THE WHINING CHILDREN

Matthew 11:16-19 - (KJV)

¹⁶ But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows,

¹⁷ And saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented.

¹⁸ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil.

¹⁹ The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children.

Friends, someone once ask a theologian why God uses the analogy of a child. The answer was: A child will let God be God and will let God be God on God’s own terms. 

One of the emotional certainties of getting older is that we will go through chapters in our lives in which our behavior can completely change?  Some of us get wiser with time, and then there are those of us who go back to your old ways of adolescence behavior.

In Matthew 11:16-19, Jesus uses children as his example.  He tells of children who are not playing well with others.  He compares the generation in which he lives with children in the market place.  Some believe Jesus is speaking of himself and John the Baptist as those who are crying out we played and you did not respond.  Others believe this generation of which Jesus is speaking is saying to Jesus and John, you did not do what we wanted you to do. We will go/touch with/on the latter. Either way, the issue is one of ignorance; the ignorance of commission, which has to do with intentionally ignoring and is the ignorance of arrogance or the ignorance of blunder which has to do with not caring and is the ignorance of foolishness. Arrogance or foolishness, both of these choices has consequences.


In Mark 10:15 Jesus tell us, “I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”  Is it the childish one who gets into the Kingdom or the child-like one who gets in?  Is the child who wants to do it their way or is it the child who does it the way God wants it done?  Before we answer; let’s consider the below story.

At one point during a game, the coach said to one of his young players, “Do you understand what cooperation is? What a team is?” 

The little boy nodded in the affirmative.

“Do you understand that what matters is whether we win together as a team?”

The little boy nodded yes.

“So,” the coach continued, “when a strike is called, or you’re out at first, you don’t argue or curse or attack the umpire. Do you understand all that?”

Again the little boy nodded.                       

“Good,” said the coach. “Now go over there         

and explain that to your parents.

SO WHAT IS THIS PARABLE OF THE WHINING CHILDREN SAYING ?

Well, let’s take it one-step-at-a-time.  We know that Jesus said the parable was _

v  … was about His Generation

v  ... about playtime

v  … about getting along with others

v  … about consistency & hypocrisy

Very simply, Jesus’ words convey the thought that  ‘The way of doing things is justified by the results it achieves’  and so brings into question the attitude of those of His generation who have condemned both Himself and John the Baptist for practices which they’ve interpreted as being impossible to reconcile with a move of God. Jesus says, therefore, not that ‘the end justifies the means’ because the way He reaches into a society to meet people where they are is what becomes the effective way to bring them to acknowledge the importance and uniqueness of Jesus and of His work on the cross.

Whatever, the outworking of a move of God demonstrates the authenticity of the source as being from God.

In Christ,

Playwright Janet Irene Thomas
Founder/CEO
Bible Stories Theatre of
Fine & Performing Arts (BSTFPA)
www.biblestoriestheatre.org
info@biblestoriestheatre.org