Matthew 11:20-24 Keep In Step!

Matthew 11:20-24  Then Jesus began to denounce the towns in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent.  “Woe to you, Chorazin!  Woe to you, Bethsaida!  For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.  But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.  And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens?  No, you will go down to Hades.  For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day.  But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”

In the above focus, Jesus criticizes the Jewish people for not turning completely to God in repentance.  He relates how places such as Capernaum and Bethsaida had seen wonderful miracles performed in their midst, yet did not respond to God in a wholehearted way.  They thought of themselves being right with God, in the center of God’s acceptance, ready to be received in heaven.   But Jesus sarcastically asks, And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens?   The answer is, No, you will go down to Hades.  Their failure to repent and to turn to God because of Jesus’ teaching and miracles will be accrued to them as despicable sin, rebellion against God’s actions and words.  Jesus says, non-Jewish cities, known for their wickedness throughout Israel will be judged more leniently than the cities of Israel who turned their back on the Anointed One, Jesus Christ, for they are more sensitive to God’s call than the Jewish people.  If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.  Even wicked Sodom will be received better at the judgment seat than cities such as Capernaum and Bethsaida, who have rejected God’s direct intervention in their lives through the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.  Sodom would have repented if they had observed such a move of God in their midst.  Otherwise, even Sodom in all its sinfulness had softer hearts than the Jewish people of Jesus’ generation.  As Pharaoh rejected the miracles of Moses because of his hard heart so were the Israelites rejecting the miracles and teachings of Jesus because of their hard hearts.  God knew this would be a time when the Jewish people would not accept the Messiah even though He performed marvelous miracles in their midst.  God through Jesus’ words and miracles was freeing people of the world from their internment in the land of slavery.  Jesus was bringing freedom from the judgment of sin to all people, everywhere.  Yet the Israelites’ with their hardness of heart rejected his call, but God knew they would, just as he knew the Pharaoh of Egypt would initially reject his call to release the Israelites from slavery in Egypt.  In Jesus’ case, the Lamb of God paid the price for the release of sinners from the judgment of God for sin.  In Pharaoh’s case, he paid the price with his own death in releasing the Children of Israel from the hand of slavery.  The recalcitrant attitude of both generations, their hardness of heart, freed God’s hand to achieve what He intended to do from the beginning of time: to make a people of his own, known forever as his children.

Jesus describes his generation very accurately when he talks about demon possession.  “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it.  Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’  When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order.  Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there.  And the final condition of that person is worse than the first.  That is how it will be with this wicked generation.”  (Matthew 12:43-45)  In this analogy we find a generation willing to be clean of an impure spirit.  They clean the house of their dwelling by following laws and regulations, even many repenting.  They are able to make the dwelling hospitable, but it is still unoccupied, clean but unoccupied.  The effort to make it clean worked, but without an occupant, it is open to invasion by other spirits.  The first spirit, who finds no rest anyplace else goes back and finds his former dwelling place without any occupant; consequently, he brings seven other stronger spirits to take over the dwelling.  The Messiah is the occupant they should have received.  He would have kept the dwelling place clean an orderly, but they refused to accept Jesus as the Lord or the dweller of their household.  They chose to follow the old ways of rules and regulations.  Willing to go to the Temple and pray, to sacrifice and to give alms, but they were unwilling to accept Jesus as Lord of their lives.  Without a Lord in their house, they were open for evil spirits to invade their culture, their society, their political framework.  Jesus calls their obdurate behavior wickedness, causing their final condition to be worse than when they first set out to clean their house.  And the final condition of that person is worse than the first.  Of course, the leaders of the Israelites wanted proof that they should allow Jesus to be the occupant of the Jewish culture, their way of living.  Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.”  (Matthew 12:38)  They were content with the way the Jewish people were living, their way of serving God through the priesthood and the Temple.  They did not want anything to change, so they asked Jesus to do a spectacular miracle so that they could accept this alteration in the way they lived and served God.  But Jesus would not take the bait, for He knew no matter what He did the priests and the teachers of the law would never accept him as the Messiah, for they would lose their preferred position with the people.   He answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign!  But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.  For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.  (Matthew 12:38-40)  Yes, they were adulterous, for they preferred their lifestyle and choices over the commands and authority of God.  They would never accept the message of serving God and him only, for if they did they would have to accept Jesus as the Messiah.

