Parable of the Children in the Marketplace

“But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’ 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 at Him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.” (Matthew 11:16-19, ESV) [See parable as recorded in Luke 7:31-35.]

One of Jesus’ lesser-known parables is this one about children playing in the marketplace. We must keep in mind that Jesus is using this story to paint a picture of the holier-than-thou Pharisees and religious leaders who made sure the outside of the cup and platter were clean and polished while the inside was ‘full of extortion and excess’ (see Matthew 23:23-28). It was about adults, not children, playing at religion just as children play their pretend games of weddings and funerals in the public streets.

Jesus rebukes those who are pleased with neither John the Baptist nor Himself. Like children at play, they are offended and are nit-picking. Like the children, the Pharisees are only playing at religion in their much-observed ceremonies that must follow the letter of the law. Like children, they are unable to agree. Do they want a very astute and straight-laced person, one who abstains from all worldly pleasure as John the Baptist who chose to minister in the wilderness? Or do they want a people-person like Jesus Christ who was not afraid to associate with ‘publicans and sinners’? Neither John’s ascetic way of life (the music of the dirge) nor Christ’s joyous, full, associations-with-humans life (the music of the flute for a dance) pleased them. Since they are not in earnest themselves, nothing that is true, sincere and non-play-acting can please them.

Today is Sunday. I pray we will study and worship at our respective churches. Are we, like the religious leaders, and like the story of the children in the marketplace, pretending to worship, play-acting our religion before the all-knowing God we serve? Jesus was talking to the Pharisees when He gave the parable of the children in the marketplace. But His Word is relevant to us, too. “Wisdom is justified of her children”—that is, what genuine religion is proven by our lives? What signs are there of piety and truth in our lives? It is time for self-examination. Only we know whether confession and repentance are necessary. Will we stop play-acting and mean business with the Lord?

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Sunday, August 29, 2010