Grosey's Messages

In chapters 11 and 12, Matthew begins to describe this rising opposition. What holds these chapters together? The best way to hold them together is by asking the critical question: "Is Jesus really God's king?" The kingdom of God has been Matthew's theme from the beginning: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near" (Matt. 3:2; 4:17). He is presenting Jesus as the king of that kingdom. But is Jesus really God's king? In these chapters we find three varying assessments of him.

John the Baptist had doubts (Matt. 11:1-19). John had identified Jesus as the Messiah. He had received an identifying sign from heaven (Matt. 3:16-17). But now he sends disciples to ask Jesus, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?" (v. 3).

The masses would not believe (Matt. 11:20-30). The masses had been exposed to John, and now they were being exposed to Jesus. But they were critical of both teachers. Jesus compared them to pouting children who would not take part either in a happy game or a sad one. Here he foretells a final terrible judgment on the cities of Korazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum because the people would not repent of their sin and believe on him.

The leaders launched a formal opposition (Matt. 12:1-50). Earlier the Pharisees had slandered Jesus by saying that he drove out demons "by the prince of demons" (Matt. 9:34; repeated in 12:24). In this section they go beyond mere slander and begin to plot "how they might kill" him (v. 14).

Matthew 4: 12 Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee.13 And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea,

Location, Location, Location!  Sea of Galilee Capernaum      Jerusalem    Herod's Prison      Sodom

There are several reasons why John the Baptist may have doubted.

He was in prison (v. 2). He was cut off from what was happening. According to Josephus, who writes about John in his Antiquities, Herod had imprisoned John in the fortress of Machaerus (modern Khirbet Mukawer), about five miles east of the Dead Sea, a particularly hot and desolate environment (xviii, 19). So although John must have had contact with his disciples, he was still sidelined, and this must have been excessively difficult for a man of his free temperament. Many a leader has languished in isolation who was at one time fearless in public speech and action.

John must have been drained emotionally. It is difficult not to compare John to Elijah, whom he resembled in many ways. Elijah had denounced the sins of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel, just as John had denounced the sins of Herod and his stolen paramour Herodias. Drained from his encounter, Elijah had fled to the desert wanting to die (1 Kings 19). Would John have been any less exhausted after his demanding ministry?

Jesus was not living up to what John had expected or prophesied. This is the most important reason. John may have been emotionally drained, but he was no weakling, and he knew what he had been sent to do. He had announced the coming of the Messiah and had rightly pointed out that he would exercise a ministry of judgment. John had said, "His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire" (Matt. 3:12). That is what the Messiah was expected to do. It was written down that way in the Bible. But what did John observe? On the one hand, Jesus was clearly doing good, apparently empowered by the Holy Spirit, but where was the prophesied ministry of judgment? D. A. Carson asks:

It was all right to heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out demons, still storms, preach

righteousness, and announce the kingdom; but where was the judgment? Had the corruptions and cruelties of Caesar been abruptly shut down? Had the hypocritical temple leaders been banished? Had the disgusting corruptions of Herod Antipas been confronted? Why was he, John the Baptist, languishing in the stifling heat of the prison at Machaerus fortress for challenging the morals of Herod, while Jesus the alleged Messiah did nothing about this injustice?

As far as John could see, the world was as wicked as it was before Jesus began his ministry.

Isn't that a reasonable objection even now?

"Go and tell John what you hear and see:5 the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.

   Isaiah 61   The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me  to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives,and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;2 to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;  

Isaiah 35  4 Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you." 5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; 6 then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.

"Go and tell John what you hear and see:5 the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.

Problems and Persecutions Cause People to Get Offended at God

Matt 10:22 and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.23 When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next,

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.31 Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows

And a person's enemies will be those of his own household.37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

7 As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: "What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?8 What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing?

Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings' houses.9 What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.10 This is he of whom it is written, "'Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.'

11 Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist.

People Can Cause us to Get Offended at God
John knew of the Essenes
John and Jesus may have known of the Dead Sea Scrolls of the Essenes
The Essene view of soon judgement may have controlled John's view of the Messiah

Matthew 3: "I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."

