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Granny used to say, “There‘s no pleasing some folks.” Her one-liner gets at the heart of what Jesus describes in the children’s verse he quotes to his audience in Luke 7. The Pharisees and experts in the law didn’t like John the Baptist and his fasting. Nor did they like Jesus and his feasting with outcasts. Yep, there’s no pleasing some folks.

The scary thing is that these law experts themselves, while vehemently displeased with John and Jesus, likely thought they were the good guys. They were certain they knew what God wanted. They knew the law to the nth degree and were busy at teaching others what they knew. John and Jesus were annoying to these well-intentioned enthusiasts because neither John nor Jesus looked to the “experts” for enlightenment.

What a tragic irony that the great religious leaders recognized neither their long-awaited Messiah nor his forerunner in their midst! Does this same tragedy recur in our day? Can we as believers become so entrenched in our long-time habits that we might miss God at work among us in unexpected ways? Do we make ourselves master of our faith practices or is God the Master and Leader of all we do? Do we pray, “Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest,” and not look for Him to come and do new things?

When we can look at the tension between Jesus and his contemporary religious leaders from a distance, we easily discern the leaders’ lack of humility and their closed minds. In our own situation, it’s far more difficult to acknowledge our own hardness of heart and stiff necks when God is beckoning us in a new direction.

How do we cultivate humility within ourselves before God so that we are not resistant to God

on the move among us? Consider what the Lord said to Paul in the midst of his missionary journey challenges in a vision in Acts 18:9-10: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.” The city to which God refers in Acts is Corinth, but what about Columbus or the town where you live? Is God not also at work in our day and in our city?

Heaven forbid that we should expect Jesus to please us as the disgruntled folks in Luke 7 did. Rather let us commit to humility, before God, so that the Lord might say of our locale: “I have many people in this city.” The kingdom of God doesn’t need cranky critics on the sidelines. Instead, God calls us to jump in with Him in His kingdom’s coming.

PRAYER

Thank you, Father, that we get to join You where Your Spirit moves. Cleanse us of our grumbling spirits. Train us to be a ready people for You in our city. Amen.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

PAM MANN

I first joined UALC when my husband (then my fiancé) and I were college students involved in youth ministry. God has used UALC to nurture our family’s faith, even in our years outside the U.S. I’ve participated in UALC ministries with kids, art, prayer, exercise, ESL, and Bible teaching. I do all the fun church things.

February 10 | Luke 7:18-30

Pastor Dave Mann
Feb 10, 2025

DAILY READING

Luke 7:18-30

REFLECTION

Privileged Seats

By Dave Mann

Luke 7:28 -- 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.

Who was John the Baptist? He was the last in a long line of prophets whom God sent to prepare the way to welcome and receive Jesus the Messiah. (See Luke 16:16.) Think about the company of prophets with whom John is associated – Moses, Isaiah, Micah, Elijah, Elisha, etc. To get an overview of the chronology of the best-known prophets, check out this website. (Click here). In addition, lesser-known prophets include Hulda, Ahijah, and several unnamed prophets.

John prophesied about the coming of the Messiah. Still, he did not live long enough to see the crucifixion, death, resurrection, ascension, and in-filling of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. John knew the Law. John knew the moral code of God’s ways. John knew the need for repentance and God’s forgiveness. But he did not live when the power of the resurrection fueled the spread of saving faith in the kingdom of God. Even in his last days, John could not see clearly what God was doing in Jesus.

We, who live this side of the inauguration of the Kingdom of God, are privileged to see and benefit from the cosmic events brought into reality by the Cross and the Resurrection. That clarity sets us apart from John the Baptist in significant ways. John looked forward to these events with faithful expectation. We look back with gratitude and faith.

John was one of those prophets who spoke the Word of God faithfully and suffered for it. But he did not see the fulfillment of God’s Messianic plan on this side of heaven. John is no doubt included in the closing paragraph of Hebrews 11 (the Hall of Fame of Faith) verses 35-40.

Others were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted, and mistreated— the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

John is certainly to be revered for his faithfulness even to the point of martyrdom. However, in terms of having a clear view of what God was doing on the stage of the Cross and the Empty Tomb, we have the privileged seats. We get to see what others like John the Baptist only dreamed about.