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: 16-19 concern the children in the marketplaces. The sayings are from material Matthew has in common with Luke 7:31-35. These verses express the solidarity of Jesus with John. 16 “But to what will I compare this generation, his own contemporaries? It is like children, such a comparison hardly denoting a compliment. Their behavior makes it less so. It refers to adults who sit stiffly and look important, but their message is little more than childish ridicule. They are like children sitting in the marketplaces, though it would be strange for children to sit in the marketplace. They would be screaming and running around as they teased each other and calling, denoting a formal style of addressing another, which an adult would do, to one another, they harass each other with the words, 17 ‘We played the flute for you, which should lead to dance, and you did not dance. Boys and men celebrated in this way, especially at weddings. We wailed, singing a dirge should lead to mourning and you did not mourn.’ Women were sometimes professional mourners at funerals. They are chiding others of their group for not joining in the games children play.
These unusual verses seem to reflect both patterns of traditional children's behavior and gender roles in ancient Near Eastern culture, as well as subtly skewering adult behaviors and formalities. Jesus called for dancing and John called for mourning. Neither received a positive response. He compares the crowds to a gang of spoiled, sulky children. They complain that no one will come and play a game with them. In this case, the “game” is a wedding or funeral. They reject every game offered. Another interpretation is that “this generation” expected John to dance and Jesus to lament, while they stand apart as critical observers, determining that neither John nor Jesus fulfilled their expectations. In any case, the saying accurately reproduces the subject matter of Jesus’ preaching. The idea that the two men’s work is the same, and the sense of mission that sees God working in the present, these are strongly typical of Jesus himself.
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!’ The saying seems to present a slur on the style of Jesus. The accusation leveled at Jesus was especially serious given its basis in the Torah. Deuteronomy reads in part: “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. John came as an ascetic, Jesus came eating and drinking, while the people are unhappy with both. The saying reflects this same kind of immature petulance as in the previous saying. 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, Jesus also sees the chronic, interior longing and emptiness of the human spirit. Yet, such a saying also shows that such persons have a guaranteed participation in eschatological salvation. Those who accept his message are no longer outcasts. Jesus is removing such barriers.[1] Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds,” an ambiguous statement. Such a saying is a proverb, likely part of common wisdom of the time. Considering later texts, it would seem well to interpret Jesus' meaning here as God's wisdom (not some Greek concept of a separate "Sophia force"[2]) in choosing these servants. People show they are wise by receiving John and Jesus. 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. This generation will always have its wisdom, but true wisdom will often lay in places this generation will not expect or desire.[3] The wisdom of receiving Jesus the Messiah, as some outcasts of the day did, was demonstrated in their changed lives. It may even suggest that the life and ministry of Jesus demonstrates wisdom.
By deflecting the questions of John’s disciples about Jesus’ identity, and by undermining the people’s expectations about John’s identity, Jesus can focus his hearers’ attention on the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom is the common point of reference for both Jesus and John, as the substance of both their teaching and their ways of life, and thus the source of their identities.
Jesus and John were not exactly what people expected them to be, but instead of being disarmed by the revelation of identity, many of them were antagonistic. They rejected Jesus’ claim to authority, his self-revelation, and his call to repentance. But it is not only Jesus’ identity that is brought into question here. Taking his words to heart challenged the identity and assumptions of all who heard him. Those words pose the same challenge to us in the church. Implicit in the text is the question of whether we are open our closed to Jesus as a revelation from the Father. The narrative suggests that most people were closed. On one hand, we have the crowds who sought signs and wonders, and seemed to have a variety of conflicting expectations. On the other hand, the Scribes and Pharisees who witnessed Jesus’ ministry were blinded by resentment, self-interest, and self-righteousness. They were offended by his violation of their rules of “separateness” and his call to repentance. They are shown here trying to destroy Jesus’ credibility and eventually sought to destroy Jesus himself. Despite all the negativity and rejection in the passage, the words of the redeemer explain what openness to Jesus involves. One demonstrates true wisdom when one is open to the wisdom Jesus offers.[4]
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 10:21-22.
