Wisdom is justified by all her children

Then the disciples of John reported to him concerning all these things.  And John calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to Jesus, saying, "Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?"  When the men had come to Him, they said, "John the Baptist has sent us to You, saying, 'Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?"  And that very hour He cured many of infirmities, afflictions, and evil spirits; and to many blind He gave sight.  Jesus answered and said to them, "Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard:  that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them.  And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me."  When the messengers of John had departed, He began to speak to the multitudes concerning John:  "What did you go out into the wilderness to see?  A reed shaken by the wind?  But what did you go out to see?  A man clothed in soft garments?  Indeed those who are gorgeously appareled and live in luxury are in kings' courts.  But what did you go out to see?  A prophet?  Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet.  This is he of whom it is written:

'Behold, I send My messenger
  before Your face,
Who will prepare Your way
  before You.'

"For I say to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he."  And when all the people heard Him, even the tax collectors justified God, having been baptized with the baptism of John.  But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the will of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.  And the Lord said, "To what then shall I liken the men of this generation, and what are they like?  They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, saying:

'We played the flute for you,
  And you did not dance;
We mourned to you,
  And you did not weep.'

For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking 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 winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!'  But wisdom is justified by all her children."

- Luke 7:18-35

In yesterday's reading, we first read about a centurion in Capernaum.  He had sent the elders of the synagogue to entreat Jesus to heal his servant.  This man was highly regarded by the community, having built their synagogue.  Jesus went with the elders, but when He was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends who told Jesus, "Lord, do not trouble Yourself, for I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof.  Therefore I did not even think myself worthy to come to You.  But say the word, and my servant will be healed.  For I also am a man placed under authority, having soldiers under me.  And I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."  When Jesus heard these things, He marveled at him, and turned around and said to the crowd that followed Him, "I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!"  And those who were sent, returning to the house, found the servant well who had been sick.  The day afterward, Jesus went to the city called Nain.  There He saw a widow who had lost her only son.  A large crowd from the city was with her as her son was being carried out of the gate of the city.  When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, "Do not weep."  Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still.  And He said, "Young man, I say to you, arise."  So he who was dead sat up and began to speak.  And He presented him to his mother.  Then fear came upon all, and they glorified God, saying, "A great prophet has risen up among us"' and, "God has visited His people."  And this report about Him went throughout all Judea and all the surrounding region.

Then the disciples of John reported to him concerning all these things.  And John calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to Jesus, saying, "Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?"   We remember, of course, that John is the Forerunner, the one who preached as a Herald of the Lord who is coming; see Make His paths straight.  Many of Jesus' disciples were first those of John.  My study bible notes:  "John had been imprisoned shortly after he baptized Jesus.  He probably has not heard Jesus teach, nor seen His many miracles.  John also anticipates that Jesus will judge at His first coming, whereas Jesus comes to save and heal.  John's question indicates either a desire to obtain secure knowledge or an intent to guide his own disciples to Jesus.  Christ answers the question indirectly by pointing to his miraculous messianic deeds."

And that very hour He cured many of infirmities, afflictions, and evil spirits; and to many blind He gave sight.  Jesus answered and said to them, "Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard:  that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them.  And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me."  Jesus' healing miracles in the presence of John's messengers to Him give evidence of Jesus' divine identity.  This is why He simply tells them, "Go and tell John the things that you have seen and heard."  These are evidence of the Messiah from prophecies in the Scriptures.

When the messengers of John had departed, He began to speak to the multitudes concerning John:  "What did you go out into the wilderness to see?  A reed shaken by the wind?  But what did you go out to see?  A man clothed in soft garments?  Indeed those who are gorgeously appareled and live in luxury are in kings' courts.  But what did you go out to see?  A prophet?  Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet.  This is he of whom it is written:  'Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You.'  "For I say to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he."  I am always impressed by Jesus' very stirring defense of John.  It shows Him as true friend, full of great loyalty.  He's not afraid to speak out in John's defense, against the prejudices and criticisms of the crowd.  He speaks to John's rough appearance, His radically humble lifestyle in the wilderness.  What did they go out to see when they all went to be baptized?  Jesus quotes from Malachi 3:1 here, and my study bible also references Isaiah 40:3, which John was quoting in his ministry.  My study bible tells us:  "Christ recognizes John as the greatest prophet.  John belongs to the period of the Old Covenant; the Kingdom of God is inaugurated through Christ.  The New Covenant so far surpasses the old that the least in the kingdom is greater than John."

 And when all the people heard Him, even the tax collectors justified God, having been baptized with the baptism of John.  But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the will of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.  And the Lord said, "To what then shall I liken the men of this generation, and what are they like?  They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, saying:  'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;  We mourned to you, and you did not weep.'  For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking 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 winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!'  But wisdom is justified by all her children."  My study bible says, "Luke makes a blunt observation:  anyone who rejected the baptism of John is out of step with the will of God.  Such a spurning by the Pharisees and the lawyers indicates a hardness of heart and no receptivity to the grace of the Kingdom of God.  It is a sobering thought that some today reject the baptism of Christ."  I think it's essential that we keep in mind that the Pharisees and lawyers (experts in the law) were those educated in the Scriptures, religious authorities.  There is a powerful authority that we must be able to recognize in our lives, whose Presence is with us - and this is the work of the Spirit among us.  Jesus describes the fickleness of those who have no loyalty nor conviction to this work of the Spirit by describing them as like children playing an ancient game.  In this game the children would divide into two groups:  one would either mime playing a flute or mourning.  It was up to the other group to respond properly by either dancing or weeping.  Jesus' brief words here in defense of John, whose ascetic practices made him quite different from Jesus and His disciples, give us a powerful focus on what it is to encounter the holy.  God's saints come in myriad forms; we are each created as a unique person in the loving ever-creative power of God, and the Spirit works through each one in remarkably varied ways.  So we must be able to recognize holiness through true perception.  Here, the Pharisees and the scribes recognize neither John the ascetic holy man and prophet, nor Jesus, the "glutton and winebibber."  In His statement, "Wisdom is justified by all her children" Jesus points to the wisdom of God, and what we might describe as God's great holy creativity, working as it will in infinite ways in the world.

How do we capture the work of the Spirit among us?  Who can circumscribe the holy, telling us what it has to look like?  If you read the lives of the saints throughout the history of the Church, you will find such tremendous variety as to nearly make one's head spin.  There is no such thing as a cookie-cutter saint.  Each tends to be a dynamic individual, with the Holy Spirit working through each one to bring the Kingdom into this world, to be a God- or light-bearer, as Christ has instructed each of us to be.  The Father of all who gives us each personhood doesn't make us cookie-cutter images of one another either.  In our personhood we are each unique, and loved as unique beings.  As Jesus points out, His ministry and John's couldn't look more different from one another.  But in our uniqueness as created by God, we are all in communion.  A modern Greek Orthodox theologian, Met. John Zizioulas, has written extensively on this principle that in God's creation, our uniqueness as persons in some way depends upon that differentiation and variety of God's creation in communion with one another.  So can we hold on to the idea of both John and Jesus doing God's work?  They appear to be radically different, and yet it is John who preached of the coming of Jesus and gave Him baptism (thus sanctifying the waters for all the rest of us by doing so), and Jesus who now defends John against his detractors.  How can we live this kind of love, coming to recognize what is holy that defies all boundaries that human beings can put around it?  In John's Gospel, we read, "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”  Let us remember Jesus' important words to us all:  "Wisdom is justified by all her children."  We need true ears to hear and eyes to see, the perception of the heart, to hear His ministry wherever and however it appears to us.  We need a relationship of love to God in order to truly discern the good things we're given.