Wisdom is justified by all her children.

Luke 7:31-35, “To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, “We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.’ For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by all her children.”

John the Baptist minced no words in denouncing the religious leaders, who were under the delusion that their self-righteousness is good enough in the eyes of God. Jesus dared to keep the company of those who knew well their need for rescue from the power of sin and death; this brought nothing but condemnation from those convinced of their own perfection. We who know the power of the cross, which settles once and for all our own justification before an Holy God, can rejoice that he came to seek and save the lost. For we know that we sin, and that we have one who is faithful and just to forgive us our sin as we run to him when we fail! Have we thanked him for all he has done for us?

We thank you that you will not turn us away when we fail, but like a loving father who receives a wounded child, you are faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness!

ESV Lectionary