Matthew 11:16

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 (Mat 11:16-19), and as to the particular places he instances in, we may observe with whom he compares them, Mat 11:20-24.

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 4:20); 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, Co1 9:22. 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 (Co1 12:6), and this various manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal, Mat 11:7. 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 (Co1 12:11), 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 6:29. Ministers' labour is bestowed in vain (Isa 49:4), and, which is a much greater loss, the grace of God received in vain, Co2 6:1. 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 (Sa2 1:22), 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 (Deu 21:20), He is a glutton and a drunkard; yet none could be more false and unjust; for Christ pleased not himself (Rom 15:3), 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, Psa 69:10. 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 (Mat 20:3); to others a place of worldly business (Jam 4:13); 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 2:13. 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, Luk 7:29. 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 1:16. 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 (Co1 1:23, Co1 1:24), so that they make the knowledge of that the summit of their ambition (Co1 2:2), and the efficacy of that the crown of their glorying (Gal 6:14), here is wisdom justified of her children. Wisdom's children are wisdom's witnesses in the world (Isa 43:10), 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, Th2 1:10. 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, Co1 1:25. 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, Act 28:24.

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, Mat 11:20. He began to preach to them long before (Mat 4:17), 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 2:4.

(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 (Mat 15:21), 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, Mat 11:22. 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 6:2), 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 (Mat 11:23), "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, Jde 1:7. 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 2:5. 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 (Co2 2:16); Christ had said the same of all other places that receive not his ministers nor bid his gospel welcome (Mat 10:15); 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.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

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.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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 God’s dispensations toward them in order to their salvation, and will entirely acquiesce therein.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

§ 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.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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 mass—of that Jewish “generation” of that particular day—when 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 Saviour’s 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 place”—a place open to all, and where all are accustomed to meet—that 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 rôle. 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 can’t 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 thing—they 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-man’s-buff is proposed. They don’t 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 God’s servant and with God’s 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 man—God’s wisdom in sending them, such as they were; their wisdom in being what God meant them to be. John’s 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.

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

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; ἐθρηνήσαμεν—ηυλήσαμεν. 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 ἕτεροι, “the others,” John and Jesus. These ἕτεροι form no part of the company represented as playing in the market.

[So also de Wette, and Meyer, p. Matt 251: “The παιδία are the Jews; the ἕτεροι 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 ἀλλήλοις, to one another, instead of ἐτέροις, 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: ἑταίροις. 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 γενεά itself is said to be ὁμοία παιδίοις, 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 God’s 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 Christ’s freer conduct. And they say, He has a demon [δαιμόνιον].—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 John’s 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 John’s 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 σοφία. 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 Wette’s 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 ἀπό 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 Σοφία 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: τοῖς ἐταίροις [Vulg.: coœqualibus, 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. Ephræmi Syri (C.) by Tischendorf, and Angelo Mai’s ed. of the Cod. Vaticanus (B.) both read ἑτέροις. Buttmann’s edition of the latter, however, sustains Lachmann, and the ἀλλήλοις in Luk_7:32 favors ἐταίροις.—P. S.] Griesbach: τοῖς ἐτέροις aliis], after most Codd. [including Cod. Sinait.]. So also Tischendorf [and Tregelles. Alford does not read ἑτέροις, as stated by Conant, but ἑταίροις. So also Wordsworth. Lange’s interpretation requires ἑτέροις.—P. S.]

[20] Mat_11:17.—Lachmann and Tischendorf omit the second ὑμῖν, 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. Θρηνεῖν refers to the funeral dirge, and κόπτεσθαι (middle verb) to the oriental expression of sorrow by beating the breast, comp. Eze_20:34 (Sept.: κόψεσθε τὰ πρόσωπα); 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 οἰνοπότης. Dr. Conant and the N. T. of the Am. Bible Union: a glutton and a winedrinker. Luther and Lange stronger: ein Fresser und Weinsäufer.—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 ἀπό, instead of ὑπό (ἅνδρα ἀπὸ θεοῦ ἀποδεδειγμένον εἰς ὑμᾶς δυνάμεσι, κ.τ.λ.)—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 God’s 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 Sapientiœ liberi non sunt Pharisœi 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.]

Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11:16-19 John’s prophetic message is represented by funeral songs—he didn’t drink wine and he often fasted (11:18; see 3:4). Jesus’ message is seen in wedding songs and in feasts and drinks (see 9:9-17). In both cases, this generation responds to God’s messenger with indifference and rejection.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Mat 11:16. Τὴν γενεὰν ταύτην, this generation) the evil men of this best[528] time.—ΠΑΙΔΑΡΊΟΙς,[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.—ἀγοραῖς, 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 Lord’s Ministry—(I. B.)

[529] The margin of both Editions, as also the Germ. Vers., seem to prefer παιδίοις.—E. B. So BCDZ. The παιδαρίοις of Rec. Text is not supported by the primary authorities.—ED.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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, Köster 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 γενεά, to which John and Jesus stand opposed, so that the latter must therefore correspond to the ἑτέροις who are reproached by the παιδία. (2) If the arrangement of the passage is not to be arbitrarily disturbed, the thrice repeated λέγουσιν 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: ἐθρηνήσαμεν ὑμῖν … ηὐλήσαμεν, etc. Consequently the ordinary explanation of the illustration is wrong. The correct interpretation is this: the παιδία are the Jews; the ἕτεροι 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).

παιδίοις, κ.τ.λ.] 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; Rosenmüller, Morgenl. in loco.

The flute was played at weddings and dancings.

ἐκόψασθε] 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; Köster, Erläut. p. 92 f.

τοῖς ἑπέροις] the other children present, who are not among the number of their playmates.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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.

Mat 11:16 . τίνι ὁμοιώσω : the parable is introduced by a question, as if the thought had just struck Him. τὴν γενεὰν ταύτην . 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 βιασταὶ of Mat 11:12 , nor the ὄχλοι 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 ). γενεά 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 ( νομικοὶ ) to be the class referred to, guided probably by his own impression as to the import of the passage ( vide Luk 7:30 ). παιδίοις … ἀγοραῖς : Jesus likens the Pharisaic γενεά 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. προσφ . τοῖς ἑτέροις … λέγουσιν . 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: ἑτέροις , the best attested reading, may point to this discrepancy in temper = a set differently inclined. ηὐλήσαμεν : the flute in this case used for merriment, not, as in Mat 9:23 , to express grief. ἐθρηνήσαμεν : we have expressed grief by singing funeral dirges, like the mourning women hired for the purpose ( vide ad Mat 9:23 ). ἐκόψασθε : 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 γενεά 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.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He blameth the frowardness of this age, by a proverb, in that they could be moved neither with rough, nor gentle dealing.

There are none more stout and stubborn enemies of the Gospel, than they to whom it ought to be most acceptable.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 16. But whereunto shall I liken this generation?] That is, the Jewish people - την γενεαν ταυτην, this race: and so the word γενεα is often to be understood in the evangelists.

In the markets] Or, places of concourse, αγοραις, from αγειρω, 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 εταιροις, companions, many of the best MSS. have ετεροις, 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.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(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 Lord’s 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.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And saying, we have piped unto you, and ye have not danced,.... The allusion is to Jewish children, who having seen their parents and friends at their festivals and weddings, some play upon the pipe, and others dance to them, mimicked the same in their diversions; and also having observed, at funerals, the mourning women, making their doleful ditties, and others answering to them, acted the part of these persons, expecting their fellows would make their responses, but did not: hence the complaint,

we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented. The different characters of John and Christ, are here set forth, by "piping" and "mourning". The character and ministry of Christ and his disciples, by "piping"; by which is meant, the clear, comfortable, and joyful ministry of the Gospel; which is delightful music to a sensible sinner; and may be compared to it, for distinction of sounds, harmony, and agreement, being charming and delightful; its notes are all grace, mercy, love, liberty, peace, pardon, righteousness, and free salvation; and it is very powerful and engaging, it quickens and animates, attracts, allures and charms. The character and ministry of John, is signified by "mourning": his life was a very austere one; he and his disciples fasted oft; he appeared in a very coarse habit; his speech was rough, his voice thundering: his doctrine was the doctrine of repentance, and he used very severe threatenings, in case of impenitence: on the other hand, by the "fellows" to whom they piped, or ministered, in their different ministrations, are meant, the Scribes and Pharisees; who were neither affected to, nor with, either of them: as for John, he was too austere for them; they did not like his garb, nor his diet; nor did his doctrine, or baptism please them; nor were they wrought upon, or brought to repentance by his ministry; they did not lament, weep, or shed one tear, but sat unmoved, like stocks and stones, under those awful striking discourses, on mournful subjects, delivered by him: nor were they pleased with the free conduct, and pleasant conversation of Christ; nor did they dance, or rejoice, at the good news and glad tidings of grace, and salvation, which were brought by him: of such froward, peevish spirits they were, that neither John, nor Christ, could please them: they were a true picture and emblem of many persons, who like neither law nor Gospel, but are morose, sullen, and quarrelsome, let them hear what they will; as Solomon says,

