Wednesday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s Gospel text is a bit perplexing. We find Jesus drawing an analogy to children at play and a contrast between himself and John the Baptist in their approaches to the Gospel proclamation. I offer this reflection based on one possible interpretation of this text and invite you to consider the place of repentance in your own life.
As always, when reflecting upon a scripture passage, it’s important to locate the text under consideration in its wider context. I encourage you to start reading at verse 18 of Luke 7, and read through verse 35. Picking up at verse 24, we see Jesus talking to the gathered crowd about John the Baptist, his teaching, and his role in heralding the Kingdom of God. Note in verse 30 that the Pharisees and experts in the law have not only rejected Jesus and his message, but also John. Now we pick up today’s assigned Gospel, and here’s what I think may be going on . . .
“This generation” refers to those who oppose Jesus and the Gospel message (in any age). Jesus compares his contemporaries who reject the Gospel to children sitting in a marketplace. A second group of children, represented by Jesus and John the Baptist, call out to those who are waiting to play. Essentially, they say, “we invited you to a wedding (represented by the flute and dancing) and we invited you to a funeral (represented by the dirge and mourning) and you refused to respond to either invitation.” What were you expecting? The second group of children (Jesus and John) invited the first group to “play wedding” or “play funeral” and the gathered group didn’t want to join either form of expression. Behind this little parable lies the fact that John the Baptist preached a Gospel of repentance that was predicated on fasting (mourning), while Jesus preached the same Gospel of repentance using wedding imagery with its inherent feasting and celebration. Jesus elaborates on his parable as such in verses 33 and 34. Both fasting and feasting are aspects of the same Gospel of repentance. The religious leaders rejected both forms of expression of God’s Kingdom. They didn’t want any part of any of it, because they refused to repent. Repentance lies at the heart of both John’s and Jesus’ message. The Pharisees and religious leaders treated the proclamation of the Kingdom with contempt because they believed themselves to be righteous based on their works and observance of the Law. Only “sinners” were in need of repentance. The leaders, those who should have known better, saw the sinners as those “other people,” and completely excluded themselves from that category.
What about you? Do you recognize your need for repentance? Do you recognize not only your inherent dignity, worth, and belovedness, but also your sinfulness and your need for forgiveness? Sometimes it’s easy to excuse ourselves and gloss over our own sin and concupiscence in an attempt to justify ourselves to ourselves and to feel like we’re fundamentally ok. At least I’m not as bad as so-and-so. I’m basically a decent person, I do my best to live a good life . . . But the entire Gospel message is based on repentance – on confessing our sins and turning away from them – making a 180 degree turn with determination to walk forward in a new and God-focused direction. 1 John 1:9 offers us such hope: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Contrition and a true desire to repent must undergird our confession. The close of our Gospel passage today reads, “But wisdom is vindicated (proved right) by all her children.” Children of wisdom are those who come to God in full repentance and receive his gift of salvation and new life in Christ on a daily basis. Let us endeavor, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to walk as Children of Wisdom. Amen!
- Elizabeth Wourms