Luke 7:31-35 meaning

The parallel Gospel account for Luke 7:31-35 is found in Matthew 11:16-19.

Jesus understood that at present, the people of Judea would not truly hear His message and accept the kingdom of heaven that He was preaching. He knew that they would reject Him as the Messiah, just as they were currently rejecting John as Elijah. Jesus utilizes a series of vivid and dramatic remarks to illustrate the people’s failure to comprehend.

This parable is called: “The Parable of the Children in the Marketplace.”

Jesus introduces this parable with a question.

To what then shall I compare the men of this generation, and what are they like? (v 31). 

The term this generation refers specifically to the Jews living during the time of Jesus and John's ministries.

Next Jesus makes two comparisons:

They are like children who sit in the market place and call to one another, and they say, “We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not weep” (v 32).

The market places are public venues, social arenas where people mingle and exchange goods and ideas. These high-traffic areas attract musicians who play their songs as people go about their business. In Jesus’s illustration, these musicians are children. They played the bright and cheerful notes of the flute, and they sang the sad notes of a dirge. However, the other children failed to respond properly to either song. They did not dance to the flute, nor did they weep when they heard the dirge. In both instances they were unmoved. The players acknowledge the inappropriate lack of response by those they played for.

Jesus then explained this critically-aimed parable, 

For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon!’ (v 33).

He compared the life of John the Baptist to a dirge. John has come living in the wilderness, wearing rough clothing, eating a peculiar diet, and abstaining from drinking wine. The people dismiss him and his message, claiming, ‘He has a demon!' Rather than repenting, they reject John's message. 

The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ (v 34).

The Son of Man is a Messianic title. Jesus used it to describe Himself.

If John represented the sad music of a dirge, Jesus (the Son of Man) represents the happy music of the flute. The Son of Man has come eating and drinking with despised tax collectors and other sinners who affiliate themselves with Gentiles. 

And as John was rejected for his perceived rigidness, the Son of Man too is rejected for His perceived social liberalities. The religious leaders found John too eccentric and peculiar, while they deemed the Son of Man too indulgent. They accuse Jesus of being gluttonous and a drunkard.

And just as the children in the parable neither danced nor wept according to the tune, so too the religious leaders rejected the lifestyles, appearances, and ultimately the teachings of both John, the forerunner, and Jesus, the Messiah, because they did not align with their expectations. In the end, the people turn away from God and the kingdom they profess to seek because their preconceived theological notions are unmet.

Jesus concluded His lamentation over the rejection of John the Baptist and the Son of Man with a proverb about wisdom's vindication, serving as a prophetic warning to listen, consider, and act upon His words:

Yet wisdom is vindicated by all her children (v 35). 

In this proverb, the word children is a metaphor for actions or deeds—see Matthew 11:19.

This means that wise choices and perspectives yield good outcomes. When we possess wisdom—having a proper perspective and making decisions based on that perspective—good results tend to follow, thereby giving vindication that the chosen perspective was one of wisdom. Conversely, poor results indicate a lack of wisdom.

Ultimately, Israel will not find vindication for rejecting John's message of repentance or denying Jesus as their Messiah. It will be revealed as unwise for them to reject the Son of Man and His messenger, because the grievous consequence will be to miss His kingdom.