Lecture 2 — A perverse generation

^11:16^ But to what will I compare this generation? It is like to children sitting in the market place, who, crying to their companions, [n. 926]

^11:17^ say: we have piped to you, and you have not danced: we have lamented, and you have not mourned. [n. 933]

^11:18^ For John came neither eating nor drinking; and they say: he has a devil. [n. 937]

^11:19^ The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say: behold a man who is a glutton and a wine drinker, a friend of publicans and sinners. And wisdom is justified by her children. [n. 938]

926. But to what. Here he breaks forth into a rebuke of the crowds. And

first, he sets forth a question;

second, a certain likeness;

third, he explains it.

927. So he proceeds thus. John is compared to Elias this way by reason of office, but to what will I compare this generation?

And why does he say this here? He says this like a man who, when he did whatever good he could for someone, and the man was ungrateful, does not know to what to compare him; thus the Lord had done all good things for this generation; hence, what is there that I ought to do more to my vineyard, that I have not done to it? (Isa 5:4). To what therefore will I be able to compare such malice?

928. One should notice that ‘generation’ is sometimes taken in Scripture for the congregation of the good, sometimes for the congregation of the bad, sometimes for that of both. For the congregation of the good, as in, the generation of the righteous will be blessed (Ps 111:2). For the evil congregation, below, where it says, an evil and adulterous generation seeks a sign (Matt 12:39). For both, where it says, one generation passes away, and another generation comes: but the earth standes forever (Eccl 1:4).

929. It is like to children sitting in the market place. Here he sets forth a certain likeness; and it can be explained according to the plain letter, or according to a mystical sense.

First, he sets forth a likeness about children;

second, he applies it, at for John came neither eating nor drinking.

930. For one should notice that it is natural for man to seek pleasures, and he always seeks them, and unless he is drawn away by anxieties, he immediately falls into evil pleasures; but children do not have anxieties, so they are idle concerning those things which pertain to them. This is to play.

931. One should notice also that man is naturally social, and this is because one man naturally needs another, and so delights in intimacy. Hence the Philosopher, in Book I of the Politics: every man who is solitary is either better than a man, and is a god; or worse than a man, and is a beast. Hence it says, sitting in the marketplace, because no one wants to play by himself, but rather in the marketplace, where there is a gathering of many people.

932. One should note that it is natural for man that his delight is in some representation; hence if we see something well sculpted, which represents well what it should, then we are delighted. Therefore the children who delight in games always make their games with some representation, either of war, or of some such thing.

Likewise, one should notice that all the affections of an animal come to a term in two passions, namely either at joy or at sorrow.

933. Who crying. This should be seen in this way. Let us set down that some children are on one side, and others on the other side, such that some play an instrument, and others dance; these do one thing, and the others respond to them. If these played, and those did not respond to them according to their form of game, they would be insulted by them; hence they say, we have piped to you, and you have not danced.

934. Now nothing so changes the soul as music; hence Boethius in On Music recounts the story of a certain man who was arguing with another man in front of Pythagoras, and others were speaking in song. Then Pythagoras made the music change, and the man quieted; hence all were trained in music.

935. So one should note that there is a certain song on account of joy, as is had, wine and music rejoice the heart (Sir 40:20); so it says, we have piped, i.e., we spoke with the song of joy, and you have not danced.

Likewise, it is usual that just as some are changed toward joy, so some are changed toward weeping; hence, call for the mourning women, and . . . let them hasten and take up a lamentation for us (Jer 9:17–18). So they say, we have lamented, i.e., we made the sorrowful song, and you have not mourned.

936. Mystically, by the children are signified the people of the old law, among whom there were some who called men forth to joy, as David, rejoice in the Lord, O you just (Ps 32:1); some who called to sorrow, be converted to me with all your heart, in fasting, and in weeping, and in mourning (Joel 2:12). Hence they could say, we have piped, i.e., we invited you to spiritual joy, and you did not accept it; we have lamented, i.e., we invited you to penance, and you did not agree.

937. For John came. Here he applies the likeness. And

first, he applies it;

second, he gives the reasons.

938. Men are drawn to a good life in two ways: for some are drawn by the appearance of holiness, and some by way of intimacy. The Lord and John divided the two ways between them. John, or rather the Lord through John, chose the way of austerity; he chose the way of leniency for himself; and yet they were not converted by either. Hence he says, for John came neither eating nor drinking, and this literally, because he practiced much abstinence, and they say: he has a devil, as hypocrites turn good into evil. The Son of man came eating and drinking, i.e., using food differently, and it did him no good, because you did not believe, but rather you say, behold a man who is a glutton and a wine drinker, a friend of publicans and sinners; contrary to, be not in the feasts of great drinkers (Prov 23:20).

939. Here one should notice that one who paid attention to the sayings of men would never do anything good; he who observes the wind, will not sow: and he who consideres the clouds, will never reap (Eccl 11:4).

940. But there is a question here. Why did the Lord choose for himself the more lenient way, and showed the severe way through John?

The reason for this is that the Lord confirmed his own actions with miracles, but John did not work miracles. Therefore, if he had had no excellence, his testimony would not have been accepted, as we observe in the saints, because one has excellence in one thing, another in another; as Augustine has excellence in teaching, Martin in miracles.

Likewise another reason, because John was a mere man, so he withheld himself from carnal desires; but Christ was God, so if he had led a life of austerity, he would not have shown himself to be a man. Therefore he took up more the human life.

Likewise, John was the end of the Old Testament, on which heavy burdens were laid; but Christ was the beginning of the new law, which proceeds by way of gentleness.

941. And wisdom is justified. This can be read in two ways. One way, by referring back both to what was said about John and about Christ, and then the sense is this: when a man does what he should, and another is not corrected, then he saves his own soul, and is justified in his words. Wisdom is justified, this wisdom is the Son of God, or Christ, i.e., he appears just to his children, because he has shown the Jew what he should have, abstinence through John, gentleness through Christ.

Or it can be read in another way. The devil’s children say that he is a glutton and a wine drinker; but wisdom’s children understand that life is not in food and drink, but in evenness of soul, by using food in its place and time, and likewise by abstaining when it is becoming, such that they do not exceed in too much, nor fall short in too little, as the Apostle says, everywhere, and in all things I am instructed both to be full, and to be hungry; both to abound, and to suffer need (Phil 4:12). Therefore it does not seem to show full justice if one abstains totally, because he believes that the whole of justice is in abstinence; but it does not consist in this, but in evenness of soul.

And notice that he says, wisdom, because to use food or to abstain according to moderation belongs to wisdom, that one may abstain when he should and where he should.