Rejecting Repentance
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Introduction
Introduction
[Illus] There’s a billboard on Springhill Avenue. I see it every time I head back to the church from University Hospital or Mobile Infirmary. On the billboard is a message calling people to call on Jesus for salvation. It promises that if you do, your life will change. And then it ends with one word, “Repent.”
People go up and down Springhill, make their turns, and their stops, but everyone it seems ignores that billboard—and perhaps especially that word “repent”.
It’s understandable
Some people don’t see it.
I suppose some could simply not understand it.
But the message of repentance that Jesus and John preached was unmissable and unmistakable. The message of repentance they preached was like if that billboard on Springhill smashed into the top of your car as you went by. You’d have to stop, assess the situation, and decide what to do next.
That was what those who heard John and Jesus had to do as well— stop, assess, and decide.
And that’s what we must do this morning in response to God’s Word—stop, assess, and decide.
[CONTEXT] We started looking at this passage of Scripture last week and the backstory is interesting—Jesus was baptized, anointed by God the Holy Spirit, and verified by God the Father.
He defeated Satan in the wilderness by resisting every temptation.
He began his public ministry by teaching with amazing authority.
He claimed to be the Christ.
He healed people, kept preaching, got some disciples, kept healing people, kept claiming to be the Christ, chose his Apostles, kept healing, kept preaching, and kept healing!
He healed a Centurion’s servant without even being present and raised a widowed woman’s only son from the dead with a command.
That’s why in , it says...
And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.
There was a buzz about Jesus.
But while people buzzed about Jesus, John the Baptist was in prison.
John the Baptist was the forerunner of Jesus. He was the one who came in the spirit and power of Elijah to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
He did this through preaching a message of repentance.
As we’ll see some repented of their sins but others rejected repentance.
John was in prison because he called Herod, the Jewish King (really a puppet-king on behalf of the Romans) to repent of the sin of stealing his brother’s wife.
Herod kept John in his cell and would bring him up when he wanted to hear John’s preaching.
John likely preached that same sermon on repentance to Herod over and over again.
During that time John’s disciples were reporting to him all the things that Jesus was doing and saying.
God had revealed to John that the one on whom he saw the Spirit rest would be the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One who would take away the sins of God’s people.
And that’s exactly what John saw at Jesus’ baptism.
He also heard the Father say from Heaven, “This is My Beloved Son with Whom I am well pleased.”
John certainly knew that Jesus was the Christ.
He even referring to Him as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”
But the reports he was getting about Jesus’ ministry were not what John expected to hear.
But the reports he was getting about Jesus’ ministry were not what John expected to hear.
Back in John said of the coming Christ...
John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
He heard a prophet of God repeatedly preach the Word of God regarding his sin.
Now that’s what John expected the Christ to do, but when his disciples reported back to him about the ministry of Jesus, what did John hear about?
He heard about mighty miracles and perfect sermons but not about winnowing forks and unquenchable fire as he expected.
John expected Jesus to come condemning but Jesus came redeeming.
This confused John, so he sent his disciples to ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” ().
He could have (and if he was affected by John’s preaching at all, must have) gone to God’s Word himself to see if what John said was true. And it certainly was true!
Rather than respond to John’s doubt with frustration or dismissal, Jesus responded with compassion.
In that very hour, right before the eyes of John’s disciples, Jesus began to intentionally fulfill the Word of God—doing the very things that the prophet Isaiah said the Christ would do.
Then why didn’t Herod repent?
The blind received their sight.
The lame walked.
What other answer could there be other than atheism?
The lepers were cleansed.
The deaf heard.
The dead were raised up.
The poor had good news preached to them.
And all of this so that John would not doubt that Jesus was the Christ.
Then Jesus sent John’s disciples back with a message, “…blessed is the one who is not offended by Me,” ().
Those who refuse to believe that Jesus is the Christ stumble over Jesus on the way to Hell.
Those who believe that Jesus is the Christ, however, are blessed with eternal life.
