A Second Look, Before You Leap

J.J. Stark

January 2016

Week 3

IGNITE Class 10

Inductive Bible Study (IBS)

A Second Look, Before You Leap

“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.”  -Matthew 11:19 (NKJV)

In Matthew chapter 11, Jesus’s ministry starting to come into full swing. The text tells that news of the works of Jesus were spreading across the region, and that word reached John the Baptist in prison. John had been imprisoned at the time because of his messages told that the Messiah was about to come.  After John heard word of Jesus, he sent two of his own followers to Jesus to confirm that He was in fact the coming Messiah.  Jesus confirmed it with John’s disciples and then used this as an opportunity to teach the crowds that were following Him.  To me Jesus used this opportunity to show the people of Israel that the prophesies of about Himself were indeed being fulfilled, but not in the manner that they had anticipated Him to do.  This is what Jesus exemplifies in verse 19 that “The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’”  He was saying that yes, He was (and is) the Savior that was prophesied to come, but He wasn’t coming to overthrow the rulers of the time as they had assumed.  He came to seek and save the lost, which meant interacting with the “winebibbers, tax collectors, and sinners.”  Jesus wasn’t becoming like them, just simply being with them and loving them, He is pointing out that people were being quick to assume the worst in a person going off of one or two occasions.  In saying “…But wisdom is justified by her children,” Jesus is implying that those who stop and take a second look at someone or something, they are the wiser for it and will be justified by the conclusion they draw over time, rather than immediate.  I can take look at this example from both sides of it – I need to have compassion for the lost people around me and actually loving and spending time with them, and not assuming those people are what they initially look like.  I have struggled with extending myself outside of my comfort zone to those who may not be as fortunate as myself, or those who may live a different and or lost lifestyle.  Isaiah 58:10 says “If you extend your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then you light shall dawn in the darkness, and your darkness shall be as the noonday.”

Application:  Today I will take a second look at things, be quick to hear, and slow to speak so that what I say won’t be judgmental, and set that example for the kids at the next Kids club.