Luke 7:30

Luke 7:30, in plain English

But the Pharisees and religious experts rejected God's plan for them — they had refused to be baptized by John.

Why it's here

Knowing about God and knowing God are two different things. The experts knew the most but experienced the least.

Who's speaking

Luke contrasts the religious leaders' rejection with the common people's acceptance.

Where it sits in the story

Pride is the biggest barrier to God's plan for your life. The Pharisees knew more theology than anyone, but their self-sufficiency kept them from the very thing they studied.

The scholarly reading

The Pharisees and nomikoi ("lawyers/experts in the law") ēthetēsan tēn boulēn tou theou eis heautous ("rejected God's purpose for themselves") by refusing John's baptism. Their rejection is self-directed — they nullified God's plan for their own lives.

Language and setting

The contrast between verses 29-30 creates a sharp division: those who acknowledged their need (commoners, tax collectors) received God's plan; those who trusted their own righteousness rejected it.

Voice

Luke provides contrasting editorial commentary on the religious leaders' rejection.

Significance

The religious experts, by refusing baptism, rejected God's redemptive purpose for them personally. Their expertise in God's law became the very thing that prevented them from experiencing God's grace.

28I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John, yet even the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

29All the people who heard this, even the tax collectors, acknowledged God’s justice. For they had received the baptism of John.

30But the Pharisees and experts in the law rejected God’s purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John.

31“To what, then, can I compare the men of this generation? What are they like?

32They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to one another: ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.’

Read all of Luke 7 — A Roman centurion's faith astonishes Jesus, a widow's dead son is raised, and a sinful woman's tears become an act of worship.