Matthew 11

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CHAPTER ELEVEN OUTLINES Section 24

JESUS RECEIVES QUESTIONS FROM JOHN AND PREACHES SERMON ON JOHN (11:2-19)

Section 25

JESUS CONDEMNS UNBELIEVING CITIES AND INVITES BABES TO COME TO HIM (11:20-30)

STUDY OUTLINES

Challenging the Christ to Change (Matthew 11:2-3)

II.

Christ Convinces and Cautions His Captive Comrade (Matthew 11:4-6)

III.

Christ’s Charitable Commendation of the Conscientious Champion (Matthew 11:7-11)

A Changeling’s Character? (Matthew 11:7)

A Courtier’s Costume? (Matthew 11:8)

A Colossal Communicator! (Matthew 11:9-11)

IV.

Christ’s Conclusions Concerning the Kingdom (Matthew 11:12-15)

Christ Condemns the Contrary Critics Contemptuous Caricatures (Matthew 11:16-19)

A Cameo (Matthew 11:16-17)

A Contrast in Caricatures (Matthew 11:18-19)

A Confident Conclusion (Matthew 11:19 b)

VI.

Heartbroken Condemnation (Matthew 11:20-24)

Invincible Unbelief

Impenitence=Unbelief (Matthew 11:20)

Opportunity=Responsibility (Matthew 11:21-24)

VII.

Heaven’s King (Matthew 11:25-27)

Unconquerable Submission

Joyous Thanksgiving (Matthew 11:25-26)

Majestic Self-revelation (Matthew 11:27)

VIII.

Heart-felt Compassion (Matthew 11:28-30)

Pleading, Universal Invitation

SPECIAL STUDY: SHOULD JESUS DRINK WINE?

Without hesitation many Christians respond in the negative without examining the reasons for their conclusion. If pushed for a reason, they might reply, The Bible forbids its use. To this a skeptic might raise the challenge: Always? Unconditionally? At this point the teetotaler might object, But Jesus is my example, and I KNOW that. He would not drink. For me, His example is conclusive. But is the presupposition on which this conclusion is drawn a correct one? That is, is it true that Jesus would not drink? Instead of supposing what a person might or might not have done, is it not better to ask the person himself, to learn what his practice really was? Why not ask Jesus, Lord, what is your personal practice regarding wine? How does your practice compare with that of your contemporaries, or how does it differ?

To this, Jesus made reply: John the Baptist came eating no bread and drinking no wine; and you say, -He has an evil spirit.-’ The Son of man has come eating and drinking, and you say, -Look! A greedy fellow and a drinker, a friend of tax-collectors and sinners.-’ Yet wisdom is proved right by all her children. (Luke 7:33-35)

The life-style of Jesus revealed in this text is probably quite different from that expected of Him by ascetics of every age. Yet what this text actually says proves that their desire to use the Son of man as a champion for the cause of total abstinence on the question of alcohol is based on other considerations and not on the example of Jesus. Note the importance of this text as it relates to this question:

Jesus affirmed that He normally and habitually drank wine. This is not a conclusion drawn by scholars or the consensus of critics, but the unabashed statement of the Lord Himself as He comments on His own way of life. The question at issue in this context is the immediate contrast between the fundamental wisdom behind the way of life practiced by John the Baptist and Jesus, and the fundamental folly of those who perversely refused to accept the life, message, ministry and mission of either. However, it is worthy of note that Jesus did not change His life-style merely because it laid Him open to the criticism of being a glutton and a wine-bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners.

Jesus affirmed that He habitually drank wine and said so in a context where His meaning is clear, His practice being sharply contrasted with that of the abstainers on the one hand, and that of the drunkards on the other.

Jesus was not an abstainer, as evidenced by the contrast with the life-long habits of John the Baptist whose wellknown asceticism was common knowledge and the basis for the baseless criticism of him by fickle people.

Jesus was no drunkard or glutton, since He Himself borrows these slanders from the mouth of His detractors, not from those who objectively try to describe His real manner of life. His matchless life and sinless character unmask these vilifications for what they are.

Therefore, Jesus-’ practice, by His own statement, clarified by His stated antitheses, stands exactly halfway between both extremes. His is neither the teetotaler’s abstinence nor the drunkard’s excess, but the moderate’s evenness of balance in all things.

Jesus affirmed that He habitually drank wine, saying so to a people accustomed to think of wine as a blessing.

That the Jews knew wine and other strong drink to be a dangerous curse, goes without saying, as many texts testify. (Cf. Proverbs 20:1; Proverbs 21:17; Proverbs 23:10; Proverbs 23:21; Proverbs 23:29-35, etc.)

