his word this morning. Okay. There's... I wanted to give us a good amount, generous runway here before we focus in on what I feel like the Lord has for us this morning. This is a question that I typically ask, but as we read this passage, what are some details that stand out to you?
And we're not looking for you to make any type of, like, deep spiritual conclusions yet. We're gonna get there. But initially, what do you notice? What details stand out to you? What grabs your attention?
Yeah.
You can see it. Critical spirit taking root right here. No fun and no joy. No fun, no joy. Critical spirit.
Interesting. What are some other details or observations? Maybe it's a question that you have about the text. There's there's there's a lot here, guys. The ground is literally strewn with arrowheads to just bend over and pick up.
It's a kind of an inside story. Kick your foot on the dirt and you'll find one.
Along the lines of what was it was saying, it's the idea that you... If you look at this through, I would be like, well, can't win. I just can't win regardless of if I do things the right way or not the right way. Or if I play the happy songs, I don't dance. If I play the sad songs, I don't cry.
Like, there's nothing you can
Yes. Okay. I love it. Let's allow that to just sit there for what it is. Those who have been baptized by John had a different reaction and response to those that hadn't been, that rejected it.
That's that's a very unique distinction. That's the ice maker. We do both. What do you think? No.
Verse 28. I tell you. Okay. Verse 28. I tell you, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John.
And then when the people heard it, they agreed. Okay. Well, let's let's begin to hone in little bit more on the text to kinda look at the macro picture. We're going to zoom in. If you're taking notes this morning, at the top of your notes, you can write the title of the conversation that we're gonna have called childish games.
That's the title of the conversation we're having this morning. Childish games. Let's look at verse 32. And I'm sure in your Bible, there's some unique formatting happening. The text, the normal flow of the text is interrupted.
Are are you seeing that
in your bible? I don't
know if you're if you're looking at your electronic bible. It probably looks like it's probably something similar. But in our paper bible, something happens with the formatting. Question, why it do that? Why is the formatting different?
That you're following the line cutoffs where they are or you're making them shorter to kinda make a zero part stand out as different. Okay. So
these are Jesus' words, but Jesus is quoting something? That's what it looks like. Yes. Yes.
And it has a single quote around it online, which is a quote within a quote. Didn't dance. So we played funeral songs and you didn't weep. Okay.
Now is there a footnote that tells us that Jesus is quoting, which he often does, something else in the Bible? Not a mind. No. Have any of you ever heard that quote in the Bible? Yes.
Oh.
Chapter 11.
Ah, okay. So you have a foot... Alright. You have a footnote, which is a parallel passage, and Jesus is saying the same thing. So, yes, you get credit for that.
You get credit for that. But this quote, we played wedding songs and you didn't dance. We played funeral songs and you didn't weep. Besides those... Besides Jesus quoting that in Matthew, is that found anywhere else in the Bible?
No. Correct. It is not found anywhere else in the Bible. Matthew and Luke both mentioned the same story. Or if you want to touch the corner of your glasses, you could say pericope.
It's just this isolated, standalone, little self contained story. So if Jesus is not quoting something from the Bible, what is
he quoting? Have you ever thought about
Okay. Star on your bible chart. You're exactly right. So it is a it is a it is a quote from a children's song. What what do you what do you have?
Link. So Jesus is addressing... Is he addressing children or adults? No. He's addressing adults.
And he says, how can I make this as simple as possible for you guys? And when he says you guys, he's referring to Pharisees and experts in religious law. And he could have gone one of two ways. He could have gone super intellectual. He could have gone super intelligent.
He could have addressed them from the Old Testament, which we see him do frequently. But instead, he goes a different direction and addresses them like children. And, Phil, you're right. This song, this little ditty, if you will, was among Jesus' day, a very common children's playground song similar to what we would say. Bring around the Rosie.
I don't know. What's another one? Twinkle twinkle. Twinkle twinkle little star. I don't know that I'm saying that on the playground, but maybe...
