Follow the Flute Player
Luke 7:31-35
Rabbi Rev. Dr. Michael H. Koplitz
Luke 7:31 “To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? 32 “They are like children who sit in the marketplace and call to one another, and say, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a song of mourning, and you did not weep.’ 33 “For John the Baptist has come neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon!’ 34 “The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a heavy drinker, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ 35 “And yet wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”
In the Gospel of Luke, chapter seven, verses 31-35, Jesus tells a parable to the Pharisees and Sadducees. I should also note that there were religious leaders, like Nicodemus, who believed in the message of hope and eternal life that Jesus had brought to the people.
If you get the chance to watch the show “The Chosen” you soon discover that many of the common people liked the message of hope and grace that Jesus offered. You will also take note that many of the religious leaders of the time, the group of the Pharisees, were not interested in his message. There are scenes where they show the high priest Caiaphas, who was unhappy that the Galilean preacher was being listened to.
Part of the concern was that the Jews of Judea did not consider the Jews of the Galilee to be full-fledged Jews. They treated them the same way they treated the people who lived in Samaria. Galilee and Samaria were a part of the Northern Kingdom called Israel. When the Assyrian army invaded the Northern Kingdom and conquered it, many inhabitants were relocated into different parts of their empire. The Assyrians brought people from outside of Israel to live on the land. The Assyrian method to prevent rebellion was to disperse people. That would essentially eliminate their culture and, eventually their language.
The people in the Galilee were of Jewish descent. When the Persians released the Jews from the Babylonian captivity, they returned to Galilee, Judea and especially to Jerusalem. The Jewish at the time named Ezra tells us that too many people wanted to return to Jerusalem at the same time. Ezra had to limit the influx because the city public structures needed to be rebuilt.
So, the Jewish leadership in Judea did not recognize the Jews from Galilee as full-fledged brothers. When Nathaniel was told about Jesus, he said “what good can come from Galilee?” Nathaniel discovered how wrong he was and became a disciple of Jesus.
Bruce Barton authored a wonderful book around 1925 titled “The Man Nobody Knows.” This Christian book became the second bestselling book during the Depression, the 1930s, with the Bible taking first place. Barton described a happy Jesus who liked a good kosher party. Barton’s Jesus smiled and helped people while he himself needed help. I highly recommend this book to you, and it is still in print today.
John the Baptist, like others of his day, saw luxury as something that took a person away from God. Jesus on the other side saw the luxuries as gifts from God. Let me say that a luxury to John was having three meals a day. He nor Jesus was referring to gold and silver and the other high-end luxuries of life. If one had a home to sleep and live in, that person was a part of the luxury of that day. This might sound crazy to us today, but not in Jesus’ day.
Being at a dinner with friends was more than acceptable to Jesus, as it should be to us today. Having the means to hold a dinner party with friends is a way of sharing God’s gifts with people you care about. When a wedding was held the entire town took part in the party. Imagine how boring life would be if we removed all the fun.
Jesus never said that we must give up the luxuries of life. He said we should share what we can with our neighbors. Jesus wanted each of us to have enough to live so that we don’t become street beggars. Giving to charities that help people who are less fortunate is a righteous thing to do.
A part of receiving salvation and eternal life is to live in a way which imitates Jesus as much as is possible. Of course, we have to evaluate things a bit differently today. What that means is that Jesus did not expect automobiles, computers, and all the cool gaming devices today. The significant feature of the Bible is that it is a living document which can connect the modern-day ways with the ancient ways. You know that the two Great Commandments are to love God and love neighbor. These commandments never change, no matter what the world believes today.
Therefore, we can judge our words and actions against the two Great Commandments. The Sage Hillel, who lived about 70 years before Jesus, was asked how long it would take to learn Torah. He said less than a minute and while on one foot. He said the Torah says “love god and love neighbor. Everything else is commentary.” There it is! Love God and love neighbors is what it is all about.
Jesus is playing the flute for us. This means he is calling us to become his disciples. He does this because he loves all humanity and wants all of us to join him in heaven. I would imagine that the heavenly dining room would be very empty if it was not for Jesus calling us to join him. As disciples of Jesus Christ, we will spend our eternal life in heaven sitting at a table in the dining hall of heaven. There, we will see all the saints who came before us.
So, follow the sound of the flute, the voice of Christ who calls you to be with him and to share many heavenly banquets with him.