But the Jews knew wine to be the generous blessing from the Lord. (Genesis 27:28; Psalms 104:15; Isaiah 55:1; Hosea 2:8-9; Hosea 2:22; Joe 2:19-24; Amos 9:13-14)

(1)

They spoke of bread and wine as the staple articles of diet. (Genesis 27:25; Genesis 27:37; Deuteronomy 11:14; Numbers 6:20; Judges 19:19-21; 2 Samuel 16:1-2; 2 Chronicles 11:11, etc.)

(2)

Consequently, they were required to put wine on the grocery list of provisions for the priesthood (Numbers 18:12; Deuteronomy 18:4; 1 Chronicles 9:29, etc.)

(3)

Wine appeared as a normal expression of ordinary hospitality. (Genesis 14:18; Judges 19:19-21; 1 Samuel 16:20; 1 Samuel 25:18; 1 Chronicles 12:40; John 2:3-10)

(4)

Wine was commanded as a drink offering to God (Exodus 29:40; Leviticus 23:13; Numbers 15:5; Numbers 15:7; Numbers 15:10), probably because it was in common use and therefore had practical value to the Jews. This made it a proper thing that could be offered in sacrifice to God.

(5)

Wine was consumed by the Israelites even at their religious festivals. (Deuteronomy 14:22-26; Deuteronomy 12:17-18; Isaiah 62:8-9)

(6)

The Jews knew of its value as an anesthetic (Proverbs 31:6-7; Luke 10:34) as well as its necessity in case of bad water or stomach infirmities (1 Timothy 5:23)

So, for Jesus to confess to eating bread and drinking wine to a Jewish audience, is no more than to confess to living a quite normal life. As an accurate reading of the circumstances in this text (Luke 7:33-35 and Matthew 11:18-19) will show, it was this very normalness about Jesus-’ conduct that drew fire from the cynics. In collision with the popular view as to what a holy man should be, Jesus wore no hair shirt, fasted so secretly that no one ever knew about it (if He ever did), ate common food, drank common drink and made no extraordinary effort to let His real holiness appear in a superficial manner. But His real character was so well attested, that He did not need to dignify the accusation of being a winebibber and a glutton by even bothering to answer it. The facts people knew about His life spoke for themselves.

So, the real question is not Should Jesus drink wine? as our tongue-in-cheek title would have it, for, as a matter of fact, He did. But this is not the point to be discussed with the modern Christian, disturbed by the excess in certain areas surrounding the use of wine or other forms of alcohol. The question is really Should a Christian follow his Lord’s example in drinking wine today?

Although the apostolic doctrine is replete with stern denunciations of drunkenness wherein is riot and excess, yet the Apostles do not enjoin unconditional and perpetual abstinence as the way around over-indulgence. Theirs too is the route of habitual moderation in all things (1 Corinthians 9:25), since they are suspicious of any doctrine that promotes rigor of devotion, self-abasement and severity to the body through negative regulations that God did not give. Such prohibitions might have an appearance of wisdom, but ate of no value in checking the indulgence of the flesh. (Colossians 2:16-23)

Beyond his dispraising of drunkenness and other forms of excess connected with the attitudes and activities under the influence of alcohol, the Apostle Paul, for instance, can find no rational basis for abstaining either from meat or wine in normal practice, since he knows that all God’s gifts (the context is food) are to be received with thanksgiving. (1 Timothy 4:1-5) However, under special circumstances Paul could conceivably dispense with ANY given food, for instance, if it caused a brother to stumble. (Romans 14:21) But contextually, it is obvious that the Apostle viewed this abstinence only as necessary in reference to the weaker Christian who had some scruple against that particular food. (See Romans 14:1 to Romans 15:7; 1 Corinthians 6:12-20; 1 Corinthians 8 all; Matthew 10:23-33) This is a necessary conclusion, since Paul could delineate no objective or absolute principle whereby wine or any food should be proscribed under any and all circumstances.

Further, in seeking qualified personnel for the highest tasks in the Church, the Apostle demanded that no excessive drinkers be tolerated in the eldership or in the diaconate. (1 Timothy 3:3; 1 Timothy 3:8; Titus 1:7) In giving directions for producing Christlike piety in the Church, he only urges Titus (Matthew 2:3) to bid older women not to be slaves to drink. However, in neither case does he suggest abstinence as a necessary quality. Rather, when he felt called upon to give his advice to a young abstainer, Paul counselled Timothy specifically in favor of wine, as opposed to water. (1 Timothy 5:23)

Should Jesus Drink Wine? may be an amusing question, but it will stand for serious reflection. Jesus was a Jew living in first-century Palestine. Out of proper moral consideration for the needs and views of His people, He ate and drank the food common to His people. It is a fair question whether He would follow His first-century practice while living, say, among twentieth-century Americans, whose history and attitudes toward alcohol may well be quite different than that of first-century Jews. But here it may be objected that twentieth-century Americans may need instruction by the Son of God, so that their (mistaken?) conscience be edified, i.e. formed along entirely different lines.

WHEN IN ROME, DO AS THE ROMANS?

Lest some, caught up in the confusing currents of a relativistic age and maddened by the spineless morality of situation ethics, mistake this position taken here to be the same drivel, let it be vigorously denied that situation ethics has anything to do with Christianity. The assertions made earlier that Jesus did in fact drink wine in His own situation in the first century, primarily because He chose to conform His practice with that of His own people, the Jews, cannot be construed in any fashion to justify the character-rotting influence of that immorality passing under the current name of situation ethics. Situation ethics, as I understand the phrase in its popular use, refers to a life guided by NO ABSOLUTE moral principle. There is no absolute morality, that is, except for the pervasive rule of thumb that each situation must be dealt with as a separate entity without any necessary reference to any other situation. According to its various practitioners, each moral decision must be made without reference to the (im)moral standard of reference of the individuals involved, be it hedonism, opportunism or whatever.

There is a chasmic contrast between this view of ethical decisions and that practiced by Jesus of Nazareth and expected of His disciples. Whereas situation ethics has no fixed code of absolutes within the sphere of which ethical judgments are made, Christ’s doctrine proclaims a rigid standard of inflexible righteousness. This standard outlines clearly what is meant by drunkenness, fornication, theft, lying, etc. By forbidding these and commanding their ethical opposites, i.e. temperance, purity, integrity, etc., Jesus unveiled a code of absolutes as demanding as the very character of God Himself! (See Jesus-’ Purpose For Preaching This Sermon, notes on the Sermon on the Mount, Vol. I, 188ff.) What is NOT spelled out in regard to these standards is how they are to be applied in every case. To a certain degree every situation faced by Jesus-’ disciple will be different from every other. So, instead of writing new rules of conduct for each new situation, Jesus placed into the hands of His disciple a few simple directives by which he may decide how to act ethically in each situation. (There directives may be gleaned from great blocks of Scripture on this subject, such as Romans 14:1 to Romans 15:7; 1 Corinthians 6:12-20; chap. 8; Matthew 10:23-33; Matthew 16:14; 1 John 3, etc.)

Thus it is that the Christ and His disciples are armed, not with some self-seeking, self-serving philosophy, but girded with the revelations of the living God in an enlightened conscience, face each situation and decide what each must do (1) to please the Father, and (2) to serve his fellow man best in that situation, and (3) what will achieve his own highest goal. Now to return: should Jesus (or His disciple) drink wine? But to ask this question is to see another: what other moral considerations were weighed into His decision which brought Him to act as He did in that given situation? If we fail to see these, we should badly interpret why He pursued that course, and, as a natural consequence, we would misapply His example in our own period. He drank wine in an age that knew no automobiles racing along a narrow ribbon of concrete within a cubit of oncoming traffic. He drank wine in a society not yet pressed for time, where the need for ready reflexes to operate fast-moving machinery was small. He lived in an age that moved in terms of the sun, not the timeclock. His was an era of walkers, not riders, to whom sedentary living was less a problem. But He also lived in an age as profligate as any other, an age that sought its amusements in the arms of Bacchus, an age when many a party devolved into revelry. Even so, Jesus could trace a clear line of godly conduct between asceticism and excess. In our own highly industrialized machine age, common sense considerations of safety may cause the Lord to counsel against alcohol in any situation where consideration for others and one’s own safety is compromised by slower reflexes. In light of Jesus-’ practice, another interesting, if unsolvable, puzzle is the question why the Lord did not concern Himself greatly with the long-term effect of alcohol on the brain about which modern research has so much to say. Is it possible that Jesus-’ answer to this query might be: Do not drink to excess, and you need not fear the adverse effects of alcohol on your brain? After all, is not His practice somewhat indicative of the conclusion that a moderate use of alcohol by a God-oriented man need not fear long-range negative effects on any part of his body, presuming that this man eats, sleeps and exercises normally? Or to state the problem differently, would not Jesus, Revealer of God and Creator of man, surely have revealed something of the lethal danger of drinking what is held to be a poison? Is it too much to argue that His silence on the subject and His personal practice, taken together, argue that our body chemistry can absorb and profitably use a certain amount of alcohol?

IS ALCOHOLISM A SICKNESS?

Another ramification of the conclusion that Jesus Himself drank wine, though never to excess (a conclusion drawn from His unanswerable denunciation of drunkenness as sin and from His own unimpeachable character, John 8:46; Hebrews 4:15), is the dilemma: should we consider the alcoholic a sinner or a sick man? To put the question in other terms: did Jesus escape alcoholism by righteousness (moderation), by maintaining a healthy body, or both?

While modern research has tended to demonstrate the direct connection between long-term embibing and many mental and physical debilities, sicknesses to which both psychological and medical cures must be applied, what is the meaning of the statement: The alcoholic is a sick man? This declaration, while declaring an objective reality, is often made with emotional overtones that suggest that the alcoholic can no more be charged with the responsibility for his condition than would a child suffering from measles. On the other hand, some religionists talk as if the alcoholic could be transformed into a proper citizen simply by immediate and permanent swearing off of alcohol, without any recourse to medical or psychological help to repair the damage that has been done to his body, mind, life, as if correcting the alcoholic’s responsibility for his weakened condition were the whole of his rehabilitation. Before we hasten to decide whether the alcoholic is either a sick or a sinful man, let us remember that some dilemmas are badly stated, including this one. There is a third alternative: the alcoholic may be both a sick and a sinful man. His sin has made him a sick man. Forgiveness of his sin will not make him a well man. Making him a well man in body and mind, insofar as modern science is able to effect this, will not make him acceptable to God. He must be both saved and healed. His rehabilitation in both these respects may require much time and may witness many set-backs, but it must take place in both areas, i.e. healing of the body and purifying the conscience and reinforcing the will, if the whole man is to be brought back to normalcy.

There is one sad, tragic fact that may face the alcoholic which, repent as he might, he cannot change: damage to his body as the natural consequence of alcohol’s ruinous effects. A man may repent a thousand times of his carelessness in handling a power saw, but his tears and his undoubted change for the good cannot give him back his right arm sawn away in the accident. If this analogy applies to the alcoholic in any way, it becomes a stern warning to any who drink, that alcohol is capable of bringing upon him a blight that no amount of repentance can correct.

Numerous are the instances where Jesus performed this very healing of both body and soul by curing the body and forgiving the sin. He not only purified the conscience but also provided the Gospel whereby the whole man can be transformed into a strong, stable character. What is most remarkable is that Jesus held all sinners responsible for the mess into which they get themselves (Cf. John 5:14; Matthew 12:45), especially drunkards (Luke 21:34; Romans 13:13; 1 Corinthians 5:11; Galatians 5:21; Ephesians 5:18). Accordingly, if people were merely sick due to some physical weakness related to causes not dependent upon their choice, then, presumably, Jesus could not justly hold them responsible for the bad results of their actions. So, the fact that He judges men responsible for their drunkenness, lays the charge for failure, not merely upon constitutional weaknesses, but upon the quality of the heart of the individual. Rather than become a scientist or a doctor to heal all mankind by giving out useful remedies or advice on physical health, He dealt with man’s fundamental problem: his relation with God and man. If THIS problem be not solved, physical or mental healing if only to live a few more years in constant danger of being corrupted again, solves nothing.

HOW DID JESUS ESCAPE BECOMING AN ALCOHOLIC?

As completely out of place as this query may seem, yet to answer it may lead us to grasp something of the answer to our other question, Should Jesus-’ disciple drink wine? How is it possible to harmonize the potentially catastrophic danger that alcohol represents both to the individual and to society, with Jesus-’ practice of taking wine? The secret lies in being guided by all the moral directives that prompted Jesus. By taking His view of the world, by having a conscience molded by the will of God and by showing the same forthright obedience to the Father as did He, by knowing no other dependence than upon the daily provision of the Father, one will be pleased to learn that he is not troubled by those diseases that excess and indulgence bring in their wake.

EXPOSITORY SERMON CHAPTER ELEVEN LOOKING FOR ANOTHER CHRIST

Introduction:

WHY look for another Christ? Because some are disappointed in the Christ given to us! This is not so surprising in light of the experiences of the people described in this chapter:

THE PERPLEXITY OF THE LOYAL-HEARTED (Matthew 11:2-15)

John the Baptist: If you are really the Messiah, how is it that the world goes on more or less as before, as if you had never come?

This is the statement in other words of the problem of pain and evil: Why does not God DO something about evil in the world, especially about the wicked themselves?

It is similar to the question stabbing the conscience of our age: If you are really the Church of the living God, if you really proclaim a Gospel of salvation and moral transformation that really works, why have you not done more to eliminate evil and initiate a practical demonstration of the rule and love of God on earth? Our age just cannot ignore 2000 years of bad church history with its failures, corruptions and misrepresentations of Jesus.

As with all expressions of the problem of evil, these questions reveal an ignorance and a misapprehension of God’s plans.

In the patient, merciful ministry of Jesus, God WAS doing a great deal about the injustices in the world.

Human intellect had failed to decipher the designs of God.

John’s personal problem was the disproportional exaltation of Jesus-’ divine office as Judge, to the detriment of His merciful human ministry as the Son of man come to seek and save the lost.

The Law, Prophets and John had prepared Israel for the glorious coming of the King.

Jesus had come but apparently nothing was happening that would square with John’s understanding of the coming Christ.

In desperation, John cries out: Are you the coming One?

But John’s faith in the Lord brought him to no other source for answers to his dilemma.

Jesus-’ answer: He appreciated the honest perplexity of His loyal prophet. He corrected His understanding and vindicated him completely. Notice the correction (Matthew 11:6): Tell John that although human intellect has failed to give him complete understanding of his problem, his intellect must submit to the wisdom of my methods and results. If his intellect judges my way not to be the best, it must see what I am accomplishing, even if it means turning his back upon his prejudices about what I should be doing. John must be content to say, -God’s methods are against my wisdom: I cannot understand why He does what He does, but I follow because HE leads me, for I have learned to trust Him.-'

II. THE FICKLENESS OF AN UNREASONABLE AGE (Matthew 11:16-19)

John had come protesting against the falsely-inspired merriment of his age.

Jesus had come refusing to sorrow over the things that made men of His age mourn.

Reaction of people in general: If you are really the Holy One of God, why do you fraternize so familiarly with the rest of us? You are not saintly enough!

One reason for this reaction was the exaggeration of Jesus-’ divine character at the expense of His necessary and true humanity. Men thought that the great God would never so disturb Himself, so befoul Himself as to attend the banquet of a common sinner! Here again human intellect was at fault.

Another reason is that human emotion is falsely stimulated. Men sought the inspiration of their joys and sorrows in the wrong places.

Jesus-’ answer: Human emotion must seek my inspiration, must learn to dance to my music, and mourn to my lamentation. The age must discover that the only way into the Kingdom of God is that of beginning to rejoice where hitherto there had been no joy; to mourn where hitherto there had been no mourning. Men must be done with dancing to the wrong music, with mourning over unimportant things.

E. The Lord committed to the judgment of time that age dissatisfied with wisdom contrary to its fickle tastes and capricious emotions.

III. THE IMPENITENCE OF THE MOST FAVORED CITIES (Matthew 11:20-24)

Their reaction: You cannot be taken too seriously as the voice of God. We plan to run our lives much as we have been doing it before you came along!

Here is the depreciation of Jesus-’ divine authority and the demotion of the King to the level of any other human being.

Although these towns had personally witnessed Jesus-’ triumph over sin and its results that were causing the suffering in their midst, they did not recognize in His mastery a perpetual protest against their own sins. They remained rebels against God.

Here is the refusal of the will to submit to the control of God in Christ.

Jesus-’ answer: Your great opportunities make you so much more responsible before God for what you know, therefore your punishment for impenitence will be so much more severe! Change your mind about what I am teaching you: turn back upon your false concepts of the Kingdom of God and submit to His rule now!

IV. THE FOLLY OF THE WISE AND THE WISDOM OF THE BABES (Matthew 11:25-30)

The wise and prudent reaction: Any fool knows that yours is no way to establish a kingdom! Your program does not rhyme with any standard rabbinical formula of how the messianic kingdom has to be.

This is the refusal of human intellect to bow, acknowledging its own ignorance.

The net result is the reduction of Jesus to less than a human prophet, for the wise see in this Nazarene something less than a sage whose advice should at least be considered.

The reason for this reaction is that God gives His greatest blessings only to the humble, but the human heart protests against the thought of starting all over again by being born again. People demand a religion that may be grasped as a prize for intellectual achievement; a religion that permits them to give full vent to their passions; a religion that grants them the dignity of their own self-will. But Christ demands that man surrender his darkened intellect, his vulgarized emotions and his prostituted will, so that he might begin again as a little child. .

C. Who is a little child?

He is an ignorant man asking instruction.

He is an emotional person seeking proper inspiration.

He is a will searching for authority.

He is a weak one seeking power.

He is imperfect, but looking for perfection.

He trusts Jesus to lead him to find all this and more.

APPLICATION: How do people of our age look for another Christ?

By letting the disappointments and failures in our personal Christian life turn us aside from the Christ who actually came:

Do we have no assurance of forgiveness and relief from our guilt and sins?

Do we fail to find the joy and brightness we expected?

What kind of Christ did we expect? Does our image differ from the reality?

By letting the general condition of the world blind us to the real Christ and His purposes.

Jesus came to save the world and yet the larger portion of it not only remains unsaved but is also growing larger in proportion to the total population. How can He let this go on?

If you look for another Christ, what kind of Messiah could alleviate the human predicament better than Jesus is now doing?

We are not actually expecting the coming of another Christ that is not to be identified with Jesus of Nazareth, but the Jesus Christ whom we know will return in another form! (See Acts 1:11; Philippians 3:20-21)

When He comes, He will only seem to be another Christ different from the humble Galilean we once knew.

He will be a Christ whom most men had never believed in.

He will be a Christ whom most never expected to see come.

с.

But He will be the very Christ whom John the Baptist said would come in blazing glory.

But He will appear in His power and majesty to bring to a glorious conclusion the mission which He undertook in shame and weakness.

He has never changed His mission: it has ever been His intention to make righteousness to triumph over sin and get God’s will done.

The same Jesus who was crucified in shame, raised in glory and now reigns at the Father’s right hand, is even now perfecting His mission with an eye to that day when He will come for His saints.

D. What then is to be our reaction?

We must ask ourselves, Am I willing to admit my ignorance and ask instruction; am I willing to yield my emotional nature and take only His inspiration, dancing only to His piping, and mourning only to His lamentation; am I willing to take my will and submit it wholly to His authority; am I willing to take the place of unutterable weakness and depend upon His strength? Am I willing to confess my absolute and utter imperfection and give myself to Him for perfecting of all that concerns me?

This is the passage from proud independence to simple confession of weakness. So men enter into this Kingdom. So men find their rest.. Our very pre-eminent respectability prevents the definite daring necessary to get into God’s Kingdom. We are prone to drift upon easy seas, to admire the visions of the beautific land, consent to the beauties of the great ideal, and never enter in because we will not. consent to yield to the claim of the King..

Let this be the hour when you have done with your dilettante fooling with sacred things. Let this be the night when you translate your sickly anemic imagination into grip, force, go and determination.

(The above outline and some of its points were suggested by G. C. Morgan’s sermon The Kingdom By Violence in 26 Sermons by Dr. G. Campbell Morgan, Vol. II, p. 229ff.)

Another outline of this chapter might be:

JESUS JUDGES HIS CONTEMPORARIES AND HIMSELF

John the Baptist (Matthew 11:2-15): More than a prophet!

II.

His people in general (Matthew 11:16-19): Like children!

III.

The most favored cities (Matthew 11:20-24): Damned!

IV.

The simple disciples (Matthew 11:25-30): Learned!

Himself (Matthew 11:20-30): The Unique Hope of the Race!

EXPOSITORY SERMON CHAPTER ELEVEN REST IN A RESTLESS WORLD (11:20-30)

Introduction:

The newspapers of the world report riots that picture the great unrest of our world. In the great cities of the world every day is heard news of strikes, riots, protest movements, wars and famines. We wonder where this will all lead to or when it will end. Men’s hearts faint for the fear and anxiety over the things that are coming over the world. And why should that be?

There is NO REST IN OUR RESTLESS WORLD, BECAUSE THERE IS NO CERTAINTY.

One woman is uncertain, because another woman could take her husband away from her, and she is not sure that he would not like to go with the other woman!

The student is not sure that he can pass his exams, in order to find a small place in our society,

The worker can not be sure that tomorrow a machine will not take away his position and work for him.

The big industrialist can not be sure that he can hold his wealth.

The politicians can only try to establish a better government, but they can never be sure of the outcome.

In whatever other area we can discuss, there exists no rest-bringing security. We can certainly say that the one thing in our world that is certain, is our UNCERTAINTY! And our uncertainty troubles us!

But over the centuries we hear a mighty voice that says: Come to me! I will give you rest! In our dark world full of care and strife, difficulties and problems, anxieties and fear, these words bring us comfort, inspiration, encouragement and rest. Let us listen to this voice from a bit closer by. What does Jesus mean to say to us?

JESUS CONDEMNS THE UNBELIEVING BECAUSE THEY DID NOT REPENT (Matthew 11:20-24)

Even though Jesus had fulfilled His commission in this world, yet His own people did not accept Him: they did not repent!

Even though He had done His greatest miracles in their presence, miracles that established His message as God’s personal revelation:

Even though He had revealed God’s will to them, yet they did not repent.

There was no one more joyfully seen, heard and received than Jesus of Nazareth!

They were all ready to make Him their King and establish a worldly messianic kingdom.

They were willing to risk everything to follow Him, rising up against the Roman government, against the hypocritical religion of the Pharisees and chief priests, against all political authority.

They wanted to have a King who could give them bread, miracles and wealth, a place among the greatest empires of the world!

They wanted the SECURITY, that could come through His miraculous power. They wanted His providence and protection, His conquest of all enemies and His divine defence. They wanted to have all this, while THEY REMAINED UNCHANGED IN HEART AND LIFE.

But Jesus sees that they have not understood Him:

He had called them to repentance; they wanted to make Him their servant.

He wanted to put God in them; they wanted Him and God in THEIR service.

