Luke 7:32
They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept. They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept.
Christ likened that generation to children sitting in the marketplace who complained that their companions would respond to neither their cheerful piping nor their mournful dirge. He exposed their unwillingness to receive God's messengers in opposite manners of ministry, rejecting John for his austere life of abstinence and call to repentance as having a devil, and rejecting Jesus for eating and drinking and mingling with the people as a glutton and friend of publicans and sinners. Their contradictory charges served the same refusal, revealing a petulant, inconsistent and dissatisfied spirit that could not discern messengers and did not know what to believe. Fallen hearts so find fault with the message in either form, turning away both joyful truth and solemn warning instead of receiving truth because it is truth and essential to salvation, whether old or new.
Words and Setting
That generation is likened to children sitting in the marketplace calling to one another in complaint that their companions will neither dance when cheerful tunes are piped nor weep when mourning is made. The image is of children at play inviting response first to joyful music and then to mournful music, yet meeting refusal to either dancing or tears. It pictures stubborn unwillingness to respond to God whether the appeal is joyful or solemn, cheerful or mournful. The comparison exposes dissatisfaction and failure to discern messengers, showing a petulant and inconsistent spirit that would approve neither way of serving.
The refusal fell on opposite ministries alike, for John was rejected for his austere and temperate life of rigid abstinence and call to repentance, charged with having a devil and being demon-possessed, while Jesus was criticized for His different manner of life and message in eating and drinking and mingling with people, called a glutton and a friend of publicans and sinners. The criticisms contradicted each other yet served the same rejection, finding fault with both opposite ways of ministry. Neither John's austere way nor Jesus' different approach met approval.
The word rendered as danced can describe harmless skipping about, as of children at play in the marketplace. The verse belongs to Christ's testimony concerning John in Luke 7:24-35. The central word of that testimony is Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, and John's message in its character and power is a type of the last message.
Rejection of Messengers
That generation was unwilling to accept God's messengers in their opposite ways of ministry. They rejected John for his austere, temperate life of rigid abstinence and call to repentance, saying he had a devil and was demon-possessed. They rejected Jesus for his different manner of life and message in eating and drinking and mingling with people, calling him a glutton and a friend of publicans and sinners. Their criticisms contradicted each other, yet both served the same refusal to respond.
That contradictory refusal revealed a petulant, inconsistent, dissatisfied and fickle spirit. It was unable to discern messengers, failing to recognize and receive them, and uncertain about belief in God. Fallen people so find fault with God's message in either form, rejecting joyful truth and solemn warning alike. Truth is instead to be received because it is truth and essential to the salvation of the soul, whether it is new or old.
Wider Application
The comparison to children sitting in the marketplace pictures childish play that imitates the solemn activities of adults without entering into their reality. It exposes refusal to respond to either a joyful message or a solemn message when both are faithfully presented. Receiving the wafer as the Lord's Supper, sprinkling an infant as baptism, and observing Sunday as though it were the Sabbath are make-believe forms of religion that imitate obedience without genuine obedience.
The same image of children in the marketplace who refuse to join the play of their companions warns against an unresponsive spirit that answers neither a joyful appeal nor a mournful appeal. A church that avoids serious devotion, suffering, and earnest service is in danger of becoming like those children. Faithfulness requires answering the call of truth rather than standing aside from what it asks.
The piping that meets no dancing also describes a generation that responds wrongly by opening itself to skepticism. An earlier generation would have ignored an infidel book, while the later generation became receptive to it. Such readiness to hear unbelief is failure to respond rightly when piping is heard.