"Sala sa init, sala sa lamig." This was what Jesus meant when He quoted what children say to each other in the market place; "We played the flute for you, but you did not dance. We sang a dirge, but you did not weep." The scene was Jesus speaking before the crowds concerning John the Baptist and their doubt in Him. He could not understand the reactions they had given to Him and John. He said, "John the Baptist came neither eating food nor drinking wine, and you said, 'He is possessed by demons.' The Son of Man came eating and drinking and you said, 'Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners."
For His hearers then, the Lord saw that it was not really John or Him who were the reason for the people's rejection of their common message of repentance but their attitude towards them. Because they do not want to accept their sins, they resort to personal attacks or whatever reason they could give. Yes, it is important to be critical of the person saying the message. It is also important to understand the context or timing of the message. It is also important to know the motive of the message, but they should not absolutely determine the truth of the message. Otherwise, who then, can be believed? The truth of the message must also be examined. That was the mistake of the the hearers of Jesus. It was a mistake that we should avoid.
Whenever something is said and we thought it was said after the fact or long after it was relevant, the question, "Why only now?", always come up. There should be a lot of reasons why it only came up later. Granting that there is now a vicious reason from the messenger, it should not make us reject the message immediately. That is like throwing the bathwater with the baby. If all that is to be considered true are only those said by "credible" sources, then, nothing can be considered credible anymore. The Lord's point in the Gospel was to hear the message and discern its truth. We should not be influenced too much with personalities and circumstances. We have the responsibility to seek the truth amidst all of the doubts being cast around it.
