Wisdom is justified by her children

 "But to what shall I liken this generation?  It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their companions, and saying:

'We played the flute for you,
And you did not dance;
We mourned to you,
And you did not lament.'

 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon.'  The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!'  But wisdom is justified by her children."

Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent:  "Woe to you, Chorazin!  Woe to you, Bethsaida!  For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.  But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you.  And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.  But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you."

- Matthew 11:16-24

 In Saturday's reading, we read that after the disciples of John the Baptist departed (they had been sent by John, who was imprisoned, to ask if Jesus is the Coming One, or if they should wait for another - see And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me), Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John:  "What did you go out into the wilderness to see?  A reed shaken by the wind?  But what did you go out to see?  A man clothed in soft garments?  Indeed, those who wear soft clothing are in kings' houses.  But what did you go out to see?  A prophet?  Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet.  For this is he of whom it is written:  'Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before you.'  Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.  And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.  For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.  And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

"But to what shall I liken this generation?  It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their companions, and saying:    'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;  We mourned to you, and you did not lament.'  For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon.'  The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!'  But wisdom is justified by her children."  Jesus is giving an image of a children's game of the time.  The children would divide into two groups:  one would be a group of pretending to be musicians, and the other was supposed to respond properly to the music mimed.  Playing a flute was meant to evoke music of dance, and the other group of children were meant to respond by dancing.  To "mourn" was to sing songs of mourning, and the other group was expected to properly lament.  Jesus' illustration of complaining children is meant to be an image of people behaving as if "the tail wagged the dog," demanding the "proper" conduct or works of those who bear the Kingdom into the world, in accordance with their own expectations and demands.  My study bible says He's drawing a parallel to the religious leaders who responded wickedly both to the Baptist as being too ascetic, and to Christ as being too liberal in mercy and joy.

Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent:  "Woe to you, Chorazin!  Woe to you, Bethsaida!  For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.  But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you.  And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.  But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you."   My study bible tells us that it is a far greater sin to have seen Christ's works and rejected Him than never to have known Him at all.  Jesus gives a list of places where His works have been done -- this "breaking in" of the Kingdom into the world.  And what has the response been?

So much depends on how we judge things, how we "see" them.  Jesus compares the "opinion-makers" of His time with petulant children, complaining that they'd ordered up this or that, but that the ones revealing the presence of the Kingdom -- both Jesus and John the Baptist -- fail to fit the bill.  The prophet whom Jesus has called "more than a prophet" (in Saturday's reading), John the Baptist, has preached repentance and preparation for the Messiah via baptism, living an extreme ascetic lifestyle, even dressed in animal skins and eating the food the wilderness provides.  Now he sits imprisoned by Herod Antipas, and he will be beheaded through the desires and machinations of Herod's wife.  But there are complaints about this greatest of all prophets and herald of the coming Kingdom:  he's too ascetic, and too rough, unused to a soft life and filled with the spirit of the prophets before him, particularly Elijah.  Christ's grace comes with a mission and ministry filled with great healing works, and salvation for sinners -- He's sat at table with tax collectors and others -- and it's much too lax, too generous for those who would criticize His lack of overt ascetic practice, the same who found John a little too rough.  But "wisdom is justified by her children."  In the Greek, we read that wisdom is justified by her "works" - another way to think of "reproduction."  In other words, whatever holy expression has come either from John or Jesus is a product of holy wisdom, a feminine word in the Greek, but considered to be that which comes from Logos -- another reflection of Christ, or the Son, Himself.  Just as He is the Kingdom, so is He present in the works that bear the Kingdom so "violently" and startlingly into the world, shaking everything and everyone up -- and giving so much fodder for criticism and rejection.  It's this Kingdom breaking into the world that we must take care to receive with good judgment.  The works of the Kingdom, however different each may appear from another, are all "children of wisdom."   We have a great, long history of works by saints as varied and myriad as there are disciples and believers, each bearing yet more works that are "children of wisdom."  It is the Son Himself who is justified by these children, "good works" of prayer and fruits of holy wisdom, however varied or vast they may seem to be.  This is because every circumstance, every culture, all beings must receive a manifestation of the Kingdom appropriate to the "one thing necessary."  So much depends on whether we can receive what wisdom brings to us, demanding that we accommodate it and not the other way around.  This Kingdom breaking through into the world is not for those who wish it conform to the commonplace and expected, but for those who are ready to expand, even to be shaken out of the old.  This means that what we know from the past is good, but what Christ reveals is better.  In Revelation, the One seated on the throne calls us to attention, commanding and declaring, "Behold!  I am always making all things new" (my italics), in the real sense of the original Greek.  We're the ones who need to embrace holy wisdom.  Wherever the Kingdom is, such will always be its works and effects for us, and our lives -- the spiritual fruits of holy wisdom.