Not wanting the surrounding crowds to get the wrong idea about John, Jesus began to them of John’s greatness, his toughness, and his conviction.
John was a man of conviction, not some reed shaken by the wind.
John was a man of toughness, not some dainty royal dressed in soft clothes while living in some luxurious palace.
He was a man of the wilderness dressed in camel hair and a leather belt while eating wild honey and locusts.
John was a prophet and more than a prophet. He was the forerunner of the Christ. Jesus said that “…among those born of women none is greater than John,” ().
Greater still, however, are those who get to see the fulfillment in Jesus of all John preached about.
That’s you and me and all who trust Jesus as the Christ.
Now that brings us up to where we are this morning.
[CIT] In we see that the people declared God just for calling them to repentance through the ministry of John the Baptist while the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected repentance.
[PROP] This morning the call to repentance comes to us through this passage from God’s Holy Word and we must decide...
[INTER] …will we admit that it is right and good of God to call sinners like us to repentance? Will we actually repent? Or will we also reject repentance?
[TS] I want to make four OBSERVATIONS from this passage of Scripture...
Major Ideas
Major Ideas
OBSERVE: God is just in demanding we repent of sin.
OBSERVE: God is just in demanding we repent of sin.
(When all the people heard this, and the tax collectors too, they declared God just, having been baptized with the baptism of John,
[Exp]
[Exp] We are sinners. You are, and I am. God, our Creator, is holy (i.e., He is perfect righteousness and without even a hint of sin). Thus, it just or right for God to call us sinners to repentance.
We come to v. 29 from v. 28 where Jesus said that John the Baptist was great but greater still were those in the Kingdom of God.
John came to prepare the world for the Kingdom of God in the coming of Jesus—but people enter the Kingdom of God by repenting of sin and trusting Jesus as the Christ.
eople enter the Kingdom of God by repenting of sin and trusting Jesus as the Christ
As v. 29 says, “When all the people hear this… they declared God just.”
The people to whom Jesus spok
More literally, “they justified God.” What does that mean?
More literally, “they justified God.” What does that mean?
What does that mean?
To justify someone means to declare their righteousness in general or in a specific action.
Here, the people are saying that God did right in sending John to prepare them for Jesus by calling them to repentance.
The baptism of John was a baptism of repentance.
It looked similar to our baptism.
A repentant individual went down into the water, was immersed, and came up out of the water.
John’s baptism was a public declaration that one was turning from sin and joining with God’s people in worshipping Him alone.
Acknowledging one’s sinfulness and calling out to God for cleansing was what John’s baptism was all about.
Those who did so were ready for Jesus when he came.
[Illus] I’ve received many assignments from many professors during my time in college and seminary. Some of the assignments were easy and some were difficult; some could be done quickly and others required more time.
But not once did I ever think to myself, “This professor has no right to expect this from me.”
The reason I never thought that was because the professor was the authority in the class.
If he or she said it, that’s what had to be done and no lowly student had a choice.
The reason that never occured to me and
What do you think would’ve happened if I raised my hand and said to one of my teachers back in the day, “Yes, I see that you’re requiring a 20-page paper on December 2. I don’t believe you have the right to require that of me, so I won’t be doing it,”?
What do you think would’ve happened?
What would happen if you said to your boss tomorrow, “I know you’ve told me to do this work, but I don’t believe you have the right?”
If we lived that way, we’d fail our classes and lose our jobs!
If we live this way toward God, we’ll lose our eternal lives!
[App] Many people today claim to have no belief in God, and that helps them believe that God has no right to demand repentance from them.
You can tell that God demands they repent of sin and they’ll say in one way or another, “He doesn’t have the right to tell me that. He is not just in requiring that of me.” But He is.
God is just in demanding repentance because He is God!
He is the Creator who created us all!
He is the Judge who will judge us all!
He is holy, and we are not!
We are the ones who have failed to measure up to the standard of His holiness!
We don’t say to Him, “You don’t have the right!”
