A reflection on Luke 7:31-35
Wednesday of the Twenty-Fourth Week in Ordinary Time
©️2023 Gloria M. Chang
“Then to what shall I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? They are like children who sit in the marketplace and call to one another,
‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance. We sang a dirge, but you did not weep.’ For John the Baptist came neither eating food nor drinking wine, and you said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking and you said, ‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”
Luke 7:31-35
Churlish Children
Imagine facing a whole group of glaring intellectuals and denouncing them as cross, contrarious children. In matters of the spirit, status and scholarship may blind rather than enlighten hearts to recognize divine providence. Addressing the scribes and Pharisees, who “rejected the plan of God for themselves” (Luke 7:30), Jesus compared them to children who refused to join their companions in spirited games of weddings and funerals. Sulking in envy and resentment, they rejected Jesus and John the Baptist piping their heavenly tune of metanoia and mercy.
Like churlish children, the religious authorities descended to name calling, labeling their brothers as misfits. Austere John, they denounced as demon possessed; the joyful Bridegroom of Israel, they accused of winebibbing and gluttony. Shutting their hearts and ears to the voice of the Lord, their criticisms cut no deeper than surface observations. Yet, the wisdom of Christ, who turned water into wine, is authenticated through his true disciples.
You dubbed dry John a wild demoniac
And cast quenched Christ a dipsomaniac!
Traditional Chinese Translation
《不適應王國》
你稱乾禁食不進滴水的約翰為狂野的惡魔
並稱喝酒的基督為酗酒的酒鬼！