For John the Baptist came neither eating food nor drinking wine,
and you said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.
When John came they thought he was too extreme, too single-mindedly focused on only his mission. They thought that they way he ate and the fact that he avoided wine entirely were entirely unreasonable and unacceptable. Rather than his approach, they preferred to slot religion in more as a hobby or an abstraction than as a way of life. If it was important to them at all it was important as one thing among many. This would lead one to believe that if someone else came eating and drinking they would be more open to it. But it was not so.
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.’
If the Son Of Man had merely been a believable excuse for them to eat and drink they might have welcomed him. But there was a difference between the feast being offered by the king for the wedding of his son and mere gluttony and indulgence. In order to reap the benefits of the festive and joyful mood of the wedding feast they would need to accept the invitation. As we know from the parable, they had better things to do. They could not imitate Zacchaeus who welcomed Jesus to his table but who also transformed his life as a consequence.
In short, the crowds who could not accept either John or Jesus did not really do so because they were hugely averse to fasting or feasting. These were convenient excuses to impugn the character of individuals whose doctrine they found to be difficult. It is ever thus. In ages marked by excess conservatism the Church is regarded as too liberal for permitting music, dancing, and moderate alcohol consumption. In ages marked by excess liberality the Church is condemned as too conservative for condemning the excesses of sexual license and other moral failings. Her character is impugned not because it is really too extreme in one direction or the other, but because she is too right, and we don't want to change.
In spite of our reluctance to dance and weep when we ought the Father does not cease playing the music of his invitation to us. The world may tell us that this invitation will, in one way or another, destroy us. But we know that it will not because "wisdom is vindicated by all her children". We can see that it worked in the lives of others, notably in the lives of Saint Cyprian and Cornelius whom we remember today. And we can recognize that it works in us as we ourselves believe and begin to bear fruit in the joy and power of the Holy Spirit.
It ultimately isn't about a competition among competing spiritual ideologies, as though the group who could demonstrate the greatest spiritual gifts were superior. It is rather about something far more fundamental: the path of love. This path means necessarily following and uniting ourselves to God who is love, and to Jesus, who took on flesh for our salvation, to be the face of love for us. Among the childish things we are called to put aside are these instincts that make us compete, even in spiritual matters, rather than focusing on the one thing that really matters. Whether we call that one thing love or we call it God, we are talking about the same thing. The music of his invitation is ongoing. Let us take up our part in the dance.
Give thanks to the LORD on the harp;
with the ten stringed lyre chant his praises.
Sing to him a new song;
pluck the strings skillfully, with shouts of gladness.
and you said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.
When John came they thought he was too extreme, too single-mindedly focused on only his mission. They thought that they way he ate and the fact that he avoided wine entirely were entirely unreasonable and unacceptable. Rather than his approach, they preferred to slot religion in more as a hobby or an abstraction than as a way of life. If it was important to them at all it was important as one thing among many. This would lead one to believe that if someone else came eating and drinking they would be more open to it. But it was not so.
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.’
If the Son Of Man had merely been a believable excuse for them to eat and drink they might have welcomed him. But there was a difference between the feast being offered by the king for the wedding of his son and mere gluttony and indulgence. In order to reap the benefits of the festive and joyful mood of the wedding feast they would need to accept the invitation. As we know from the parable, they had better things to do. They could not imitate Zacchaeus who welcomed Jesus to his table but who also transformed his life as a consequence.
In short, the crowds who could not accept either John or Jesus did not really do so because they were hugely averse to fasting or feasting. These were convenient excuses to impugn the character of individuals whose doctrine they found to be difficult. It is ever thus. In ages marked by excess conservatism the Church is regarded as too liberal for permitting music, dancing, and moderate alcohol consumption. In ages marked by excess liberality the Church is condemned as too conservative for condemning the excesses of sexual license and other moral failings. Her character is impugned not because it is really too extreme in one direction or the other, but because she is too right, and we don't want to change.
In spite of our reluctance to dance and weep when we ought the Father does not cease playing the music of his invitation to us. The world may tell us that this invitation will, in one way or another, destroy us. But we know that it will not because "wisdom is vindicated by all her children". We can see that it worked in the lives of others, notably in the lives of Saint Cyprian and Cornelius whom we remember today. And we can recognize that it works in us as we ourselves believe and begin to bear fruit in the joy and power of the Holy Spirit.
It ultimately isn't about a competition among competing spiritual ideologies, as though the group who could demonstrate the greatest spiritual gifts were superior. It is rather about something far more fundamental: the path of love. This path means necessarily following and uniting ourselves to God who is love, and to Jesus, who took on flesh for our salvation, to be the face of love for us. Among the childish things we are called to put aside are these instincts that make us compete, even in spiritual matters, rather than focusing on the one thing that really matters. Whether we call that one thing love or we call it God, we are talking about the same thing. The music of his invitation is ongoing. Let us take up our part in the dance.
Give thanks to the LORD on the harp;
with the ten stringed lyre chant his praises.
Sing to him a new song;
pluck the strings skillfully, with shouts of gladness.
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