We declare Him just—we acknowledge that God has done right in demanding that we repent of our sins!
Why are they mentioned specifically?
And we admit that we have the obligation to answer His demand with repentance.
[TS] ...
OBSERVE: God’s purpose for every sinner is repentance but some reject repentance.
OBSERVE: God’s purpose for every sinner is repentance but some reject repentance.
Luk
but the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.)
(When all the people heard this, and the tax collectors too, they declared God just, having been baptized with the baptism of John, but the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.)
[Exp]
[Exp] God says in His Word that He desires all sinners to repent () and be saved (). In the language of , that’s the “purpose of God” for every sinner, but some reject it.
The religious leaders rejected repentance, which was the purpose of God in sending John the Baptist as the forerunner of the Christ.
Those of us with great Bible knowledge should take it as a warning that these lawyers or “teachers of the Law” were diligent in the study of God’s Word, but they too rejected God’s call to repentance.
“They put themselves outside the way of blessing...” because they rejected repentance (Morris).
These Pharisees and lawyers diligent in obeying their traditions, which they equated with God’s Word or His Law.
Because they replaced God’s Law with their own traditions and then kept their traditions, they counted themselves as righteous before God when really they were only righteous in their own eyes.
They failed to understand that, although they were called to obey God’s commands, the commands of God were meant to show them just how sinful they were.
An understanding of their utter sinfulness would’ve lead them to cry out to God for mercy. “Lord have mercy on me, a sinner!”
It would have lead them to obey him with a broken and contrite heart rather than keeping man-made traditions for the purpose of glorifying self.
It would have led them to trust in the sacrifices God required rather than their own performance.
As it was, however, they trusted in themselves, thought themselves righteous even before God, and they rejected the purpose of God in sending John—they rejected repentance.
Now, notice that the Pharisees and lawyers are not the only groups mentioned specifically. Verse 29 also mentions the tax collectors who declared God just in calling them to repentance.
OBSERVE: Some repent and some reject repentance.
OBSERVE: Some repent and some reject repentance.
We should see here a contrast between notorious sinners like tax collectors in v. 29 and those who were considered devout like the Pharisees and lawyers in v. 30. What does this contrast teach us?
[Exp]
It teaches us that it is not great sin in general that will keep us from repentance but specifically great pride.
Jesus made this point in when he said to the prideful, self-righteous religious leaders...
For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.
Jewish tax collectors betrayed their own people by collecting taxes for the idolatrous Roman government. Many of them also stole from their own people in order to make themselves rich.
Many of them also stole from their own people in order to make themselves rich.
Prostitutes betrayed themselves by selling their bodies to sexual immorality.
Both the tax collectors and prostitutes knew that they were sinners.
These supposedly devout religiously leaders didn’t believe they were, so they rejected repentance.
Do you believe you’re a sinner?
[App] How incredible it must’ve been to hear John the Baptist preach on sin and repentance in preparation for Jesus’ coming. God must’ve gifted him with the ability to show those who were willing to see just how deep down their sin went.
It is not pleasant to see just how deep sins runs in us, but it is beneficial.
It we don’t see how deeply sinful we are, we won’t see how greatly we need to turn away of sin and cling to Jesus.
We should remember that there are sins of commission and sins of omission—i.e., there are things we shouldn’t do that we do, and there are things we should do that we don’t do.
We should remember that sins of the mind or heart are sins just the same as sins of the flesh—i.e., when we think a sinful thought, we sin.
When we think a sinful thought, we sin.
We should remember that sins committed in response to sins committed against us are still sins deserving death.
We should remember that sins that the world approves of and even celebrates are still sins which God hates.
We should remember that sins we laugh at or entertain ourselves with are still sins that separate us from God.
Sins we plan and sins that sneak up on us are both sins.
Sins that don’t hurt anyone are still sins that anger God.
Sins offline or online are both sins.
Sins that have little to no earthly consequences still bring with them eternal consequences unless we repent.
