Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 11:16
But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows,
16. But whereunto shall I liken this generation? ] The children who complain of their companions are the Jews who are satisfied neither with Jesus nor with John. This generation is out of sympathy with the prophets in whatever guise they come. They blamed John for his too great austerity, Jesus for neglect of Pharisaic exclusiveness and of ceremonial fasting.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
But whereunto shall I liken … – Christ proceeds to reprove the inconsistency and fickleness of that age of people. He says they were like children – nothing pleased them. He refers here to the plays or sports of children. Instrumental music, or piping and dancing, were used in marriages and festivals as a sign of joy. See the notes at Isa 5:11-12. Compare Job 21:11; 2Sa 6:14; Jdg 11:34; Luk 15:25. Children imitate their parents and others, and act over in play what they see done by others. Among their childish sports, therefore, was probably an imitation of a wedding or festal occasion. We have seen also (the notes at Mat 9:23) that funerals were attended with mournful music, and lamentation, and howling. It is not improbable that children also, in play: imitated a mournful funeral procession. One part are represented as sullen and dissatisfied. They would not enter into the play: nothing pleased them. The others complained of it. We have, said they, taken all pains to please you. We have piped to you, have played lively tunes, and have engaged in cheerful sports, but you would not join with us; and then we have played different games, and imitated the mourning at funerals, and you are equally sullen; you have not lamented; you have not joked with us. Nothing pleases you. So, said Christ, is this generation of people. John came one way, neither eating nor drinking, abstaining as a Nazarite, and you were not pleased with him. I, the Son of man, have come in a different manner, eating and drinking; not practicing any austerity, but living like other people, and you are equally dissatisfied – nay, you are less pleased. You calumniate him, and abuse me for not doing the very thing which displeased you in John. Nothing pleases you. You are fickle, changeable, inconstant, and abusive.
Markets – Places to sell provisions; places of concourse, where also children flocked together for play.
We have piped – We have played on musical instruments. A pipe was a wind instrument of music often used by shepherds.
Neither eating nor drinking – That is, abstaining from some kinds of food and wine, as a Nazarite. It does not mean that he did not eat at all, but that he was remarkable for abstinence.
He hath a devil – He is actuated by a bad spirit. He is irregular, strange, and cannot be a good man.
The Son of man came eating and drinking – That is, living as others do; not practicing austerity; and they accuse him of being fond of excess, and seeking the society of the wicked.
Gluttonous – One given to excessive eating.
Wine-bibber – One who drinks much wine. Jesus undoubtedly lived according to the general customs of the people of his time. He did not affect singularity; he did not separate himself as a Nazarite; he did not practice severe austerities. He ate that which was common and drank that which was common. As wine was a common article of beverage among the people, he drank it. It was the pure juice of the grape, and for anything that can be proved, it was without fermentation. In regard to the kind of wine which was used, see the notes at Joh 2:10. No one should plead the example, at any rate, in favor of making use of the wines that are commonly used in this country – wines, many of which are manufactured here, and without a particle of the pure juice of the grape, and most of which are mixed with noxious drugs to give them color and flavor.
Wisdom is justified of her children – The children of wisdom are the wise – those who understand. The Saviour means that though that generation of Pharisees and fault-finders did not appreciate the conduct of John and himself, yet the wise, the candid – those who understood the reasons of their conduct – would approve of and do justice to it.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Mat 11:16
But whereunto shall I liken this generation?
It is like unto children sitting in the markets.
Excuses of sinners
The Great Teacher on the watch that He might spiritualize what passed before Him; He was probably standing in a Jewish market-place when He uttered these words. The Jews used the pipe at marriages and funerals. This instrument of music, therefore, like our church bells, served alike for the joyful and mournful occasion.
I. The application of the passage to the Jews. There was a marked difference between the ministry of the Baptist and that of our Lord; John presented piety under the form of austerity; Jesus, on the contrary, mingled freely with the people. Thus was brought to bear upon the Jews a great variety moral assault. Both were unheeded. The Baptist had been too repulsive, and now the Redeemer was too conciliating. If they had melancholy music, they wanted lively, and if they had lively they wanted melancholy. They were like sullen children resisting all efforts to interest them.
II. The application of the passage to ourselves. Gods dealings with sinners are still mixed.
In the preaching of the Word there is variety of assault
Boanerges and Barnabas are sent. If the preacher is vehement, then you say that frightening men is not the right way of dealing with them; if he is pathetic, you say there ought not to be an attempt to master the feelings without carrying the judgment. The occurrences of daily life are so many endeavours on the part of the Almighty to win men from unrighteousness. Both prosperity and adversity; men resist the combination. (H. Melvill, B. D.)
Caprice and inconsistency
Our Lord clearly charges upon those to whom He personally preached, that they were childish in their treatment of religion.
I. How inconsistent and capricious are many of the objections to Christianity. They assume contradictory forms. Look at some of these objections.
1. A Divine revelation, say such men, ought to exhibit a Divine power. Is it reasonable to say that Christianity has no power because its work has not been completely finished in eighteen centuries? Then he does not believe in any superhuman power which rises above the laws of nature. The very man who said the gospel wanted power!
2. You find the same principle in regard to the way in which such men treat the evidence on which Christianity is based. Men do well to look to foundations. They object to evidence of religion in books, and cry for something to affect the moral nature; but if you point him to characters changed by religion he says that he does not believe in a religion that depends for proof on inward experiences.
3. But nowhere is this determination not to be pleased so apparent as in their judgment of the personal character and conduct of Christians. Fidelity to truth may not please men, but, by Gods blessing, it will save them.
II. Christianity admits of variety in individual character and work.
1. Variety in experience.
2. In doctrine, too, Christianity admits of variety.
3. In Christian work the religion of Jesus admits of great variety of individual peculiarity. (Bishop Cheney.)
Varied ministries in vain
Have you never attempted the culture of certain plants which refuse to hear the voice of the charmer, charm he never so wisely? Trust to the showers to furnish them sufficient moisture, and suddenly you find their leaves are drooping as if a drought had cursed the soil. Try to refresh them with water, and you find the roots softening with decay, and the leaves incrusting themselves in mildew. Put them out in the open border, where nature manifests her kindest care, and the sun scorches them like the breath of a furnace. Remove them where a friendly shrub offers its shade, and forthwith they spindle up with a pale and ghastly growth, at once worthless and unhealthy. Fit types of many of the objections with which the faith of the Saviour has been met from the beginning! (Bishop Cheney.)
Varied workers
And above all, in Christian work the religion of Jesus admits of great variety of individual peculiarity. Rising before the dawn you saw the morning star climb slowly up the purple ladder of the eastern sky. It had its work to do. God gave it that work. But no one expects it to light the world and turn darkness into day. That the rising sun must do. Even so widely different was the work of John the Baptist and Jesus the Sun of Righteousness. Both were to work the works of Him who sent them-but in ways utterly unlike. (Bishop Cheney.)
Man naturally seeks variety
In the great print-works of the land are men whose only duty is to make new patterns to be impressed upon the white surface of the snowy cotton. The countless combinations of colours which the kaleidoscope presents are reproduced in an infinite variety of designs. The men whose vast wealth is invested in looms and spindles comprehend human nature, and they know that it demands variety. Just in proportion as tyranny has established its supremacy, it has tried to reduce all the race to a single pattern. The idea of beauty which has filled the mind of despots has always been that of the Dutch gardeners, who clipped and pruned trees that nature would have made lovely in luxuriant growth till each one was precisely like every other. How different when our Lord Jesus Christ came to establish His supremacy. Two men could hardly have been more widely different than Jesus of Nazareth and John the Baptist. (Bishop Cheney.)
Critics hard to please
If a Christian be reserved in his habits and a lover of retirement, they describe him as narrow and ungenial. If he be frank and accessible, they shake their heads over his worldliness and inordinate love of society. He is never quite right in their eyes. He is too strict or too yielding; too gloomy or too happy; too cautious or too bold; too shrewd or too simple. Let not such judgments of men disconcert or discourage any who with an honest heart endeavour to be true to Christ. (D. Fraser, D. D.)
Transition periods
There are three great periods in religion.
1. The period of law; in which the motives are hope and fear-hope of reward and fear of punishment.
2. The period of the gospel; in which the motive is simply the love of what is good without regard to personal results.
3. The transition period, which is that of John the Baptist; when there is the light of the gospel, and yet the terror of the law behind it; in which men, though they love God a little, are still afraid of Him.
The impossibility of pleasing the enlightened conscience and the carnal mind
When a mans conscience is pulling one way, and his heart is pulling him another way, nothing pleases him. If you ask him to do his duty, and tell him what he ought to be, his conscience assents, but he does not like it. If, on the other hand, you make excuses for him, and tell him he is all right, then his feelings are soothed, but his conscience remonstrates, because he knows you are wrong in saying so. Selfishness is thus always ill at ease, and has no inward unity so long as there is any conscience left.
Fault not in the gospel, but in the evil heart
The trouble is in the men themselves, and not in the institutions that surround them. They are like sick children. Whatever the nurse may bring, whether it be of food, or of drink, or of some object of amusement, the child pushes it pettishly away. Nothing suits the child. It is not because the picture is not beautiful; it is not because the drink is not cooling and palatable; it is not because the food is not good; it is because the irritable nerve is such that nothing seems good, no matter how good it may be, and nothing seems desirable, no matter how attractive it may be. And there are hundreds of men in every community who refuse to bow down the pride of their nature, and who refuse to accept the service of Christ, because of the heart that they carry in them, although the reasons which they allege are reasons of exterior religion. (H. W. Beecher.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 16. But whereunto shall I liken this generation?] That is, the Jewish people – , this race: and so the word is often to be understood in the evangelists.
In the markets] Or, places of concourse, , from , I gather together; not a market-place only, but any place of public resort: probably meaning here, places of public amusement.
Calling unto their fellows] Or, companions. Instead of , companions, many of the best MSS. have , others. The great similarity of the words might have easily produced this difference.
There are some to whom every thing is useful in leading them to God; others, to whom nothing is sufficient. Every thing is good to an upright mind, every thing bad to a vicious heart.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Luke, telling to us the same history, Luk 7:31-35, prefaces it thus, Luk 7:29,30, And all the people that heard him, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John. But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him. Which letteth us know that our Saviour by the term this generation here doth not mean all the people of that generation; but the Pharisees and the lawyers, whom nothing could allure or persuade to the receiving of Jesus Christ, neither the ministry and example of John, nor yet his own preaching and example. For the people and the publicans justified the words of Christ, which he had spoken in commendation of John, and were baptized of him; but the Pharisees and lawyers did not believe, nor would be baptized of him. These our Saviour likens to a company of sullen children, whom their fellows could not persuade any way to a compliance with them: if they piped they would not dance; if they sang to them some mournful songs, neither would they be affected with them; so as no tune would please them. It is thought that our Saviour doth here allude to some sport used then amongst children, which we are not so well acquainted with, wherein children were wont to sing, sometimes more merry and pleasant, sometimes more sad and mournful songs one to another; and that he here likens the Pharisees and lawyers to a sullen set of children, that, let their companions sing what they would, would not answer them. Our Saviours meaning is expounded plainly enough by the next words (see Mat 11:18,19).
