Luke 7:31

Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation, and to what are they like? They are like unto children that sit in the marketplace, and call one to another; who say, We piped unto you, and ye did not dance; we wailed, and ye did not weep. For John the Baptist is come eating no bread, nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a demon. The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold, a gluttonous man and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. And wisdom is justified of all her children.

The simile spelled out by Jesus in this passage compares the rejection of both John and Jesus by the same generation to the perverse and unreasonable behavior of spoiled brats sitting in the marketplace, and who would not dance when the piper played, nor mourn when the wailer wailed. They would not play wedding, for that was too happy; and they would not play funeral, for that was too sad! The opposite personalities of John and Jesus were alike rejected by Israel. The last clause, that "wisdom is justified of all her children," shows that both John and Jesus were fulfilling the true mission God sent them to achieve.

The criticisms Jesus mentioned here as having been leveled against himself were only a few of the vicious and unprincipled remarks directed against the Saviour. For no less than ten different false charges made against Jesus by the evil men in that generation, see my Commentary on Matthew, Matthew 11:18-19.

ANOTHER ANOINTING

This anointing which took place in the house of Simon the Pharisee should not be confused with that which took place in Bethany (see my Commentary on John 12:1-8).