To accept Jesus as the occupant of your heart (house) there should be a change in the way you live and act.  Your words should reveal that the house is clean and that there is a different spirit in your life.  If the house is infiltrated by foreign spirits, not of God, your life will still be full of resentment and hurt.  Words towards others will not be uplifting, but destructive.  We are all open to different spirits other than the Holy Spirit’s nature.  How many of us are always kind, generous, quick to forgive, loving, caring, open to revealing an uplifting nature, rather appearing dark and foreboding, thinking evil about others.  We might deceive ourselves by categorizing our nature as mostly good, but others will be better interpreters of who we really are.  Mirror, mirror on the wall can be misleading if we incorrectly interpret what we see, forgiving ourselves of our flaws as we analyze ourselves.  In today’s focus, we see Jesus dealing harshly with the Israelites.  They see themselves as beautiful, ready to be lifted into heaven.  But Jesus sees something different—a stubborn, recalcitrant people, who will eventually turn completely away from him, screaming: crucify him.  These are the people He sees in the verses above.  These are the people of a fickle generation, a people with hardened hearts who do not care a wit about what He has done for others.  They followed him around Israel looking for the fishes and the loaves, looking for a miracle to deliver them from their infirmities.  But to yield their lives to him as Lord, the occupier of their land, was another story.  Even today, as we experience confusion on the internet, many are giving their domain over to other spirits, more wicked than the ones that first occupied their unregenerate souls.  All of us can move into that arena, but the devil is wily; he knows how to deceive and defeat the nature of Christ if we allow ourselves to be open to his abode.  Jesus is talking about God’s judgment of his generation, but our generation is as dangerous as his was, for we can seek our own priest who will tell us how to act, what truth is.  We now have the ability to spend our leisure time focusing on all kinds of voices.  We must remember always as Peter says, it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and it begins with us.  (1 Peter 4:17)  Let us not deceive ourselves, but understand fully who is in our household.  Bitter water cannot produce sweet water.  Hate and anger do not produce love and goodness.  If necessary, sweep out the house daily and put it in order with love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  Against such things there is no law.  (Galatians 5:22-23)  Paul goes on to tell the church, Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.  (Galatians 5:25)   Do not be left behind bound by fleshly pursuits and attitudes.  Today, keep in step with the Spirit, keep in tune with his voice and his guidance, and you will experience inexpressible joy in the Lord.  

  

Matthew 11:16-19 Deeds Prove Wisdom

Matthew 11:16-19  “To what can I compare this generation?  They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others: ‘We played the pipe for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’  For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’  The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’  But wisdom is proved right by her deeds.”

