The Proclaimer

Wisdom’s Children

“Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation, and to what are they like?  They are like unto children that sit in the marketplace, and call one to another; who say, We piped unto you, and ye did not dance; we wailed, and ye did not weep.  For John the Baptist is come eating no bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a demon.  The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and they say, Behold, a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners!  And wisdom is justified of all her children” (Luke 7:31-35).

This rather scathing criticism of the Pharisees by Jesus seems rather peculiar to our ears.  But the reality is that things haven’t changed much and Christ’s rebuking is just as apropos to some today as it was when He first said it.  Just exactly what does Jesus mean when He says, “And wisdom is justified of all her children?”

To begin with, Jesus likens that “generation” of Pharisees and lawyers to children who are never satisfied with the game that’s played regardless of what it is.  In the same manner, they rejected both John the Baptist and Jesus criticizing John for his isolated rather “bizarre” life style, then rejecting Jesus even though His life was rather “normal.”  What they demanded of John they condemned in Jesus and what they condemned in John they demanded in Jesus.  In other words, like the children in the short parable, these Jewish leaders would never be satisfied nor accept God’s teaching concerning the kingdom regardless.

The same is true today.  There are some people that simply are not going to accept Jesus as Lord nor are they going to accept His gospel.  It doesn’t matter what evidence of truth is given or how clearly that truth is presented, they are going to reject the truth.  Not only so, they are going to make false accusations concerning the bearers of the truth just as the Pharisees and the lawyers said John was possessed of a demon and Jesus was a man who not only ate and drank to excess, but was a “friend of publicans and sinners” (see Matt. 9:10ff; Luke 15:1, 2).  But such slander served only to condemn those who made it even as it does today.  Not only so, Peter says that when you “give a reason concerning the hope that is in you” and have a “good conscience; that, wherein ye are spoken against, they may be put to shame who revile your good manner of life in Christ” (1 Peter 3:14-16).

But what about the phrase, “And wisdom is justified of all her children?”  What does this mean?  The word rendered “children” also means “works” and is so translated in the ASV in Matt. 11:19.  Jesus is saying that God, in His wisdom, sent to man just exactly what was needed.  John the Baptist, even with all his eccentricity, was sent to “prepare the way of the Lord.”  And this he did.  Christ, in the “fullness of time,” came in exactly the way the wisdom of God dictated.  They both fulfilled their role and responsibility to the Father in the precise manner as needed. 

The responsibility of the Pharisees was not to criticize or demand that either John or Jesus be different.  Their responsibility was to accept them as they were: the fulfillment of the promise of God.  And so today we cannot make Jesus fit our mold, but must accept Him as He is and receive His truth as revealed.
                                                                                                                                 

                                                                                                               -- Clark Dugger

The Proclaimer