And the Lord said, Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation? and to what are they like?
Jesus spoke to the multitudes about John after his messengers had left, setting those who justified God by accepting John's baptism against the religious leaders who rejected God's counsel by refusing it, and by this generation He meant the people then living. He likened them to children sitting in the marketplace calling to one another that they would neither dance when piped to nor weep when wailed to. They found fault both ways, saying John had a devil because he came in austerity eating no bread and drinking no wine, and calling the Son of Man gluttonous and a winebibber and a friend of publicans and sinners because He came eating and drinking among them. Their course exposed childish petulance and inconsistency that could discern neither messenger and would respond to neither opposite call. This lays bare the fickleness of fallen human nature that refuses truth whether it comes as old or new and merely plays at sacred duties, warning the church against the same unresponsiveness, while wisdom is justified by her obedient children who receive truth new and old because it saves, and John's message in character and power foreshadows the last message.
Setting and Meaning
The question was spoken to the multitudes concerning John after John's messengers had departed. It set off those who justified God by being baptized with John's baptism, namely the people and the publicans, against the Pharisees and lawyers who rejected God's counsel for themselves by refusing to be baptized.
This generation means the people living at the time Jesus spoke. It identifies a particular period and its people rather than a fixed number of years. Generation means the men of an age or time, their contemporaries, and the Greek genea can mean a race or an age, not only a fixed span of years.
Asked to what the men of that generation shall be likened, Jesus likens them to children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another. They say we piped to you and you did not dance, we wailed and you did not weep. They are unsatisfied whether there is piping for dancing or wailing for weeping, rejecting both the joyful and the mournful response expected of them. They refuse to respond when others call them to dance, rejecting both piping and mourning.
They rejected God's counsel and found fault both ways. They said John the Baptist has a devil because he came eating no bread nor drinking wine in an austere way of life. They called the Son of Man a gluttonous man and a winebibber and a friend of publicans and sinners because He came eating and drinking and associating with sinners. Thus they refused to respond to either John's call to repentance or Christ's ministry and different way of life, finding fault with each regardless of how they came.
Their response exposed petulance and inconsistency in rejecting both John and Jesus. It showed quarrelsomeness, childish inconsistency, dissatisfaction, and inability to discern God's messengers. They rejected both contrasting calls regardless of how the messengers came.
Wisdom is justified of all her children.
Human Fickleness and Warning
The question lays bare the fickleness of the human mind, for fallen human nature refuses truth whether it comes in old form or in new. The men of that time are likened to quarrelsome children sitting in the marketplace who will respond to neither piping nor mourning. They charged John the Baptist with having a devil because he came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and they charged the Son of Man with being gluttonous, a winebibber, and a friend of publicans and sinners because He came eating and drinking.
As children imitate serious adult activities in play, so the comparison exposes a merely pretend response to religious duties. Taking the Lord's Supper, baptism, or Sabbath observance without truly practicing them is such childish play at sacred things. The same image stands as a warning that God may liken the church to unresponsive children in the marketplace if it seeks ease instead of serious devotion to truth and service. Those children refuse to respond when others call them to dance, and a self-indulgent church answers God's call in the same way.
The many treasures in the Word of God, both new and old, are to be sought not because they are new or old but because they are truth essential to the salvation of the soul. The question belongs to Christ's testimony to John, whose message in its character and power is a type of the last message.
Jesus spoke to the multitudes about John after his messengers had left, setting those who justified God by accepting John's baptism against the religious leaders who rejected God's counsel by refusing it, and by this generation He meant the people then living.
He likened them to children sitting in the marketplace calling to one another that they would neither dance when piped to nor weep when wailed to.
They found fault both ways, saying John had a devil because he came in austerity eating no bread and drinking no wine, and calling the Son of Man gluttonous and a winebibber and a friend of publicans and sinners because He came eating and drinking among them.
Their course exposed childish petulance and inconsistency that could discern neither messenger and would respond to neither opposite call.
This lays bare the fickleness of fallen human nature that refuses truth whether it comes as old or new and merely plays at sacred duties, warning the church against the same unresponsiveness, while wisdom is justified by her obedient children who receive truth new and old because it saves, and John's message in character and power foreshadows the last message.
Setting and Meaning
The question was spoken to the multitudes concerning John after John's messengers had departed. It set off those who justified God by being baptized with John's baptism, namely the people and the publicans, against the Pharisees and lawyers who rejected God's counsel for themselves by refusing to be baptized.
This generation means the people living at the time Jesus spoke. It identifies a particular period and its people rather than a fixed number of years. Generation means the men of an age or time, their contemporaries, and the Greek genea can mean a race or an age, not only a fixed span of years.
Asked to what the men of that generation shall be likened, Jesus likens them to children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another. They say we piped to you and you did not dance, we wailed and you did not weep. They are unsatisfied whether there is piping for dancing or wailing for weeping, rejecting both the joyful and the mournful response expected of them. They refuse to respond when others call them to dance, rejecting both piping and mourning.
They rejected God's counsel and found fault both ways. They said John the Baptist has a devil because he came eating no bread nor drinking wine in an austere way of life. They called the Son of Man a gluttonous man and a winebibber and a friend of publicans and sinners because He came eating and drinking and associating with sinners. Thus they refused to respond to either John's call to repentance or Christ's ministry and different way of life, finding fault with each regardless of how they came.
Their response exposed petulance and inconsistency in rejecting both John and Jesus. It showed quarrelsomeness, childish inconsistency, dissatisfaction, and inability to discern God's messengers. They rejected both contrasting calls regardless of how the messengers came.
Wisdom is justified of all her children.
Human Fickleness and Warning
The question lays bare the fickleness of the human mind, for fallen human nature refuses truth whether it comes in old form or in new. The men of that time are likened to quarrelsome children sitting in the marketplace who will respond to neither piping nor mourning. They charged John the Baptist with having a devil because he came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and they charged the Son of Man with being gluttonous, a winebibber, and a friend of publicans and sinners because He came eating and drinking.
As children imitate serious adult activities in play, so the comparison exposes a merely pretend response to religious duties. Taking the Lord's Supper, baptism, or Sabbath observance without truly practicing them is such childish play at sacred things. The same image stands as a warning that God may liken the church to unresponsive children in the marketplace if it seeks ease instead of serious devotion to truth and service. Those children refuse to respond when others call them to dance, and a self-indulgent church answers God's call in the same way.
The many treasures in the Word of God, both new and old, are to be sought not because they are new or old but because they are truth essential to the salvation of the soul. The question belongs to Christ's testimony to John, whose message in its character and power is a type of the last message.