Then to what shall I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? 32 They are like children who sit in the marketplace and call to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance. We sang a dirge, but you did not weep.’ 33 For John the Baptist came neither eating food nor drinking wine, and you said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.’ 34 The Son of Man came eating and drinking and you said, ‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ 35 But wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”
Jesus speaks these words after describing the different responses people have made to John the Baptist. Those who accepted John’s call to repentance acknowledged what God was doing, while the Pharisees and scholars of the law refused John’s baptism and therefore “rejected the plan of God for themselves” (Luke 7:29–30). Jesus now shows that the same unwillingness to respond to God is also being directed toward Him.
He compares “the people of this generation” to children sitting in the marketplace who refuse to join either of two games. When joyful music is played, they will not dance; when a funeral song is sung, they will not mourn. The two kinds of music reflect the very different ministries of John and Jesus. John lived an austere life marked by fasting and called people to repentance. Jesus came eating and drinking with others and announcing the coming of God’s kingdom. Yet those determined not to respond found a reason to reject both.
John’s austerity was dismissed with the accusation, “He is possessed by a demon” (v. 33). When Jesus lived differently, sharing meals with tax collectors and sinners, His opponents accused Him of being “a glutton and a drunkard” (v. 34). Their contradictory criticisms reveal the deeper problem. It was not really John’s fasting or Jesus’ eating and drinking that they rejected. They were resisting the call of God that came to them through both.
Jesus’ willingness to eat with tax collectors and sinners was itself part of His saving mission. Earlier in Luke, when He was criticized for eating with them, Jesus answered, “Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners” (Luke 5:31–32). His friendship with sinners did not mean approval of sin. He drew near to sinners in order to call them to repentance and offer them the mercy of God.
Jesus concludes, “But wisdom is vindicated by all her children” (v. 35). Scripture sometimes speaks of God’s wisdom as a woman calling her children to listen: “Now, children, listen to me” (Proverbs 8:32). Wisdom also invites people to receive what she offers: “Come, eat of my food, and drink of the wine I have mixed” (Proverbs 9:5). John and Jesus, though very different in their manner of life, both serve God’s saving purpose. Those who truly listen recognize God’s call and respond to it.
The warning remains important for us. We can also become so attached to our own expectations that we resist God when He does not approach us in the way we expect. The question is not whether God’s call fits our preferences, but whether we are willing to hear Him and respond. God’s wisdom is shown to be true in the lives of those who receive His Word and allow it to change them.
Lord Jesus, give us hearts that are willing to hear Your voice. Free us from the stubbornness that seeks reasons to resist Your call, and give us the wisdom to recognize Your presence and respond faithfully to You. Amen.
Sources and References
- The New American Bible, Revised Edition. Washington, DC: Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, 2011. Notes on Luke 7:31–35 and Matthew 11:16–19.
- Hahn, Scott, and Curtis Mitch. The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2010. 121.
- Casciaro, Jose Maria, gen. ed. The Navarre Bible: New Testament, Expanded Edition. Dublin: Four Courts Press; New York: Scepter Publishers, 2008. 277.
- Brown, Raymond E., Joseph A. Fitzmyer, and Roland E. Murphy, eds. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1990. 696–697, para. 98.
- Gadenz, Pablo T. The Gospel of Luke. Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2018. 148.
- Aguilar Chiu, Jose Enrique, et al., eds. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. New York: Paulist Press, 2018. 1057.
- Collins, John J., Gina Hens-Piazza, Barbara Reid, OP, and Donald Senior, CP, eds. The Jerome Biblical Commentary for the Twenty-First Century. 3rd fully rev. ed. London: T&T Clark, 2022. 1315.
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