There is no such thing as a respectable or acceptable sin.
Group sins are sins for which every individual involved is responsible and will be held accountable.
We must remember that a sin unknown to anyone else is known to God.
We must remember that a sin that leads to something positive is still wicked.
For example, we might gamble, win, and then give that money to God.
But gambling is still a sin.
We should remember that sins quickly forgiven by those who love us are still sins that greatly offend God and that must be forgiven by Him.
We must remember that every sin is first and foremost a sin against God.
We must repent of specific sins.
Lust.
Lying.
Stealing.
Dishonesty.
Pride.
Envy.
Greed.
Racism.
Idolatry.
Sexual Immorality.
Vulgarity.
Gluttony.
Laziness.
These are the works of the flesh. says...
Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions,
Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality,
Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Galatians 5:19
We also need to repent of a lifestyle of sinfulness. Examine yourself in this moment. Ask yourself...
Am I habitually deceitful?
Am I habitually immoral?
Vulgar?
Gluttonous?
Lazy?
Envious?
Prideful?
Racist?
Do I habitually entertain myself with things such as these?
Repentance is not just the Holy Spirit-empowered decision to stop committing a specific sin; it is the Holy Spirit-empowered decision to stop living sinfully and instead to start living righteously before God through faith in Jesus.
Repentance is the Holy Spirit-empowered decision to stop living sinfully and instead to start living righteously before God.
My Lord Jesus lived a sinless life and was crucified as the sacrifice for my sin!
How can I refuse to repent?
Indeed, all “who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires,” ().
Do you belong to Him?
You don’t unless crucify the flesh—i.e., unless you repent.
[TS] ...
OBSERVE: Those who reject repentance reject all calls to repent.
OBSERVE: Those who reject repentance reject all calls to repent.
Luke 7:31-
“To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, “ ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.’ For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’
[Exp]
[Exp] The people who reject God’s call to repent reject it no matter how it’s presented to them.
The religious leaders rejected the call to repentance when it came to them in the dire preaching of John the Baptist.
And they rejected when it came to them in the joyful preaching of Jesus Christ.
Jesus said they were like hard-hearted children who refused to be moved by a happy tune or a sad one.
God could say to these prideful religious leaders, “I played the flute for you, and you did not dance; I sang a dirge, and you did not weep.”
In John, God set the message of repentance to the tune of a sad funeral dirge, but the religious leaders did not weep for their sins.
In Jesus, the message of repentance to the tune of a joyful wedding song, but the religious leaders did not rejoice in the salvation that had come down to them.
No matter the tune, it was the lyrics of repentance that caused the religious leaders to hate the song.
They claimed that John was too limited.
He was like someone in mourning eating no bread and drinking no wine.
The religious leaders often fasted to glorify themselves but couldn’t imagine fasting as an act of mourning their own sinfulness.
They claimed that John was too limited - not eating bread or drinking wine like someone in mourning.
In fact, so strange was John’s grieving over sin that they said he must be demon-possessed.
They claimed that Jesus was too lavish.
He ate and drank like someone at a wedding reception.
The religious leaders were not opposed to a good party so long as their kind of people were invited.
But to win souls for God, (Jesus) frequently hung out with the other kind of people. Therefore, he was accused him of being a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.
They would eventually accuse Jesus of being demon-possessed as well. (cf. ).
All because they rejected repentance no matter how it was presented to them.
Thus, they accused him of being a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.
[Illus] Every now and again, I’ll be in a restaurant looking at a menu and I’ll see a picture of a steak with blue cheese crumbled on top, just beginning to melt.
I think to myself, “Maybe I like blue cheese now.” But I don’t.
But I don’t.
If I order that steak, I won’t like it because I don’t like the taste of blue cheese.
I don’t like it on steak.
I don’t like it in salad.
I don’t like it covered in chocolate.
No matter what it’s sprinkled on top of or covered with, I don’t like it.
That’s how people are with repentance.
No matter how its presented to them, they don’t like it.
