Jesus and John the Baptist - Bible Reflections - Wisdom's Children

By Tony Joe:

Bible Reflections for Saint Matthew 11:16-19:

The context for today's Bible verse is John developing a doubt in Jesus, and sending his disciples to Jesus so as to inquire whether He is indeed the Messiah.

Jesus expresses His disappointment about John's wavering, to his messengers, and asks them to convey to John about the miracles the community was witnessing from His Ministry of mercy and healing.

However, after they have left, Jesus turns to the crowd and takes them to task for ignoring John's teachings, despite rushing to the Baptist initially.

Christ then exalts John, making it clear that he was indeed the predicted forerunner to the Messiah, as well as the Elijah who was to come before the Saviour, according to the Scriptures.

While most among the crowd listening to Jesus had been baptized by John - as his ministry was that large and effective - it was obvious to Jesus that soon after their baptism almost all of them had returned to their old ways.

Despite the widespread acceptance of John by the masses, there were the elders and the learned in the community, who poisoned the people's minds with the idea that John was possessed by a demon.

The reason cited for attacking John was that he neither ate or drank normal food like bread or wine. While John did this for the sake of the austere ways of living that he preached, the same was used to ridicule him.

This the elders did because John's rapid rise was alarming to them, and threatening their very existence as the unchallenged leaders of the community.

Jesus then contrasts John's austere ways, with His own style of eating and drinking normally, and faults them for criticizing even that.

What was their criticism really about? It was not about specifically about the food and the wine, but rather about the company Jesus kept - of sinners and tax-collectors.

Since they were regarded by these elders, as sinners who feasted on food and wine, Jesus too was branded a "...a glutton and a winebibber."

Christ then compares such self-righteous critics, to immature children who always want others to play to their tunes.

When John appeared as a perfectly disciplined man, these critics wanted John to be less austere, but he continued to be firm in his discipline. 

And when Jesus came with a moderate life style, these same critics wanted Him to be more austere, but Jesus was firm in His conviction to allow all the basic enjoyments of life like food and drink.

Jesus knew that it was not the common people, but those inciting them behind the scenes, like the Pharisees and the scribes, who were to blame.

To illustrate the futility of their strategy, Jesus then teaches the crowd an eternal principle about the nature of wisdom.

Wisdom - from whomever it is coming from - would be justified by only one thing - its children, which means its end result - the deeds, the works.

He was sure that these self-righteous elders had nothing to show for their wisdom, other than their wisdom itself. Jesus knew that their self-conduct was abominable.

That is why He points the crowd to the self-conduct of these elders who criticized every true prophet, and even the Messiah.

Jesus thus shows all His people, including us, that what counts before God is not theory but practice, not wisdom but works, not sacrifices but mercy.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 11:16-19:

“But to what shall I liken this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their companions, and saying:

‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; We mourned to you, and you did not lament.’

For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ 

The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ 

But wisdom is justified by her children."