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
But whereunto shall I liken this generation? The men of that age, the stubborn and perverse Jews; who were pleased with nothing, with no man’s ministry, neither with John’s, nor with Christ’s, but found fault with whatever they heard, or saw done:
it is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling to their fellows: that is, the case of such persons may be fitly represented by children in a public market, calling to their companions, to pipe or mourn with them, and who are so morose and sullen as to do neither: for the men of that generation, are not the good natured children, that called to their fellows, and were willing to join in innocent diversions and exercises; but rather John the Baptist, Christ and his disciples, who may be compared to “children”, for their harmlessness and simplicity; and are represented as “sitting in markets”, places of concourse, where much people met together; which may intend the synagogues and temple, and other public places, which they made use of to publish their doctrines in, to preach to, and exhort the people; and as “calling to their fellows”, to their contemporaries, to those of their own nation, by the external ministry of the word.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Christ Reproaches Chorazin, c.. |
|
16 But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows, 17 And saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented. 18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil. 19 The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children. 20 Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not: 21 Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, 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. 22 But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you. 23 And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 24 But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.
Christ was going on in the praise of John the Baptist and his ministry, but here stops on a sudden, and turns that to the reproach of those who enjoyed both that, and the ministry of Christ and his apostles too, in vain. As to that generation, we may observe to whom he compares them (v. 16-19), and as to the particular places he instances in, we may observe with whom he compares them, v. 20-24.
I. As to that generation, the body of the Jewish people at that time. There were many indeed that pressed into the kingdom of heaven; but the generality continued in unbelief and obstinacy. John was a great and good man, but the generation in which his lot was cast was as barren and unprofitable as could be, and unworthy of him. Note, The badness of the places where good ministers live serves for a foil to their beauty. It was Noah’s praise that he was righteous in his generation. Having commended John, he condemns those who had him among them, and did not profit by his ministry. Note, The more praise-worthy the people are, if they slight him, and so it will be found in the day of account.
This our Lord Jesus here sets forth in a parable, yet speaks as if he were at a loss to find out a similitude proper to represent this, Whereunto shall I liken this generation? Note, There is not a greater absurdity than that which they are guilty of who have good preaching among them, and are never the better for it. It is hard to say what they are like. The similitude is taken from some common custom among the Jewish children at their play, who, as is usual with children, imitated the fashions of grown people at their marriages and funerals, rejoicing and lamenting; but being all a jest, it made no impression; no more did the ministry either of John the Baptist or of Christ upon that generation. He especially reflects on the scribes and Pharisees, who had a proud conceit of themselves; therefore to humble them he compares them to children, and their behaviour to children’s play.
The parable will be best explained by opening it and the illustration of it together in these five observations.
Note, 1. The God of heaven uses a variety of proper means and methods for the conversion and salvation of poor souls; he would have all men to be saved, and therefore leaves no stone unturned in order to it. The great thing he aims at, is the melting of our wills into a compliance with the will of God, and in order to this the affecting of us with the discoveries he has made of himself. Having various affections to be wrought upon, he uses various ways of working upon them, which though differing one from another, all tend to the same thing, and God is in them all carrying on the same design. In the parable, this is called his piping to us, and his mourning to us; he hath piped to us in the precious promises of the gospel, proper to work upon hope, and mourned to us in the dreadful threatenings of the law, proper to work upon fear, that he might frighten us out of our sins and allure us to himself. He had piped to us in gracious and merciful providences, mourned to us in calamitous, afflicting providences, and has set the one over against the other. He has taught his ministers to change their voice (Gal. iv. 20); sometimes to speak in thunder from mount Sinai, sometimes in a still small voice from mount Sion.
In the explanation of the parable is set forth the different temper of John’s ministry and of Christ’s, who were the two great lights of that generation.
(1.) On the one hand, John came mourning to them, neither eating nor drinking; not conversing familiarly with people, nor ordinarily eating in company, but alone, in his cell in the wilderness, where his meat was locusts and wild honey. Now this, one would think, should work upon them; for such an austere, mortified life as this, was very agreeable to the doctrine he preached: and that minister is most likely to do good, whose conversation is according to his doctrine; and yet the preaching even of such a minister is not always effectual.
(2.) On the other hand, the Son of man came eating and drinking, and so he piped unto them. Christ conversed familiarly with all sorts of people, not affecting any peculiar strictness or austerity; he was affable and easy of access, not shy of any company, was often at feasts, both with Pharisees and publicans, to try if this would win upon those who were not wrought upon by John’s reservedness: those who were not awed by John’s frowns, would be allured by Christ’s smiles; from whom St. Paul learned to be come all things to all men, 1 Cor. ix. 22. Now our Lord Jesus, by his freedom, did not at all condemn John, any more than John did condemn him, though their deportment was so very different. Note, Though we are never so clear in the goodness of our own practice, yet we must not judge of others by it. There may be a great diversity of operations, where it is the same God that worketh all in all (1 Cor. xii. 6), and this various manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal, v. 7. Observe especially, that God’s ministers are variously gifted: the ability and genius of some lie one way, of others, another way: some are Boanerges–sons of thunder; others, Barnabeses–sons of consolation; yet all these worketh that one and the self-same Spirit (1 Cor. xii. 11), and therefore we ought not to condemn either, but to praise both, and praise God for both, who thus tries various ways of dealing with persons of various tempers, that sinners may be either made pliable or left inexcusable, so that, whatever the issue is, God will be glorified.
Note, 2. The various methods which God takes for the conversion of sinners, are with many fruitless and ineffectual: “Ye have not danced, ye have not lamented; you have not been suitably affected either with the one or with the other.” Particular means have, as in medicine, their particular intentions, which must be answered, particular impressions, which must be submitted to, in order to the success of the great and general design; now if people will be neither bound by laws, nor invited by promises, nor frightened by threatenings, will neither be awakened by the greatest things, nor allured by the sweetest things, nor startled by the most terrible things, nor be made sensible by the plainest things; if they will hearken to the voice neither of scripture, nor reason, nor experience, nor providence, nor conscience, nor interest, what more can be done? The bellows are burned, the lead is consumed, the founder melteth in vain; reprobate silver shall men call them, Jer. vi. 29. Ministers’ labour is bestowed in vain (Isa. xlix. 4), and, which is a much greater loss, the grace of God received in vain, 2 Cor. vi. 1. Note, It is some comfort to faithful ministers, when they see little success of their labours, that it is no new thing for the best preachers and the best preaching in the world to come short of the desired end. Who has believed our report? If from the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of those great commanders, Christ and john, returned so often empty (2 Sam. i. 22), no marvel if ours do so, and we prophecy to so little purpose upon dry bones.
Note, 3. That commonly those persons who do not profit by the means of grace, are perverse, and reflect upon the ministers by whom they enjoy those means; and because they do not get good themselves, they do all the hurt they can to others, by raising and propagating prejudices against the word, and the faithful preachers of it. Those who will not comply with God, and walk after him, confront him, and walk contrary to him. So this generation did; because they were resolved not to believe Christ and John, and to own them, as they ought to have done, for the best of men, they set themselves to abuse them, and to represent them as the worst. (1.) As for John the Baptist, they say, He has a devil. They imputed his strictness and reservedness to melancholy, and some kind or degree of a possession of Satan. “Why should we heed him? he is a poor hypochondriacal man, full of fancies, and under the power of a crazed imagination.” (2.) As for Jesus Christ, they imputed his free and obliging conversation to the more vicious habit of luxury and flesh-pleasing: Behold a gluttonous man and a wine-bibber. No reflection could be more foul and invidious; it is the charge against the rebellious son (Deut. xxi. 20), He is a glutton and a drunkard; yet none could be more false and unjust; for Christ pleased not himself (Rom. xv. 3), nor did ever any man live such a life of self-denial, mortification, and contempt of the world, as Christ lived: he that was undefiled, and separate from sinners, is here represented as in league with them, and polluted by them. Note, The most unspotted innocency, and the most unparalleled excellency, will not always be a fence against the reproach of tongues: nay, a man’s best gifts and best actions, which are both well intended and well calculated for edification, may be made the matter of his reproach. The best of our actions may become the worst of our accusations, as David’s fasting, Ps. lxix. 10. It was true in some sense, that Christ was a Friend to publicans and sinners, the best Friend they ever had, for he came into the world to save sinners, great sinners, even the chief; so he said very feelingly, who had been himself not a publican and sinner, but a Pharisee and sinner; but this is, and will be to eternity, Christ’s praise, and they forfeited the benefit of it who thus turned it to his reproach.
Note, 4. That the cause of this great unfruitfulness and perverseness of people under the means of grace, is that they are like children sitting in the markets; they are foolish as children, froward as children, mindless and playful as children; would they but show themselves men in understanding, there would be some hopes of them. The market-place they sit in is to some a place of idleness (ch. xx. 3); to others a place of worldly business (James iv. 13); to all a place of noise or diversion; so that if you ask the reason why people get so little good by the means of grace, you will find it is because they are slothful and trifling, and do not love to take pains; or because their heads, and hands, and hearts are full of the world, the cares of which choke the word, and choke their souls at last ( Eze 33:31; Amo 8:5); and they study to divert their own thoughts from every thing that is serious. Thus in the markets they are, and there they sit; in these things their hearts rest, and by them they resolve to abide.
Note, 5. Though the means of grace be thus slighted and abused by many, by the most, yet there is a remnant that through grace do improve them, and answer the designs of them, to the glory of God, and the good of their own souls. But wisdom is justified of her children. Christ is Wisdom; in him are hid treasures of wisdom; the saints are the children God has given him, Heb. ii. 13. The gospel is wisdom, it is the wisdom from above: true believers are begotten again by it, and born from above too; they are wise children, wise for themselves, and their true interests; not like the foolish children that sat in the markets. These children of wisdom justify wisdom; they comply with the designs of Christ’s grace, answer the intentions of it, and are suitably affected with, and impressed by, the various methods it takes, and so evidence the wisdom of Christ in taking these methods. This is explained, Luke vii. 29. The publicans justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John, and afterwards embracing the gospel of Christ. Note, The success of the means of grace justifies the wisdom of God in the choice of these means, against those who charge him with folly therein. The cure of every patient, that observes the physician’s orders, justifies the wisdom of the physician: and therefore Paul is not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, because, whatever it is to others, to them that believe it is the power of God unto salvation, Rom. i. 16. When the cross of Christ, which to others is foolishness and a stumbling-block, is to them that are called the wisdom of God and the power of God (1Co 1:23; 1Co 1:24), so that they make the knowledge of that the summit of their ambition (1 Cor. ii. 2), and the efficacy of that the crown of their glorying (Gal. vi. 14), here is wisdom justified of her children. Wisdom’s children are wisdom’s witnesses in the world (Isa. xliii. 10), and shall be produced as witnesses in that day, when wisdom, that is now justified by the saints, shall be glorified in the saints, and admired in all them that believe, 2 Thess. i. 10. If the unbelief of some reproach Christ by giving him the lie, the faith of others shall honour him by setting to its seal that he is true, and that he also is wise, 1 Cor. i. 25. Whether we do it or not, it will be done; not only God’s equity, but his wisdom, will be justified when he speaks, when he judges.