Today’s verses show that many people rejected both John and Jesus’ messages.  The truth is determined by the deeds of the man doing them, not by his lifestyle or other measurements.  Both John and Jesus’ deeds were for the lasting betterment of the people they were addressing and teaching.  John’s message was a call to the people to repent and to be baptized, to turn their lives away from fleshly, self-serving lifestyles, to treat people as they should be treated, with kindness and generosity.  His message was based on self-effort, a determination to make everyone’s life more loving and to make Israel a more cohesive and generous society.  John’s ministry emphasized work that led to a good outcome, better deeds by the people.  Jesus built upon John’s words, but brought in the dynamics of faith in Jesus as the Messiah.  As John 3:16 relates, whosoever believes in Jesus Christ as Lord will receive eternal life, pleasing God through their faith in Jesus’ works, not theirs.  Entering the kingdom of God came through faith, not a temporary turn-around in a person’s life because of self-effort.  John brought people near to the kingdom of God; Jesus brought people into the kingdom of God.  If people were willing to accept and to implement John’s ministry into their lives, they would be prepared for the transformational nature of Jesus’ teaching.  Jesus taught that eternal life came by the hands of God, not by the hands of people: faith in God’s work, not their own.  The Messiah would usher in the kingdom of God through faith, not through the efforts of man’s good intentions to become better.  However, the newly minted Christians would display, as John ministered, the works of righteousness in their lives.  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  Against such things there is no law.  (Galatians 5:22-23)  John’s baptism of repentance was to corral the deeds of the flesh, to put an end to them in people’s lives.  The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.  I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.  (Galatians 5:19-22)  Because the selfish carnal nature permeated the Jewish society and its religious leaders at that time, John warned them that God already had an ax in his hands ready to mete out terrible judgment on the people of Israel.  The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.  (Matthew 3:10)  John’s ministry of repentance stirred up a revival in Israel, preparing the way for the Messiah’s coming.  Many people readily repented, but the Jewish leaders would not submit to John’s message; subsequently, none of them were baptized.  The Jewish leaders were the blind leading the blind or the unrepentant leading the unrepentant.  Later on in Jesus’ life, these blind, unrepentant leaders, convinced the people to cry out for Jesus’ death on a cruel cross.

Most of the leaders of the Jewish people were adamantly against Jesus for He represented a threat to their dominance within the Jewish community.  They enjoyed their place of privilege—the people’s deference to them.  They valued their prominent position in every community gathering.  Sadducees appreciated the fact that they were the caretakers of the Temple.  Their unwillingness to repent, to identify sin in their lives brought Jesus’s words of accusation against them.  He said of them, They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. “Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.  (Matthew 23:4-9)  He knew their unwillingness to change would bring judgment upon them and upon the people they were supposedly leading.  Jesus was very harsh with them for the people were being led by shepherds stubborn to God’s will of goodness and kindness.  The people were really as sheep with no genuine shepherd.  Jesus compares this generation of people as sheep unwilling to be led by true shepherds.  No matter what the true shepherds did, the Israelites wanted to go their own way.  They always had an excuse to reject the call of God on their lives.  “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests.  At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’  But they all alike began to make excuses.  The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it.  Please excuse me.’  Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out.  Please excuse me.’  Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’”  (Luke 14:16-20)  Jesus was telling the crowd that they had put up false excuses for not turning to God and to be led by true, faithful servants of God.  For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’  The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’  The people knew they should change their lives of fleshly pursuits, but they deflected God’s call on their lives by claiming John was too weird and Jesus was too worldly.  They criticized both men, but this yeast of criticism started at the top with their leaders.  Their false shepherds led them to question the call of God in both John and Jesus’ ministry.  The Pharisees and the Sadducees said both ministries had to do with the devil’s work rather than God’s work.  These lies were accepted rather than rejected by the people.  

Criticism is so easily ministered to people instead of encouragement.  Gossip is readily accepted by people even in today’s society.  They say falsehoods go around the internet many times faster than the truth.  Negativity sells: truth is stale and unexciting.  Falsehood is often claimed as knowledge and wisdom.  Part of Adam’s DNA was created to be like God, to be a fountain of holy truth and wisdom, but we are warned in the Bible about claiming our self-interest as truth and wisdom.  The Bible says that every man is like a sheep that has gone its own way.  (See Isaiah 53:6)   In today’s focus, we see the Israelites going their own way, unwilling to be led by either John or Jesus.  Their claim that neither man was led by God brought them into great judgment later on in the century.  They thought of themselves as wise by rejecting John and Jesus’ ministry.  But, they were really fools, for God had come to them in both men.  John as a mighty prophet who made the way for Jesus, and Jesus was the Son of God who came to save sinners.  Both men carried the vital message of God, telling people how to come into the kingdom of God.  John preached, Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.  (Mark 1:3)  Jesus said,  Repent and believe the good news.  (Mark 1:15)  But the Jews thought themselves as wise because of their desire to maintain their lives as they were constructed, believing God would accept their unrighteousness into his kingdom.  Paul addresses this deception.  Do not deceive yourselves.  If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become “fools” so that you may become wise.  For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight.  As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness”; and again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.”  (1 Corinthians 3:18-20)  To rationalize their rejection of John and Jesus, the people said they were controlled by the wicked one.  Paul tells us to not to follow what men think unless their ideas line up with Jesus’ teaching.  In fact, the Bible says even if an angel preaches another gospel, we should reject it.  (See Galatians 1:8)  When we fully embrace the Good News of Christ as our Savior from sin, we are placed in the body of Christ.  We no longer reject the call of God by sitting on the fence, unwilling to join others in the mighty army of believers who follow Jesus.  We will follow him regardless of the tune played.  For we have ears to hear the Shepherd’s voice.  Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”  (Mark 4:9)     