[App] Many churches today believe they can change their style to make the call to repentance more palatable.
They’ll change anything and everything to get people in the door, but if the message is still a call to repent of sin by turning to God through faith in Jesus Christ, many people will soon walk right back out the door.
You see, its not the style that people are rejecting.
It’s the message.
People are rejecting repentance, and they will reject all calls to repentance no matter what its sprinkled on top of or covered with.
[Illus]
[TS] ...
When confronted with the joyful preaching of Jesus, the religious said, “Shouldn’t there be more seriousness in preaching God’s Word?”
It wasn’t the style or tone of John or Jesus’ ministry that offended them.
It was the message of repentance.
They said John had a demon and Jesus associated with the wrong kind of folks.
But finally, OBSERVE: In the end, those who repent will be proven wise.
But finally, OBSERVE: In the end, those who repent will be proven wise.
Yet wisdom is justified by all her children.”
[Exp]
[Illus] “The proof is in the pudding.” You’ve probably used that saying before. That’s what Jesus means here.
If you claimed to have a great banana pudding recipe, we would not say, “Oh yeah, well tell us about your recipe!”
No, we’d say, “Make us some of your banana pudding, and we’ll taste it.”
The result of that taste test would determine if you have good banana pudding recipe.
[Exp] In the same way, wisdom is proved wise by the result it produces. Wisdom’s proof is in its pudding.
If wisdom is wise, it works.
If something supposedly wise doesn’t work, then its not wisdom.
The results of an action actually reveal if it was wise or foolish.
Those results are either the children of wisdom or the children of foolishness.
The results actually reveal if an action is wise or foolish.
In the end, the rejection of repentance by the religious leaders will prove foolish because it will send them to Hell.
However, turning from sin through faith in Jesus as the Christ will prove wise because that’s how we enter the Kingdom of God—that’s how we are saved from God’s wrath in Hell and welcomed into God’s joyous presence in Heaven.
[App] There is a day of judgment coming.
Every person will be raised up to stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
For those who rejected repentance, it will be a judgment of condemnation.
For those who embraced repentance, it will be a judgment of celebration.
“For there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
The wisdom of repentance will be proven as we all stand before a holy God and face his judgement.
We should remember as a warning that these lawyers were diligent in the study of God’s Word, but ignorant of its heart message.
“They put themselves outside the way of blessing...” because they rejected repentance (Morris).
They focused on obedience to God’s law and counted themselves as good enough because they obeyed traditions of their own making while calling it obedience to God.
They failed to understand that, although they were called to obey God’s commands, the commands of God were meant to show them just how sinful they were.
An understanding of their utter sinfulness would’ve lead them to cry out to God for mercy (“Lord have mercy on me, a sinner!”). It would have lead them to obey him with a broken and contrite heart rather than “keeping commandments” for the purpose of glorifying self. It would have led them to trust in the sacrifices God required rather than their own performance.
As it was, however, they trusted in themselves, thought themselves righteous even before God, and they rejected the purpose of God in sending John—they rejected repentance.
o obey him
To see just how deep sins runs in us is not a pleasant experience, but it is beneficial.
It we don’t see how deeply sinful we are, we won’t see how greatly we need to repent and cling to Jesus.
We should remember that there are sins of commission and sins of omission—things we shouldn’t do that we do and things we should do that we don’t do.
We should remember that sins of the mind or heart are sins just the same as sins of the flesh.
We should remember that sins committed in response to sins committed against us are still sins deserving death.
We should remember that sins that the world approves of and even celebrates are still sins which God hates.
We should remember that sins we laugh at or entertain ourselves with are still sins that separate us from God.
Sins we plan and sins that sneak up on us are both sins just the same.
Sins that don’t hurt anyone are still sins that anger God.
Sins offline or online are both sins.
Sins that have little to no earthly consequences still bring with them eternal consequences unless we repent.
There is no such thing as a respectable or acceptable sin.