Well, this is the account Christ gives of that generation, and that generation is not passed away, but remains in a succession of the like; for as it was then, it has been since and is still; some believe the things which are spoken, and some believe not, Acts xxviii. 24.
II. As to the particular places in which Christ was most conversant. What he said in general of that generation, he applied in particular to those places, to affect them. Then began he to upbraid them, v. 20. He began to preach to them long before (ch. iv. 17), but he did not begin to upbraid till now. Note, Rough and unpleasing methods must not be taken, till gentler means have first been used. Christ is not apt to upbraid; he gives liberally, and upbraideth not, till sinners by their obstinacy extort it from him. Wisdom first invites, but when her invitations are slighted, then she upbraids,Pro 1:20; Pro 1:24. Those do not go in Christ’s method, who begin with upbraidings. Now observe,
1. The sin charged upon them; not any against the moral law, then an appeal would have lain to the gospel, which would have relieved, but a sin against the gospel, the remedial law, and that is impenitency: this was it he upbraided them with, or reproached them for, as the most shameful, ungrateful thing that could be, that they repented not. Note, Wilful impenitency is the great damning sin of multitudes that enjoy the gospel, and which (more than any other) sinners will be upbraided with to eternity. The great doctrine that both John the Baptist, and Christ, and the apostles preached, was repentance; the great thing designed, both in the piping and in the mourning, was to prevail with people to change their minds and ways, to leave their sins and turn to God; and this they would not be brought to. He does not say, because they believed not (for some king of faith many of them had) that Christ was a Teacher come from God; but because they repented not: their faith did not prevail to the transforming of their hearts, and the reforming of their lives. Christ reproved them for their other sins, that he might lead them to repentance; but when they repented not, He upbraided them with that, as their refusal to be healed: He upbraided them with it, that they might upbraid themselves, and might at length see the folly of it, as that which alone makes the sad case a desperate one, and the wound incurable.
2. The aggravation of the sin; they were the cities in which most of his mighty works were done; for thereabouts his principal residence had been for some time. Note, Some places enjoy the means of grace in greater plenty, power, and purity, than other places. God is a free agent, and acts so in all his disposals, both as the God of nature and as the God of grace, common and distinguishing grace. By Christ’s mighty works they should have been prevailed with, not only to receive his doctrine, but to obey his law; the curing of bodily diseases should have been the healing of their souls, but it had not that effect. Note, The stronger inducements we have to repent, the more heinous is the impenitency and the severer will the reckoning be, for Christ keeps account of the mighty works done among us, and of the gracious works done for us too, by which also we should be led to repentance, Rom. ii. 4.
(1.) Chorazin and Bethsaida are here instanced (Mat 11:21; Mat 11:22), they have each of them their woe: Woe unto thee, Chorazin, woe unto thee, Bethsaida. Christ came into the world to bless us; but if that blessing be slighted, he has woes in reserve, and his woes are of all others the most terrible. These two cities were situate upon the sea of Galilee, the former on the east side, and the latter on the west, rich and populous places; Bethsaida was lately advanced to a city by Philip the tetrarch; out of it Christ took at least three of his apostles: thus highly were these places favoured! Yet because they knew not the day of their visitation, they fell under these woes, which stuck so close to them, that soon after this they decayed, and dwindled into mean, obscure villages. So fatally does sin ruin cities, and so certainly does the word of Christ take place!
Now Chorazin and Bethsaida are here compared with Tyre and Sidon, two maritime cities we read much of in the Old Testament, that had been brought to ruin, but began to flourish again; these cities bordered upon Galilee, but were in a very ill name among the Jews for idolatry and other wickedness. Christ sometimes went into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon (ch. xv. 21), but never thither; the Jews would have taken it very heinously if he had; therefore Christ, to convince and humble them, here shows,
[1.] That Tyre and Sidon would not have been so bad as Chorazin and Bethsaida. If they had had the same word preached, and the same miracles wrought among them, they would have repented, and that long ago, as Nineveh did, in sackcloth and ashes. Christ, who knows the hearts of all, knew that if he had gone and lived among them, and preached among them, he should have done more good there than where he was; yet he continued where he was for some time, to encourage his ministers to do so, though they see not the success they desire. Note, Among the children of disobedience, some are more easily wrought upon than others; and it is a great aggravation of the impenitency of those who plentifully enjoy the means of grace, not only that there are many who sit under the same means that are wrought upon, but that there are many more that would have been wrought upon, if they had enjoyed the same means. See Eze 3:6; Eze 3:7. Our repentance is slow and delayed, but theirs would have been speedy; they would have repented long ago. Ours has been slight and superficial; theirs would have been deep and serious, in sackcloth and ashes. Yet we must observe, with an awful adoration of the divine sovereignty, that the Tyrians and Sidonians will justly perish in their sin, though, if they had had the means of grace, they would have repented; for God is a debtor to no man.
[2.] That therefore Tyre and Sidon shall not be so miserable as Chorazin and Bethsaida, but it shall be more tolerable for them in the day of judgment, v. 22. Note, First, At the day of judgment the everlasting state of the children of men will, by an unerring and unalterable doom, be determined; happiness or misery, and the several degrees of each. Therefore it is called the eternal judgment (Heb. vi. 2), because decisive of the eternal state. Secondly, In that judgment, all the means of grace that were enjoyed in the state of probation will certainly come into the account, and it will be enquired, not only how bad we were, but how much better we might have been, had it not been our own fault, Isa 5:3; Isa 5:4. Thirdly, Though the damnation of all that perish will be intolerable, yet the damnation of those who had the fullest and clearest discoveries made them of the power and grace of Christ, and yet repented not, will be of all others the most intolerable. The gospel light and sound open the faculties, and enlarge the capacities of all that see and hear it, either to receive the riches of divine grace, or (if that grace be slighted) to take in the more plentiful effusions of divine wrath. If self-reproach be the torture of hell, it must needs be hell indeed to those who had such a fair opportunity of getting to heaven. Son, remember that.
(2.) Capernaum is here condemned with an emphasis (v. 23), “And thou, Capernaum, hold up thy hand, and hear they doom,” Capernaum, above all the cities of Israel, was dignified with Christ’s most usual residence; it was like Shiloh of old, the place which he chose, to put his name there, and it fared with it as with Shiloh, Jer 7:12; Jer 7:14. Christ’s miracles here were daily bread, and therefore, as the manna of old, were despised and called light bread. Many a sweet and comfortable lecture of grace Christ had read them to little purpose, and therefore he reads them a dreadful lecture of wrath: those who will not hear the former shall be made to feel the latter.
We have here Capernaum’s doom,
[1.] Put absolutely; Thou which art exalted to heaven shalt be brought down to hell Note, First, Those who enjoy the gospel in power and purity, are thereby exalted to heaven; they have therein a great honour for the present, and a great advantage for eternity; they are lifted up toward heaven; but if, notwithstanding, they still cleave to the earth, they may thank themselves that they are not lifted up into heaven. Secondly, Gospel advantages and advancements abused will sink sinners so much lower into hell. Our external privileges will be so far from saving us, that if our hearts and lives be not agreeable to them, they will but inflame the reckoning: the higher the precipice is, the more fatal is the fall from it: Let us not therefore be high-minded, but fear; not slothful, but diligent. See Job 20:6; Job 20:7.
[2.] We have it here put in comparison with the doom of Sodom–a place more remarkable, both for sin and ruin, than perhaps any other; and yet Christ here tells us,
First, That Capernaum’s means would have saved Sodom. If these miracles had been done among the Sodomites, as bad as they were, they would have repented, and their city would have remained unto this day a monument of sparing mercy, as now it is of destroying justice, Jude 7. Note, Upon true repentance through Christ, even the greatest sin shall be pardoned and the greatest ruin prevented, that of Sodom not excepted. Angels were sent to Sodom, and yet it remained not; but if Christ had been sent thither, it would have remained; how well is it for us, then, that the world to come is put in subjection to Christ, and not to angels! Heb. ii. 5. Lot would not have seemed as one that mocked, if he had wrought miracles.
Secondly, That Sodom’s ruin will therefore be less at the great day than Capernaum’s. Sodom will have many things to answer for, but not the sin of neglecting Christ, as Capernaum will. If the gospel prove a savour of death, a killing savour, it is doubly so; it is of death unto death, so great a death (2 Cor. ii. 16); Christ had said the same of all other places that receive not his ministers nor bid his gospel welcome (ch. x. 15); It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom than for that city. We that have now the written word in our hands, the gospel preached, and the gospel ordinances administered to us, and live under the dispensation of the Spirit, have advantages not inferior to those of Chorazin, and Bethsaida, and Capernaum, and the account in the great day will be accordingly. It has therefore been justly said, that the professors of this age, whether they go to heaven or hell, will be the greatest debtors in either of these places; if to heaven, the greatest debtors to divine mercy for those rich means that brought them thither; if to hell, the greatest debtors to divine justice, for those rich means that would have kept them from thence.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Children [] . Diminutive, little children. The Rev. Donald Fraser gives the picture simply and vividly : “He pictured a group of little children playing at make – believe marriages and funerals. First they acted a marriage procession; some of them piping as on instruments of music, while the rest were expected to leap and dance. In a perverse mood, however, these last did not respond, but stood still and looked discontented. So the little pipers changed their game and proposed a funeral. They began to imitate the loud wailing of eastern mourners. But again they were thwarted, for their companions refused to chime in with the mournful cry and to beat their breasts…. So the disappointed children complained : ‘We piped unto you and ye did not dance; we wailed, and ye did not mourn. Nothing pleases you. If you don’t want to dance, why don’t you mourn ?… It is plain that you are in bad humor, and determined not to be pleased'” (” Metaphors in the Gospels “). The issue is between the Jews (this generation) and the children of wisdom, Mt 5:9.
Market – places [] . From ajgeirw, to assemble. Wyc., renders cheepynge; compare cheapside, the place for buying and selling; for the word cheap had originally no reference to small price, but meant simply barter or price. The primary conception in the Greek word has nothing to do with buying and selling. Agora is an assembly; then the place of assembly. The idea of a place of trade comes in afterward, and naturally, since trade plants itself where people habitually gather. Hence the Roman Forum was devoted, not only to popular and judicial assemblies, but to commercial purposes, especially of bankers. The idea of trade gradually becomes the dominant one in the word. In Eastern cities the markets are held in bazaars and streets, rather than in squares. In these public places the children would be found playing. Compare Zec 8:5.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “But whereunto shall I liken this generation?” (tini de homoioso ten genean tauten) “To what then shall I compare this generation?” The “this generation” seems to refer to, not so much to the Jewish nation, as to the religious leaders, Pharisees, Sadducees, the Sanhedrin, and the scribes who were always downing, condemning, or finding fault with Jesus, as in Mat 11:19; Mat 9:10-13.
2) “It is like unto children,” (homoia estin paidiois) ‘It is similar to children,” immature, complaining, pouting, capricious, selfish.
