John Calvin Commentary Luke 7:31

"Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation, and to what are they like?" — Luke 7:31 (ASV)

To what shall I compare? He does not include all the men of His age, but speaks particularly of the scribes and their followers. He charges them with this reproach: that while the Lord endeavored by various methods to draw them to Himself, they repelled His grace with incorrigible obstinacy.

He employs a comparison, which was probably taken from a common amusement of children; for there is probability in the conjecture that the children divided themselves into two bands and sang in that manner.

And indeed, I think that, to abase the pride of the scribes, Christ intentionally borrowed from children the materials of His reproof. He thus declared that, however distinguished they were, nothing more was necessary to condemn them than a song that children were accustomed to sing in the marketplace for their amusement.