 

Matthew 11:7-14 Day of Rest

Matthew 11:7-14  As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see?  A reed swayed by the wind?  If not, what did you go out to see?  A man dressed in fine clothes?  No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces.  Then what did you go out to see?  A prophet?  Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.  This is the one about whom it is written: “‘I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’  Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.  From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence, and violent people have been raiding it.  For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John.  And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come.  Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

John the Baptist’s parents were considered by God as righteous for they were following all of his commands and decrees to the letter.  As with Abraham and Sarah, they were past child bearing age, but God interrupted their old age with a child for his purposes.  As old as they were, they probably had little strength to raise their child as vigorously as younger parents.  But God did not choose them for their strength and vitality, but because they were without fault in serving him.  God considered them righteous and trustworthy in raising a son to prepare the way for Jesus.  In his ministry, John preached repentance; beseeching the people to turn to God in obedience to his commandments.  In his early life, John surely observed his parents’ commitment to God.  In contrast to their dedication to God, Israelites in general lived lives away from God.  Consequently, John urged people to return to the God of their fathers, fulfilling what the angel said to Zechariah,  He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God.  And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”  (Matthew 1:13-17)  Jesus knew John was igniting a spiritual fire in the people of Israel, so He asked them why they thought John’s ministry was important to them.  What did you go out into the wilderness to see?  A reed swayed by the wind?  If not, what did you go out to see?  A man dressed in fine clothes?  No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces.  Then what did you go out to see?  He answered his rhetorical questions by saying, you went out to see him because you believe he is a prophet, one inspired by God.  But he is not just a prophet as were the many prophets before him; no, he is a special prophet as mentioned in Malachi, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me.  Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty.  (Malachi 3:1)  John introduced a new reality, the kingdom of heaven.  With John’s work of baptism, God established his kingdom on Earth.  God’s divine presence will come to all people who repent of their sins and follow the Lord of the new kingdom, Jesus Christ.  The devil hated John’s work and the reason for his ministry.  He knows the word and he knows John is the Elijah who paves the way for the Lord to come to his temple to establish the kingdom of the Messiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”  (Luke 4:18-19)  Consequently, the Lord says, From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence, and violent people have been raiding it.  Because Satan knew this time would come,  he intended to divert its effects by tempting Jesus in the wilderness.  If he could have, he would have attacked John directly at the beginning of his life, but John from birth was filled with the Holy Spirit, protected by God as Jesus was protected by the angels in his early life.  John lived an austere life away from the amenities of society.  John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist.  His food was locusts and wild honey.  (Matthew 3:4)  Although the devil and his minions intended to stop the introduction of this new kingdom that would last forever, they failed miserably for the kingdom of God has spread to millions throughout the centuries since Jesus died on the cross.  