Jesus offers a prayer that begins with offering thanksgiving to his Father. It would be well if more of our prayers began in this way. 25 At that time Jesus said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth. Jesus then gives the reason for his gratitude: because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants. What these "infants" have had revealed to them is the knowledge that Jesus' miracles are not just isolated acts of wonder but are inaugural signs of the approaching rule of God. Only those with childlike faith, not those who boast great wisdom, are able to recognize these signs as true portents of the kingdom. 26 Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. So far, Jesus has offered a paraphrase of Psalm 8:2, “Out of the mouths of babes and infants you have founded a bulwark because of your foes, to silence the enemy and the avenger.” The saying seems typical of the wit of Jesus, since he elsewhere castigates the “scholars.” The expression of praise contains a paradox. The Father has hidden knowledge from the wise and learned while revealing it to the untutored. Jesus seems to thank God for his failure, contrasting the many that reject Jesus with the few who accept him.[5] While thanksgiving and adoration as self-evident implications of the message of Jesus and its reception in faith is largely inexpressible, this passage shows that such thanksgiving and adoration can break through in the earthly Jesus.[6] Having acknowledged the gracious will of God, Jesus now says he speaks the truth about the relationship between the Father and the Son, acknowledging both divine mystery and revelation. 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. The saying may originally be a figurative statement that explains subordination to the Father in terms of a filial relationship as the condition of true knowledge of God. Of course, in the present context, it denotes the special dignity of Jesus.[7]
We cannot think of the Father apart from the Son.[8] We can think of this saying as already giving to the earthly Jesus the power signed in other texts to the exalted Lord. Because the royal rule of the Father is present in and through Jesus, because the eternal Son has taken human form in him, the power of the Father has also been imparted to him.[9] 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.[10] Even the pre-Easter Jesus can claim that the Father gives him all things.[11] Only here is the concept of revelation set forth as a formal principle of the knowledge of faith.[12] Ignatius expresses the thought of the self-revelation of God by the Son becomes a concept related to the Incarnation.[13] Irenaeus could also say that the Son reveals the Father by his manifestation to us.[14] Justin argued that the preexistent Son revealed the Father, the Son becoming visible to us.[15] The same basic thought occurs in Athanasius, where he says the Logos appeared in the flesh in order that we might attain the knowledge of the invisible God.[16] However, in contrast, 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.[17] Any knowledge people have has its origin in the movement between Father and Son. God was always a partner with humanity. The Father was the partner of the Son, and the Son of the Father. The closed circle of the knowing of the Son by the Father and the Father by the Son is penetrated only from within as the Son causes people to participate in this knowledge by revelation from the Son.[18] There is privileged knowledge shared by Father and Son, and there is privileged communication between Son and follower. Knowledge is not simply intellectual but is a personal bond. Note the exclusiveness with which only one, the Son, is chosen by God to know him. The danger is that no one will recognize him. Knowledge of the Son is incomplete, never total. The exclusive‑sounding language of the verse is not to restrict access to God. Rather, this verse describes the basis for Jesus' authority. As God's chosen one, Jesus has exclusive knowledge of God's will for the coming kingdom. Likewise, only God fully realizes Jesus' future eschatological role. Because Matthew's discussion here is on Jesus' role as the Messiah, the reader will need to understand the verse in those terms. The intimate connection between Jesus and God described here relates to how it impacts Jesus' function as Messiah. This text shows the confidence of Jesus has its basis in the intimate relationship between Son and the Father.
Matthew 11:28-30 is a saying with the theme of the yoke and burden. The source is material unique to Matthew. In context, Jesus has offered thanksgiving to the Father, he has given the reason for his thanksgiving, and now he offers an invitation to be in relationship with him. The question this saying raises is whether we embody this invitation in our word and deed.
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.” This saying echoes Ecclesiasticus 51:23-27.
23 Draw near to me, you who are uneducated, and lodge in the house of instruction. 24 Why do you say you are lacking in these things, and why do you endure such great thirst? 25 I opened my mouth and said, Acquire wisdom for yourselves without money. 26 Put your neck under her yoke, and let your souls receive instruction; it is to be found close by. 27 See with your own eyes that I have labored but little and found for myself much serenity.
Jesus has become wisdom. Jesus bases this experience upon a personal relationship with himself, not rigid obedience to the law. 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. This passage reduces such mysteries to the mutual knowledge and relationship between Father and Son. 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. The “rest for your souls” mentioned in verse 29 is not a cessation from labor, but the assurance and confidence that may result from relationship with Christ and the knowledge that we belong to him. Because he is “gentle and humble in heart,” never haughty or demanding, Jesus assures this restless, childlike generation that the “yoke” of this relationship will be “easy” and “light.” People do not come to some abstract legal system or doctrine, but “to me,” to divine wisdom in person. Jesus does not extend the invitation to the vital, exalted, and triumphant in their religion, morality, politics, and social status. The affinity of Jesus is with those unassuming in their relationship with God. As the one who is their Savior, he is the one who gives rest.[19]Essential to understanding Jesus' invitation here is clarifying Jesus' attitude toward the Sabbath in particular, the Torah in general. Obviously, Jesus did not intend to abolish all Sabbath observations, but he did intend to reinterpret the law by finding new ways to fulfill it. Jesus sought to teach a radical understanding of the depth of the law's spirit. The "rest" Jesus offered was not just a break from practicing every jot and tittle of Torah mandates. To facilitate this "rest," this new concept of faithfulness to the Sabbath spirit, Jesus offers believers a new "yoke." Not only is the yoke "easy" and the burden "light," the baggage is knowledge which Jesus shares with the new believer ("learn from me"). This yoke is "his" because Jesus also wears it. He calls believers to join him, not just to be loaded down with a new law while he watches. Jesus offers new ways to understand, to think and (in the new yoke) to do.
