16 “But to what will I compare this
generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one
another,
17 ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;we wailed, and you did not mourn.’
18 For John came neither eating nor
drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’; 19 the Son of Man came
eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of
tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”
25 At that time Jesus said, “I thank
you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things
from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; 26 yes,
Father, for such was your gracious will. 27 All things have been handed
over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one
knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal
him.
28 “Come to me, all you that are weary
and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my
yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you
will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden
is light.”
Matthew
11:16-17 concerns a saying of Jesus related to his relationship with John the
Baptist. It uses the image of children in the marketplace. The saying is from
the material Matthew and Luke share. They show the solidarity of Jesus and
John. He compares his contemporaries to children sitting in the marketplace. Of
course, children would not do this, for they would be running around and
screaming. His image is that they harass each other. They play the flute, as if
for the celebration at a wedding, but they do not dance. This might refer to
the celebrative style of the ministry of Jesus. They mourn as if they were
professional mourners at a funeral, but they do not weep. This might refer to
the stern style of the ministry of John. His contemporaries are like spoiled children.
John and Jesus unite in calling people to the rule of God, but vary in style.
His contemporaries do not respond to either style.
Matthew
11:18-19 is a slur on the style of Jesus. The saying is from the material
Matthew and Luke share. The accusation against John was that he had a demon
because his ministry was austere and somber. The accusation against Jesus was
that his style of ministry was celebrative to the point of gluttony and
drunkenness, making him a friend of tax collectors and sinners. The accusation leveled at Jesus was especially serious given its
basis in the Torah. “He will not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard. Then
all the men of the town shall stone him to death. So you shall purge the evil
from your midst; and all Israel will hear, and be afraid” (Deut 21:20-21).
Furthermore, Proverbs advises, “Be not among winebibbers, or among gluttonous
eaters of meat” (Prov 23:20). Such a saying contrasts John the ascetic with
Jesus the glutton and drunk. The crowd discounts John because his abstinence is
too strict, while the crowd rejects Jesus because his behavior is not strict
enough. They find everything too hard, too soft, too hot, and too cold. Yet,
his contemporaries would show wisdom if they received both John and Jesus. Barth
refers to the wisdom of this generation and that true wisdom is always
different from what this generation has expected and desired.[1]
The whole passage may be a call by Jesus not to sit upon the sidelines as an
uninvolved spectator. Do not live under
any illusions. The point is not the difference in
their styles but the unity of their message.
Matthew
11:25-27 is a saying concerning good news revealed to the simple. The source is
the material in common between Matthew and Luke. Jesus seems to paraphrase
Psalm 8:2. He is thankful to the Father for hiding “these things” from the
intelligent (scribes and Pharisees) and revealing them to the simple (the
disciples and the crowds). True wisdom is in seeing the message of the rule of
God that unites the ministry of John and Jesus. The healings and exorcisms of
Jesus are signs of that rule. Jesus seems to have largely failed in reaching
out to the scribes and Pharisees, but to have been more successful among the
crowds. He contrasts the many that rejected Jesus with the few who accept him.
Jesus is now thankful for this result.[2] This leads Jesus to reflect upon the unique relationship he has
with the Father. This text shows the confidence of Jesus has its basis
in the intimate relationship between Son and the Father. He explains his subordination to the Father in terms of the filial
relationship of Father and Son. It denotes the special dignity of the Son.[3] Even the pre-Easter Jesus can claim that the Father gives
him all things.[4]
We cannot think of the Father apart from the Son.[5]
Because the royal rule of the Father is present in and through Jesus, because
the eternal Son has taken human form in him, the Father has imparted divine
power to him.[6]
God is infinitely above all that is human and creaturely. One may know God only
through the Son. To know the incomprehensible God we must hold fast to the Son.[7]
Only here is the concept of revelation set forth as a formal principle of the
knowledge of faith.[8]
The Son is the mediator of revelation, but not the revelation of the Father.
The function of the Son corresponds to that of the angel in the receiving of
revelation by the apocalyptic seer. In essence, Christ gives a revelation he
has received from the Father.[9]
Matthew 11:28-30 is a saying with
theme of the yoke and burden. The source is material unique to Matthew. Ecclesiasticus
51:23-27 has similar sentiments. In urging people to come to him, he places the
emphasis on a relationship with him rather than the Torah. Instead of the law
that the Pharisees tried to force upon people, he offers himself as a “yoke of
wisdom.” Jewish apocalyptic often has esoteric roadmaps describing mysterious
journeys through the heavens. He
denounces teachers of the Law in Matthew 23:1-4 and Luke 12:45-46, saying they
have loaded people with burdens hard to bear (see also Acts 15:10). The easy
yoke and light burden could also connote the promise of forgiveness for those
bowed under the weight of their sin, who turn to Jesus in repentance and faith.
He offers rest in the sense of assurance and confidence that arises from a
relationship with Jesus. His own gentleness and humility assures the restless
of his generation that a relationship with Jesus will lead to an easy and light
yoke. People will not be coming to Torah or to an abstract doctrine, but to
wisdom in the person of Jesus. They are to learn from him. He calls people to
join him. Jesus offers people a new way to understand, think, and act.
[1] Church Dogmatics II.1 [30.3] 436.
[2] Barth, Church Dogmatics IV.1 [59.1] 178.
[3] Systematic Theology, Volume 2, 372.
[4] Systematic Theology Volume 1, 312.
[5]
Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume
2, 367.
[6]
Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume
2, 391.
[7] Systematic Theology Volume 1, 308, 339.
[8] Systematic Theology Volume 1, 194.
[9] Systematic Theology Volume 1, 212.
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