Of course, we know God planned his kingdom from the beginning of time.  There was no “oops” in God’s eternal plan to make new creatures in his similitude—not to merely regenerate Adam and Eve.  We do not walk with God at certain times of the day; no, we are intimately a part of his existence at all times, fully in fellowship with him at any time of the day.  The devil cannot so easily deceive us now, for we are in an intimate binding relationship with God.  The powerful Holy Spirit changes us into new creatures with ears attuned to God.  But this intimacy with God has always been confronted by the devil beginning when Adam and Eve’s relationship with the Lord was attacked.  There was no reason for the serpent to tempt Eve if it were not in the evil one’s plan to separate man from God.  He did intervene, causing God to put Adam and Eve out of the Garden, severing the relationship they had with the Creator.  Later on, outside this pristine, protective place of peace, humans turned violent and aggressive, so much so that God killed off all humans except for Noah’s family in the flood.  But his family too had this rebellious anti-God nature embedded deeply in them.  They too became despoiled by the waywardness of their flesh.  But God came to man’s rescue by selecting a man of faith, Abraham, anointing him with special blessings.  Faith in the Creator’s words gave Abraham a privileged position with God: the promise Abraham would be the father of many nations with his progeny possessing the land of Canaan as their home.  First, they had to learn to be totally under the control of slavery, doing man’s will not their own or God’s.  Then Moses led them out of slavery to the land of Canaan, the Promised Land where they would be free and prosperous if they followed God’s rules.  In this land, the clans of the sons of Jacob would settle peacefully under God’s authority, obeying his laws and regulations.  However, this land became a place of conflict, not peace.  Even though related through Jacob, the clans of the sons killed and slaughtered their own relatives, almost wiping out the Benjamin tribe completely.  The Israelites were possessed by their rebellious spirit toward God, worshipping idols of all kinds.  They were also in constant battles against others and their own people.  They were worse in their sinful nature than the Gentile tribes around them.  The devil’s intentions to separate man from God were fully in evidence in the Promised Land, the place where God was supposed to reign.  We see Satan once again diverting the kingdom of God away from men.  The Jews were driven out of their own land, created for them to be in peace.  In Jesus’ time the devil’s work is evident again when he shows his dislike for John by tricking Herod into beheading John.  We also see Satan marshaling the priests and leaders of Israel against the ministry of Jesus; finally getting Jesus murdered by the Romans.  Again, the evil one seemed to win in his effort to defeat the kingdom of God.  However, the battle switches from the earthly to the heavenly.  Jesus’ resurrection changes everything: no longer will a kingdom be evident by the senses; it will be established in the spiritual realm.  Now the kingdom would not be temporal but eternal; not perceived as physical, but spiritual. The kingdom would consist of oneness with God: My prayer is not for them alone.  I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.  May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.  I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity.  Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.  (John 17:20-23)  When the kingdom is truly implemented, we will be known as children of God, from his loins, not man’s.  We will be birthed by God, not merely created.  Jesus was birthed by the Spirit; so are we birthed by the Spirit.  We are new creatures in the Spirit, carrying the Lord’s DNA of love and goodness, not of disruption, chaos and violence, characteristics of fleshly man’s DNA.

Throughout the ages, God has asked his people to commemorate that God is at rest by keeping the Sabbath as a day of rest.  God rested after He completed his work of creation.  He pronounced his creation as good.  The day of rest was to be a time of appreciating the goodness of God and his creation.  This day of rest was to be a time of no activity, a time of reflection, a time of peace, tranquility, and cessation of work.  The Garden of Eden was to be a place of permanent Sabbath.  As with the Garden, after inhabitation, the Promised Land was to be a place of rest, a place where slavery to the world that they experienced in Egypt would not be present.  Of course, Jacob’s sons’ progeny carried their idols and satanic behavior into the Promised Land, so no real Sabbath existed for them there.  The Promised Land was to be a place of bountiful abundance with inhabitants functioning together in harmony and  peace, ruled over by God himself through the priesthood.  Obedience to God’s laws and regulations would materialize the kingdom of God on Earth.  Of course, Canaan was not the solution to a Sabbath rest for violence without and within ravaged the land.  No rest was found.  The turmoil within men’s hearts would not allow for the cohesiveness, peace and harmony that should exist in a kingdom of God.  Canaan was subjected to violence, and violent people.  Every time man has been given a place of peace and harmony, mankind has corrupted it by disobedience.  He ate the forbidden fruit in the Garden.  He challenged God with his lifestyle of violence before Noah.  He served other gods in Canaan; he rejected obedience to the laws and regulations that God set before him.  Therefore, God’s kingdom throughout the ages until Christ appears never came into fruition.  Now, Jesus is telling the people, John has been preparing the way for God’s kingdom to come into existence.  He has prepared the way for me to establish a permanent relationship of love and harmony with the Father God.  Rather than depending on man to change to be at peace with God, Jesus knew his work would be substituted for man’s inability to please God.  Jesus knew his work would change man forever into the likeness of God.  The nature of rebellion in the human spirit will be exorcised and in its place will be the Spirit of God.  The Spirit of God raises men from death into new creatures.  The Spirit of God creates eternal beings who are one-hundred percent able to serve God in holiness and rightness forever.  Those who have ears hear the word of the Lord.  The prophets of old spoke of the Messiah’s day, when a new kingdom would be established forever. John the Baptist prepared the way for the Messiah.  He is the Lord of the Harvest and of the Sabbath rest.  He alone establishes the rest and harmony that God’s eternal plan desired.  Mankind can enter the household of God as children of God, now being one in nature and in Spirit as God is forevermore.  Enter that rest today through Jesus Christ the Lord!   