"If a wise man contendeth with a foolish man, whether he rage or laugh, there is no rest", Pro 29:9. Upon which the Talmudists (i) comment, and illustrate it in this manner, and produce a proverbial saying, much like this in the text.

"Says God, I was angry with Ahaz, and I delivered him into the hands of the kings of Damascus; he sacrificed and burnt incense to their gods, Ch2 28:22. I played with Amaziah, and I gave the king of Edom into his hands; he brought their gods and worshipped them, Ch2 25:14. Says R. Papa, this is what men say, or it is a common proverb, , "they weep to a man who takes no notice of it, they laugh to a man who does not observe it"; woe to that man, who knows not the difference between good and evil.''

(i) T. Bab. Sanhedrim, fol. 103. 1.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

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.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Is like to children, &c. This similitude signifies that there was nothing necessary for their salvation, which God had not abundantly provided for; but they had pertinaciously continued in their incredulity. To explain this, he uses a similitude taken from morose children, whom nothing can please; he appears to refer to some custom of that time which we are little acquainted. (Menochius)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

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 Saviour’s meaning is expounded plainly enough by the next words (see Mat 11:18,19).

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Vers. 16-19. Yet both John and he himself are rejected, though the results of their efforts were such as to fully justify the apparent difference of their methods. Parallel passage. Luk_7:31-35.

Vers. 16, 17. But. In contrast to the obedience asked for in ver. 15, this generation closes its ears. Whereunto shall I liken. A common rabbinic phrase, which is often found in the fuller form recorded in Luke, "Whereunto shall I liken... and to what are they like?" (see Mat_7:24, note) This generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented. There are two ways of understanding the illustration which our Lord here uses.

(1) Many modern commentators (e.g. Meyer; Trench," Studies," p. 148) insist on the grammar and on the historical order in which the complaints are made, and believe that the Jews correspond to the pipers and the mourners, while it is John that refuses to rejoice, and our Lord that will not be sad.

(2) But the more usual interpretation is preferable. For

(a) in an illustrative saying one has chiefly to regard its general sense;

(b) in vers. 18, 19 the action of John and of our Lord in "coming" corresponds to the activity of the children;

(c) this interpretation seems much more in accordance with the context.

The verses are therefore to be understood as meaning- John mourned in urging repentance, our Lord rejoiced in gospel liberty and preaching, but both alike were only ridiculed by the Jews. Markets; marketplaces (Revised Version); for there is no thought of the children helping their elders in traffic. And calling (which call, Revised Version) unto their fellows. Addressing them, but not necessarily noisily. (Luk_6:13 Luk_13:12)

Vers. 16-19. Children in the market-place.

Our Lord must have watched the children at play in the market-place, and have been grieved when a discontented spirit had been manifested by some of them. tie had seen how no effort on the part of their companions could move these obstinate children from their sullen mood. And now he finds the behaviour of the children to be typical of that of their parents. Elder people may learn from children. The unconventional manners of children may reveal something of the character of the age, or something of human nature itself, that is too often hidden under the veneer of mere fashion.

I IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO SATISFY THE UNSYMPATHETIC. 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 condition 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.

II UNSYMPATHETIC PEOPLE MISTAKE AUSTERITY FOR INSANITY. In our Lord"s day these people could only explain John the Baptist by saying that he was possessed by the devil. There are men and women to whom the very idea of self-denial is absurd. They have always lived a self-indulgent life, and they cannot understand why anybody in his senses should do otherwise. Such people have not the least conception of the high claims of duty. Moreover, they do not understand the darker sides of life. To them Gethsemane is a perfect enigma.

