Luke 7:29-32 29And when all the people and the tax collectors heard this, they affirmed God’s righteousness since they had been baptized with the baptism of John, 30but the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves by not having been baptized by him.
Those who accepted Jesus accepted John, and those who opposed Jesus opposed John. In the first group were the so-called sinners and, specifically mentioned here, tax collectors. These were the types of people who sought out John in the wilderness because they knew they were sinners. They felt conviction and sought out God’s forgiveness. John’s baptism was of repentance. He offered people the message of God’s forgiveness. These people confirmed all that Jesus said about John because some of them had experienced the new life that comes with forgiveness. They knew firsthand that God is righteous because God takes sin seriously by offering forgiveness to those who seek it.
The Pharisees and lawyers who were also following Jesus around thought they knew God but really did not because they rejected John’s message of forgiveness and now were rejecting Jesus’ message of salvation. They did not seek John’s baptism because they did not think they needed to be forgiveness of anything. They believed they were already righteous because they obeyed a set of law and regulations. Their righteousness was all based on their own “works of the law.” At this point, Luke echoes some of the teachings of his mentor, Paul the Apostle, especially as found in the letter to the Galatians.
Two surprises come in this passage. From a social perspective, the rejected of society saw their spiritual need and sought out John and then Jesus. From a religious perspective, those who knew the law and seemed to obey it outwardly misunderstood salvation and missed the simple message of forgiveness. Being religious does not mean one knows God.
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