Group sins are sins for which every individual involved is responsible and will be held accountable.
We must remember that a sin unknown to anyone else is known to God.
We must remember that a sin that leads to something positive is still wicked.
We should remember that sins quickly forgiven by those who love us are still sins that greatly offend God and that must be forgiven by God.
We must remember that every sin is first and foremost a sin against God.
We must repent of specific sins.
Lust.
Lying.
Stealing.
Dishonesty.
Pride.
Envy.
Greed.
Racism.
Idolatry.
Sexual Immorality.
Vulgarity.
Gluttony.
Laziness.
But we also need to repent of a lifestyle of sinfulness. Examine yourself in this moment. Ask yourself...
Am I habitually deceitful?
Am I habitually immoral?
Vulgar?
Gluttonous?
Lazy?
Envious?
Prideful?
Racist?
Repentance is not just the Holy Spirit-empowered decision to stop committing a sin and instead do an act of righteousness.
Repentance is the Holy Spirit-empowered decision to stop living sinfully and instead to start living righteously before God.
So repentance then involves admitting to God that we’ve not just been committing sins but living sinfully.
[TS] ...
Where will you stand?
They claimed that John was too limited - not eating bread or drinking wine like someone at a funeral.
They claimed that Jesus was too lavish - eating and drinking like someone at a wedding reception.
When confronted with the dire preaching of John, the religious leaders said, “Shouldn’t there be more joy in preaching God’s Word?”
When confronted with the joyful preaching of Jesus, the religious said, “Shouldn’t there be more seriousness in preaching God’s Word?”
It wasn’t the style or tone of John or Jesus’ ministry that offended them.
It was the message of repentance.
They said John had a demon and Jesus associated with the wrong kind of folks.
“To win sinners for God (Jesus) freely associated with them.” (Morris)
v. 35 - In the end, however, the wisdom of repentance will be proven as we all stand before a holy God and face his judgement.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Where will you stand?
On the side of the wise who repent?
Or on the side of the fools who refuse?
Stop. Assess. Decide.
If you refuse to repent, what other reason could there be except believing that God doesn’t exist, that you won’t face him, and that you won’t go to Hell.
In the end,
Because you’re a sinner.
[PROP/INTER] Will you admit that it is right and good of God to call sinners like you to repentance? Will you actually repent? Or will we also reject repentance?
Repentance is God’s purpose for every sinner.
Because you cannot partake of Christ unless you do.
Now’s the time to decide.
John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance, which pointed forward to the work that Jesus would do (Morris).
Every sinner is called to repent but repentance is a gift of God’s grace that prepares us to the receive the greater gift of God’s grace, which is the righteousness of Christ made ours through faith in Him.
------------
-------------
“just” v. 29 & “justified” in v. 35
Lexham Theological Wordbook δικαιόω
δικαιόω (dikaioō). vb. to justify, acquit, vindicate, declare to be righteous. The act of judging favorably or proving right.
This word is related to the adjective δίκαιος (dikaios, “righteous”); to be justified is to be shown or declared to be righteous or in the right. In the Septuagint, dikaioōis used to translate the majority of instances of צָדֵק (ṣādēq, “to be righteous”). In its nontheological uses in the NT, dikaioō refers to proving or declaring someone to be in the right (e.g., Matt 11:19; Luke 7:35; 10:29; 16:15). In its eschatological or soteriological uses, it refers to declaring someone’s innocence or vindicating someone.
The Pharisees and the lawyers didn’t see the faithfulness of God in the coming of John the Baptist or Jesus.
They would eventually say that even Jesus had a demon (cf. ).
What was it that they didn’t like about John?
It couldn’t have been that John was too lavish.
He ate no bread and drank no wine.
He wasn’t the dinner party type.
What was it that they didn’t like about Jesus?
It couldn’t have been that Jesus was to limited.
He ate and drank.
He was the life of the party!
John lived in the wilderness.
So, what was it that the Pharisees and lawyers didn’t like?
