Childish Resistance: Why Men Reject Christ's Varied Mercies

Our Lord stood in a Jewish marketplace observing children at play, then spoke a piercing rebuke: this generation resembles petulant children who reject every overture. The Jews employed the pipe (aulos) for both marriages and funerals—music for joy and mourning alike. Yet the people despised both John the Baptist's austere piety and Jesus' gracious mingling with sinners. They wanted melancholy when given festivity; they demanded festivity when offered solemnity.

Exell observes that God's dealings with sinners employ this same varied moral assault. Boanerges and Barnabas—the son of thunder and the son of encouragement—are both sent by the Almighty. Critics complain when preachers thunder judgment, yet object equally when they stir the affections. Some demand intellectual evidence for Christianity's claims, then reject changed moral character as insufficient proof. Others insist upon supernatural power, then refuse to acknowledge Christ's eighteen centuries of transformative work throughout history.

This childish inconsistency pervades objections to faith. Men erect contradictory standards, then declare Christianity fails all tests. They reject the foundation of scriptural evidence, then demand experiential proof. They deny superhuman power while dismissing the very superhuman works before their eyes. The Almighty sends prosperity and adversity, thunder and compassion, word and sacrament—yet humanity resists the combination, like sullen children determined to remain uninterested in every entertainment offered.