III UNSYMPATHETIC PEOPLE MISTAKE SOCIABILITY FOR SELF-INDULGENCE. The very people who say that the austere prophet is mad, when they see Christ, who is not austere, accuse him of laxity of conduct. This is enough to show that their opposition is insincere, or at least that it springs from their own state of mind, and not from any defect in those whom they presume to criticize. It is much to learn that the highest religion is not ascetic, and yet that it is not self-indulgent. The real reason why Jesus ate and drank with all sorts of people was not an indifference to moral distinctions, a hunger for popularity, or a love of ease all vices utterly foreign to his character. It was just his brotherly love seeking to help and bless everybody. We cannot understand the story of Jesus till we catch his spirit. Then we see that the safest protection against the evil of the world is not ascetic isolation, but a self-forgetting life spent for the good of our fellow-men. W.F.A.

Vers. 16-24. The judgment of God.

The generation" here rebuked is the race or succession of obstinately impenitent Jews headed and represented by the scribes and Pharisees. We are reminded

I THAT THE JUDGMENT OF GOD COMMENCES IN THIS WORLD.

1. The wicked are here convicted by the truth.

(1) The conceited scribe, who affected the wisdom of the sage, and the proud Pharisee, who affected the purity of the saint, are together humbled to the dust by being likened to querulous and pettish children, so utterly unreasonable and foolish that they can be pleased no way. Upon the principle, "The greater the truth the greater the libel," the justness of the rebuke is its sting.

(2) They waywardly rejected the testimony of John, who came in the habit of austerity, (see Luk_1:15) preaching the self-denial of repentance and reformation. Note: The habit of a minister should agree with the matter of his ministry. To justify themselves, the Pharisees said of John, "He hath a devil." Note: The best actions of the good may become the worst of their accusations with the wicked. (see Psa_69:10) But truth searches the conscience.

(3) They rejected likewise the ministry of Jesus, whose habit was social, affable, and familiar, in keeping with that grace which distinguished his gospel from the message of John. Note: The true minister will, upon occasion, pipe as at a funeral or pipe as at a wedding. (cf. 1Co_9:22 1Co_12:6, 1Co_12:11) To justify themselves, the Pharisees said of Jesus that he was "a gluttonous man and a wine-bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners." Note: Unparalleled excellency is not proof against the reproach of tongues. Envy and malice may give an odious colouring to the noblest conduct.

(4) The simile of the children in the market-place accuses the impenitent Jews with treating the solemn messages of John and of Jesus as unrealities. For the piping of the children was but dramatic as they played at funerals and weddings. The sinner persuades himself that what he is unwilling to imitate does not come from God. So he distorts facts, carps at virtue as "extreme," and turns virtues into vices. But all this aggravates his accusation.

2. The condemnation of the wicked is the commendation of the good.

(1) "Wisdom is justified of her children." Christ is "Wisdom" itself. The disciples of Jesus are the "children" of wisdom. (see Heb_2:13) Such were the "publicans and sinners" who received the messages which the Pharisees refused.

(2) The children of Wisdom justify the ways of Wisdom. They see the austere ways of John to be in good keeping with his mission; and what the Pharisees attribute to the devil they discern to be of God. So likewise the friendly, social ways of Jesus. To the upright in mind everything is good, as everything is evil to the vicious in heart.

(3) Those only truly justify Christ, "the Wisdom of God," who receive wisdom from him and exercise it in union with him. There must be an internal witness before there can be an internal belief. External evidence cannot carry internal conviction. "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God.

(4) Wisdom is justified of her children when the fruits of wisdom bear testimony before men to the excellence of the principles that give them birth. The children of Wisdom are charged with the very character and credit of Christianity. It depends upon them to extend or diminish its influence in the world.

(5) Wisdom justifies her children.

3. The providence of God has its rewards.

(1) Tyre and Sidon, heathen cities of Phoenicia, were notable for their pride, luxury, idolatry, and their cruel and selfish exultation against Israel in the day of his reverses. (see Eze_18:2-6, Eze_18:15, 16 26:2 27:3) They were warned by the Hebrew prophets, but repented not. The Babylonian invasion brought down their pride.

(2) Sodom, for her licentiousness, was destroyed by a tempest of fire from heaven.

(3) The cities of Galilee, specially favoured with the presence, teaching, and miracles of Jesus, were, for their impudence, doomed; and so complete has been their destruction, that their position is now uncertain.

II THAT THE JUDGMENT OF GOD WILL BE COMPLETED IN THE WORLD TO COME.

1. Justice is not fully vindicated in this world.

(1) In many cases the righteous suffer from the hand of the wicked more than the wicked suffer from the hand of God in providence. There is a balance of equity to be adjusted between the righteous and the wicked.

