Verse 12 says, “And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of the heavens is taken by violence, and violent men seize it.” From the days of John the Baptist until now, the Pharisees had been violently frustrating people from entering the kingdom of the heavens. Hence, those who desired to enter must do so by violence.
The word of Christ concerning His forerunner John the Baptist was deeply related to Himself and the heavenly kingdom. It was different from any of the old, traditional teachings. Hence, there was the need for ears to hear it (11:15).
After the Lord appraised John, He turned to the rejecting generation and reproached them. His appraisal reminded them that John had been rejected. No matter how great John was, he was nonetheless in prison due to the rejection of that generation.
In verses 16 and 17 the Lord said, “But to what shall I liken this generation? It is like children sitting in the market places, who call to the others and say, We have played the flute to you, and you did not dance; we have sung a dirge, and you did not beat the breast.” Christ and John the Baptist “played the flute” to preach the gospel of the kingdom, but the Judaizers “did not dance” for the joy of salvation. John and Christ sang “a dirge” to preach repentance, but the Judaizers “did not beat the breast” for the grief of sin. The righteousness of God required them to repent, but they would not obey. The grace of God afforded them salvation, but they would not receive it.
Verses 18 and 19 say, “For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He has a demon. The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold, a gluttonous man and a wine drinker, a friend of tax collectors and sinners. And wisdom was justified by her works.” John, coming to bring men to repentance (Mark 1:4) and to cause them to grieve for sin, had no taste for eating and drinking (Luke 1:15-17); whereas Christ, coming to bring salvation to sinners and to cause them to rejoice in it, had the joy of eating and drinking with them (Matt. 9:10-11). The kingdom people, under no regulation, follow the divine wisdom, concentrating their attention upon the indwelling Christ who is their wisdom (1 Cor. 1:30), not upon their outward manner of life.
Because John the Baptist lived in a strange and peculiar way, not eating and drinking in the regular way, the opposers said, “He has a demon”—he is demon-possessed. But they called Christ a gluttonous man and a wine drinker, a friend of tax collectors and sinners. Christ is not only the Savior, but also the friend of sinners, sympathizing with their problems and sensing their griefs.
In verse 19 the Lord said, “And wisdom was justified by her works.” Wisdom is Christ (1 Cor. 1:24, 30). Whatever Christ did was done by the wisdom of God, which is Himself. This wisdom was justified, vindicated, by His wise works, His wise deeds. In this verse some authorities read “children” instead of “works.” The kingdom people are the children of wisdom, who justify Christ and His deeds and follow Him as their wisdom. Christ is justified by the kingdom people, who know when to eat and when not to eat and who recognize the playing of the flute and the singing of the dirge, knowing when to rejoice and when to repent. We, the kingdom people, the children of wisdom, have the wisdom to discern when to repent and when to rejoice. But the rejecting generation is absolutely foolish. If you play them a song, they do not respond. If you sing them a dirge for repentance, they do not respond to that either. They are stubborn and foolish, and they lack wisdom.
Verse 20 says, “Then He began to reproach the cities in which most of His works of power took place, because they did not repent.” The Lord proceeded, Woe to you, Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, because, in a general way, they had all rejected Him. Of Capernaum He said, “You shall be brought down to Hades.” Hades, like Sheol in the Old Testament (Gen. 37:35; Psa. 6:5), is the place where the souls and spirits of the dead are kept (Luke 16:22-23; Acts 2:27). He also said of Capernaum, “It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you” (v. 24). This indicates that Capernaum was worse than Sodom.