We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; We mourned to you, and you did not lament

 

 "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 all 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 Friday's reading, the disciples of John the Baptist came to Jesus, asking if He is the Coming One, or if they should look for another, for John was imprisoned at this time.  On Saturday we read that when they departed, 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 all her children."  Jesus compares His and John the Baptist's critics to children playing a popular game among Jewish children of the time.  The children would divide into two groups.  One would pretend to play musical instruments (for dancing) or to sing (for mourning), and the others were expected to respond.  In this case, He compares them to children complaining that the second group responded in a manner opposite of what would have been expected.  My study Bible comments that Christ draws a parallel to the Jewish leaders who responded wickedly both to John the Baptist as being too ascetic and to Christ as being too liberal in mercy and joy.  But, as Jesus says, wisdom is justified by all her children.  That is, both the ascetic John, and the merciful Christ.

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 comments that it is a far greater sin to have seen Christ's works and rejected Him than never to have known Him at all.  

In today's reading, Jesus speaks of the proper response to the grace of God.  Both He and John the Baptist have ministries in which they serve God as they are called.  John was himself deeply ascetic, living in a kind of chosen poverty in order to devote all of his life to God's call.  Christ's ministry appears to be quite different.  As He Himself says, He is criticized for eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners -- those with wealth, even gained by what are considered to be sinful means (see this reading, in which Matthew the tax collector, our Evangelist, is called by Christ the Physician).  Their ministries bear very little resemblance  to one another, and yet both serve as they are called to do.  For this is the message of God's grace.  In John's chapter 3, Jesus explains to Nicodemus, an important member of the Council who also becomes Christ's follower:  "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit" (John 3:8).  In other words, God's grace -- the ways in which the Spirit of God works -- is not predictable nor accountable to worldly human standards.  Jesus and John bear very little resemblance to one another in terms of the appearance and type of their ministries, but in fact both work together for God's kingdom, and each is necessary in the unfolding of this story.  Nicodemus himself is an unlikely candidate for us to expect as a devoted follower of Christ, as He is a prominent member of the Council and a Pharisee, and yet he becomes a disciple as well; like Joseph of Arimathea, another wealthy man from Jerusalem, he will show heroism in service to Christ.  What all of these figures have in common, and indeed all the figures we read about who serve Christ and the kingdom, is just that:  a faith that exchanges one life for another, worldly expectations for the service of God, however they are called to do so in life.  For this is the life of faith, and of taking up one's own cross.  Of course, the wonderful message hidden in Christ's words that "wisdom is justified by all her children" is that in the great and awesome creativity of Christ, each unique life and personality gives us a sense of the magnificent beauty and variety of God's kingdom.  As unique and different as each person we read about who serves God, each is called to play their own part in the Body of Christ.  This is the unsurpassed creativity of God, and why we just keep our hearts open to discernment.  The astonishing beauty of God can also be misunderstood and rejected when we allow our own expectations to cloud what grace is revealing to us.  We think of repentance as mourning for sins of the past; but truly another form of repentance is opening one's eyes to God's unexpected grace, and opening to receive as it is given and revealed.  In order to do that, we discard the limitations God challenges within ourselves, and embrace God's way for us.  This is also the way of the Cross, of taking up our own crosses and following Him.  Jesus' great signs do not move the cities He names to that kind of repentance, or "change of mind."  This in itself, as He reveals, becomes a kind of judgment.  They are witness to His miracles, but cannot accept His gospel -- and both are gifts from God.  This is the danger of wanting a god in our own image, one who will simply conform to our demands.  But wisdom is justified by all her children.