Monday after the Tenth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on August 9, 2021 by under
Scripture: St. Matthew 11:16-24 (NKJV)
11:16 “But to what shall I liken this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their companions, 17 and saying:
‘We played the flute for you, ad you did not dance; We mourned to you, and you did not lament.’
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, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is justified by her children.”
20 Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent: 21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. 23 And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 24 But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.”
Devotion
The crowd was not pleased with John’s harsh, ascetic manner, and they were not pleased with Jesus’ easygoing, merciful manner. Jesus responds with a proverb to make His point.
A more contemporary way of saying it is this: “There’s just no pleasing some people.” This writer recalls the wisdom of a grandmother, teaching a lesson that has endured in memory some fifty years. With a smile on her face, she quoted this brief poem to her little complainer grandson: “As a rule, man is a fool. When it is hot, he wants it cool; When it is cool, he wants it hot. Always wanting what it’s not.” Jesus teaches us in a similar way in His Word, with wit and wisdom, with poetry and proverbs. He uses the harsh manner of the Law and the merciful manner of the Gospel. All this He does to save us from ourselves and from our sinful tendency to be our own gods, judging all things according to our childish whims.
The results of salvation are evident in the lives of His people. As Jesus said, “wisdom is justified by her children.” Or, as we might say, “The proof is in the pudding…” His grace does have its effect in us. By grace, our salvation translates into living like the saved, and at least in part, we rejoice a little more and complain a little less.
Prayer: O God, Who declarest Thine Almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity: Mercifully grant unto us such a measure of Thy grace, that we, running the way of Thy commandments, may obtain Thy gracious promises, and be made partakers of Thy heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