3) “Sitting in the markets,” (kathemenois en tais agorais) “Who are sitting in the public marketplace,” where certain religious, pious leaders loved to be seen and heard of men, Mat 6:2; Mat 6:5.
4) “All calling unto their fellows.” (ha prosphonounta tois heterois) “Who are calling out to others.” The Gk. term (heterois) means to other fellows, of a different kind and order, others who were not engaged in full time religious service.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES
Mat. 11:19. Wisdom.God regarded as the All-Wise. Justified.Acquitted of folly. Children.The Divinely wise. The spiritual recognise the wisdom of God both in the austerity of John and in the loving mercy of Jesus (Carr). But see R.V.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Mat. 11:16-19
Wilful perverseness.From addressing the multitudes (Mat. 11:7) before Him, the Saviour naturally passes in thought to those not before Him at that time. Those present are but representatives of the larger mass to which they belong. What is to be said of that massof that Jewish generation of that particular daywhen looked at as a whole? To it especially had come that message of the Baptist with its reference to Himself, of which the Saviour has just been speaking. What has been and is its attitude towards that message and its connections? Our Saviours reply to this inquiry consists of a familiar parable or picture, on the one hand; and a suitable application of it, on the other.
I. The parable itself.This presents us, first, with a well-known locality. It is in the market placea place open to all, and where all are accustomed to meetthat the scene of the parable lies. It presents us, next, with a well-known incident. The children of the place have met there, and are engaged in their sports (cf. the well-known passage in Zec. 8:5). Their sport at this time is that of imitating their seniors, and making believe to be men and women themselves, and doing as they have seen done by those grown-up. One company of them, with this object in view, visits another company and invites them to play. They invite them to play, first, at being mirthful and joyful; to make believe that it is a season of gladness; and to respond to them therefore in a similar strain. But this the other company refuse to do. They will not dance in response to their piping (Mat. 11:17). They are not inclined to that at this time. Thereupon the first company, being still anxious to play, at once alters its rle. It pretends now that the time is a mournful one; and puts on the usual tokens of sorrow and mourning; and invites the other company to respond in like manner. But neither does this, again, meet the wishes of those unaccommodating play-mates. If they disliked the first, they dislike the other as much. There is no pleasing them, in fact, whatever is planned. Do what you will, you cant content them.
II. The application of the parable.This is at once very simple and very natural. According to it the company of children thus twice invited to play, but both times in vain, represents the men of that generation. The call to be sorrowful and mournful which came to that company, represented the message of the Baptist to that generation. It was a message of austerities and of sternness (John himself came neither eating nor drinking, Mat. 11:18); an earnest call to immediate repentance; an invitation to mourn. And it had been received, on the whole, in the same spirit as the similar invitation had been in the parable. It had been pronounced, on the whole, that is to say, to be an unseasonable invitation; so much so, in fact, that men had virtually said of him who brought it, that he must be mad to press it just now (see end of Mat. 11:18). The other invitation, that to be joyful, represented the message of the Saviour to the men of that day. Instead of being characterised by austerities it had been characterised by a suspension of them (see above Mat. 9:14) which had already scandalised some. The Saviour Himself, moreover, in delivering it, had come eating and drinking, it might be said. He had certainly sat at meat (Mat. 9:10) with some who were not conspicuous, to say the least, for their abstemiousness in such matters. And, above all, perhaps, instead of only calling them to repentance and mourning, He had both declared and sealed in a most open manner the fullest forgivenness of guilt (Mat. 9:1-8). Neither, however, had this invitation been more to the taste of that age. Like the children in the parable they had refused this as well as the other. If the other was too austere, this was too easy. If John was mad, Jesus was worse (Mat. 11:19). Any way, in both cases, the upshot was one. The generation which heard both the Baptist and the Saviour rejected them both! And maligned them both, too!
What do we learn from this condition of things? Amongst other lessons of great importance we seem to learn:
1. That questions of truth are not questions to be decided by vote.It is unquestionable, we see, that the men of their own generation thought the teaching of both John and Jesus to be utterly in the wrong. It is just as unquestionable that these same men were utterly in the wrong in so doing.
2. That questions of truth may be decided by the testimony of facts.As a matter of fact, to what did the comparative severity of John bring men in the end? To repentance and Jesus (see Mat. 3:5-6; Joh. 1:29, seq.). As a matter of fact to what did the abounding mercy of Jesus bring men in the end? To forgiveness and renewal; to the presence of God and fitness for it; to deliverance from both the guilt and the bondage of sin (Act. 3:26; Rom. 8:1-4, etc.). So by these their works (R.V.) did both these children of wisdom justify their claim to that name.
HOMILIES ON THE VERSES.
Mat. 11:16-19. Unreason.This sort of unreason shows itself again and again.
1. Men will find fault with Christ and Christianity, put the matter how you will.Prejudice can always find some objection; and proud men who do not like John because he preaches repentance, do not like Jesus because He not only preaches repentance, but brings gratuitous salvation to the heart and to the home.
2. The attitude of Christians toward society is not seldom made a ground of censure by persons who have a good deal in common with the Pharisees and rulers of the Jews. They are too unsocial or they are too social. The critics are hard to please. If a Christian be reserved in his habits and a lover of retirement, they describe him as narrow and ungenial. If he be frank and accessible, they shake their heads over his worldliness and inordinate love of society. He is never quite right in their eyes. Let not such judgments of men disconcert or discourage any who with an honest heart endeavour to be true to Christ. The Lord Himself is our Master and our Example.D. Fraser, D.D.
Playing in the market-place.
I. Jesus takes notice of children when they are playing.What we call little things are sometimes very much noticed by great people. The great Son of God takes great notice of little children, because He knows that upon one of them may depend very great things. Your actions at play are noticed by Christ, and when nothing wrong is said or done, He loves to see you having a merry game.
II. Jesus noticed that among the children playing in the market-place there were some who were sulky.They would play at neither weddings nor funerals. These cross children, like some children now, were very good at one thingthey were good at finding fault. Some children are very much given to this bad habit; they find fault with their food, with their lessons, with their parents commands, even with their games. Perhaps some playfellow wants to play a game at hide-and-seek. They find fault with that. Then blind-mans-buff is proposed. They dont like that. And so they go on, finding fault with every game that is proposed instead of finding fault with themselves for being so very disagreeable.
III. Jesus here uses what the children did to teach men and women what they ought to do and what they ought not to do.He says, Whereunto shall I liken, etc. It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling, etc. And in Mat. 11:18-19, He tells us why He so compares them. Neither the stern John nor the gentle Jesus pleased these people. They found fault with Gods servant and with Gods Son. And what lesson can we learn from this? Do you not see that God wants to bring people to Christ both by what is sad and by what is glad.W. Harris.
Mat. 11:19. Wisdom justified of her children.I. If wisdom was justified in the cases both of John and Jesus, it follows that wisdom is compatible with various ways of life.Wisdom was justified both in John and the Son of manGods wisdom in sending them, such as they were; their wisdom in being what God meant them to be. Johns work as the forerunner of Messiah was one involving rough tasks and demanding a stern will. It became him to come neither eating nor drinking, an austere ascetic, by the very exaggerations of his self-denial protesting against all forms of sensualism. On the other hand, the law of congruity required Jesus to come eating and drinking, and dressing like other people, within the limits of the innocent. For Jesus was the Son of man, and as such it became Him to be in all sinless respects like unto His brethren, that He might get close to them, and find His way into their hearts with His gospel of mercy, and the peace of forgiveness, and the rest of a new heart and endowed with rightly ordered affections. Wisdom was justified through His own lips; for His apologies for so living, to them that examined Him, are among the wisest as well as the most beautiful of His utterances. And wisdom, in the person of Jesus, was justified also by her children, i.e. by those who received the benefit of His grace.
II. Wisdom is not a time-server, seeking to please the world by following its fashion.Both Jesus and John came so that their generation was extensively displeased with them. Herein the true, Divine, heaven-born wisdom differs from the wisdom of the world, the very essence of which consists in time-serving. True wisdom cares more for ultimate than immediate results, has faith in the future, and prescribes to a man as his first duty the expression of conviction, the forth-putting of the Divine force that is in him, regardless of the immediate consequences, at least comparatively.A. B. Bruce, D.D.
Wisdom and her children.
I. The various manifestation of truth to man is ascribable to the highest wisdom.
II. Wisdom has a certain class of men on earth who are to be regarded as its offspring.The children of wisdom are those who have been regenerated by the doctrines which wisdom dispenses. They see things in the light in which wisdom points them out, and they pursue a course of life agreeable to that which wisdom directs. They are the children of wisdom, having a spirit of reverence and obedience for that heavenly wisdom displayed everywhere in the Bible.
III. These children of wisdom thoroughly approve of the truth in whatever form it comes.The dark and bright sides are both approved. They have experienced the worth of both sides.D. Thomas, D.D.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(16) It is like unto children sitting in the markets.The comparison is drawn from one of the common amusements of the children of an Eastern city. They form themselves into companies, and get up a dramatic representation of wedding festivities and funeral pomp. They play their pipes, and expect others to dance; they beat their breasts in lamentation, and expect others to weep. They complain if others do not comply with their demands. To such a company our Lord likens the evil generation in which He and the Baptist lived. They were loud in their complaints of the Baptist because he would not share their self-indulgent mirth; they were bitter against Jesus because He would not live according to the rules of their hypocritical austerity. Thus interpreted, the whole passage is coherent. The more common explanation inverts the comparison, and sees in our Lord and the Baptist those who invite to mourning and to mirth respectively, and are repelled by their sullen playmates. This would in itself give an adequate meaning, but it does not fall in with our Lords language, which specifically identifies the children who invite the others (this rather than their fellows, is the true reading) with the generation which He condemns. The verses that follow, giving the language in which the same generation vented its anger and scorn against the two forms of holiness, agree better with the interpretation here adopted.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
39. CONDUCT OF THAT GENERATION TO JOHN AND JESUS, Mat 11:16-19 .
With all its impetuous zeal for the kingdom of God, the conduct of the generation toward the harbinger and the King is most capricious and childish.
16. This generation The contemporaries of John and himself. Children sitting in the markets The ancient markets were places in which not only men transacted their business, but children performed their amusements.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“But to what shall I liken this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces, who call to their fellows and say,
We piped to you, and you did not dance,
We wailed, and you did not mourn.”
In Mat 11:10 we had a quotation indicating what Jesus likened John the Baptist to. It was solemn and powerful. He was the preparer of the way, preparing the way for Jesus, the Coming One. Now we have a quotation showing how the people saw John the Baptist and Jesus, as wanting them to play weddings and funerals. It is unbelievably weak and pathetic. It is difficult to imagine a greater contrast.
It is regularly said that these words were probably part of well known children’s games, and that may be right, but there is little point in trying to invent different types of game and then obtaining illustrations from them. We must rather take the words at face value, which no doubt Jesus intended us to do. What then is He saying? He is describing His generation, apart from those who had become, or were thinking of becoming, His disciples, and describing how they liked to pull people’s strings and then criticise them for not responding. The children are depicted as sitting in judgment on their fellows. In the same way the people are sitting in judgment on John and Jesus.
