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Luke 7 · a question people ask

Luke says the Pharisees and the lawyers "rejected the counsel of God" (7:30). What was the counsel of God they rejected?

In the text

Luke says it alongside John's baptism, and says no more. "When all the people and the tax collectors heard this, they declared God to be just, having been baptized with John’s baptism. But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the counsel of God, not being baptized by him themselves." (7:29-30) (tap tax collectors). In the WEB's quotation marks these are Luke's own words, set between Jesus's words about John (7:24-28) and his words about "the people of this generation" (7:31). Luke doesn't say more about what the counsel of God was, and these notes don't supply what the chapter doesn't give. They name the Pharisees and the lawyers only as the verse names them, and apply 7:30 to no one today.

From Favor's study of Luke 7

Luke 7: God has visited his people

The elders call the centurion worthy (7:4), and the words the friends bring say, "I am not worthy" (7:6). The people at Nain say, "A great prophet has arisen among us!" (7:16), and a Pharisee says to himself that if Jesus were a prophet he would know who was touching him (7:39). The next verse begins, "Jesus answered him" (7:40).

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Last reviewed October 1, 2026. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions