Neville Goddard on Matthew 11:16-17 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read Matthew 11 in context

Scripture Focus

16But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows,

17And saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented.

Matthew 11:16-17

Biblical Context

Matthew 11:16-17 portrays a generation as a market scene of unresponsive listeners; they hear the pipe but refuse to dance or lament. The inner posture—your state of consciousness—determines whether you move to the music of life.

Neville's Inner Vision

Matthew 11:16-17 presents a generation not as distant people, but as a state of consciousness seated in the market of your mind, piping to itself: dance and lament, and yet remaining unmoved. The pipes are habitual thoughts; the dance is the felt reality you seek; the mourning is the old grievance you keep rehearsing. There is no external test—only an inner posture that resists yielding to a new mood. When you require others to respond before you feel already there, you stay in the old song. The gospel invites you to revise your assumption, to dwell in the end as if it were now, and to let the I AM furnish the rhythm of your life. Imagine yourself as the one who dances, already inhabiting the state you desire, and then align your outer world to your inner tempo. The generation in the market is your own reluctance to believe the end has been accomplished within you. Change the inner tempo, and the world conforms.

Practice This Now

Imaginative act: Sit quietly, close your eyes, and feel the end as present. Repeat I am the I AM, dancing now in the marketplace of my mind until your mood shifts.