Jesu liv

Jesus speaks about John the Baptist

Jesus praises John as more than a prophet, but emphasizes that the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. He compares his generation to children in the marketplace who neither dance nor weep, and points out that they rejected both John's asceticism and the Son of Man's feasts.

Lukasevangeliet 7,24-35

24After John's messengers had left, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: "What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?
Ἀπελθόντων δὲ τῶν ἀγγέλων Ἰωάννου ἤρξατο λέγειν ⸂πρὸς τοὺς ὄχλους⸃ περὶ Ἰωάννου· Τί ⸀ἐξήλθατε εἰς τὴν ἔρημον θεάσασθαι; κάλαμον ὑπὸ ἀνέμου σαλευόμενον;
25What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Look, those who wear splendid clothes and live in luxury are found in royal palaces.
ἀλλὰ τί ⸀ἐξήλθατε ἰδεῖν; ἄνθρωπον ἐν μαλακοῖς ἱματίοις ἠμφιεσμένον; ἰδοὺ οἱ ἐν ἱματισμῷ ἐνδόξῳ καὶ τρυφῇ ὑπάρχοντες ἐν τοῖς βασιλείοις εἰσίν.
26But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and far more than a prophet.
ἀλλὰ τί ⸀ἐξήλθατε ἰδεῖν; προφήτην; ναί, λέγω ὑμῖν, καὶ περισσότερον προφήτου.
27This is the one about whom it is written: 'Behold, I send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.'
οὗτός ἐστιν περὶ οὗ γέγραπται· ⸀Ἰδοὺ ἀποστέλλω τὸν ἄγγελόν μου πρὸ προσώπου σου, ὃς κατασκευάσει τὴν ὁδόν σου ἔμπροσθέν σου.
28I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he."
⸀λέγω ὑμῖν, μείζων ἐν γεννητοῖς γυναικῶν ⸀Ἰωάννου οὐδείς ἐστιν· ὁ δὲ μικρότερος ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τοῦ θεοῦ μείζων αὐτοῦ ἐστιν.
29(All the people who heard this, even the tax collectors, acknowledged God's justice, for they had been baptized with John's baptism.
(καὶ πᾶς ὁ λαὸς ἀκούσας καὶ οἱ τελῶναι ἐδικαίωσαν τὸν θεόν, βαπτισθέντες τὸ βάπτισμα Ἰωάννου·
30But the Pharisees and the experts in the law rejected God's purpose for themselves, since they had not been baptized by him.)
οἱ δὲ Φαρισαῖοι καὶ οἱ νομικοὶ τὴν βουλὴν τοῦ θεοῦ ἠθέτησαν εἰς ἑαυτούς, μὴ βαπτισθέντες ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ.)
31"To what, then, shall I compare the people of this generation? What are they like?
Τίνι οὖν ὁμοιώσω τοὺς ἀνθρώπους τῆς γενεᾶς ταύτης, καὶ τίνι εἰσὶν ὅμοιοι;
32They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to one another: 'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.'
ὅμοιοί εἰσιν παιδίοις τοῖς ἐν ἀγορᾷ καθημένοις καὶ προσφωνοῦσιν ἀλλήλοις, ⸂ἃ λέγει⸃· Ηὐλήσαμεν ὑμῖν καὶ οὐκ ὠρχήσασθε· ⸀ἐθρηνήσαμεν καὶ οὐκ ἐκλαύσατε·
33For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, 'He has a demon.'
ἐλήλυθεν γὰρ Ἰωάννης ὁ βαπτιστὴς ⸀μὴ ⸂ἐσθίων ἄρτον μήτε πίνων οἶνον⸃, καὶ λέγετε· Δαιμόνιον ἔχει·
34The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, 'Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.'
ἐλήλυθεν ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐσθίων καὶ πίνων, καὶ λέγετε· Ἰδοὺ ἄνθρωπος φάγος καὶ οἰνοπότης, φίλος τελωνῶν καὶ ἁμαρτωλῶν.
35Yet wisdom is vindicated by all her children."
καὶ ἐδικαιώθη ἡ σοφία ἀπὸ ⸂πάντων τῶν τέκνων αὐτῆς⸃.