"To what can I compare this generation?" A fresh look at Jesus' words.

Way back on November 26, two days before Thanksgiving, my good friend Pastor Bryan Maness posted a simple admonition for his Facebook friends: "Don't forget to read your Bible."  I was already planning to read my Bible that day, but I prayed for new insight into what I would read.  I'd like to share what transpired.

In reading from Matthew 11, I read these words of Jesus as he spoke to a crowd about the ministries of John the Baptist and Himself:

To what can I compare this generation?  They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others:

We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;

We sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.

For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon.  The Son of Man [Jesus] came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners."' But wisdom is proved right by her actions.

With the help of notes in my Bible, I understood the italicized portion better than on previous readings.  "Playing the flute," as at a wedding celebration, symbolized the joyful ministry and message of Jesus.  The funeral dirge symbolized the ministry of repentance and conviction brought by John.  The Jews were like children who refused to respond on either occasion.

The convicting thing for me was to look at our generation in a fresh light.  How do we respond to either the message of repentance or the message of salvation?  For many, there has been no response at all.  Even for Christians who have responded, there is a tendency to grow cold and, like the Ephesian church spoken of in Revelation 2, to leave our first love.  There is nothing easier (and more tempting) than to be critical of many things individual Christians or churches do amiss.  But that is simply taking our focus off of Christ.  What more could we expect of humans who are flawed like ourselves?  To ignore or reject our Lord based on the failings of His followers is a miscalculation of eternal magnitude!

I thought of the season of Thanksgiving, followed closely by the Christmas season.  For decades, we have decried the commercialism of these Christian holy days, yet Black Friday (or Thursday), Cyber Monday, and the entire month of December exhibit where many people's "first love" truly lies.

Two holidays that should be a time of celebration of God's infinite love, mercy, and grace, are often a secular celebration of what we have and what we can get.

In later verses, Jesus pronounced woeful judgments on the towns of the Holy Land that would not repent; indeed, that were blind to their sin.  But that judgment would not be for all.  He said,

I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.  Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.

A consistent theme through the Bible is that God reveals His truth -- including salvation -- to those who humble themselves, repent, and diligently seek Him. These truths are hidden from the proud and self-absorbed who refuse to acknowledge their Creator and Savior.

Yet it is not God's will that anyone should remain lost.  In Chapter 12 of Matthew, these words of Isaiah the prophet are recalled:

Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations.  He will not quarrel or cry out; no one will hear his voice in the streets, A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he leads justice to victory.                                

In His name the nations will put their hope.

These verses are helping me keep these holiday seasons in proper perspective.  I hope they will provide encouragement to you.  And MERRY CHRISTMAS!