Matthew 11:16-20 - Wisdom is proved right by her deeds

11:16-19

Jesus then uses an analogy to describe the reaction of the people, using a well known ditty. Dance music was played, but nobody danced. Funeral music was played, but nobody mourned. In short, people are never happy! We have probably all encountered instances of this in our churches! So John the Baptist came, living in a very austere manner, and he was accused of having a demon. Jesus, the Son of Man, came, eating and drinking, and He was accused of being a glutton and a drunkard. He was accused of being a friend of tax collectors and sinners (presumably in the sense of approving of them, as He actually was a friend of tax collectors and sinners). “Wisdom is proved right by her actions”. Often there is no point trying to win a war of words, just let reality play out and true wisdom will become clear.

11:20

“Then Jesus began to denounce the towns to which most of His miracles had been performed, because they did not repent”. Oh dear me! How this offends our distorted picture of Jesus! First of all, if we think that people seeing miracles and healings will mean they come to believe, then this verse rides a coach and horses through that notion. Now this does not mean that there should not be miracles, that would be an equally wrong inference, but the idea that miracles will guarantee salvations is deeply flawed. But most of all, the idea of Jesus denouncing towns is abhorrent to most of us! Well, Jesus did denounce the towns.