The Big But! - A Reflection on Luke 7:31-35




“To what then will 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 wailed, 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, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Nevertheless, wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”

Have you ever noticed how often conversations about somebody that start off very nicely invariably have a “but” thrown in before the sentence ends? For instance: “Oh, Bob! He is a really wonderful guy, BUT ...! And that’s the end of the wonderful guy! So, it isn’t surprising really that people did this with John the Baptist and Jesus too. I imagine this is how they spoke of the Baptist. “Oh, John! He’s doing amazing things in the desert, BUT he’s weird. Have you seen the way he dresses? And the stuff he eats? Really gross, man! He must have a demon in him!”

 

And I imagine this is how they spoke of Jesus. “Oh, Jesus is an awesome preacher, BUT he can’t be from God really. Look at the people he hangs around with. They’re dirty fishermen and horrible tax collectors! And the places he hangs about in: brothels and bars! And he claims to be the Son of God! Such blasphemy I tell you!” This is not my imagination running riot! This is what Jesus himself says in today’s passage. But does any of this sound familiar? We have a habit of judging people, don’t we? And our judgements are often based on their personal style or demeanor. 

 

Neither John the Baptist nor Jesus took it quietly. John the Baptist called the Pharisees and Sadducees a “brood of vipers” (see Matthew 3:7). A “brood of vipers” is a “family of snakes.” Because vipers are venomous, John was essentially calling the religious leaders “poisonous sons of snakes.”  It’s quite a denunciation—and one that Jesus would repeat to the Pharisees not much later (see Matthew 12:34). It made them furious, of course, and they moved from slander to murder. This, incidentally, is a natural progression of things. After all, slander is murder with words. 

 

But the things that people said about Jesus and John the Baptist didn’t stop either of them from doing what they had to do. It shouldn’t stop us either. We need to please God, not people. Besides, people cannot really be pleased. They will find fault with us, no matter what we do. If we fast, they will say we are putting on a show. If we don’t, they will say we lack spirituality. If we pray in tongues they will say we are speaking gibberish. If we don’t they will say we don’t have the anointing of the Holy Spirit. You know what it is like!

 

So, if God has given us a task — and he has, by the way — let nothing stop us. What people say — or do — can sometimes be quite an ordeal, but if it is because of the name of Christ, then, as Peter advises, we should rejoice. “But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ,” he says, “so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed” (1 Peter 4:13). It is what the apostles did. After they were flogged one day, Scripture says they “left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name” (Acts 5:41).

 

So, let nothing stop us from doing God’s work. However, let us stop doing something. And that’s using those buts! You are wonderful. And that’s that.


Watch a video of this reflection by Aneel Aranha here: https://youtu.be/zkxcErc1qgo



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Let’s Get Healed - A Reflection on Matthew 18:21-19:1

Image
  Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times. “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat, he said, ‘Pay what you owe.’ Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me...
Read more

Patience - A Reflection on Luke 2:33-35.

Image
  And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.”   This is probably the shortest passage that we have reflected upon this year. In it, we find a man named Simeon making a prophecy about three things. One, about Jesus. Two, about the people of Israel. And three, about the pain that Jesus’ mother Mary would go through. We have seen all his prophecies came true. But who is Simeon? And what can we learn from him? Ok. On the 40th day of his birth, Jesus is taken by Mary and Joseph to the temple to be officially inducted into the Jewish faith. When they were there, a man named Simeon came in to see them.   He is described as “righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Isr...
Read more

Dying and Killing

  The Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus replied, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these are you going to stone me?” The Jews answered, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you, but for blasphemy, because you, though only a human being, are making yourself God.” Jesus answered, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods’? If those to whom the word of God came were called ‘gods’—and the scripture cannot be annulled— can you say that the one whom the Father has sanctified and sent into the world is blaspheming because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me. But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” Then they tried to arrest him again, but he escaped from their hands. He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing earl...
Read more