Yeah. Or not. What else? The ends. Red okay.
So these songs so these songs were some... We all sang something like that in our childhoods growing up. So this little diddy was this song Well, this is why we all have trauma. So I don't expect you to know, but but could you guess at goading or cajoling or or or even trying to, like, provoke children to come play with them or again when you're poking at somebody on the playground, like Cory and Amanda sitting in a tree. Yes.
That's I n g. No. Go ahead. Okay. Three.
So so that song is sung as a little bit, Yes. Yes. Yes. Okay. So so now it's coming into...
It's coming more into focus. Children in Jesus' days often role played and reenacted the most significant cultural events that would take place in their communities. And the most significant cultural events that would take place in their communities were? Weddings. Weddings and Funerals.
Funerals. So kids would get... Neighborhood kids would get together, and they would say, what do you wanna play today? Do you wanna play weddings, or do you wanna play funerals? Let's play funerals.
Okay. And then they had assigned the roles, Okay. Fine. You wanna play funerals? No.
I don't really wanna play funerals. Well, come on. Come outside and play with us. And when they... When their playmate didn't wanna come outside and play, what would they do?
Sing this song at them. We played wedding weep. A little a little sing song ditty that children would sing to their friends to try to get them into playing with them. Is that... Are you understanding that better, the cultural context better?
Okay. Now you've read this how many times? Hundreds hundreds of times during your life as you follow Jesus and read your bible. Maybe you intuitively understood it, now with a better cultural background understanding, now let's take that ditty and try to figure out what it... Why did Jesus use that?
And what is Jesus getting at by addressing the experts in religious law and the Pharisees? Let's look at the text again together. Everyone knows in your bible consider that. Many, many times. Well, pull on your big boy pants and cowboy up.
But I don't say that. I'm saying it in my place. Don't we let Jesus say these words? Not because I'm afraid to, but my job is to evoke the beauty of the bride. And I would rather people be offended by the word of God than than either my words or the interpretation of my words.
Not because I'm afraid, but because your beef transfers from me directly to God. You're gonna have to take that up with Jesus because it was Jesus that called you a bunch of children. That is very insightful. That's what Jesus is saying. What else do you see or notice in light of our cultural education we've just received?
I see in verse 30, the professions they're talking about specifically, being a Pharisee or a lawyer, like, those are prominent professions. And so I think, like like, bunch of kids nowadays, like, they all wanna be this or that or, like, when I was growing up, you wanna be, like, a rapper or a snowboarder whatever. And so... But that's not necessarily what the Lord has for you because you're rejecting the Lord's purpose. And culture is preaching all these different professions like, oh, okay.
Go be a doctor. Go go do something professional, which is not necessarily what the Lord has for you.
Yeah. They had refused or treated John's baptism casually. So Somebody was. They said that that, hey, let's do this or maybe you said, let's do this and people aren't happy. Okay.
Fine. Let's do this. And still people are grumpy about it. It. And and I wrote this in my notes.
No matter if God's messenger came with strictness, John, or with joy, Jesus, the people found an excuse to reject both. Or if you want that in a little more memorable way, we'll put it up on the screen here. It's not the tune you reject. It's the truth that you resist. It's not the tune that you reject.
It's the truth that you resist.
Have a quick question. Because my version says, I'm at 35, but wisdom is justified by all her children.
Oh, children?
Yeah. That word again.
I know. Can you say it one more time now? But wisdom is justified by all her children. And so I find it interesting that in this version, says children. And in this version, it says lives of those who follow it.
So it's interesting just in our conversation that he... That Jesus is treating us like children because we are acting like children. But I think this is saying that, like, we have the option to also go into the side of children where it's like the whole child like thing that they did, where it's like the wisdom is shown to be right by the lives of children.
