In today’s Gospel, Jesus compares His generation to children in the marketplace. No matter what song is played, they refuse to respond. So Jesus offers them a new song: a lament.
John the Baptist came in austerity fasting, wearing rough clothing, calling for repentance – a bit of the wilderness wildman. Yet in verses just prior to our reading, Jesus has praised John the Baptist and pointed to him as the greatest of those born of women. But the people have hesitated. They can not decide or commit to John’s call for repentance so they go to another extreme. They claim he is possessed and thus can be ignored.
The austere wild man too much? Jesus comes to the people where they are. He came eating and drinking, sharing table fellowship with tax collectors and sinners. Surely, the wandering preacher from Nazareth can’t be of God if He is eating with “them.” They claim Jesus is just a glutton and a drunkard.
In other words, no matter what God offered, be it stern warning or gracious welcome, many refused to listen. Jesus’ words are indeed a lament.
And Jesus’ words echo into our own generation. How often do we see the same refusal to respond to God’s voice? For some, the radical call of the Gospel seems too demanding; for others, the mercy of the Gospel seems too permissive. We see the same pattern in our time: criticism of the Church when she challenges the world to repent, and criticism again when she opens wide the doors of compassion. Like the children in the marketplace, many are never satisfied.
But Jesus leaves us with hope: “Wisdom is vindicated by all her children.” In other words, the truth of the Gospel will be seen in the lives of those who embrace it. The fruit of faith, that is mercy, justice, holiness speaks louder than complaints or criticism. What matters is not whether people approve of John or Jesus, the Church or her ministers. What matters is whether we live out God’s wisdom.
So the invitation for us is clear: not to be like the restless children who reject every call, but to be children of wisdom. Be open to God’s word in whatever form it comes, willing to repent, willing to rejoice, willing to follow wherever Christ leads.
The Exhortation to the Apostles | James Tissot | ca. 1890 | Brooklyn Museum NYC | PD-US