We are probably to see the call to dance as being directed at John. In other words they were ridiculing his asceticism. While those who flocked to him at least initially admired him, or were at least interested in him as a prophet, many of them would not like what he said, and then the criticisms would begin (in order to justify their rejection of his message), backed up by their leaders (compare Joh 5:35). So they were now seen as retaliating by telling him that he was a sobersides, and, because he lived in the desert and lived strangely, a demon. The desert was a place for demons (Isa 13:20-22; Isa 34:13-14).
The call to mourn was probably directed at Jesus, as they considered that He was too frivolous. Once again the reasons would be similar. They wanted him to behave more like John had done, and more like their own pious Pharisees did. And when He did not they mocked Him for being given to much wine and being a glutton. They could not see outside the walls of their own built up ideas, and thus they were not satisfied whatever John and Jesus did, for the truth was that they were trying to find excuses for not listening to them.
‘This generation.’ This description is usually used of those of Jesus’ generation who refused to respond to His words. Compare Mat 12:41-42; Mat 12:45. They are always seeking signs (Mat 12:39). They are those who think themselves wise and understanding (compare Mat 11:25), but are really foolish, and doomed to judgment (Mat 23:36; Mat 24:34). They are blind leaders of the blind.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jesus Charges The People Of His Generation With Not Taking John’s Or His Message Seriously, But Behaving Like Children At Play (11:16-19).
The sudden change of subject here is very vivid. He has been describing the great events towards which John’s ministry has been built up, and has indicated their successful advancement, and now He examines the response of His generation towards them. They have rejected both John and Himself. In spite of what was at first the huge popularity both of John (Mat 3:5; Mat 3:7; Mar 1:5; Mar 1:9) and of Jesus (Mat 4:23-25) and the general eager expectancy (Luk 3:15), the tide has begun to turn. Disillusionment has begun to set in. The first excitement is tapering off, although we must beware of too much gloom. And that situation is now depicted here. Note how in this the Gospels make quite clear the oneness between Jesus and John, although that having been done all the attention turns on Jesus.
The solemn declaration of Mat 11:10, of which he could say ‘it is written’ is replaced by a child’s song sang at play. (Like Nero they are playing while Rome burns). The greatness of John is now treated with mockery. John is seen as being even worse than a blown reed in the desert, he is a demon among the thorns and thistles (Isa 34:13-14). Jesus is living the life of men in soft clothing in His life of ‘luxury’.
Jesus here charges the people with inconsistency. They are not satisfied, however prophets behave. On the one hand John is criticised for being an ascetic, and on the other hand He Himself is criticised for being a good-time boy and a friend of the unworthy. Not all, of course, criticised both. Some hurled one criticism and some another. It was mainly the Scribes and Pharisees who criticised Jesus for eating with public servants and sinners (Mat 9:10-11), and interestingly all these parties are mentioned by Luk 7:30 in a similar context to this. Undoubtedly some more orthodox Jews also joined with them in their criticism. So here Jesus criticises the whole generation, apart from those who have responded to Him, for their careless attitude. This criticism of the whole generation also continues later in the section when He indicates their perilous situation (Mat 12:39; Mat 12:45) which He links with the activities of the powers of darkness.
Some have expressed surprise that Matthew introduces this criticism of the people so unexpectedly when such antagonism, especially by the people, has hardly been previously mentioned (Mat 9:3; Mat 9:24; Mat 9:33; Mat 11:6; Mat 11:14) but that is only so if we ignore the clear indications in chapter 10 of towns rejecting them and even arranging for them to be brought before councils and synagogues. Once we accept that these words of Jesus in chapter 10 should be read as indicating that what was spoken of did actually then happen, which was often intended to be assumed when words were depicted as spoken in the Scriptures (see e.g. Exo 17:3-7), the picture is very different. Note in this regard that Matthew certainly expects us to assume that the Apostles did go out, even though he does not tell us so. Why then should we not see him as expecting us to assume that the remainder also happened? In that case there is plenty of indication of persecution and poor treatment by the people.
Analysis.
a
b “We piped to you, and you did not dance” (Mat 11:17 a).
c “We wailed, and you did not mourn” (Mat 11:17 b).
c “For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’.” (Mat 11:18).
b “The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a winebibber, a friend of public servants and sinners!’ ” (Mat 11:19 a)
a “And wisdom is justified by her works” (Mat 11:19 b).
Note how in ‘a’ they are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to each other, and in the parallel their behaviour is what might be expected from their type of ‘wisdom’ (compare Mat 11:25). In ‘b’ they called on John (or Jesus) to dance, and in the parallel call Jesus a winebibber and glutton because He did partake in life’s enjoyments. In ‘c’ they call on Jesus (or John) to mourn, and in the parallel see John as a demon because of his asceticism and fasting.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
An earnest censure for the Jews:
v. 16. But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets and calling unto their fellows,
v. 17. and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented. With whom shall I compare this race, especially the Pharisees and those people that follow their leadership, that permit themselves to be influenced by their mode of thinking? Jesus points to the capricious, willful children of the streets and the market-place, whose selfishness prevents their entering into the spirit of any game with proper energy. If the others play on the flute, they refuse to be merry; if the others tried to please them by imitating the mourning wail of funeral dirges, they would not beat their breasts nor show signs of mourning. The irony with which Christ describes the characteristic spoil-sport is brought out still more strongly in the original language which He used, where it includes a play on the words “danced” and “lamented.”
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Mat 11:16-17. But whereunto shall I liken, &c. For the better understanding of our Saviour in this place, see Luk 7:29-35. To shew the Pharisees more plainly the perverseness of their disposition, our Saviour told them they were like children at play, who never do what their companions desire them; peevish and froward, and displeased with every thing. The phrase it is like,in St. Matthew’s style, often signifies only, in general, that the thing spoken of may be illustrated by the following similitude. Compare ch. Mat 13:24; Mat 13:45 Mat 18:23 Mat 20:1 Mat 22:2. In Judaea, when the people were grown very luxurious and wanton, it was usual, at feasts, to have music of an airy kind, accompanied with dancing; and at funerals they had melancholy airs, to which were joined the lamentations of persons hired for the purpose. See ch. Mat 9:23. The children therefore of that country, imitating these things in their diversions, while one band of them performed the musical part, if the other happened to be froward, and would not answer or lament as the game directed, it naturally gave occasion to the complaint, we have piped unto you, and ye have not danced, &c. which at length was turned into a proverb; and we find it frequently quoted both in Jewish and heathen writers. The mourning airs here spoken of are used to represent the severity of the Baptist’s manners, and the mournful doctrine of mortification and repentance which he preached: on the other hand, the cheerful airs are intended to represent our Lord’s sweet disposition, affable condescension, and engaging method of giving instruction; so that everything was tried which could possibly have influence, to bring the Jews to repentance. See Grotius and Wetstein.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Mat 11:16 ff. After this high testimony respecting the Baptist , we have now a painful charge against the men of his time , whom, in fact, neither John nor Himself is able to satisfy. In expressive, appropriate, and certainly original terms (in answer to Hilgenfeld), He compares the existing generation to children reproaching their playfellows for not being inclined to chime in either with their merry or their lugubrious strains. Usually the Jews are supposed to be represented by those refractory playmates, so that Jesus and John have necessarily to be understood as corresponding to the children who play the cheerful music, and who mourn (Fritzsche, Oppenrieder, Kster in the Stud. u. Krit . 1862, p. 346 f.). But (1) the words expressly intimate that the children with their music and lamentation represented the , to which John and Jesus stand opposed , so that the latter must therefore correspond to the who are reproached by the . (2) If the arrangement of the passage is not to be arbitrarily disturbed, the thrice repeated must be held to prove that, since those who speak in Mat 11:18-19 are Jews , it is to these also that the children correspond who are introduced as speaking in Mat 11:16 . (3) If we were to suppose that Jesus and John were represented by those children, then, according to Mat 11:18-19 , it would be necessary to reverse the order of the words in Mat 11:17 , so as to run thus: , etc. Consequently the ordinary explanation of the illustration is wrong. The correct interpretation is this: the are the Jews; the are John and Jesus; first came John, who was far too rigid an ascetic to suit the tastes of the free-living Jews (Joh 5:35 ); then came Jesus, and He, again, did not come up to their ascetic and hierarchical standard, and was too lax, in their opinion. The former did not dance to their music; the latter did not respond to their lamentation (similarly de Wette with a slight deviation, Ewald, Bleek, Keim).
, . . .] The allusion is to children who in their play (according to Ewald, it was playing at a riddle ) imitate the way in which grown-up people give expression to their joy and their sorrow; Rosenmller, Morgenl. in loco .
The flute was played at weddings and dancings.
] beating upon the breast was the ordinary indication of grief; Eze 20:43 ; Nah 2:8 ; Mat 24:30 ; Luk 18:13 ; Hom. Il . xviii. 31; Plat. Phaed . p. 60 A, al .; Herod. vi. 58; Diod. Sic. i. 44; Kster, Erlut . p. 92 f.
] the other children present, who are not among the number of their playmates.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
3. The Baptist and the Son of Man, as judged by a childish generation. Mat 11:16-19
16But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows [to the others],19 17And saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned [wailed, sung dirges] unto20 you, and ye have not lamented [beat the breast].21 18For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil [demon]. 19The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous [a glutton], and a wine-bibber,22 a friend of publicans and sinners. But Wisdom23 is justified of [on the part of]24 her children.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Mat 11:16. But whereto shall I liken this generation?It seemed as if John were about to identify himself with his generation in reference to the Lord. But Jesus restores him to his right place, and exhibits Himself and the Baptist as one in opposition to the spirit of the age. A transition from His verdict upon John to that on his contemporaries, with special reference to the present and impending fate of the Baptist. While John and Jesus were engaged in spiritual labors and warfare, the conquest of the kingdom of heaven, this generation would only seek childish amusement.
It is like unto children.The common interpretation of this passage (first proposed by Chrysostom, and recently defended by Stier) is, that the expression, piping and mourning, refers to John and Jesus, and that the Jews were the other children who refused to give heed. But this is entirely untenable. For, 1. this generation is likened to children playing in the market-place. 2. These same children are represented as urging the objections which Christ subsequently puts into the mouth of the people. Both in the simile and in the explanation of it, the Jews are introduced as speaking. 3. If these terms had referred to Christ and John, the order of the figures would have been reversed; . 4. There is a manifest antithesis between the idea of children playing, and the former figure of taking the kingdom of heaven by violence. 5. The conduct of the children is represented as inconsistent and contradictory. 6. We have the fact, that this generation really expected that its prophets should be influenced by the passing whims of their carnal views and inclinations. Hence we conclude that the piping and mourning children represent the Jews, and the , the others, John and Jesus. These form no part of the company represented as playing in the market.