Let's leave that question mark right there for a second, but we're going to... We're gonna dig into it. For you Bible students out there, one of the ways that you can begin to pick up on the theme of the speaker of what are they trying to emphasize is by doing a word count. And I did not do this. Well, mostly because my translation penalty doesn't say that, but I did see that in other translations.
But I didn't make that connection. Beautiful connection being made. It would be interesting to do a word count and see how many times the word child or childish or children come up and compare that to other words that potentially could be repeated, John or... So so that's... It's a tool that
you can use when studying studying God's God's word. Word. Just Just do do a a word word count. Count.
Like, oh, the word child or children is coming up a bunch. I must... I should pay attention to them. What's he driving them? Just so you know, I
was nerdy out on that back here.
But wisdom is shown to be right by the lives of those who follow him. Who or what is Jesus referring to? These are red letters in your Bible. Jesus is speaking. Who or what is g referring to?
Multiple choice. The the Pharisees and the teachers of religious Jesus and John the Baptist, or the people there listening to his words. Those are all the characters in this story. So who who is Jesus talking about? The baptized.
The baptized? Are you able to defend that? Excellent defense. I was gonna say disciples. Yeah.
Disciples. Yeah. Because they're they're following Jesus. Yes. What else or who else?
Option c is a combination of a, b, or c. So my name is Gail. And Gail, we love having y'all visit from Connecticut. Welcome back to Tribe. Welcome home.
We'll be able to follow Jesus every day. And I... May he he be in
charge of all the things that he can
do Yes. By prayer. Yes. Okay. Gail, you're you're you're really...
You're on the right track, and you're one or two points ahead of me, follow it. The it is wisdom. Jesus embodied wisdom. Yeah. Great.
He's also referring to himself and brother Douglas. He's saying, look at my track record. Look at what I've done. Look at what I've said. Look what Old Testament scriptures have said about me.
Mhmm. In fact, Jesus quoted the Old Testament in reference to John. Prophecy and his life and his message and his actions, people were rejecting or I would say treating casual all of Jesus because they had a personal judgment about who he ate with. They probably stood outside and watched the people coming into the room for dinner. Oh, I know her.
Mhmm. Oh, that guy? Mhmm. Mhmm. And then here comes Jesus into the the the house for dinner.
That person didn't... I'm I'm reading into the text. Bear with me. That person didn't go and and sit in that meal with Jesus. They just stood out on the outside almost as if a modern day equivalent would be to take carefully clip and trimmed edits of a person's total conversation and use that to judge their entire life.
That Charlie Kirk, he's a racist. Because he just, like, foolishly And Jesus is saying, you know what? You're being a child. Stop it. Then he says to himself, about himself and John, look at my whole life.
Look at John's whole life, and then draw your conclusions. And and that's where you get wisdom. So what is our foundation or how do we obtain wisdom so that we can see and judge and evaluate correctly? None of us want to remain as children. Deciding.
Think like an umpire that calls balls and strikes. Fear of the Lord. And fear of the Lord simply means deep awe, reverence, and respect. Meaning, Lord, you tell me I'm not going to come with my preconceived notions or or or what I thought because of what I've been fed or who I hang out with. I just want your truth and wisdom.
Even if that means you accurately judge his thoughts, ideas, opinions on anything. What a lot of people do is they develop their own thoughts, ideas, and opinions, and then they come wrestle it out with the Lord, trying to convince him or win him or make a case for what it is they wanna do or think or believe. The Bible says that God resists the proud. Problem. A A judgment far worse than God saying no is for God to say, okay, man.
Okay. Go ahead. Than him confronting you is him allowing you to just go on ahead with me. It's terrifying. The book of James word.
Because if you simply hear God's word but fail to obey it, what do you do? You don't bring judgment on yourself. You deceive poignant and powerful. And the invitation today is to abandon life. And I feel like something changed five years ago that the Lord has said childish...
Childish sons and daughters to raise up in maturity through obedience, rightly dividing the word of truth, and being
