For John the Baptizer came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’
Parallel translations
- KJV For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil.
- BSB For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon!’
- NKJV For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’
- NASB For John the Baptist has come neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon!’
- NLT For John the Baptist didn’t spend his time eating bread or drinking wine, and you say, ‘He’s possessed by a demon.’
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
John came in fasting austerity, and they accused him of having a demon. They rejected his ministry by slandering his self-denial.
Overview
John's ascetic lifestyle should have marked him as a holy prophet, yet critics dismissed him as demon-possessed. Their objection reveals not honest concern but a determination to reject God's messenger. This illustrates the generation's perverse refusal to receive God's call, no matter its form.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Luke 1:15For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he will drink no wine nor strong drink. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.
- Mark 1:6John was clothed with camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist. He ate locusts and wild honey.
- Jer 16:8–10“You shall not go into the house of feasting to sit with them, to eat and to drink.”
- Matt 3:4Now John himself wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.
- John 10:20Many of them said, “He has a demon, and is insane! Why do you listen to him?”
- John 8:48Then the Jews answered him, “Don’t we say well that you are a Samaritan, and have a demon?”
- John 8:52Then the Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, and the prophets; and you say, ‘If a man keeps my word, he will never taste of death.’
- Acts 2:13Others, mocking, said, “They are filled with new wine.”
- Matt 10:25It is enough for the disciple that he be like his teacher, and the servant like his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more those of his household!
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 7:33 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
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