Jesus was
Jesus was the life of the party.
They didn’t like the message that both John and Jesus preached.
When John came preaching, he said, “Repent! For the Kingdom of God is at hand!”
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
And when Jesus began his public ministry, he said, “Repent! For the Kingdom of God is at hand!”
From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Jesus set the message to the tune of a joyful wedding song, but the religious leaders did not rejoice in the salvation that had come down from God.
No matter the tune, it was the lyrics of repentance that caused the religious leaders to tune out.
---------------
The religious leaders “rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by (John),” (v. 30).
God’s purpose in sending John as the forerunner of the Christ was that people would repent of sins and be ready for the Savior.
The religious leaders rejected that purpose by refusing to be baptized by John.
Why would they refuse?
They refused because John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance, and they did not see themselves in need of repentance.
To see yourself in need of repentance you must...
…believe there is a right and a wrong.
The religious leaders believed this.
…believe there right is outside of one’s self.
The religious leaders claimed to believe this but in reality did not.
…believe that you’ve done wrong.
Because they religious leaders defined “right” in terms of observing their own traditions, they considered themselves in the right. In their view, they had no need to repent because they were keeping their traditions. But remember Jesus’ words to them in ...
And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition!
There is a right and a wrong.
Right is determine not by our traditions but by God’s Word.
And we’ve all done the opposite of God’s Word. That is, we’ve all done wrong. We’ve sinned.
Thus, we all need to repent.
Furthermore, we all need to live a life of repentance.
The purpose of God, the call to repent came from John and Jesus. But Jesus said the religious leaders were like children sitting in the marketplace calling other children to play.
They say, “We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.”
The children were willing to play a happy game, but the other children didn’t want to play.
The children were willing to play a somber game, but the other children still didn’t want to play.
John’s message sounded like a funeral dirge.
He fasted from bread and wine like those in mourning.
But the religious leaders rejected John call to repent by saying, “He as a demon.”
Jesus’ message sounded like a wedding song.
He ate and drank like one celebrating.
But the religious leaders rejected Jesus’ call to repent by saying, “Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!”
It didn’t matter how the call was presented to them.
They rejected God’s call to repent because their pride blinded them to their need to repent.
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“Yet wisdom is justified by all her children,” (v. 35).
If something supposedly wise doesn’t work, then its not wisdom.
You may believe you have a great banana pudding recipe, but if it tastes awful, you don’t have a good banana pudding recipe.
The results justify wisdom.
Wisdom works like that.
The religious leaders may have believed that they had no need to repent,
The results actually reveal if an action is wise or foolish.
In the end, the rejection of John and Jesus by the religious leaders will prove foolish.
However, the reception of John and Jesus by those willing to repent will prove wise.
MacArthur Study Bible NASB Commentary
7:29 acknowledged God’s justice. The common people and the outcast tax collectors who heard John the Baptist’s preaching acknowledged that what he required by way of repentance was from God and was righteous.
MacArthur Study Bible NASB Commentary
7:30 lawyers. See note on 10:25. rejected God’s purpose. John’s call to repentance was an expression of the will of God. By refusing repentance, they rejected not just John the Baptist, but also God Himself.
MacArthur Study Bible NASB Commentary
7:32 like children. Christ used strong derision to rebuke the Pharisees. He suggested they were behaving childishly, determined not to be pleased, whether invited to “dance” (a reference to Christ’s joyous style of ministry, “eating and drinking” with sinners—v. 34), or urged to “weep” (a reference to John the Baptist’s call to repentance, and John’s more austere manner of ministry—v. 33).
MacArthur Study Bible NASB Commentary
7:32 like children. Christ used strong derision to rebuke the Pharisees. He suggested they were behaving childishly, determined not to be pleased, whether invited to “dance” (a reference to Christ’s joyous style of ministry, “eating and drinking” with sinners—v. 34), or urged to “weep” (a reference to John the Baptist’s call to repentance, and John’s more austere manner of ministry—v. 33).