Proved right

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

PROVED RIGHT

Matt 11:16-19

16 "To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others: 17 "'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.' 18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon.' 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners." ' But wisdom is proved right by her actions." 

NIV

Is the generation Jesus was speaking to any different than any generation? This comparison to being like children sitting in the public places, which Jesus said, marketplaces and calling out to others this saying. From our studies we find it was a custom of that time that children would imitate their parents who would dance and rejoice at weddings and mourn and lament at funerals. However, these children were doing it in a jesting manner, making fun of the behavior of their parents. Because Jesus makes a statement about both John the Baptist and himself it could mean he was referring to John and himself as the parents of this generation. The children were the Pharisees and scribes who made fun of the both of them. This is not much different in the generation in which we live. Many people make fun of our faith. They do not take it seriously. Because they think themselves so much superior then us believers, they consider us to be foolish. They believe in science, in intellect, in the monetary system and their own abilities. Our faith is seen as in opposition to their beliefs and thus the only way to defend their position is to mock or make fun of our belief in Jesus.

1 Cor 1:20

20 Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

NIV

 Just as the Pharisees accused John of being a demon because of his strange eating habits and abstaining from wine, this world accuses those Christians who ascribe to certain restrictions regarding food and drink, as being weird. On the other hand the Pharisees accused Jesus of eating and drinking in excess. Here again this world calls us hypocrites if we eat anything and especially if we drink wine. The Pharisees saw themselves as having the right ideas about how to behave, but Jesus called them children just joking around. Our generation thinks itself to be right, the only way to behave, the correct way to think about everything, but they are but children at play. Of course some of our scholars of old as well as some denominations of today make the case the wine Jesus drank was simply grape juice, but then why would the Pharisees call him a drunkard or winebibber? This comes down to child’s play again, imitating the behavior of the parents which indicates no independent thought. Jesus speaks directly to this issue of independent thinking, knowing the truth, knowing wisdom. Wisdom is proved right by her actions is the idea that knowing Jesus and accepting him as Lord and Savior is pure wisdom, the purest of wisdom and thus we who believe will be proved right by our action of accepting Jesus. It does not come down to how well we make our lists of do’s and mostly don’ts and check off each one we accomplish somewhat semi-successfully, on a momentary basis. It comes down to having wisdom, the wisdom that comes from God.

James 1:2-8

2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6 But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

NIV

Here is the truth of it. We can have the wisdom of God, we only need to ask for it, but we cannot be double-minded. That is we cannot combine the wisdom of God with the wisdom of the world. We cannot have both. We cannot think in terms as to how the world approaches wisdom, for it is but foolishness to God. That might well speak to approaching the wisdom of God through the methods of higher education, or intellectually, which is the method the world uses. They believe this is how wisdom is gained. But we can simply ask God for his wisdom and if we are pure in our asking, rejecting the world’s methods then he will grant us his wisdom. No child’s play here. We may not ever be proved right in this generation, but we will be proved right in the generation to come, the era of eternity.