‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance.
We sang a dirge, but you did not weep.’
They were people who were impossible to satisfy, always claiming to want the opposite of what they received, never satisfied with what they were actually given.
For John the Baptist came neither eating food nor drinking wine,
and you said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.’
The Son of Man came eating and drinking and you said,
‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard,
a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’
They found John the Baptist to be too extreme to fully follow in his footsteps. But they found Jesus too lax, asking why his disciples did not fast as did those of the Pharisees and those of John. To be associated with John meant an extreme isolation from that of the world which was too much for many. But Jesus was too friendly with the world, implicated in it by feasting together with tax collectors and sinners, even those who had not yet committed to conversion.
There was a time to fast, as people made straight the way of the Lord and prepared for the coming of the messiah. And there was a time when it was inappropriate to fast, when the bridegroom was present together with the wedding guests. Yet although the music was being played not everyone was willing to weep or to dance. They criticized what they were being offered. But what they were being offered was not the issue. It was the sluggishness of their hearts that wanted none of it and were looking for excuses to remain idle and uninvolved.
People who were not moved by the dirge or the flute may have thought they were being sincere. They might really have been intimidated by John the Baptist or had their sense of propriety offended by the apparent laxity of Jesus. But again, the problem wasn't with what they were being offered. The problem was that, deep down, they just wanted excuses to remain as they were. They didn't want to be moved by any music that wasn't their own creation.
What sort of music is God playing for us, in our lives, in our world? Are we willing to listen, or are we instead impossible to satisfy? Does he prompt us to rejoice while we insist on clinging to worldly sorrow? Does he call us to repent while we are too preoccupied with worldly affairs? Let's reassess what God is offering us, and realize that everything he offers is good. Wisdom is given in order to lead us to the marriage feast of the lamb. But to get there it must first get us outside of ourselves. There is no satisfaction or joy or peace to be found in the machinations of our ego. But God's music will guide us to the place were the perfect abides, where we will see him face to face.
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