In the gospels of Matthew and Luke, Jesus highlights an interesting fact about the people’s response during the early part of the 1st century to God and His message of salvation:
“But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to their playmates, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not return.’ For John came neither eating or 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 (see also Luke 7:31-35)
According to Scripture, John the Baptist was sent by God as a forerunner of Christ in order to awaken the people to the reality of the Savior (Messiah) who was coming soon after (Isaiah 40:3; Matthew 3:3; Mark 1:3; Luke 3:4; John 1:23). John the Baptist was an unusual fellow, who did not drink alcohol, nor did he eat the normal diet of food as those around him (he ate locusts and wild honey). Rather than wearing the same clothes as most people, he wore a garment made of camel’s hair. Not only that, instead of going to the people, he remained in the wilderness, and the people went out to him to hear his preaching. Needless to say, he was an odd individual. Though his eating habits and look were different than the majority, he was sent by God and his message was from God. While many responded to his message of repentance, many others rejected him. Why did so many reject him? Jesus explains above that John the Baptist did not dance to their music. In other words, they did not like the fact that John the Baptist did not fit the mold of lifestyle that they preferred, nor did he preach a message that conformed to their prerogatives. Therefore, John’s message, though it was from God, was rejected because he did not approve of the sinful actions and attitudes of the people of his time. In fact, he confronted them and called them to repent. This is what Jesus means when He compared the generation of His time as those who “played the flute for you, and you did not dance.”
On the other hand, Jesus, who also preached a message of repentance (Matthew 4:17), had a ministry that used a different approach than John the Baptist (Neither method was better than the other. Each was sent for a different purpose. John was sent to prepare the way for Jesus, the Messiah. Jesus, being God in the flesh, was sent to fulfill the Scripture by offering Himself as a sacrifice for sin). Jesus dressed, ate, and drank like most people around Him. He attended weddings, festivals, and hung out with friends. Rather than remaining distant from the people in the wilderness like John the Baptist did, Jesus went to where the people were. He went from city to city and often preached in the temple in Jerusalem. His appearance was like a normal person, though his actions (miracles, healing, exorcisms, raising people up from the dead) separated Him from everyone else. Though he spent a lot of time with the moral and social outcasts of His time, His works demonstrated that He was not a mere normal human, but God Himself (John 1:1,14).
Many of the people, as they did with John the Baptist, rejected Jesus and His message. Yet, they did so for a completely different reason. With John the Baptist, many thought he was too serious, rigid, and marginal. They thought he should have loosened up a bit and danced to their music. With Jesus, many thought he was not religious enough. They did not like the fact that He spent time with “sinners” and did not follow their religious traditions. They wanted Him to fit the mold of their religious preferences, thus they ”sang a dirge, and you did not mourn” (cited above). Because John the Baptist did not eat and drink like them, they said of him, “He has a demon”. Because Jesus ate and drank like them, they said of him, “a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.” In other words, they found a reason to reject both John the Baptist (the forerunner of the Messiah) and the Messiah Himself. Was the real reason really about the way they dressed, what they ate or drank, or who they hung out with? When we read the context of the gospels, we see their rejection had little or nothing to do with any of that. The people did not like what John the Baptist and Jesus said and the fact they called the people to repent and believe in God. In other words, they did not want to conform to the message that God had sent them to hear. They wanted God to conform His message to their expectations. This way, they could feel accepted by God without having to make changes in their lives. They wanted to dictate what God should say, who He should accept, and how He should operate the world.
When we consider the generation of people in the time of John the Baptist and Jesus, it is clear that there is not much of a difference with what we see in today. The message of the gospel is rejected by many in today’s society. Some might blame it on the method in which it is shared (too direct, too soft, music too boring, music too loud, sermons too long, sermons too short, too formal, not formal enough, too rigid, too relaxed, etc.). But let us be honest for just a minute. The real issue is not about any of those details. The gospel message is rejected because, at the end of the day, people do not want to conform to God. They want God to conform to them. The root of sin is found in the fact that we want to determine right and wrong for ourselves. We want to be the god of our own lives. We do not want any outside person to tell us that what we do, think, or believe might be wrong, or even worse, sinful. Therefore, the gospel message is rejected because, at its core, it calls us to repent and confess our sins to God. Yet, due to our selfish pride, we place ourselves in the place of God and then demand that He obey our desires and wills. Ultimately, many reject God and His message of salvation through His Son Jesus because they refuse to change. In other words, they refuse to repent of their sin of self-righteousness and place their full and complete trust in Him by following what He says. We want God to dance to our music, and when we realize that He will not obey our demands, we seek to write Him off as unloving, unnecessary, or irrelevant. Often, we can act like a toddler who thinks they can hide from their parents by simply covering their eyes with their hands. Often young children think that their parents cannot see them simply because they cannot see their parents. We can operate in a similar fashion when we pretend to cover up, blame shift, or justify our sin and we assume that God automatically agrees with our perspective. Our sinful pride blinds us to the gravity of our sinful hearts and to the standard of true righteousness, which is God Himself, not us. We think we see, but we do not. We think we hear, but we cannot. At least, not until we admit our blindness and deafness to Him and His gospel (good news). Unfortunately, this is not the music our hearts long to hear.
As I close this article, let us look back to what Jesus said in the passage quoted above. “Yet, wisdom is justified by her deeds.” The generation during Jesus’ day felt justified in their rejection of Him and His message. The same feeling is shared today by numerous people. But let us just pause a minute and consider one more reality and truth. Those who rejected Jesus during the first century, and felt justified in their decision, rejected God’s Son and their only means to salvation. God did not change His message nor conform to their wishes. For, He is God, and they were not. That truth has not changed with time. If you have made it this far in reading this article, and you have rejected Jesus because He does not dance to your music, maybe ponder on at least two important questions: Are you rejecting God because He will not step off His throne and give you His place? Is your rejection based upon your refusal to admit that you are not the god of your life, and that He is? Let us be honest, the only real obstacle between a person and God is their unwillingness to let go of their pride and willingly and joyfully submit to Him and His ways. That is the essence of what Jesus meant in the passage above. God does not dance to our music, but in His amazing love for us, invites us to dance to His, and enter into the joy of His salvation. The remaining questions we must answer are: will we let go of our pride so that we can grab hold of the Savior? Are our hearts willing to long for a better and more joyful music?
Leave a comment