Luke 7:31-35
Chapter 7
31
Jesus said to the crowds:
“What comparison can I use for the people? What are they like?32
They are like children sitting in the marketplace about whom their companions complain:
‘We piped you a tune
and you wouldn’t dance;
we sang funeral songs
and you wouldn’t cry.’
33
Remember John: he didn’t eat bread or drink wine, and you said, ‘He has an evil spirit.’
34
Next, came the Son of Man, eating and drinking; and you say, ‘Look, a glutton for food and wine, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’
35
But the children of Wisdom always recognize her work.”
Commentaries
Capricious Children.
God reveals himself to people through his messengers. John is rejected and labeled as possessed by demons. But God does not give up and shows himself through Jesus: he draws near to the poor, the excluded, and the marginalized, yet he is also rejected, this time as a glutton, a drunkard, and for being a friend of sinners. This passage encourages us to see God’s presence everywhere, not to close ourselves off with our own standards, and to remember that God’s plans go beyond what we expect. To accept the Gospel, we need openness of faith and a willing heart.