EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/27/2026
8:11 PM
My
Worship Time Focus: PT-1
“The Parable of the Brats: Style Versus Substance”
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference:
Luke
7:31-35
Message of the verses: “31“To what then shall I
compare the people of this generation, and what are they
like? 32They are
like children who sit in the marketplace and
call to one another, and say, ‘We
played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we
sang a song of mourning, and you did not weep.’ 33For John the
Baptist has
come neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and
you say, ‘He has a demon!’ 34The Son of Man has
come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Behold, a
gluttonous man and a heavy drinker, a friend of
tax collectors and sinners!’ 35And yet wisdom is
vindicated by all her children.”
What I am beginning to look at this evening is the
introduction to the verses above, and as I look at MacArthur’s introduction I
can see that he has many verses that I plan on looking up, and that is why it
will take more than one SD to finish this introduction.
“The term ‘brat’ is a coarse word,
simple and yet loaded with vivid meaning.
It is a pejorative term that calls to mind children who are unruly,
disobedient, objectionable, obstreperous, refractory, recalcitrant, incorrigible,
obstinate, and intractable. The Bible describes them as those who dishonor
their parents (Deut. 27:16), fools who reject their father’s discipline (Prov.
15:5), shameful and disgraceful children who reject their parents (Prov.
19:26), and selfish children who bring shame to their parents (Prov. 29:15).”
(Deut. 27:16)
“16 "’Cursed be anyone who dishonors his
father or his mother.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’”
(Prov. 15:5)
“5 ¶ A fool despises his father’s instruction, but
whoever heeds reproof is prudent.”
(Prov. 19:26)
“26 ¶ He who does violence to his father and chases
away his mother is a son who brings shame and reproach.”
(Prov. 29:15)
“15 ¶ The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child
left to himself brings shame to his mother.”
“Being
disobedient to parents appears among the list of serious sins that mark those
who reject God (Rom. 1:30; 2 Tim. 3:2 and Scripture warns of stern punishment
for rebellious children (cf. Deut. 27:16; Prov. 30:17)—including being executed
(Ex. 21:15; Deut. 21:18-21).”
(Rom. 1:30; 2 Tim. 3:2)
“30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty,
boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,”
“2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of
money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful,
unholy,”
(cf. Deut. 27:16; Prov. 30:17)
“16 "’Cursed be anyone who dishonors his
father or his mother.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’”
“17 The eye that mocks a father and scorns to
obey a mother will be picked out by the ravens of the valley and eaten by the
vultures.”
(Ex. 21:15; Deut. 21:18-21)
“15 "Whoever strikes his father or his
mother shall be put to death.”
“18 ¶ "If a man has a stubborn and rebellious
son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and,
though they discipline him, will not listen to them, 19 then his father and his mother shall take hold
of him and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gate of the place
where he lives, 20 and they shall say to
the elders of his city, ‘This our son is stubborn and rebellious; he will not
obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ 21 Then all the men of the city shall stone him
to death with stones. So you shall purge the evil from your midst, and all
Israel shall hear, and fear.”
“Jesus directed this parable of the
brats to the people of His society, in particular those present on that occasion. He likened their response to the gospel to
that of bratty children—belligerent, ungrateful, and impossible to
satisfy. Yet the principle is timeless. In every age there will be people who respond
to the gospel message of repentance, faith, forgiveness, and salvation like the
brats of that generation did.
“It should be noted that in contrast
to today’s politically correct emphasis on tolerance, neither John the Baptist
nor Jesus hesitated to confront and rebuke people with strong and offensive
language. When the Jewish leaders came
to see him, John abruptly greeted them with the decidedly non-seeker-friendly
challenge, ‘You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?’ (Matt. 3:7).
According to Luke’s account, he asked the shallow, superficial repenters
in the crowds, who shared the religious leaders’ prideful insincerity (Luke
3:7), the same question.”
(Luke 3:7)
“7 He said therefore to the crowds that came out
to be baptized by him, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from
the wrath to come?”
“Jesus
labeled the scribes and Pharisees hypocrites (Matt. 6:2, 5, 16:23; 13, 23, 25.
27. 29), blind guides (Matt. 15:14; 23:16, 24), sons of hell (Matt. 23:15),
fools (Matt. 23:17), robbers (John 10:8), whitewashed tombs (Matt. 23:27), and
serpents (Matt. 23:33).”
(Matt. 6:2, 5, 16; 23:13, 23, 25. 27.
29)
“2 "Thus, when you give to the needy, sound
no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the
streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have
received their reward.”
5 ¶ "And when you pray, you must not be like
the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the
street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you,, they
have received their reward.”
16 ¶ "And when you fast, do not look gloomy
like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be
seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.”
13 ¶ "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you
neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.”
“23 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the
weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you
ought to have done, without neglecting the others.”
“25 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they
are full of greed and self-indulgence.”
“27 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but
within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness.”
“29 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments
of the righteous,”
(Matt. 15:14; 23:16, 24)
“14 Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if
the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit."
“16 "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If
anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of
the temple, he is bound by his oath.’
“24 You blind guides, straining out a gnat and
swallowing a camel!”
(Matt. 23:15)
“15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he
becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.”
(Matt. 23:17)
“17 You blind fools! For which is greater, the or
the temple that has made the gold sacred?”
(John 10:8)
8 All who came before me are thieves and
robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.”
(Matt.
23:17)
27 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear
beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness.”
(Matt. 23:33)
“33 You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are
you to escape being sentenced to hell?”
8/27/2026
9:18 PM
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