Jesus shared this parable in 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.”

Okay, let us have a look at things. Jesus had good things to say about children. He said, “Let the children come to me for such is the Kingdom of God, unless you enter as a child, unless you think and reason like a child, you shall not enter the Kingdom of God.” (Matthew 19:14) Yet here, He is using children as a rebuke. So what is the difference?

Well, let me tell you what childlike faith is. Childlike faith is like a child who is totally dependent on his parents. A child, if his Dad does not work and his Mother does not do the shopping, will starve. Most children do not know how to cook for themselves, how to pay electricity bills, how to pay the rent, or how to do adult things. Essentially, left to their own devices, our children would be in serious trouble.

To have childlike faith, therefore, is to be totally dependent on God and to let Him rule in your life. It is true, when an adult comes to God in humility, he becomes childlike.

In this parable “childlike” is something different. It is more like “childish”-a child who wants his own way, a rebellious, stubborn, sort of child. You know children are very good at getting their own way. They can be all happy and nice when it comes to wanting to get a treat. As soon as they do not get their treat, they can throw a tantrum on the floor. This is the sort of child that Jesus is talking about.

“We played a flute for you and you did not dance.” (v. 17a)

If you truly tried to please a person, it should not matter if they danced or not. If you wanted to play a flute for Jesus, you should be happy that He would listen to it. He does not have to dance.

“We mourned to you and you did not lament.” (v. 17b) You did not mourn with us. It is just selfishness and immature childish ways.

The Scriptures, in I Corinthians 13 says, “When I was a child, I did childish things. But now that I am a man, I have put away these childish things.” It is like Jesus saying to the Pharisees, the leaders and the people of this generation, “You need to grow up. John came in the spirit of Elijah. He did not drink as he was a Nazarite. Because he did not drink, you said that he had a demon. I came along and I was not a Nazarite, and I drank and you said I was a drinker; that I am a drunk. I did not fast all the time, so you called me a glutton and you think I am a bit of a jerk because I hang out with tax collectors and sinners and that would be beneath you, you Pharisees.”

Jesus is a very gentle, meek and mild person but he is also the sort of person I like. I like someone who does not speak about me to other people in a derogatory manner and you know that it would get back to me through other people. I would rather that a person who has a problem with me speak about it with me face to face. Now, I am a person who does not like confrontation but I enjoy hearing someone’s opinion of me. Even if it does hurt, I would rather hear it face to face

Jesus was talking about John the Baptist and this is what led Him to this. He was describing John the Baptist. Then He was talking about this current generation. John was said to be the greatest of all of the Old Testament saints. Jesus said that we, as mere Christians, are greater than John because we have got the in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Today, people reject Jesus on a few grounds. People reject Him saying that He is not very nice, pronouncing that He is the only way to the Father. If Jesus was not the only way to the Father, He would not have had to die on the cross. Jesus in the garden said to His Father, “Let this cup pass from me if there is any other way, let it pass.” And His Father said, “No, there is no other way. You have got to die.” (Matthew 26: 39-42) If Jesus was not the only way to heaven, He would not have had to go through that death on the cross.

Jesus came to give us eternal life but the Pharisees had a problem with Jesus because He seemed to be a person that was not keeping their rigid laws. It was not so much the laws of Moses that Jesus was disobeying. It was all the added laws that the Pharisees had added in the interpretation of the Law. Jesus did not operate in the law; He operated in the spirit of the law. John the Baptist was not Elijah, John the Baptist operated in the spirit of Elijah. Jesus operated out of love and mercy. That would mean that He would heal on the Sabbath. He would heal a sinner. He would let a leper touch Him. What some people would consider breaking the Law, Jesus considered to be love. Love trumps everything. Jesus brought in a New Covenant.

This parable of the children in the marketplace is sort of a warning to people who are stubborn against Jesus. But it is also a warning to all of us that we should not be little children demanding things from Jesus. We should not be sitting down giving Him commands all through heaven; and then getting stubborn and upset because He did not jump to our commands or answer our prayers.

So many Christians pray the same prayer; but what they are actually asking for is something selfish or something that is not in the will of God. Some people fluctuate between not feeling loved by God and silently despising God. The Pharisees were no different. They despised Jesus.

The Christian church is a whole lot bigger today and has got a whole lot more people employed in full-time occupations today than the Jewish religion . In the Christian church Jesus has really trumped the Jewish leaders of today.

People of these days are inherently selfish and stubborn. They like things their own way. And so Jesus’ way just seems either too easy that you can be forgiven for all your sins simply by accepting Jesus into your life or too hard by having to give up what Jesus asks.

So, for whatever reason, they said to John that he had a demon because he seemed a bit way out. They said he was possessed. They also said of Jesus that He was filled with Beelzebub. They rejected Him because He was hanging around with the desperate and the hurting.

One way to imitate Jesus is to hang around the hurting ourselves and to give from what we have got. Like Jesus, this is showing an example; to hang around people who really need help and give out of our love in an overflow of what we get from Jesus Christ.

This is about all I have to say about this parable. It is a warning to us Christians not to be like little stubborn, sad, rebellious children. Instead be a child, someone with childlike faith, who does not hold grudges against God, who believes in a loving Father and knows that, like a good dad, Jesus does what is best for His children.

Author Bio: If you have enjoyed my article you can read a soon to be published book called “The parables of Jesus made simple” for free here in its entirety or just selected parables in chapters at http://www.parables-of-jesus-christ.net/ The book will be available in early 2011 For prophetic counsel, Christian life coaching, Dream interpretation, Christian chat and great Kingdom Teaching come and see us at http://www.kingdomassignments.com.au

Category: Religion
Keywords: parable of Jesus Christ