John came leading disciples to fast over Israel's sin (Mt 9:14; 11:18), but Jesus came celebrating the kingdom like a wedding feast (9:15-17; 11:19). The charge that John the prophet has a demon may suggest a familiar spirit, such as those that belonged to magicians (Kraeling 1951:11-12), a capital offense. Likewise, the charge that Jesus was a glutton and a drunkard alludes to the "rebellious son" of Deuteronomy 21:20-also a capital offense (see Jeremias 1972:160).

God has different kinds of servants for different missions, but we need all the kinds of servants God sends (Mt 11:18-19). Neither Jesus nor John accumulated earthly resources for earthly pleasure; but Jesus accepted invitations to upscale banquets, while John was a wilderness prophet. Jesus came partly as God's ambassador to initiate relations with sinners (9:10-13), whereas John primarily took the role of biblical prophets in times of persecution (3:7); Jesus was a missionary within the culture, John a critic from outside it. Both models are biblical but suit different situations. When we can influence a culture from within without compromise, we should do so; when the culture becomes so hostile to our Master that we must stand as witnesses outside it, let us do so without regret. Thus Paul had friends who were Asiarchs (Acts 19:31); but a generation later, during widespread persecution from the imperial cult, believers had to "come out from among them" (Rev 18:4). Christians today need more sensitivity to both kinds of prophets; often each kind of prophet also needs to recognize the value of the other's call.

Jesus indicts his generation for the ultimate offense: they have consummated the sins of previous generations by rejecting God's ultimate agent (Mt 23:31-32, 35). Yet Jesus' and John's opponents were like many opponents of God's message today: while claiming intellectual integrity, they merely use whatever argument works against the gospel, giving no thought to its consistency with earlier arguments.