(2) So is there a balance of equity to be adjusted between the wicked and the wicked. Desperately wicked persons escape punishment, or suffer it slightly, while others far less culpable suffer it in severity. Tyre and Sidon have yet to settle accounts with Chorazin and Bethsaida. So has Sodom with Capernaum.

(3) Only at the last day, when all the lights of all the ages come together, will it be possible to settle all the cross-accounts of humanity.

2. Tendencies of character will be considered in the judgment to come.

(1) In the scrutiny of motives it will be seen who was more or less impenitent; who would or would not, with increased light, have repented and reformed. It will be inquired not only how bad men are, but how much worse they would be with increased facilities for sinning, and how much better they might have been but for their own fault.

(2) Then it will be pleaded against the impenitence of Chorazin and Bethsaida that had Ezekiel, when denouncing the sin of Tyre, confirmed his prophecy by such miracles as Jesus wrought, there would have been repentance. It might have been a repentance like that of Nineveh, induced by fear; yet even that would be such a recognition of God as was wanting in the cities of Galilee. It will likewise be pleaded against the impenitence of Capernaum that had Lot wrought miracles he would not have seemed to the men of Sodom as one that mocked. Determined infidelity, the result of perverse false reasoning and self-righteous pride, was not the sin of the heathen cities.

3. There will be a righteous apportionment of punishment to the degree of guilt.

(1) Those who, like Capernaum, are exalted to heaven in opportunity, and still cleave to the earth, then they shall sink into hell. Capernaum was even more highly blessed with opportunity than Chorazin and Bethsaida, and its sin and misery are proportionately greater.

(2) The enlargement of the faculties through the preaching of the gospel will be an increased capacity for reward or punishment. What a terrible punishment will be the reproach in hell of having missed the opportunity of getting to heaven!

(3) But who can estimate the turpitude of that impenitence which is the very sinfulness of sin? No temporal punishment is sufficient to mark its heinousness. Hence even Sodom, which was destroyed by fire from heaven, will have to come up again for punishment. Though the men of Sodom will have been damned more than four thousand years, yet are they still to come up for a final doom.

(4) Will there not be a classification of characters at the judgment? How else will corporations such as Sodom and Tyre and Capernaum appear? May not the licentious be grouped under the heading of Sodom; the proud under the designation of Tyre; and the obstinately wicked under the style of the cities of Galilee? In what sense was Moses gathered to his people in contradistinction to his brother Aaron, who was gathered to his people? (cf. Deu_32:50) J.A.M.

An unfavourable estimate of a generation.

Generations have their marked characteristics. Generations of humanity; generations of races; generations of nations; if we would be subtile we might even say, generations of classes. Thus we speak of ages of faith, sceptical ages, scientific ages, dark ages, ages of conflict, aesthetic ages, and so on. But it is necessary to distinguish between the abstract philosophical estimate of an age made by the historians, and the rough-and-ready estimate of a particular period, or a particular people, made by the prophet or the preacher, who brings a testing message. Our Lord was not attempting what we should mean by a critical examination of the characteristics of the people of Palestine in the first century. He is rather, in the fashion of the quickly observant preacher, noticing what conditions of society make his work difficult. Neither the austere John nor the friendly Jesus pleased the fickle multitude.

I A GENERATION THAT WOULD NOT BE DRIVEN TO GOODNESS. The element of fear was prominent in John Baptist"s work. He demanded, he threatened, he prophesied of judgment to come. But that fickle generation responded in moments of excite-merit, and then tired, and fell back on their old self-indulgences. They were like children, who were induced to play at funerals, but soon tired of the mock solemnity, and wanted a change. And the generation did but illustrate an abiding characteristic of humanity. Force soon wearies men; fear soon becomes familiar; threats cease to alarm; the terror of the gospel may open hearts; but if something does not follow the terror that can satisfy hearts, they will soon shut again, and closer than ever.

II A GENERATION THAT WOULD NOT BE DRAWN TO GOODNESS. John drove; Jesus drew. Jesus entered into all the common spheres of men, bringing cheer of sympathy and help. He was everywhere a Joy-bringer. And yet the generation soon tired of him; even as children tire of playing at weddings. They tire because they cannot have altogether their own way. That was the secret of the fickleness of the generation. They wanted John to be what they wished. They wanted Jesus to be and do and say just what they wished; and they were like sulky children who could not get their own way. John and Jesus both had to be what God would have them be. R.T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

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."