Matthew 11:1-6 Good News Is Proclaimed!

Matthew 11:1-6  After Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee.  When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”  Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.  Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”

John the Baptist taught repentance, a disciplined life dedicated to Jehovah.  In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”  (Matthew 1:1-3)  The Jewish culture of his day was rooted in their religion, but in some ways the people walked in “cultural deism," believing in a God, but not living according to the Old Testament’s standards.  Even the religious activity in the temple had been contaminated by consumerism, led by the temple leaders, the Sadducees, who did not believe in an afterlife. Therefore, the people lived under a semblance of Judaism but lacked the understanding that God is real and demands something from their lives.  John warned that God was ready to judge the Israelites for their lack of commitment to the One who called them out of slavery in Egypt, an act of separating them from the world’s way of living, an approach based on serving self, exploiting others for one’s own benefit.  The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”  “What should we do then?” the crowd asked.  John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.” Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?”  “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them.  Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?”  He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.”  (Luke 3:9-14)  John’s teaching was so direct and accusatory that even the worst in society came to hear him not only speak but to be baptized.  The people were repenting of their self-oriented lifestyle, their lack of dedication to the God who showered them with love and mercy, setting them apart to be his special people.  Now the Jews were chaffing under the rule of the Romans, discontented about having to pay taxes, tribute, in subservience to the Pharaohs of their lifetime, the Roman emperors.  They disliked that they lived for the benefit of others.  The Jews were supposed to be God’s people, chosen out of all nations; yet their knees bowed to the rulers in Rome.  Consequently, they were ready to hear John’s message of deliverance: the kingdom of heaven has come near.  In a sense, John’s voice spawned a revival of turning to God.  He prepared the way for the Messiah, the deliverer of the Jews and all who were chained by the bondage of sin and death.  The Messiah’s death and resurrection, the plan of God, would bring salvation to the whole world, not just to the Jewish people.  The yoke of the Romans would not be thrown off because of his coming, but the yoke of sin would never again hold people in its grip without an escape.  As an angel said at Jesus’ birth: “Do not be afraid.  I bring you good news that will cause great joy for ALL the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.  This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”  (Luke 2:9-11)  John, now in prison, asks Jesus to confirm what he has been telling people about the kingdom of God being near.  Jesus tells his disciple, Go back and report to John what you hear and see.  The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.   Jesus’ deeds confirmed the prophecy of Isaiah.

