Luke 7:34

Luke 7:34, in plain English

Then Jesus came eating and drinking, and they said, 'Look at this glutton and drunkard! A friend of tax collectors and sinners!'

Why it's here

John was too strict, Jesus was too relaxed. The truth is, they didn't want either message. The problem was never the messenger.

Who's speaking

Jesus shows how He received the opposite criticism from the same critics.

Where it sits in the story

People who don't want to change will always find a reason to dismiss God's voice. Don't let excuses keep you from the truth. The question isn't how the message comes — it's whether you'll receive it.

The scholarly reading

Jesus' contrasting lifestyle — esthiōn kai pinōn ("eating and drinking") — was equally criticized: idou anthrōpos phagos kai oinopotēs, philos telōnōn kai hamartōlōn ("Look, a glutton and drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners").

Language and setting

The accusations against Jesus are caricatures: His table fellowship with sinners is recast as moral degeneracy. The same generation that rejected John's austerity equally rejects Jesus' engagement.

Voice

Jesus recounts the generation's contradictory criticism of His own lifestyle.

Significance

The parallel critiques expose the generation's bad faith: John was too austere and Jesus too social. No presentation of God's truth was acceptable, revealing the real problem was not the messengers but the hearers' resistance.

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.’

33For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon!’

34The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at this glutton and drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’

35But wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”

36Then one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to eat with him, and He entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table.

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.