EVEN JESUS COULDN'T DO THIS
Matthew 11:15-19 NKJV
15 He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
16 "But to what shall I liken this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their companions, 17 and saying:
'We played the flute for you,
And you did not dance;
We mourned to you,
And you did not lament.'
18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon.' 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' But wisdom is justified by her children."
Now before you get irritated at the title of this message, understand it is more than clickbait. This is the truth. Even Jesus could not please all the people all the time.
Jesus was speaking to the people regarding John the Baptist. Even though John was facing a crisis of faith in prison, Jesus spoke well of John. Jesus said John was the messenger sent before Him to prepare His way. Then Jesus spoke about how people received John and how they received Him.
Jesus said the generation of people He was sent to was like children playing in the marketplace. There was a children's game that was like our follow the leader. Not sure if kids still play that, but the principle was similar. The leader would play the flute then the kids would dance. When the leader would mourn, the kids would lament, which meant they beat their breasts. Sometimes the leader would play the flute, no one would dance or mourn, and no one would respond.
Jesus said the people were like these children. John the Baptist was a prophet who lived out in the wilderness, wore strange clothing, and ate bugs and honey. He did not eat and drink with people, and some said he had a demon. So along comes Jesus. He ate and drank and lived more of a normal life and was accused of being a wine drinker and friend of the wrong kind of people.
How do you win with people like these? You don't. But Jesus did say that wisdom was justified by her children or, what is produced. Wisdom shows up in fruit. Jesus never indicated that the generation He was referring to was wise, but they were impossible to please.
APPLICATION
This is a good lesson for us to keep in mind. If Jesus could not make everyone happy, there is no reason for us to believe it will be different for us. If you live sold out and separate, some religious people may label you as weird. If you live in and among those in the world who are away from God, you may be labeled as a backslider and worldly. I don't know that wisdom has too many children!
So we do what Jesus did. Live to please God and walk with a clear conscience before Him. That will keep us busy enough, and then we won't need to focus on the games people play.