[So also de Wette, and Meyer, p. Matt 251: The are the Jews; the are John and Jesus. But I object to this interpretation, the reverse of the other, for the following reasons: 1. Because it is contrary to the parallel passage in Luk 7:32, where we have , to one another, instead of , so that the playing children and the silent children form but one company, although disagreed among themselves (as the Jews were in fact with their many sects and their contradictory carnal notions about the Messiah). The same is true, if we read with Lachmann: . 2. Because it would represent Christ and John as the dissatisfied and disobedient party. 3. Finally, I reject both interpretations, that refuted, and that defended by Dr. Lange; because John and Christ could with no degree of propriety and good taste be represented as playmates and comrades of their wayward contemporaries. We conclude, therefore, that both classes of children refer to the wayward, capricious, and discontented Jews; the children who play the mock wedding and the mock funeral representing the active, the silent children who refuse to fall in with their playmates, the passive discontent, both with the austerity of John and with the more cheerful and genial conduct of Christ. So Olshausen: The sense is this: the generation resembles a host of ill-humored children, whom it is impossible to please in any way; one part desires this, and the other that, so that they cannot agree upon any desirable or useful occupation. Compare also the illustrative remarks of Wordsworth, who in this case dissents from his favorite Chrysostom: By the children [or rather one class of the children] many interpreters understand the Baptist and our Lord. But this seems harsh. The itself is said to be , and the querulous murmur of the children, complaining that others would not humor them in their fickle caprices, is compared to the discontented censoriousness of that generation of the Jews, particularly of the Pharisees, who could not be pleased with any of Gods dispensations, and rejected John and Christ, as they had done the prophets before them. The sense, therefore, is, Ye are like a band of wayward children, who go on with their own game, at one time gay, at another grave, and give no heed to any one else, and expect that every one should conform to them. You were angry with John, because he would not dance to your piping, and with Me, because I will not weep to your dirge. John censured your licentiousness, I your hypocrisy; you, therefore, vilify both, and reject the good counsel of God, who has devised a variety of means for your salvation (Luk 7:30).P. S.]
Mat 11:17. We have piped unto you, etc.Among the Jews, Greeks, and Romans, it was customary to play the flute especially at marriage dances: Buxtorf, Lex. Talm. Similarly, solemn wailing was customary at burials. The expression, danced, corresponds with piping, just as the funeral dirge was expected to evoke lamentation among the mourners, especially by beating the breast (hence the expression, Eze 24:16; Mat 24:30, etc). The figure is that of children imitating the festivities or solemnities of their seniors, and expecting other children who take no part in their play to share their amusement.
Mat 11:18. For John came neither eating not drinking.A hyperbolical expression, referring to his abstinence and asceticism, as contradistinguished from Christs freer conduct. And they say, He has a demon [].A demon of melancholy (Joh 10:20). The figure of piping, to which John responded not, is all the more striking, that the spurious marriage at the court of Herod was the occasion of Johns imprisonment; and again, the dance of the daughter of Herodias, that of his execution. In another place also, Jesus says that the Jews would have liked to use John, as it were, by way of religious diversion (Joh 5:35).
Mat 11:19. The Son of Man came eating and drinking.Referring to His more free mode of conduct, and with special allusion to the feast in the house of Matthew, in the company of publicans and sinners [and the wedding feast at Cana]. This induced the Pharisees to pronounce an unfavorable judgment of Christ. Accordingly, His contemporaries already commenced to condemn Him as a destroyer of the law. It has been suggested, that our Lord here hints at the occurrence formerly related, when He had admonished one of His disciples to let the dead bury their dead. But it seems more likely, that if the figure contains any allusion to a definite event, it referred to the imputation of Johns disciples, that during the captivity of their master, and until after his death, Jesus should abstain from taking part in any festivities. But we are inclined to take a broader view of the subject, and to regard the statement of the Lord as referring to the anger and sorrow of the people about their national position with which our Lord could not sympathize in that particular form. Their carnal mourning for the outward depression of Israel could meet with no response from Him.
Mat 11:19. But Wisdom, etc.Final judgment of the Lord as to the difference obtaining between the people, John, and Himself. The . Jerome: Ego, qui sum dei virtus et sapientia dei juste fecisse b apostolis meis filiis comprobatus sum. Chrysostom, Theophylact, Castellio: Wisdom, which has become manifest in Jesus. De Wette: A personification of the wisdom of Jesus.The term undoubtedly refers to the spirit of the theocracy as manifested in John and in Christ, and which bears the name of Wisdom (Proverbs 8, 9; Sirach 24), because the conduct of John and of Jesus was guided by a definite object, and derived from the spirit of Wisdom in revelation.25
Is justified on the part (or, at the hands) of her children.Elsner, Schneckenburger: Judged, reproved, i. e., by the Jews, who should have been its disciples.26 Ewald: Really justified by that foolish generation, since their contradictory judgments confuted each other, and so confirmed Wisdom. De Wette takes the aor.: in the sense of habit, and gives the statement a more general sense: The children of Wisdom (i. e., those who receive it, or My disciples) give, by their conduct, cause for approving Wisdom. Meyer, opposing de Wettes view of the aor.: Wisdom has been justified on the part of her children, viz., by their having adopted it. The passage must be read in the light of Mat 11:25 sqq. In both cases, a joyous prospect is being opened up to their view. Truth and Wisdom have been justified and owned, though neither by the men of this generation nor by the wise and the prudent. But in this passage sorrow seems still to predominate: 1. Wisdom has been traduced by this generation, and obliged to justify herself; 2. for this purpose, new children had to be born and trained. The word might almost lead us to adopt another interpretation. Wisdom was obliged to justify herself by a judicial verdict from the accusation of her children (or rather, ironically, of those who should be her children). But then, this proposition only refers to the occasion or cause of a thing. It is not the children who justify Wisdom, but the means of proving her justification are derived from the testimony which appears in her children.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. On this occasion, Jesus foretold the judgment which the world has at all times pronounced on the kingdom of heaven. To the men of this world, the preaching of the law appears too severe, too much opposed to the innocent and lawful enjoyments of life; while the message of pardon meets with the hostility of pharisaical legalists, who describe it as favoring carelessness and shielding sin.
2. The spirit of the world is also accurately delineated in the figure of successive piping and mourning: first, festive enjoyments, and then mourning for the dead. The Wisdom of the kingdom of heaven sanctions the opposite order: first the law, and then the gospel; first death, and then life; first penitence and sorrow, and then joy; first the Baptist, and then Christ.
3. Lastly, this passage serves to show the close connection between the Christology of the synoptical Gospels and the Logos of John, and the of the Old Testament and the Jewish Apocrypha.
4. This is the second instance that Christ borrowed a similitude from the market.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
Worldly-mindedness, in the garb of spirituality, attempting to make a farce of the solemn duties of spiritual life.The contemporaries of Jesus, a figure of the common opposition to the gospel at all times.The world insisting that the prophets of God should take their teaching from its varying opinions.Puritanical strictness and moral laxity, the two great objections which the world urges against the preaching of the gospel.From piping to mourning; or, the childish amusements of the world amid the solemnities of life.Contrast between the wisdom of Chris and the folly of the world: 1. In the case of the latter, amusements are followed by mourning and death 2. in the case of the former, the solemnity of death by true enjoyment of life.The Wisdom of the gospel is always justified in her children.Those why are justified by Christ before God, should justify His by their lives before the world.
Starke:From Hedinger:When people dislike a doctrine, they abuse the teachers of it.Majus:Nobody is more exposed to sinful and rash judgments than ministers.Cramer:The children of God cannot escape the judgment of the world, whatever they may do.If the conduct of Christ called down the rebuke of the world, how much more shall that of upright ministers be censured!We are not to find fault with, but humbly to submit to, the teaching of heavenly wisdom.
Heubner:John decried as a fanatic; Christ, as a man of the world: see how the world reads characters!
Footnotes:
[19] Mat 11:16.Lachmann: [Vulg.: coqualibus, companions, playmates], after G., S., U., V., etc. [Lachmann quotes as his authorities B. and C., as previously compared by others; but the printed edition of Cod. Ephrmi Syri (C.) by Tischendorf, and Angelo Mais ed. of the Cod. Vaticanus (B.) both read . Buttmanns edition of the latter, however, sustains Lachmann, and the in Luk 7:32 favors .P. S.] Griesbach: aliis], after most Codd. [including Cod. Sinait.]. So also Tischendorf [and Tregelles. Alford does not read , as stated by Conant, but . So also Wordsworth. Langes interpretation requires .P. S.]
[20] Mat 11:17.Lachmann and Tischendorf omit the second , following B., C., [Cod. Sinait.], etc.
[21] Mat 11:17.[Lange more literally: Wir haben (euch) die Todtenkluge gemacht, und ihr habt nicht (im Chor) gejammert; Scrivener: We have sung dirges unto you, and ye have not smote the breast; Andrew Norton: We have sung a dirge to you, and you have not beat your breasts; Conant and the revised version of the Am. Bible Union: We sang the lament, and ye beat not the breast. refers to the funeral dirge, and (middle verb) to the oriental expression of sorrow by beating the breast, comp. Eze 20:34 (Sept.: ); Mat 24:30; Luk 18:13; Luk 23:48, and the dictionaries. The authorized version is very vague.P. S.]
[22] Mat 11:19.[Wine-bibber is a felicitous translation of the Anacreontic . Dr. Conant and the N. T. of the Am. Bible Union: a glutton and a winedrinker. Luther and Lange stronger: ein Fresser und Weinsufer.P. S.]
[23] Mat 11:19.[We prefer capitalizing Wisdom as in older editions of the Bible. See Exeg. Notes.P. S.]
[24] Mat 11:19.[Lange: von Seiten ihrer Kinder. So also Meyer, and Conant, who quotes Meyer and refers to Act 2:22 for the same use of , instead of (, …)P. S.]
[25][Hence Wisdom should be capitalized, as in some editions of the English Version.P. S.]
[26][In this case the sentence would be a solemn irony, or an indignant rebuke of the bad treatment of Gods wise and gracious Providence on the part of those who claimed to be its orthodox admirers and authorized expounders. Dr. J. A. Alexander leans to this interpretation. But no clear case of irony (nor of wit, nor of humor) occurs in the discourses of our Saviour. The childlike children of Wisdom in Mat 11:19 seem to be opposed to the childish and wayward children of this generation in Mat 11:16. Comp. Bengel, in Luk 7:35 : Huius Sapienti liberi non sunt Pharisi horumque similes, sed apostoli, publicani et peccatores omnes ex toto populo ad Jesum conrersi: quos sic appellat, ad ostendendam suam cum illis necessitudinem et jus conversanti calumniatorum que perversitatem.P. S.]
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
“But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows, (17) And saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented. (18) For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil. (19) The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children.”
How just the statement Jesus hath here made, of the inefficacy both of law and gospel, unaccompanied with the grace of God. The waywardness of children is a striking figure in proof. For neither the melody of salvation by Christ, nor the awful threatenings by the law of Moses, have the least influence on the ungenerate heart. Reader! think of the infinite importance of the work of God the Holy Ghost in conversion!
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
16 But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows,
Ver. 16. But whereunto shall I liken this generation? ] So great was the contumacy and obstinace of this perverse people, the Pharisees especially, that the wisdom of God seems to be lacking for a fit word to utter to them, for their better conviction. And do not some such sit before us to this day, as senseless every whit of what is said to them, as the seats they sit on, the pillars they lean to, the dead bodies they tread upon? We may speak to them, alas, till we spit out our lungs, and all to as little purpose as Bede did, when he preached to a heap of stones.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
16. ] Implying ‘the men of this generation have ears, and hear not; will not receive this saying; are arbitrary, childish, and prejudiced, not knowing their own mind.’