Jesus lived a gregarious life, associating with people freely, saints and sinners alike.  He drank wine, wore ordinary clothes, and ate with anyone who would eat with him.  He ate and drank with the outcasts and the sinners of society and with the Pharisees He often attacked.  He called Matthew as his disciple, a tax collector hated by the Jews.  Jesus mingled with the society.  He fed the people, gave the people his best by healing them and teaching them.  Jesus was a people person.  John’s disciples emulated John’s lifestyle, his way of addressing the immoral aspects of the Jewish society.  In Jesus they saw a man seemingly comfortable within the Jewish society.  So Jesus says, Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.  Otherwise, do not gauge my work on what I do, but on God’s work through me.  Of course, Jesus’ teachings were powerful, but the miracles He performed validated that He was sent from God—truly the one John had been foretelling: the Messiah.  But Jesus knew the Pharisees whose own lifestyles set them apart from their community were criticizing him.  Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!  You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin.  But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.  You blind guides!  You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.  (Matthew 23:23-24)  The Pharisees could give John some license for speaking about God, for he was a strange man who had set himself apart from society.  John was paying the price for his piety.  Even though John attacked the priests fiercely, they appreciated him more than Jesus because he was living life as the prophets of old lived.  But Jesus was a different matter, living and talking with people often rejected by the religious elite of the Jewish society.  Consequently, He was criticized much by the religious leaders.  But Jesus knew that they had hardened their hearts against John’s message and his as well.  It was not the messenger they disliked or favored, it was the message of repentance and turning to God they rejected.  “For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’”  (Luke 7:33-34) John’s own disciples could better understand the Pharisee’s lifestyle than they could Jesus’ lifestyle.  But Jesus wanted them to go back to John and tell him about his wondrous deeds, the works that John had heard about Jesus.  These miraculous works were really true.  Of course, their account of Jesus’ activity in the realm of healing and caring of people would assure John that his own ministry had been led by God.  John would soon face death by execution, but the Lord God allowed him to know that Jesus was the Messiah.

John wanted to know, Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?  Jesus came to deliver the world from the tenor of the world’s self-orientation.  Jesus came performing miracles and wonders to open mankind to a new way of living.  Of course, transformation fundamentally leads to life eternal, but believers are obligated to bring the kingdom of God to people.  As new creatures with the kingdom of God within us, we should display the Good News to the unsaved.  Before the great flood, God saw sin producing violence on Earth.  Every man and woman went his or her own way, leading to conflict, disharmony, and chaos.  When God started with a new environment, nothing changed.  Violence, hate, conflict, and disharmony remained.  A Savior, a Messiah, was needed to change people on the inside—the heart, creating harmony with God and man and leading to eternal life.  But, we must still display the works of God and his nature instead of the old fleshly nature while we live on Earth.  Jesus’ teaching on love and kindness extended not only to our relatives, friends, ethnic group, and the like but to our enemies, strangers, and to the “others” in our lives.  We are to love and care for people who are different from us and people who are against us.  We are to bring the kingdom of God near, for the kingdom of God is resident in us.  We are not to be disharmonious, self-willed, self-oriented people—seeking power for ourselves or our group. The world is full of people who are considerate or kind to those who will reciprocate in the same way, but when people do not consider our goodness as something worthy to be respected, we still should reach out to them.  We should not be cursing or criticizing them, for as James says, we are hypocrites when we do.  With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness.  Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing.  My brothers and sisters, this should not be.  Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?  My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs?  Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.  (James 3:9-12)  John asked if Jesus was the Messiah.  Jesus let John’s disciples know He was doing the miraculous works of God, so they should report that message.  But Jesus was also telling people to change the direction of their lives, telling them to image God.  If they did, they would be displaying the wisdom of God.  But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.  Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.  (James 3:17-18)  We are God’s ambassadors, displaying his wisdom in this world.  Let us be peacemakers, lovers of our enemies, providers for those who cannot help themselves.  Through our lives, good news is proclaimed to the poor.  The world is poor; the Jewish community during Jesus’ time was poor.  But God brought comfort to them through his message of everlasting life for all who are made in God’s image and accept his Son.  We stand in faith, believing in God’s desire to change people.  As Isaiah encouraged the people of Judah to stand, believing in the God who rescues his own people from evil powers, we must stand firmly, believing in the Messiah’s works. Unless your faith is firm, I cannot make you stand firm.  (Isaiah 7:9)  Stand firm by faith in Jesus today and you will not stumble.