Bradley Tibbs
Nov15, 2000
Dr. Lyons
BL425
The
Children in the Marketplace
This parable
is found in Matthew 11 and in Luke 7:31-35. Because
the two gospels give such similar accounts of the story, it is widely accepted that
Matthew and Luke copied this story from Q. In
the two sections that precede Jesus' telling of the parable, the identities of Jesus and John are evident: Jesus is
the expected “Coming One;” and John is the promised messenger who was to prepare
the way for his coming. Both Evangelists
place this story after their reports of the
imprisonment of John the Baptist. Jesus is
speaking to the crowds with his disciples present. Jesus
gives this parable right after John’s disciples have come to Jesus with the question,
“Are you the one who was to come or are we to wait for another?” Jesus offers two proofs of his identity. First, he
says, “Look at what is happening: the lame walk, the blind see, etc.” Second, he attributes a quote from Malachi 3:1 to
John who prepared the way for Jesus. Jesus
claims that the law and the prophets have come to a head in John the Baptist. But the people have neither received John nor
Jesus for their God-ordained roles. “This
generation” lacks discernment. It is at this
point that Jesus tells the parable of the children in the market place. Matthew immediately follows Jesus' short dialogue
about John with his woe-statements pronounced over the cities that saw his miraculous
deeds, but would not repent in response to them. In
Luke’s account, Jesus ends his dialogue with the marketplace parable, and then goes
to dinner at a Pharisee’s house where a prostitute anoints him with perfume.
Chapter 11 of Matthew marks the start of a new section of the gospel. In the section previous, Jesus was showing his authority to everyone by his teachings and miracles. This chapter marks the beginning of the conflict that arises between Jesus and the people, particularly with the contemporary religious leaders.
The expression “this generation” is usually used in the gospels to refer to Jesus' Jewish contemporaries who do not believe or obey his teaching. Here “this generation” is directed to the crowds (Matthew 11:7) to whom Jesus was speaking. He compares them to children playing in a marketplace. In verse 17 the children are calling out to one another, “We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.” Then in verse 18 the text says, “They [these children = this generation] say [of John] ‘he has a demon’ … and they say [of the Son of Man = Jesus] ‘he is a glutton and a drunkard ….” The children first accuse each other of not joining in on the others' proposed play -- the dancing and the mourning, then they speak (still among each other) of John, whom they say “has a demon," and of Jesus, whom they say is “a drunkard.” The children express their misgivings about Jesus and John: Jesus came in joy, celebrating at banquets, and spending time with the more liberal members of society. John was the ascetic who vowed to abstain from certain foods, from cutting his hair, and from a communal life.
The children represent the crowds of people to whom Jesus
is speaking. Some are playing a wedding game. It was customary for the men to dance at weddings. Speaking regarding Jesus, they call out, “We
played the flute and you didn’t dance.” Jesus
did not meet their expectations. The Messiah
was supposed to bring victory. The king of
the Jews should be leader over all. He should
be seated at the head of the Jewish race, reigning victorious and squashing the roman
enemy. Yet, Jesus was doing none of that. He was spending time at sinners’ homes being
charmed by prostitutes and enjoying the company of swindling tax collectors. The crowds looked down upon Jesus as being out of
his mind. In fact, they maligned him as a
drunken glutton! He preaches a message of
repentance and new direction, but what kind of a direction is he going with the lowest of all human life? Then the crowd says to John, “We wailed, we
beat our breast, we sang funeral songs, and you did not mourn.” They did not get John figured out either. John lived in the wilderness, wore animal skins
and ate bugs. Instead of recognizing the vow
of asceticism he had made to God, they reasoned he was crazy. In fact, they figured he was possessed by a demon! His message was the same as Jesus’ message
— Repent and turn your
lives around. The Kingdom is at hand.
“Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.” The point that Jesus makes is that "wisdom" does what is right and will finally be vindicated by her deeds. Luke’s text uses “children” in place of “deeds” which parallels with “this generation” of people in verse 16 (Luke 7:31). Jesus implicitly identifies himself as "wisdom." To find wisdom (Jesus), is to find life. But the people were not able to see this. Their own presuppositions and egocentricity blinded them from understanding the message of the kingdom of God that John and Jesus brought. Eventually, the generation that does not understand the message beheads John, the one who prepared the way, and crucifies Jesus, the true Messiah of God.
How often do we go about thinking that we understand all that is going on around us? Remember your childhood when nothing mattered that was not centered on you? There is still a generation that fails to see the message of Jesus because it refuses to let go of this childish, self-centered and ignorant mindset. They sing and expect people to dance; they wail and expect everyone to mourn. They praise self and put down others based on their own preconceptions of the way things are (as they see them). The universe revolves around them and if someone says something challenging, they will reply with a quick and illogical defense. The problem with stubborn and ignorant people with ego problems is that they never will wake up to reality. Day after day, Jesus spoke to the people of his day, telling them about the Kingdom, and living out its implications — and the stubborn never got it. Their only way to stay the way they were was to write Jesus off as a drunkard or demon-possessed; and finally, they killed him.
The danger of a
fundamentalist mindset is an example of this mindset today.
Some people, in order to maintain a firm grip on the “truth” they have
discovered, refuse to consider anything else. They
end up taking irrational leaps through theology and the Bible to defend their
presuppositions, at the cost of critical thought. But
theological liberalism may be equally blind to reality, buying in uncritically to whatever
is currently fashionable, at the expense of ancient Christian tradition. And so
fundamentalists dismiss the liberal's vision of truth as too frivolous -- weddings! And
liberals dismiss the fundamentalist's vision of truth as too narrow-minded -- funerals!
Are both sides playing the role of self-absorbed children, who refuse to play with anyone
who will not play their games, by their rules? Who will we crucify next?
Bibliography
Hagner, Donald A. Word Biblical Commentary; the Gospel of Matthew
1-13. Vol 33a Dallas: Word Incorporated, 1993.
Hill, David. The New Century Bible Commentary; Gospel of Matthew
Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1972.
Manson, T.W. The Sayings of Jesus. London: SCM Press Ltd., 1949.
Mounce, Robert H. New
International Bible Commentary; Matthew. Peabody,
Mass. : Hendrickson Publishers, 1991.
New Revised Standard Version of the
Bible.
Schweizer, Eduard. The Good News According to Matthew. Translated by Donald H. Madvig. Atlanta: John
Knox Press, 1975.