; ] See similar questions in Mar 4:30 ; Luk 13:18 ; Luk 13:20 ; and note on ch. Mat 7:24 .
: as children in their games imitate the business and realities of life, so these in the great realities now before them shew all the waywardness of children. The similitude is to two bodies of children, the one inviting the other to play, first at the imitation of a wedding, secondly at that of a funeral; to neither of which will the others respond. Stier remarks that the great condescension of the preaching of the Gospel is shewn forth in this parable, where the man sent from God, and the eternal Word Himself, are represented as children among children, speaking the language of their sports. Compare Heb 2:14 . It must not be supposed that the two bodies of children are two divisions of the Jews, as some (e.g. Olsh.) have done: the children who call are the Jews , those called to , the two Preachers; both belonging, according to the flesh, to , but neither of them corresponding to the kind of mourning (in John’s case) with which the Jews would have them mourn, or the kind of joy (in the Lord’s case) with which the Jews would have them rejoice. The converse application, which is commonly made, is against the , by which the first must be the children of this generation; and nothing can be more perplexed than to render ‘ may be illustrated by ,’ and invert the persons in the parable. Besides which, this interpretation would lay the waywardness to the charge of the Preachers , not to that of the Jews.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 11:16-19 . Judgment of Jesus on His religious contemporaries (Luk 7:31-35 ). It is advisable not to assume as a matter of course that these words were spoken at the same time as those going before. The discourse certainly appears continuous, and Luke gives this utterance in the same connection as our evangelist, from which we may infer that it stood so in the common source. But even there the connection may have been topical rather than temporal; placed beside what goes before, because containing a reference to John, and because the contents are of a critical nature.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Mat 11:16 . : the parable is introduced by a question, as if the thought had just struck Him. . The occasion on which the words following were spoken would make it clear who were referred to. Our guide must be the words themselves. The subjects of remark are not the of Mat 11:12 , nor the to whom Jesus had been speaking. Neither are they the whole generation of Jews then living, including Jesus and John (Elsner); or even the bulk of the Jewish people, contemporaries of Jesus. It was not Christ’s habit to make severe animadversions on the “people of the land,” who formed the large majority of the population. He always spoke of them with sympathy and pity (Mat 9:37 , Mat 10:6 ). might mean the whole body of men then living, but it might also mean a particular class of men marked out by certain definite characteristics. It is so used in Mat 12:39 ; Mat 12:41-42 ; Mat 12:45 ; Mat 16:4 . The class or “race” there spoken of is in one case the Scribes and Pharisees, and in the other the Pharisees and Sadducees. From internal evidence the reference here also is mainly to the Pharisees. It is a class who spoke of Jesus as reported in Mat 11:19 . Who can they have been but the men who asked: Why does He eat with publicans and sinners (Mat 9:11 )? These vile calumnies are what have come out of that feast, in the same sanctimonious circle. Luke evidently understood the Pharisees and lawyers ( ) to be the class referred to, guided probably by his own impression as to the import of the passage ( vide Luk 7:30 ). : Jesus likens the Pharisaic to children in the market-place playing at marriages and funerals, as He had doubtless often seen them in Nazareth. The play, as is apt to happen, has ended in a quarrel. . . There are two parties, the musicians and the rest who are expected to dance or mourn according to the tune, and they are at cross purposes, the moods not agreeing: , the best attested reading, may point to this discrepancy in temper = a set differently inclined. : the flute in this case used for merriment, not, as in Mat 9:23 , to express grief. : we have expressed grief by singing funeral dirges, like the mourning women hired for the purpose ( vide ad Mat 9:23 ). : and ye have not beat your breasts in responsive sorrow. This is the parable to which Jesus adds a commentary. Without the aid of the latter the general import is plain. The animadverted on are like children, not in a good but in a bad sense: not child-like but childish. They play at religion; with all their seeming earnestness in reality triflers. They are also fickle, fastidious, given to peevish fault-finding, easily offended. These are recognisable features of the Pharisees. They were great zealots and precisians, yet not in earnest, rather haters of earnestness, as seen in different ways in John and Jesus. They were hard to please: equally dissatisfied with John and with Jesus; satisfied with nothing but their own artificial formalism. They were the only men in Israel of whom these things could be said with emphasis, and it may be taken for granted that Christ’s animadversions were elicited by pronounced instances of the type.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mat 11:16-19
16″But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market places, who call out to the other children, 17and say, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’18For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’19The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”
Mat 11:16 “like children sitting in the market place” This is paralleled in Luk 7:31-32. Even though John the Baptist came as an ascetic (i.e., a prophet from the desert, like Elijah), the Jews rejected him. Jesus came as one who readily associated with humans of all social levels and yet they rejected Him too. This either speaks of the fickleness of the Jewish leaders or shows their preconceived biases.
Mat 11:17 “We played the flute for you, and you did not dance” This social approach referred to the way Jesus interacted with people (cf. Mat 11:19). The flute could be used for dancing (Mat 11:17 a) at both a party or a funeral (Mat 11:17 b).
“we sang a dirge, but you did not mourn” This somber approach referred to the ministry of John the Baptist (cf. Mat 11:18).
Mat 11:18 “He has a demon” This same charge is made against Jesus in Mat 9:34; Mat 12:24 (cf. Joh 7:20; Joh 8:48-49; Joh 8:52; Joh 10:20). This is the only text that accuses John of having a demon. The Jews could not deny the power of either John or Jesus, but claimed that their source of authority and power was the evil one. This, ultimately, is the unpardonable sin.
Mat 11:19 “The Son of Man” This was Jesus’ self-chosen title because it had no militaristic nor nationalistic implications. It combined the human and divine aspects of Christ’s nature (cf. Eze 2:1; Psa 8:4; Dan 7:13). The combination of aspects became a crucial NT truth (cf. 1Jn 4:13).
“a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners” Jesus acted in a very unexpected way. He befriended the same people the religious leaders rejected (cf. Mat 9:11; Luk 5:30; Luk 7:34; Luk 15:2). This fulfills the Messianic predictions of Isaiah.
Religious legalism and asceticism have been such a spiritual/theological struggle for the church that I would like to quote a brief section from New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, vol. 1, p. 495.
“Viewed as a whole, however, asceticism in the sense of renunciation of possessions, sexual activity, and food-restrictions is not generally enjoined by the teaching of Jesus in the Gospels. This does not mean that renunciation by a particular person in a concrete situation is excluded (cf. the story of the rich young ruler, Mat 19:21). It is only that from such passages (cf. Mat 11:19; Mat 9:14 ff; Mar 2:18 f; Luk 5:33 ff.), one cannot deduce a basic attitude on the part of Jesus, just as one cannot deduce his will for the overall validity of an ascetic ethic. Renunciation is only demanded where something stands in the way of following Jesus.”
Mat 11:19
NASB, NRSV”Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds”
NKJV”But wisdom is justified by her children”
TEV”God’s wisdom, however, is shown to be true by its results”
NJB”Yet wisdom has been proved right by her actions”
The mention of “wisdom” alludes to Proverbs 8, where it is personified. Jesus is that personification. An example of this imagery is seen in Mat 12:42, where Jesus is greater than the wisdom of Solomon (also note He is greater than the temple, Mat 12:6 and greater than Jonah, Mat 12:41). Even Jesus’ use of “yoke” in Mat 11:29 may be a reference to wisdom teachings.
There is a Greek manuscript variation here. By her ” deeds” is found in the ancient Greek uncial manuscripts , B, and W, while ” children” is found in the Corrector of Vaticanus B2, C, D, K, and L. ” Children” is the parallel in Luk 7:35 and seems to be added here by scribes to make the passages agree. “Deeds” may refer to Mat 11:2. The UBS4 gives ” deeds” a “B” rating (almost certain). The same truth is expressed in the phrase ” by their fruits you shall know them” (cf. Mat 7:16; Mat 7:20; Mat 12:33). This is true of Jesus and of all people. The acts of Jesus in Matthew 8-9 revealed to those who would see that He was the promised Messiah (cf. Isa 29:18-19; Isa 35:5-6; Isa 61:1-2).
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
this generation? A significant expression, occurring sixteen times (Mat 11:16; Mat 12:41, Mat 12:42; Mat 23:36; Mat 24:34. Mar 8:12, Mar 8:12; Mar 13:30. Luk 7:31; Luk 11:30, Luk 11:31, Luk 11:32, Luk 11:50, Luk 11:51; Luk 17:25; Luk 21:32). Characterized by other epithets, “evil” and “adulterous” (Mat 12:39, Mat 12:45; Mat 16:4. Mar 8:38. Luk 11:29); “faithless and perverse” (Mat 17:17. Mar 9:19. Luk 9:41); “untoward” (Act 2:40). All this because it was the particular generation that rejected the Messiah.
children = little children. Dim. of pais. App-108.
fellows = companions. Greek. hetairos. Some of the texts read “others” (i.e. heteros for hetairos). Occurs only here; Mat 20:13; Mat 22:12; and Mat 26:50 (“friend”).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
16. ] Implying the men of this generation have ears, and hear not; will not receive this saying; are arbitrary, childish, and prejudiced, not knowing their own mind.
;] See similar questions in Mar 4:30; Luk 13:18; Luk 13:20; and note on ch. Mat 7:24.
: as children in their games imitate the business and realities of life, so these in the great realities now before them shew all the waywardness of children. The similitude is to two bodies of children, the one inviting the other to play, first at the imitation of a wedding, secondly at that of a funeral;-to neither of which will the others respond. Stier remarks that the great condescension of the preaching of the Gospel is shewn forth in this parable, where the man sent from God, and the eternal Word Himself, are represented as children among children, speaking the language of their sports. Compare Heb 2:14. It must not be supposed that the two bodies of children are two divisions of the Jews, as some (e.g. Olsh.) have done: the children who call are the Jews, those called to, the two Preachers; both belonging, according to the flesh, to ,-but neither of them corresponding to the kind of mourning (in Johns case) with which the Jews would have them mourn, or the kind of joy (in the Lords case) with which the Jews would have them rejoice. The converse application, which is commonly made, is against the , by which the first must be the children of this generation; and nothing can be more perplexed than to render may be illustrated by, and invert the persons in the parable. Besides which, this interpretation would lay the waywardness to the charge of the Preachers, not to that of the Jews.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 11:16. , this generation) the evil men of this best[528] time.-,[529] children) Jesus compared not only the Jews, but also Himself and John, in different ways, to children, with a condescension, in His own case, most wonderful.-, market-places) A large city has often many market-places. The preaching of John and Jesus was public.
[528] Hujus optimi temporis-so called because it was that of our Lords Ministry-(I. B.)
