Luke 7:31 says, And the Lord said, Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation? and to what are they like? Jesus asked what He should compare the current generation of men to. I have to wonder what Jesus would compare the current generation of people, men in particular, to today. Verse thirty-two adds, They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept. Jesus said they were like children in the marketplace who were only looking to be entertained. They were not serious about their relationship with God. This generation is a generation that loves to be entertained, but so were the last couple of generations. Too many people look more for what can amuse and entertain them than to what God has called us to do, even some who profess to be followers of Christ. Verse thirty-three states, For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil. Jesus said John the Baptist came and didn't eat bread or drink wine, and the people said he was possessed by a devil. They did not like what John the Baptist was preaching, so they attempted to discredit him by claiming he was empowered by the Devil. Verse thirty-four adds, The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners! Jesus said that when He, the Son of man, came eating and drinking that they accused Him of being a gluttonous, drunken man who was a friend of publicans and sinners in an attempt to discredit Him. No matter how we worship God today, people who do not believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord are going to attempt to discredit us because of the way we worship. What we don't need is Christians attempting to discredit other Christians because of the way that they worship. Verse thirty-five continues, But wisdom is justified of all her children. Jesus said it is not how we choose to worship and even live our everyday life, but that we do so guided by the wisdom of God that matters. We are justified not by our actions but by our relationship with Jesus Christ. Verse thirty-six says, And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to meat. One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and Jesus did. The Pharisees were attempting as a group to discredit Jesus, but He was still willing to associate with one of them, just as He had with publicans and sinners. Jesus did not exclude people because of their earthly status, and neither should we today. Verse thirty-seven adds, And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, A woman of the city, who was a sinner, heard that Jesus was eating at the house of the Pharisee and brought and alabaster box of oil with her to the Pharisee’s house. When we first come to Jesus we can only come as a sinner, and after we accept Him as our Savior and Lord, we can only come as a sinner saved by grace. Verse thirty-eight adds, And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. The women stood behind Jesus weeping and began to wash His feet with her tears and kissed His feet and anointed them with the oil. She was very humble and contrite and wanted only to serve Jesus in this small way. When we come to Jesus for salvation, we should come humble and contrite, wanting only to do what we can to serve Him. Verse thirty-nine adds, Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner. The Pharisee said to himself that if Jesus was a prophet, He would have known what manner of woman this was, because she was a sinner. Jesus knew what she was, and so did she, but she did not allow the fact that she was a sinner to stop her from coming to Jesus, nor did Jesus refuse to allow her to serve Him. Again, we must acknowledge that we can only come to Jesus as sinners saved by grace. What the Pharisee refused to acknowledge was that he too was a sinner, and yet Jesus was associating with him. We should never look down on anyone who comes Jesus with an attitude that we are superior and more worthy of His forgiveness than anyone else, especially as Christians.
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