Jesus-’ heart is broken over their deep need of repentance and over their unwillingness to repent.

Jesus has so strenuously, so faithfully, so unselfishly, so carefully tried to give them God! And they have neither seen it nor understood!

Is this not a picture of our world?

We want God on OUR conditions: all His blessings, all His goodness, but He does not dare demand our repentance nor our obedience!

Jesus wants to bring us to reality and truth; He wants to create God in us; He wants to put real rest and peace in our heart, but UNDER HIS CONDITIONS: I tell you, unless you all likewise repent, you shall all likewise perish!

But to whom did Jesus say that?

To people that thought that simply to be in the vicinity of Jesus was the same thing as faith and repentance.

To people who thought that common goodness was the same as deep-felt repentance:

(1)

These were more or less better people than those of Sodom, Tyre and Sidon

(2)

But Jesus did not want to make people more or less good, but just as perfect as God Himself! (Matthew 5:48)

To people who thought that culture and enlightenment were sufficient to enjoy the better life.

(1)

They had had the best enlightenment, because they could hear the Truth itself and revelation of God’s will, preached by Jesus Himself!

(2)

But the light against which we sin, will be the measure whereby we will be judged!

(3)

The greatness of the quantity of information that we have received concerning God’s truth, does not release us from the responsibility to repent and trust Jesus!

To people who thought that to do nothing was as sufficient as repenting. Their sin was the sin of refusing to take a positive stand for Jesus Christ!

(1)

How many people today exalt Jesus as a Superman, a Man born before His time, perhaps a great Prophet, yes, even as God’s Son?

(2)

And yet they do nothing with Him! They take no responsibility for what they know about Jesus of Nazareth!

So why does our world have unrest, insecurity, desperation? BECAUSE WE WILL NOT TRUST JESUS AND REPENT!

Let us listen further to His words:

JESUS LAYS DOWN HIS OWN CONDITIONS, WHEREBY WE CAN RECEIVE GOD’S TRUST AND REST. (Matthew 11:25-26)

Even though He gives us conditions that are absolutely necessary to which we must render whole-hearted and immediate obedience, yet He gives us also His own personal example how we should understand the conditions He requires. What does He do?

He thanks God and rejoices with the Father over the method whereby God chose to reveal His will. This is the grateful acceptance of the will and plans of His Father.

Even though He could not reach the unrepentant people and cities, after thousands of attempts, yet He gives God thanks that God had used this method to reveal Himself and that it was God’s idea.

Even though there were a very few simple people that truly accepted Jesus, yet Jesus THANKS the Father for them.

Jesus recognizes the universal Lordship of His Father. This too is an anchor for our souls, if we acknowledge that there is no place in this universe, no problem in our world over which our God is not fully Master and fully in charge!

Jesus praised and thanked God that His plan really works to save those people who can be taught.

But what is God’s method to save the world? By revealing these eternal truths to humble seekers, to -little children.

Who are the wise and understanding of this world, from whom God has hidden His will? These are the people who are wise in their own eyes and proud of their own understanding.

So far as the world could see it was Pilate who was a greater man than Peter, but Jesus could do much more with a Peter than with Pilate! The high priest Caiaphas went far higher in the human society than Matthew, but that publican could become an Apostle for eternity, because he could forsake everything to follow Jesus!

Who are the little children, to whom God has given great revelations of His will? These are the humble people who open their lives to follow Jesus-’ leadership and accept His teaching.

The doors of God’s Kingdom remain open for those who repent and become little children.

These are the people who admit their ignorance, confess their sins and come to Jesus for forgiveness. (1 Corinthians 1:18-31)

Yes, this is God’s plan and Jesus thanks Him for it.

III

JESUS ACCEPTS THE MORAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ENTIRE HUMAN RACE AND PRESENTS HIMSELF AS THE ONLY POSSIBLE REVEALER OF GOD (Matthew 11:27)

All things have been committed to me by my Father.

Perhaps we are caused to think immediately of the glory and royalty of God’s Son, because we know that, at the end of the world, everything will be the inheritance of Jesus.

But here Jesus is not speaking about the glory and wealth that shall be His,

He understands very clearly that the weight of the sins of the whole world have been laid upon HIM!

There is no arrogance here, but an honest bending of the Lord Jesus Himself to take upon Himself the gigantic weight of a lost mankind upon Himself.

He had just seen people, that had had the best possible opportunity to be saved, refuse the call of God.

Perhaps He is reminded of the ancient words of Isaiah: All we like sheep have gone astray;

We have turned every one to his own way;

And the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6)

Our own unwillingness to repent was laid upon God’s Son!

Yes, the government will be upon his shoulder, but the insignia thereof are not the colorful flags and marching eagles of a great empire, but the bleeding stripes by which we are healed!