[529] The margin of both Editions, as also the Germ. Vers., seem to prefer .-E. B. So BCDZ. The of Rec. Text is not supported by the primary authorities.-ED.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
whereunto: Lam 2:13, Mar 4:30, Luk 13:18
this: Mat 12:34, Mat 23:36, Mat 24:34
It is: Luk 7:31-35
Reciprocal: Deu 32:20 – a very Zec 8:5 – playing Mat 20:3 – standing Luk 7:32 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THE PORTRAIT OF AN AGE
Whereunto shall I liken this generation? Wisdom is justified of her children?
Mat 11:16-19
The portrait of an agethat and nothing less is what is essayed in these sentences.
I. Christs indictment of His age.It is set forth with transcendent skill. A simple incident, familiar in the town-life of the period, is fastened upon by the Master, His quick perceptions suggesting to Him its aptness for His purpose. In later life how hard is it to take seriously the dignified mummeries and solemn ceremonial with which the world seeks to disguise its hollowness! The child, with his clear soul and true-hearted simplicity, is often very much in earnest when at play; in the professedly serious work of the grown-up actors on lifes stage there is as often a great deal of half-conscious make-believe. And it has happened more than once in the course of history that a nation has become infected with a profound unreality. Its spiritual life has been poisoned at the fountain, and has exhausted itself in all kinds of hypocrisy and falsehood. Such was the age which Christ arraigned at the bar of judgment.
II. How was it made good?What instances did the Speaker adduce in proof of so grave a charge? In truth, for evidence in point, He had not far to seek. There were two messengers of righteousness whose treatment by that generation had been such as to invite the parable they had heard. The one, an ascetic, summoned the nation to an immediate and complete change. Wedded to its own evil life, it found the rule of the prophet of the wilderness was not after its mind, and hastened to record its sentence upon himHe hath a devil! The other was in habit and appearance a marked contrast to His great forerunner. He entered with ingenuous zest into the social enjoyments of the day, and lived, in outward things, much as others did. Surely they would approve this gentle Exemplar of humanity. Not so! With brutal exaggeration they cry, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber; a friend of publicans and sinners!
III. The ultimate appeal in all such loss.The expression and wisdom was justified by her children (St. Luk 7:35 has of all her children) is susceptible of an easy interpretation, and the reference to the classes of people (St. Luk 7:23) who accepted Christs teaching after they had accepted Johns, is manifest. In this case the phrase was justified is clearly to be taken as meaning much the same as the negative one in Mat 11:6Shall find none occasion of stumbling. This application involves the appropriation of the term wisdom to Himself. That is to say, He was the highest or most immediate embodiment of Divine wisdom. But when we have to convert children into works, a difficulty arises. There are some of course who would restore the identity of meaning in the two passages by understanding works as a figurative term for children, or vice vers; either of these in itself a sense not very unlikely, and certainly by no means impossible. The context, however, must have some consideration, and in this case it has a special claim to attention, for Mat 11:2 also speaks of works as being the cause of Johns message to Christ, and Christ Himself points to the things which ye do hear and see (Mat 5:4) as the best evidence of His claims to be the Messiah. It would, therefore, appear as if we had in these parallel passages, would it not? the two halves of the original saying. A twofold proof such as thisone within the moral nature itself, the other external, in the region of utilityis not more conformable to modern habits of thought, than to the entire spirit and scope of Christs teaching. It is for the children of the kingdom not only to have the witness within them, but to see for themselves, and to declare to others in the region of the outward and the visible, those fruits of righteousness which are the signs and evidences of the Kingdom that cometh not with observation.
The Rev. A. F. Muir.
Illustration
The disagreeable children can be enticed by no action of their companions. They will not dance to the gay music nor join in the mock mourning. A third method would be equally unsuccessful, because they are not to be pleased. They are sitting; there is always something wrong with children when they sit down for long. The life has gone out of them. Similarly there are people who are dissatisfied with all methods of religious work. Old staid methods are dull and gloomy to them; new and more lively methods are unseemly and irreverent. From the sobriety of the Quakers meeting to the unrestrained fervour of a Salvation Army meeting, they cannot discover any worship to suit them, and they find fault with all ways of conducting Church services. If some one could invent a new style of worshipping God, this would be of no use for the discontented people. Their discontent lies deeper. The children had no mind to play; these people have no mind to pray. Therefore we shall not reach them by new methods. They are in a hopeless state unless we can touch their hearts and lead them into a better state of mind. It is useless to pander to their prejudices. Perhaps at present all we can do is to pray for them.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
1:16
Markets is from AGORA which Thayer defines, “1. any collection of men, congregation, assembly. 2. place where assemblies are held.” The same author further explains: “In the New Testament the forum or public place,–where trials are held, Act 16:19; and citizens resort, Act 17:17; and commodities are exposed for sale.” At such a place persons of all ages and classes would gather sometimes only for pastime. Children here is from PAIDARION which Thayer defines, “A little boy, a lad.” These children were gathered to amuse each other. One set was to “furnish the music” and the other set was to respond.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mat 11:16. This generation, i.e., the people then living in Judea.
Children, etc. These children are represented as idling in public places, sitting in the market-places.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Our Saviour in these words describes the perverse humour of the Pharisees, whom nothing could allure to the embracing of the gospel, neither John’s ministry nor Christ’s.
This our Saviour sets forth two ways.
1. Allegorically, Mat 11:16 to Mat 17:2. Properly, Mat 11:18-19.
By way of allegory, he compares them to sullen children, whom nothing would please, neither mirth nor mourning; if their fellows piped before them, they would not dance; if they sung mournful songs to them, they would not lament: that is, the Pharisees were of such a censorious and capricious humour, that God himself could not please them, though he used a variety of means and methods in order to that end. Neither the delightful airs of mercy, nor the doleful ditties of judgment, could affect or move their hearts.
Next, our Lord, plainly interprets this allegory, by telling them, That John came to them neither eating nor drinking; that is, not so freely and plentifully as other men, being a very austere and mortified man, both in his diet and in his habit: and all this was designed by God, that the austerity of his life, and severity of his doctrine might awaken the pharisees to repentance: but instead of this, they censure him for having a devil, because he delighted in solitude, and avoided converse with men: is either an angel or a devil, either a wild beast or a god.
John being of a free and familiar converse, not shunning the society of the worst of men, even of the Pharisees themselves, but complying with their customs, and accompanying with them in their sins; but the freedom of our Saviour’s conversation displeased them as much as John’s reservedness of temper; for they cry, Behold a man gluttonous.
Christ’s affability towards sinners, they call approbation of their sins; and his sociable disposition, looseness and luxury.
Learn hence, 1. That the faithful and zealous ministers of God, let their temper and converse be what it will, cannot please the enemies of religion, and the haters of the power of godliness; neither John’s austerity, nor Christ’s familiarity, would gain upon the Pharisees. It is our duty in the course after all their endeavours to please all, we shall please but very few; but if God and conscience be of the number of those few, we are safe and happy.
Observe, 2. That it has been the old policy of the devil, that he might hinder the success of the gospel, to fill the minds of persons with an invincible prejudice against the ministers and dispensers of the gospel.
Observe, 3. That after all the scandalous reproaches cast upon religion, and the ministers of it, such as are wisdom’s children, wise and good men, will justify religion; that is, approve it in their judgments, honour it in their discourses, and adorn it in their lives. Wisdom is justified of her children.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Mat 11:16-19. Whereunto shall I liken this generation That is, the men of this age? They are like those froward children, of whom their fellows complain that they will be pleased no way. Saying, We have piped unto you, &c. It was usual in Judea, at feasts, to have music of an airy kind, accompanied with dancing, Luk 15:25; and at funerals, melancholy airs, to which were joined the lamentations of persons hired for that purpose. The children, therefore, in that country, imitating these things in their diversions, while one band of them performed the musical part, if the other, happening to be froward, would not answer them by dancing or lamenting, as the game directed, it naturally gave occasion to this complaint, We have piped, &c, which at length was turned into a proverb. John came neither eating nor drinking In a rigorous, austere way, like Elijah. And they say, He hath a devil He is melancholy from the influence of an evil spirit. So, it is probable, the Pharisees in particular said. The Son of man came eating and drinking Conversing in a free, familiar way. And they say, Behold a man gluttonous, &c. Jesus did not practise those mortifications which rendered the Baptist remarkable. He fared like other men, and went into mixed companies, not avoiding the society even of publicans and sinners, but neither would they hear him; for, notwithstanding he maintained the strictest temperance himself, and never encouraged the vices of others, either by dissimulation or example, they attributed that free way of living to a certain laxness of principle, or unholiness of disposition. But wisdom is justified of her children That is, my wisdom herein is acknowledged by all those who are truly wise, and all such will justify all Gods dispensations toward them in order to their salvation, and will entirely acquiesce therein.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
SANCTIFICATION DOUBLY METAPHORIZED
But to whom shall I liken this generation? It is like unto little children, sitting in the forums, and calling to their comrades, and saying, We have piped unto you, and you have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and you have not lamented. For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a demon. The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold, a man gluttonous and a wine-drinker, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children. The group of children last mentioned are playing funeral, and thus emblematize John the Baptist, who came in all the austerities and abstemiousness peculiar to the old prophets, and actually preached the funeral of the Mosaic dispensation; while the other group, playing wedding, which introduces the new life of the wedded twain, emblematized Jesus, the Bridegroom, who came, not only introducing the new dispensation, but wedding the gospel Church. You see that as these groups of children mutually complain of the non-reciprocation of their fellows, so the people cried out against both John and Jesus, at opposite poles of the battery, the one representing death and the other life, and the carnal Church equally displeased with both. So in the great plan of experimental salvation, we have the funeral of Adam the First and the marriage of Adam the Second, both equally repellent to the carnal clergy and the worldly Churches. Present to them sanctification from either pole of the spiritual battery, and they reject it, turning away with proud disdain. Wisdom is justified of her children. Wisdom here means the Holy Ghost, who was fully approved and vindicated, both by the ministry of John and Jesus, who differed widely, either from other, and yet harmonized most perfectly. We have this day an infinite variety and diversity of preachers and workers in the kingdom of God, all about equally repellent to carnal people, yet the Holy Ghost is vindicated, and God glorified, by the ministry of all His children.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
11:16 {3} But whereunto shall I liken this generation? {e} It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows,
(3) There are none who are more stout and stubborn enemies of the gospel, than they to whom it ought to be most acceptable.
(e) He blames the perverseness of this age, by a proverb, in that they could be moved neither with rough nor gentle dealing.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The dissatisfaction with the King and His forerunner 11:16-19 (cf. Luk 7:29-35)
Jesus proceeded to describe the Jews’ reaction to John and Himself more fully to clarify their opposition.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
The generation Jesus spoke of consisted of the Jews to whom He offered the kingdom (cf. Mat 11:20-24; Mat 12:39; Mat 12:41-42; Mat 12:45; Mat 16:4; Mat 17:17; Mat 23:36; Mat 24:34). Jesus must have observed children playing the marriage and funeral games He referred to here, and He used them to illustrate the childish reaction of most of His adult contemporaries. The point was that the people found fault with whatever Jesus did. He did not behave or teach in harmony with what they wanted Him to do or expected that Messiah would do. His concept of the kingdom was different from theirs. They wanted a King who would fit into and agree with their traditional understanding of the Messiah. Consequently they rejected Him.