Jesus Laments

Today's Reflections

Jesus Laments 

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Mt 11:16-19

[Jesus said to the crowds,] ¹⁶“To what shall I compare this generation? It is like children who sit in marketplaces and call to one another, ¹⁷‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance, we sang a dirge but you did not mourn.’ ¹⁸For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.’ ¹⁹The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they said, ‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is vindicated by her works.”

Reflection:

It is like children. Being childlike is different from being childish. Being childlike means trusting someone you look up to, confidently believing and accepting what the person tells you. Being childish is being stubborn or ungovernable, being unreasonable or hardheaded.

Jesus calls us to be childlike. He pinpoints the childish attitude of his listeners. They refuse to commit themselves either to John’s call of repentance or to the saving works of Jesus. They prefer to be fence-sitters. Commitment is decisiveness—to be either for Christ or against him.

We are often childish: we want God to do what we ask when we want it. We make God conform to our needs and adjust to our lifestyles. We do not heed God’s messages for us. We seek to be excused from observing God’s commandments or choose what we want to follow and obey. Let us stop playing games with God and participate in his saving plan.

I will dedicate and commit myself to Jesus

—totally and completely.