Thomas Aquinas Commentary Matthew 11:16-19

"But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the marketplaces, who call unto their fellows and say, We piped unto you, and ye did not dance; we wailed, and ye did not mourn. For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a demon. The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold, a gluttonous man and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners! And wisdom is justified by her works." — Matthew 11:16-19 (ASV)

Here He bursts out in a rebuke of the crowds. And first, He presents a question; second, He presents a kind of metaphor; and third, He explains it. He proceeds, therefore, in this way: ‘In this way John is compared to Elijah, but to what shall I compare this generation?’ And why does He say this? He says this just as when someone has done all the good he could do for another man, and that man is ungrateful, so that the benefactor does not know to whom he should be compared. So the Lord had done every good thing for this generation; therefore: What is there that I ought to do more to my vineyard, that I have not done to it? (Isaiah 5:4). ‘To what shall I compare such great malice?’

It should be noted that sometimes in Scripture a generation is understood as the congregation of the good, sometimes as the congregation of the wicked, and sometimes as the congregation of both. It is sometimes understood as the congregation of the good, as in: The generation of the righteous shall be blessed (Psalms 111:2). It is sometimes understood as the wicked congregation, where it is said above: An evil and adulterous generation (Matthew 12:39). It is sometimes understood as both, where it is said: One generation passes away, and another generation comes: but the earth stands forever (Ecclesiastes 1:4).

It is like children sitting in the market place, etc. Here He presents a kind of metaphor, and it can be explained according to the basic literal sense or according to the mystical sense. First, He presents the metaphor concerning the children; and second, He applies it, where it is said, John came neither eating nor drinking, etc.

For it should be noted that it is natural for man to seek pleasures, and he always seeks them. Unless he takes great care to detach himself, he immediately falls into evil pleasures. But children are not very careful; for that reason, they are unconcerned about their own affairs, and this is why they play.

Likewise, it should be noted that man is naturally social, because one man naturally needs another; therefore, he enjoys socializing. Hence, the Philosopher says in the first book of the Politics: “Every man who is a solitary is either better than a man, and then he is a god; or he is worse than a man, and then he is a beast.” Therefore, it is said, sitting in the market place, because no one wishes to play except in a public place where many people gather.

Likewise, it should be noted that it is natural for man to find pleasure in some representation. Therefore, if we see something well-sculpted that accurately represents what it is intended to, then we are delighted. For that reason, children, who delight in games, always make their games with some representation, either of war or of something similar.

Likewise, it should be noted that all the affections of the soul terminate in two passions, namely, either in joy or in sorrow.

Who crying, etc. This should be understood as follows. Let us suppose there are children on one side and others on the other, such that some are to sing and others are to dance. The first group of children is supposed to do one thing, and the others are supposed to respond to them. If the first group were to sing and the second group did not respond to them according to their plan, they would offend the first group. Hence, they say: We have piped to you, and you have not danced.

Likewise, nothing transforms the spirit as much as singing. Therefore, Boethius recounts in his De Musica an incident concerning a certain man who, in the presence of Pythagoras, was fighting with another man while other men were singing a song. Then Pythagoras had the music changed, and the man stopped fighting. Therefore, all men were trained in music.

For that reason, it should be noted that some singing is for the sake of joy, as it is stated in Sirach 40:20: Wine and music rejoice the heart; for that reason, it is said: We have piped, that is, we have sung a song of joy, and you have not danced.

Similarly, it is a common occurrence that just as some men are moved to joy by singing, so others are moved to weeping; therefore: Call for the mourning women, and let them take up a lamentation for us (Jeremiah 9:17–18).

For that reason, they say, We have lamented, that is, we have made mournful songs, and you have not mourned. Mystically, these children signify the people of the Old Testament, among whom some were motivators of spiritual joy, such as David: Rejoice in the Lord, O ye just (Psalms 32:1).

Certain others were motivators of sorrow, such as Joel: Be converted to me with all your heart, in fasting, and in weeping, and in mourning, etc. (Joel 2:12). Hence, they can say, We have piped, that is, we have incited you to spiritual joy, and you did not take it up. We have lamented, that is, we invited you to repentance, and you did not assent.

John came, etc. Here He applies the metaphor. And first, He applies it; and second, He gives the reasons. Men are drawn to a good life in two ways: some are drawn by the sight of holiness, while others are drawn by the way of friendliness.

The Lord and John divided these two ways between themselves. John chose—or rather, the Lord chose for John—the way of austerity; He chose for Himself the way of leniency. Nevertheless, the Jews were not converted by either one.

Hence, He says, John came neither eating nor drinking (and this is said literally, because he was often abstaining). And they say: He hath a devil, just as hypocrites turn something good into something evil. The Son of man came eating and drinking; that is to say, He was using food differently, and it does not profit Him, because you do not believe.

On the contrary you say, Behold a man that is a glutton and a wine drinker, a friend of publicans; this is opposed to what is written: Be not in the feasts of great drinkers (Proverbs 23:20).

Here it should be noted that he who heeds the sayings of men never does anything well: He that observeth the wind, shall not sow: and he that considereth the clouds, shall never reap (Ecclesiastes 11:4).

But here a question arises: Why did the Lord choose for Himself the more lenient way and demonstrate through John the more austere way? The reason for this is that the Lord was confirming His actions with miracles, while John, however, was not performing miracles.

For that reason, if John had possessed no particular excellence, his testimony would not have been accepted—just as we see with the Saints, that one has excellence in one thing and another in another; for instance, Augustine had excellence in doctrine, and Martin had excellence in miracles.

Likewise, another reason was that John was a mere man; for that reason, he refrained from carnal desires. Christ, however, was God. Therefore, if He were to practice austerity, His humanity might have been obscured; for that reason, He adopted a more common human life.

Likewise, John was the end of the Old Testament, which imposed heavy burdens; but Christ was the beginning of the New Law, which employs the way of mildness.

And wisdom is justified by her children. This saying can be understood in two ways. One way is by referring it back to what was said concerning both John and Christ.

Then the sense is: when a man does what he ought to do, and another man is not reformed, then he saves his own soul, and he is justified in his words. Wisdom is justified, namely, the Son of God, or Christ (that is to say, Wisdom), appeared just to her children because He showed to the Jews what He ought to have shown them: He showed abstinence by John, and mildness by Christ.

Or it can be understood in a different way. In this way, they might call His children devils, because he is glutton and a wine drinker.

But the children of wisdom understand that life does not consist in food and drink, but in equanimity of mind—using food and drink according to place and time, and similarly, abstaining when it is fitting, so that they neither exceed by too much nor fall short by too little. As the Apostle says: Everywhere and in all things I am instructed: both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need (Philippians 4:12).

For that reason, He would not seem to show full righteousness if He were to abstain completely, because it might be believed that all righteousness consists in abstinence. But it does not consist in this, but in equanimity of soul.

And note that He says, Wisdom, because using food or abstaining from food is done according to the moderation of wisdom, insofar as one abstains when one should and where one should.