John knew his job  -Isaiah 40:3-6  A voice cries: "In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD;  make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level,  and the rough places a plain.  And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, …the LORD has spoken."

Malachi 3:  1 "Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.2 But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?

Malachi 4 For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the LORD of hosts,. 5 "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes.

No one likes to think about judgment, and we are relieved that Jesus moves on from this point to talk about the electing grace of God and to issue a gospel invitation. Nevertheless, it is important to think about judgment sometimes, and this passage is one of the most helpful passages in the New Testament for understanding it. These verses teach us five difficult lessons.

There will be a judgment. The reason we do not like to think about judgment is that we do not want to admit there will be one. We imagine that if there is a judgment, we will come out all right since we are nice people. Or we hope that if we are condemned, it won't be so bad. Jesus does not treat judgment so lightly. He says it should be feared.

There are degrees of punishment. One of the most frightening ideas in this passage is its teaching about degrees of punishment. Jesus says that as terrible as the judgment of Tyre and Sidon will be, it will not be as bad as the judgment of Korazin and Bethsaida. And as terrible as the judgment of Sodom will be, it will not be as horrible as the judgment of Capernaum. The people of Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom were wicked and will be rightly punished for their sins. But they had never heard of Jesus as the cities of Christ's day had and thus would not suffer as severe a punishment as those cities.

The worst sin of all is unbelief We do not think this way, since unbelief is our chief sin. We prefer to point out the sins of others by observing how outrageous or inhumane they are. In your mind, who are history's greatest sinners? Probably people such as Hitler, Idi Amin, Stalin, and, if we think back far enough, Genghis Khan or Nero. They are the sinners highest on our lists. Yet there is no record of the people of Korazin, Bethsaida, or Capernaum having done anything particularly offensive or inhumane. They were just people going about their business as we do.

Yet they refused to repent and turn to Jesus, and Jesus said that their unbelief was a far worse evil than the sins of other notoriously wicked cities.

What was the root of their sin? Jesus suggests that it was pride and does so by linking the unbelief of Capernaum to the pride of the king of Babylon in verse 23. Verse 23 is an echo of Isaiah 14:13-15 in which the Babylonian king says, "I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God.... I will make myself like the Most High" (v. 13). God informs this proud ruler, "But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit" (v. 15).

God's judgments take account of his contingent knowledge. This means that God's judgments are based not only on what people have done but also on what they would have done if the conditions under which they had lived had been different. In this case, Jesus says that Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom would have repented if the miracles that had been done in Galilee had been done there. That is why their judgment will be less harsh.

And for you, if you have not yet trusted in Jesus Christ. No nation has ever had the opportunities to repent and believe on Jesus Christ as we have had. "How shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?" (Heb. 2:3).

God does not owe salvation to anyone. This is the final hard lesson of these verses. Although the people of Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom would have repented and been saved if Jesus had done the miracles in those cities that he did in Korazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, he did not do them, and the people perished justly for their sins. We think God owes us mercy, but if mercy were owed, it would not be mercy. The only thing God actually owes us is justice, and we will get it if we do not commit our lives to Christ. God is merciful to many, but God owes mercy to none!

TODAY IS ABOUT GOOD NEWS

Matt 11: "Go and tell John what you hear and see:5 the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.

Acts 1:6 So when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?"7 He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

TOMORROW IS ABOUT JUDGEMENT

Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent.21 "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.

You Can Be Greater Than John When You Keep The Main Thing The Main Thing

 See Jesus More Clearly      See Your Job Clearly      Invite people to Jesus

SEE JESUS MORE CLEARLY

25 At that time Jesus declared, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children;26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.

27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

INVITE PEOPLE TO JESUS 
28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

There Is No Greater Purpose Than Presenting Christ

John 3: 29 The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete.30 He must increase, but I must decrease."

   Matt 28:18 And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

Matt 11: 28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

Will you come to Him?  Now?