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

16. Whereunto shall I liken this generation? Compare Luke 7:31–35. The Jewish nation is meant. The Lord shows that they were as capricious as children. Children sitting in the markets. All ancient towns had an open market place, which was the great place of resort.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

Connecting Statement:

Jesus continues to talk to the crowds about John the Baptist.

To what should I compare this generation?

Jesus uses a question to introduce a comparison between the people of that day and what children might say in the marketplace. AT: "This is what this generation is like" (See: Rhetorical Question)

this generation

"the people living now" or "these people" or "you people of this generation"

It is like children playing in the marketplace ... and you did not weep

Jesus uses a parable to describe the people who were alive at that time. He compares them to a group of children who are trying to get the other children to play with them. But, no matter way they do, the other children will not join them. Jesus means that it does not matter if God sends someone like John the Baptist, who lives in the desert and fasts, or someone like Jesus, who celebrates with sinners and does not fast. The people, most specifically the Pharisees and religious leaders, still remain stubborn and refuse to accept God's truth. (See: Parables and Simile)

marketplace

a large, open-air area where people buy and sell items

We played a flute for you

"We" refers to the children sitting in the marketplace. Here "you" is plural and refers to the other group of children. (See: Forms of You)

and you did not dance

"but you did not dance to the happy music"

We mourned

This means they sang sad songs like women did at funerals. (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

and you did not weep

"but you did not cry with us"

translationWords

generation

flute

mourn

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

16. The textus receptus here has καὶ προσφωνοῦσι τοῖς ἑταὶροις αὐτῶν καὶ λέγουσιν. The authority for the correction is decisive.

16. ὁμοία ἐστὶν παιδίοις κ.τ.λ. If the grammatical form of the comparison be closely pressed, the interpretation must be that the children who complain of the others are the Jews who are satisfied neither with Jesus nor with John. The men of the existing generation appealed in turn to John and to Christ, and found no response in either. They blamed John for too great austerity, Jesus for neglect of Pharisaic exclusiveness and of ceremonial fasting.

But if the comparison be taken as applicable generally to the two terms, it may be explained by John first making an appeal, then Christ, and neither finding a response in the nation. This is the ordinary interpretation, and certainly agrees better with the facts, inasmuch as Christ and John made the appeal to the nation, not the nation to them.

It has been remarked that the joyous strain of the children, and the more genial mood of Christ, begin and end the passage, pointing to joyousness as the appropriate note of the Christian life.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

16. δέ] 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.’

τίνι ὁμοιώσω;] See similar questions in Mar 4:30: Luk 13:18, Luk 13:20; and note on ch. 7:24.

ὁμοία ἐστὶν παιδίοις: 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 ἡ γενεὰ αὕτη,—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 ὁμοία ἐστὶν παιδίοις, by which the first παιδία must be the children of this generation; and nothing can be more perplexed than to render ὁμοία ἐστίν ‘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.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

16. But to what shall I liken this generation? It is like to children sitting in market-places, who call to the others, and say.] Lk. has: “To what therefore shall I liken the men of this generation and to what are they like? They are like to children who sit in the market-place, and call to one another. Who say.”

τίνι δὲ ὁμοιώσω—ὁμοία ἐστί] In the Jewish Midrashic literature the most common formula for introducing a parable is הדבר דומה ל . . . משל למה = “a parable. To what is the matter like? to,” etc.; cf. Bacher, Exeget. Termin. den Jüd. Traditionsliteratur, i. p. 121, ii. p. 121.—ἀγοραῖς] on Mt.’s preference for the plural, see on 8:26.

16. ἂ προσφωνοῦντα—λέγουσιν] so א B D Z.—καὶ προσφωνοῦσι—καὶ λέγουσιν] so E F al. S1 S2 have “send” for προσφωνεῖν, and so S1 in Luk 7:32.—τοῖς ἐτέροις] so א B D Z; τοῖς ἑταίροις αὐτῶν G S U V al S1 S2. C E F al S1 S2 add αὐτῶν to τοῖς ἑτέροις. ἑταῖρος occurs in this Gospel three times in the vocative, 20:13, 22:12, 26:50, but τοῖς ἑτέροις is both best attested and most likely to have given rise to the variants. Lk. has ἀλλήλοις.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Children [παιδιοις] . 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 [αγοραις] . 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.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.