Jesus’ Enemies Accuse Him

Jesus’ Enemies Accuse Him

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matthew 11:7–19

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Matthew 11:18-19 (NASB)

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, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”

In this passage, Jesus accuses His enemies of perversion and that there is no way to please them. John the Baptist was very strict and ascetic in his lifestyle, and that offended them, so they said John was demon possessed. Jesus, on the other hand, was relaxed and joyous in His lifestyle, and they charged Him with being a glutton and a drunkard.

Was Jesus a glutton? No. Was He a drunkard? Of course not. Then why did people accuse Him of this? Because Jesus scandalized those people who had reduced the things of God to superficial matters. Sadly, we see this very thing all too often today. For too many Christians, religion is a matter of a list of dos and don’ts that are not found in the Bible.

The Scandal of Jesus

Why did they call Jesus a glutton? Because He went to the feasts and ate. Why did they call Him a drunkard? Because He went to weddings, and even provided wine for one marriage feast (John 2:1–11).

John 2:1-11 (NASB)

1 “On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there;

2 and both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding.

3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.”

4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come.”

5 His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”

6 Now there were six stone waterpots set there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing twenty or thirty gallons each.

7 Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” So they filled them up to the brim.

8 And He said to them, “Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.” So they took it to him.

9 When the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom,

10 and said to him, “Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.”

11 This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.”

Imagine today if a minister went to a wedding and drank champagne. He would probably get into trouble. But what if he brought several cases of champagne to the wedding feast? He’d probably be crucified!

They were offended with Jesus because He went to taverns. He ate dinner with tax collectors, crooks, and prostitutes. If ever guilt by association could have destroyed a man. it would have been Jesus of Nazareth. We need to face this if we are going to have a biblical understanding of Jesus.

This does not mean Jesus wants us to go out and embrace worldliness and participate in sin. Not at all. Jesus was sinless, but He went to sinners and dealt with them where they were. He came to seek and to save the lost.

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CORAM DEO (Before the face of God)

????Jesus ran the risk of being seriously misunderstood in order to minister to people. Sometimes being faithful to Christ means risking our reputation, but Jesus tells us, “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me” (Matthew 5:11 NASB). Let us make sure, however, that if they are speaking evil of us, they are indeed doing so falsely. Be prepared for opposition, even from within the church.

For further study: Luke 7:36–50; John 4:1–42; James 2:1–13