Matthew 11:16-24
[Jesus spoke to the crowd saying:] 16 “To what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another,
17 ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
we wailed, and you did not mourn.’
18 “For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’; 19 the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”
20 Then he began to reproach the cities in which most of his deeds of power had been done because they did not repent. 21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I tell you, on the day of judgment it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 23 And you, Capernaum,
will you be exalted to heaven?
No, you will be brought down to Hades.
“For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 24 But I tell you that on the day of judgment it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom than for you.”
“To what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another, 17 ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.’
“Mom, we’re bored!” “Why don’t you go outside and ride your bikes?” “It’s too hot!” “Why don’t you read your library book?” “It has too many pages!” “Here’s some ice cream for a treat.” “Ick, we don’t want vanilla with sprinkles!” “WHAT DO YOU WANT!!!”
We’re now six weeks into summer break, and parents everywhere are beginning to show the strain. Bored children are some of the most difficult creatures in the world to handle. They don’t know what they want, so they hate everything. Because they’re miserable about not knowing what they want, they keep everyone around them miserable as well.
Jesus’ observation about children of his time rings true in every generation. If he had stopped there, we would have chuckled and gone on about our daily business. But he didn’t stop there. Jesus continues his observations with a crushingly accurate comparison of the children in the marketplace with the religious adults.
John didn’t eat and you said he was possessed. I like to enjoy meals with my friends and you call me a glutton. When I do a miracle, you complain that I didn’t do it right. When I teach, you look for loopholes to accuse me of heresy. WHAT DO YOU WANT!!!
Have we gotten so bored and rigid and blinded by the status quo that we can’t see Jesus anymore?
Prayer: Lord Jesus: You offer us life in all its abundance here and now as well as in the world to come and we respond like bored children who can’t take pleasure in anything. Open our hearts and clear our eyes. AMEN