Yes, all things have been committed to Jesus by His Father: the moral responsibility for all men just like they are: in their sins, their dying and in their deep need for repentance and redemption!

This is why we are not surprised about what Jesus says next:

No one knows the Son but the Father!

Here is a cry that comes out of the loneliness of the Lord Jesus.

There is no man on earth that realizes the greatness of the burden of the Son of God.

Jesus has not found anyone who really understands how He feels among sinners, nor shares His burden.

Jesus has had thousands of followers, but very few of them continued to follow Him, even though those few themselves were deeply unaware of His mission, His purpose, and His Person. Even so late as the last week of His life, before going to the cross, Jesus had to say to them, Have I been so long with you, and you do not yet know me?

Jesus feels deeply His loneliness on earth: no one really knows or understands Him.

But people must understand Him in order to be saved!

But we must understand His message, in order thereby to be able to know the Father.

No one knows the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.

Jesus finds Himself in a world where no one really knows God!

This means that all the great inventors of religion are liars, if they contradict, diminish or deny the Word of Jesus!

This means that all the lesser religious lights who have led men away from God’s Will are thieves and robbers! (John 10:1)

This is a world, in Jesus-’ day and in our own as well, wherein people have lost the very key to life, because they live as if God does not exist. But Jesus knows that God is the central fact of all reality, the greatest, most important fact of all.

Jesus prayed: This is eternal life, that men might know you, the only true God, AND JESUS CHRIST, whom you have sent! (John 17:3)

Only, JESUS knew God. Here Jesus expressed the longing to make God known to men.

He MUST make God known, but how can He go about the task of revealing God?

Here is His method whereby He reveals the Father.

IV.

JESUS INVITES HUMBLE DISCIPLES TO COME TO HIM AND LEARN (Matthew 11:28-30)

This young Jew, not more than 33 years old, invites the entire human race to come to Him to learn. He promises that every one, however great his problems might be, shall find rest for his soul! Let the stupendous nature of this invitation sink deep into your heart: feel the gigantic nature of the fraud if the claims implicit in this invitation are false. Feel the power of God’s loving mercy, if these claims are true! Here we must decide what we think about Jesus!

But Jesus has to be the teacher, if we are to find rest for our souls. The only ones whom Jesus can help are the little children. We must be willing to learn EVERYTHING from Him.

Jesus has already had too many theologians and professors, who molded His ideas according to their own conceptions! He wants disciples, or followers, who are willing to follow Him and live under His discipline. The so-called great preachers, professors, priests, bishops, popes, councils, theologians and universities are not what Jesus is looking for! He seeks men and women, boys and girls who are willing to enroll themselves in His school and learn under HIM.

Even though Jesus Himself is the Revealer of the eternal God, even though He Himself is the Creator of heaven and earth, even though He is the Judge before whom all must give account, yet He is gentle and lowly in heart.

He is not a teacher that His students need to be afraid of.

He does not boss His students around; they do not need to be afraid to expose their ignorance before Him.

My friend, He could become your Teacher: with Jesus you need fear no ridicule or contempt in His school.

If you are an eager student, you will find Jesus ready to help you, sharing with you the same spirit of joy in knowledge. He will help you at whatever level you find yourself, in order to bring you up to His level of full knowledge of the entire universe! You will find Him a wise and sympathetic Teacher, who will lead you into truth.

How many times has Jesus already shown Himself this kind of Teacher? How many times did the sinners and publicans come to Jesus, even though they had run away from the proud, strict Pharisees? They knew that Jesus was different, so, friend, do not put Jesus in the same class with religious leaders that you know, because He is not at all like any teacher you ever knew. He is in a class all by Himself, but you will enjoy enrolling in the class!

The publicans and sinners of Jesus-’ day felt the attraction of His gentleness, and they knew that He could help free them from sins that they had for years taken for granted.

In Jesus-’ school you find SECURITY and rest for your soul!

To the tired worker, Jesus gives genuine rest for the body, nerves and mind, because Jesus gives true rest for his SPIRIT. Such a person can now sleep, because he has a forgiven conscience.

To the tired and heavy-laden worshipper, Jesus gives rest also.

Tired of religious ceremonies, duties, norms and empty forms? Then, Jesus offers you devotion to a Person.

Tired of defeats and disappointments in the struggle against sin? Then Jesus gives you the refreshment of forgiveness and power to overcome.

To the tired worldling who has found everything to be futile and empty, Jesus offers His fullness, all His friendship and companionship.

INVITATION:

Friend, you know your own cares, your own sins, and problems. Let Jesus take your difficulties and free you. Lay all your difficulties down at the feet of Jesus. Enroll yourself in His school: He invites you now.