Church Fathers Commentary Luke 7:29-35

"And all the people when they heard, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John. But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected for themselves the counsel of God, being not baptized of him. Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation, and to what are they like? They are like unto children that sit in the marketplace, and call one to another; who say, We piped unto you, and ye did not dance; we wailed, and ye did not weep. For John the Baptist is come eating no bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a demon. The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold, a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners! And wisdom is justified of all her children." — Luke 7:29-35 (ASV)

St. John Chrysostom: Having declared the praises of John, he next exposes the great fault of the Pharisees and lawyers, who refused to receive the baptism of John as the tax collectors had. Hence it is said, And all the people that heard him, and the tax collectors, justified God.

St. Ambrose of Milan: God is justified by baptism, in which people justify themselves by confessing their sins. For the one who sins and confesses his sin to God justifies God, submitting himself to the One who overcomes and hoping for grace from Him. God, therefore, is justified by baptism, in which there is confession and pardon of sin.

Eusebius of Caesarea: Because they also believed, they justified God, for He appeared just to them in all that He did. But the disobedient conduct of the Pharisees in not receiving John did not accord with the words of the prophet, That You might be justified when You speak (Psalm 51:4). Hence it follows, But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves...

The Venerable Bede: These words were spoken either by the Evangelist or, as some think, by the Savior. But when he says, "against themselves," he means that the one who rejects the grace of God does so against himself. Or, they are blamed as foolish and ungrateful for being unwilling to receive the counsel of God, which was sent to them. The counsel, then, is from God, because He ordained salvation by the passion and death of Christ, which the Pharisees and lawyers despised.

St. Ambrose of Milan: Let us not then despise (as the Pharisees did) the counsel of God, which is in the baptism of John—that is, the counsel that the Angel of great counsel establishes. No one despises the counsel of a human being; who then would reject the counsel of God?

St. Cyril of Alexandria: There was a certain kind of play among the Jewish children. A group of boys would gather and, mocking the sudden changes in life's affairs, some would sing while others would mourn. But the mourners did not rejoice with those who were rejoicing, nor did those who were rejoicing join in with those who were weeping. They then took turns rebuking each other for their lack of sympathy.

Christ implied that these were the feelings of the Jewish people and their rulers in the following words, spoken in His own person: To what then shall I compare the men of this generation, and what are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace...

The Venerable Bede: The Jewish generation is compared to children because they formerly had prophets as their teachers, of whom it is said, Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings You have perfected praise (Psalm 8:2).

St. Ambrose of Milan: But the prophets sang, repeating in spiritual melodies their oracles of our common salvation; they wept, soothing with mournful dirges the hard hearts of the Jews. The songs were not sung in the marketplace or in the streets, but in Jerusalem. For that is the Lord's forum, where the laws of His heavenly precepts are framed.

Gregory of Nyssa: But singing and lamentation are nothing else but the expression of joy and sorrow, respectively. Now, at the sound of a tune played upon a musical instrument, a person portrays inward feelings through the coordinated tapping of feet and movement of the body. Hence he says, We have sung for you, and you have not danced; we have mourned to you, and you have not wept.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Now these words are an allusion to John and Christ. For when he says, we have mourned, and you have not wept, it refers to John, whose abstinence from food and drink signified penitential sorrow. Hence he adds in explanation, For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’

St. Cyril of Alexandria: They take it upon themselves to slander a man worthy of all admiration. They say that the one who mortifies the law of sin that is in his members has a demon.

St. Augustine of Hippo: But his words, We have piped for you, and you have not danced, refer to the Lord Himself, who by using food and drink as others did, represented the joy of His kingdom. Hence it follows, The Son of Man came eating and drinking...

Titus of Bostra: For Christ would not abstain from this food, lest He give a pretext to heretics who say that God's creatures are evil and condemn flesh and wine.

St. Cyril of Alexandria: But where could they show the Lord to be a glutton? For Christ is found everywhere repressing excess and leading people to temperance. He did, however, associate with tax collectors and sinners. Hence they said against Him, He is a friend of tax collectors and sinners, though He could in no way fall into sin but, on the contrary, was the cause of their salvation.

For the sun is not polluted by sending its rays over all the earth, even when they fall upon unclean bodies. Neither will the Sun of Righteousness be harmed by associating with the wicked. But let no one attempt to place his own condition on the same level as Christ's greatness. Instead, let each one, considering his own weakness, avoid dealing with such people, for "evil communications corrupt good manners" (1 Corinthians 15:33). It follows, But wisdom is justified by all her children.

St. Ambrose of Milan: The Son of God is wisdom by nature, not by growth. This wisdom is justified by baptism when it is not rejected through stubbornness but is acknowledged through righteousness as the gift of God. In this, then, is the justification of God, if He seems to transfer His gifts not to the unworthy and guilty, but to those who, through baptism, are holy and just.

St. John Chrysostom: But by the "children of wisdom," He means the wise. For Scripture is accustomed to identify the wicked by their sin rather than by their name, but to call the good the children of the virtue that characterizes them.

St. Ambrose of Milan: He rightly says, "of all," for justice is reserved for all, so that the faithful may be received and the unbelievers cast out.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Or, when he says, wisdom is justified by all her children, he shows that the children of wisdom understand that righteousness consists neither in abstaining from food nor in eating it, but in patiently enduring need. For it is not the use of such things that must be blamed, but the craving for them; one must simply adapt to the kind of food eaten by those with whom one lives.