But the Pharisees and experts in the law rejected God’s purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John.
Parallel translations
- WEB But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the counsel of God, not being baptized by him themselves.
- KJV But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him.
- NKJV But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the will of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.
- NASB But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected God’s purpose for themselves, not having been baptized by John.
- NLT But the Pharisees and experts in religious law rejected God’s plan for them, for they had refused John’s baptism.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The Pharisees and lawyers rejected God's purpose by refusing John's baptism. Their pride blinded them to God's saving call.
Overview
In contrast to the repentant, the religious leaders spurned God's plan by declining John's baptism of repentance. Their self-righteousness left them unprepared to receive the Messiah. This sober warning shows that rejecting God's appointed means and messengers is to reject God's gracious counsel for salvation.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Luke 13:34O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling!
- 2 Cor 6:1As God’s fellow workers, then, we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.
- Jer 8:8How can you say, ‘We are wise, and the Law of the LORD is with us,’ when in fact the lying pen of the scribes has produced a deception?
- Matt 22:35One of them, an expert in the law, tested Him with a question:
- Rom 10:21But as for Israel he says: “All day long I have held out My hands to a disobedient and obstinate people.”
- Eph 1:11In Him we were also chosen as God’s own, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything by the counsel of His will,
- Gal 2:21I do not set aside the grace of God. For if righteousness comes through the law, Christ died for nothing.
- Acts 20:27For I did not shrink back from declaring to you the whole will of God.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 7:30 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.