There is a story that Hebrew families tell their children to help them understand the fourth commandment.[20] "The Sweetest Sound" is the story of King Ruben. King Ruben was always asking questions. "Where is the hottest place on earth?" "Where is the place that the snow falls deepest?"
One day he asked his advisors, "What is the sweetest melody of all?" His wise men rubbed their chins and searched their books of wisdom, but they could not find the answer. "Why not have a contest to find the sweetest melody?" they suggested. So the king called all the musicians of his kingdom to come to the palace. Early in the morning, they gathered under the king's window with flutes, harps, violins, horns, bells, drums, banjos, bugles, chimes, cymbals, gongs, triangles, lutes, lyres and trumpets. Their tuning and scraping and testing awoke the king. Smiling, King Ruben jumped up, believing that today he would discover the sweetest melody in all the world. Throughout the morning, the king sat on his balcony and listened. By noon, he had listened to all the sounds imaginable that could be made by plucking, tinkling, blowing and banging. By afternoon, the king had heard all the melodies which could be made by whistling, jingling, shaking, sawing, buzzing and pounding. Then the advisors asked their king, "To your ears, which melody is the sweetest?" King Ruben had listened, but he could not tell which sound was the sweetest. One of his advisors suggested that he should have all the instruments play together, at the same time. "A wonderful idea," said the king. All of the instruments rang, bonged, blared, pealed, strummed and whistled together. King Ruben wrinkled his face and listened with all his might. The noise was so great he could not think. Just at that moment, a woman dressed in her Sabbath best pushed to the front of the crowd. It was now late on Friday afternoon. "O King, I have the answer to your question," she said. The king was surprised because she did not even have an instrument. "Why didn't you come earlier?" the king asked. The woman replied, "I had to wait until just before the setting of the sun." Sure enough, the sun was setting in the west. The musicians were still puffing, blowing, chiming and strumming. But again, there was so much noise the king could hardly think. He raised his hand. "Stop!" he said. And all the musicians put down their instruments. Taking two candles and placing them on the balcony railing, the woman lit them. Just as the sun was setting, the flames of the candles glowed. She lifted her voice and prayed, "Blessed art thou, O Lord, our God, King of the universe, who sanctified us by thy commandments and commanded us to kindle the Sabbath lights." Then she took her hands away from her face. "He that has ears to hear, let him hear," she said. The king raised his head; the advisors took their hands away from their ears. The people in the crowd stood still. The king was whispering, "What? What is that?" He could not hear a sound. "What you hear is the sound of rest. And isn't the peace that the Sabbath brings the sweetest melody of all?"
[1] Pannenberg Systematic Theology Volume 2, 332.
[2] Some scholars believe that wisdom should be capitalized, to signify it is a personification of God. We find such a personification in Proverbs 8, and elsewhere in the New Testament true wisdom is presented as an attribute of God (Lk 11:49; 1 Cor 2:7; Rev 5:12 and 7:12, et al.). Some ancient manuscripts read: “Wisdom is justified by the works of her children.”
[3] Barth Church Dogmatics II.1 [30.3] 436.
[4] Carol M. Noren, Identity Crisis, Pulpit Resource, 2005.
[5] Barth, Church Dogmatics IV.1 [59.1] 178.
[6] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume 3, 210.
[7] Pannenberg Systematic Theology, Volume 2, 372.
[8] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume 2, 367.
[9] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume 2, 391.
[10] Pannenberg Systematic Theology Volume 1, 308, 339.
[11] Pannenberg Systematic Theology Volume 1, 312.
[12] Pannenberg Systematic Theology Volume 1, 194.
[13] Magn. 8.2.
[14] Adv. Haer. 4.6.3 and 4.6.5.
[15] Dial. 127.3-128.2.
[16] SCG 54; PG, 25, 192.
[17] Systematic Theology Volume 1, 212.
[18] Church Dogmatics IV.2 [68.2] 759 and [64.4] 344.
[19] Barth Church Dogmatics IV.1 [59.1] 179.
[20] ‑‑John A. Stroman, Thunder From the Mountain (Nashville: The Upper Room, 1990), 53‑55.
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