Matthew 11:2-11 - Are You Offended?

So a couple weeks ago, Hannah and I observed our annual Black Friday tradition: Every year we go out for coffee at a Starbucks near my sister-in-law’s house in Gibsonia. (It’s the only time of year I pay that much for a cup of coffee—but spending time with Hannah makes it worthwhile!) And of course, every year Starbucks creates a specific holiday design for its coffee cups—do you remember a few years ago when there was a big dust-up surrounding their cup design? In 2015 the company put out a plain red cup for Christmas with the corporate logo in the middle, and there was a great hue and cry that they were carrying out a “War on Christmas” because they didn’t have any traditional Christmas designs like previous years—trees, holly, reindeer, candles, etc.

Honestly, it really is kind of silly, (and Starbucks made a ton of money out of the extra publicity!), but it demonstrates very clearly the kind of atmosphere that we live in today—that everyone, everywhere, at one time or another, is deeply and personally offended on a regular basis. Even something as inconsequential as a paper cup can inspire choking, incoherent rage in people—and that was back in 2015! If anything, the “offense” culture we live in has ratcheted up even more fiercely today!

If you want an example of the toxic “offense culture” we live in, just look at Chik-Fil-A. After years of people being “offended” by their Christian beliefs on sex and marriage, they finally gave in and stopped donating to charities that hold to a Biblical standard of marriage. But as soon as they did that, hoping it would pacify all the offended people, then people were offended that they hadn’t gone far enough, and that they needed to publish a statement of unconditional support for gay marriage! In this “offense-driven” culture, giving in doesn’t make peace with the offended; it creates demands for more capitulation.

As Christians, we have to understand that this world will always be offended by us, because this world will always be offended by Jesus Christ.

Jesus said it Himself in John 15:

John 15:18–19 ESV

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

So one of the first things we have to realize is that

The only way to avoid offending this world is to abandon Christ.

And I hope that when I say that, your heart immediately skips a beat—that you instinctively react with some form of “Never!” We cannot abandon Jesus Christ, but the pressures of this world to give in “just a little here” or “just a little there” will, as we have seen, always be followed by more demands for more capitulation, until we have departed the faith entirely.

That’s why Jesus’ words in our passage this morning are so important for us:

Matthew 11:6 ESV

And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

It’s worth examining this verse closely as we begin, because this verse represents a promise that Jesus Christ makes for us here in this perpetually offended world. You may recall that the word “blessed” here in New Testament Greek (and in Old Testament Hebrew) can also be translated happy. And the word translated here into English as “offended” is one that you will recognize—the word is skandalizo, where we get our English word “scandal”. It literally means stumbling block. So another way to read this promise is, “Happy is the one who does not get tripped up over Me!” Not only can you survive in a world perpetually offended by Jesus Christ, you can live happily!

So where does this happiness come from? In a world perpetually scandalized by the claims of Jesus Christ, how can we stand for him with a happy steadfastness, not tripping up over Him, not backing down, but bold in our stand for Him?

Last week we began looking at the ministry of John the Baptist, as he “prepared the way” (v. 10) for the arrival of Jesus Christ, the Messiah. As we will see this morning, John was a man who was unshakeably tough in his ministry of proclaiming the arrival of Jesus Christ. And what I aim to show you today from God’s Word is that

We can have an “unshakeable toughness” in a world perpetually offended by Jesus Christ.

Last week we began to study John the Baptist’s ministry there on the banks of the Jordan River as he proclaimed the arrival of the Messiah—as he “prepared the way before” Jesus (v. 10). But since we saw him last time, John’s situation has changed dramatically, hasn’t it? Last week we saw him boldly proclaiming the arrival of the Kingdom; today, we find him thrown into prison:

Matthew 11:2–3 ESV

Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”

At first glance, it may seem to us that all of John’s boldness and certainty of belief in Jesus as the Messiah has gone out the window—that he has “stumbled” in his faith in Christ. But what I want us to see here is that, even as John expresses doubt here in these verses,

I. John Doubted without Stumbling in His Faith (Matt. 11:2-3)

Just for a moment, think back to the message that we saw John proclaiming last week. Turn back a few pages to Matthew 3 (p. 808). In verse 11, John was preaching that when the Messiah came, He would baptize us “with the Holy Spirit and fire”. But the, just a few verses later, Jesus did arrive—but His arrival did not look the way John expected, did it? Verses 13-15:

Matthew 3:13–15 ESV

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented.

John expected Jesus to come and baptize him with the Holy Spirit—instead, John baptized Jesus and saw the Holy Spirit descending on Him!

You’ll recall also that John was proclaiming that Messiah’s arrival meant the end of the current regime: “Even now, the axe is laid at the root of the trees...” (Matt. 3:10) In several places in the Old Testament, the Kingdom of Israel is compared to a tree. And so John expected that the immoral and corrupt tree of the current kingdom was about to be felled—that emboldened him to speak against the reprehensible immorality of King Herod, who had been carrying out an adulterous (and possibly incestuous) affair with his brother’s wife, Herodias (the story is told in Mark 6:17-19).

Here again, John was expecting the arrival of Messiah to mean that the rotten tree of Herod’s contemptible reign was about to be cut down and thrown into the fire—and instead, John was placed in chains and thrown in Herod’s dungeon!

So when we see John here in today’s passage in Matthew 3, we can understand his reasons for doubt, can’t we? The Messiah was supposed to baptize the people with the Holy Spirit—but John baptized Jesus instead! The rotten tree of the corrupt king was supposed to be thrown into the fire when Messiah came—but John was thrown into prison instead!

But what we see here is that John

Doubted his own expectations about Messiah (Matt. 3:10-14; Mark 6:17-19)

—he did not doubt Messiah Himself! You can hear this in the question that he had his disciples pass on to Jesus— “Are you the One who is to come, or shall we look for another?” In other words, John is saying, “I know Messiah is coming—but Jesus, You don’t fit my expectations!”

And see how Jesus reassured John in verses 4-5:

Matthew 11:4–5 ESV

And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: 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.

In other words, Jesus re-directed John’s focus from his expectations so that instead he

Focused on God’s power (Matt. 11:4-5)

He saw the miraculous ways that Jesus was delivering people from death and destruction—the blind could see, the lame could walk, the lepers were cleansed—Jesus was demonstrating the power of God in a way that no other prophet, priest or king ever could! And John saw that power at work in people’s lives so that he could know that the Messiah had indeed come!

And there is another piece to this answer that Jesus gave John—you might have recognized it when we read verses 4-5 just now. Jesus’ answer to John is actuall a direct quote from Isaiah 35:

Isaiah 35:5–6 ESV

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert;

John not only focused on God’s power revealed in Jesus, but he also

Focused on God’s Promises (Isa. 35:5-6)

When John was tempted to stumble over Jesus—when his expectations of the way Messiah would make His appearance in the world did not match what Jesus did, he did not trip up in his faith, did he? He doubted his expectations, but he focused on the power and promises of God—and he wasn’t “scandalized” by Jesus’ appearing.

John doubted his expectations, but he did not stumble in his faith in Christ. And in verses 7-10 we see that

II. John Proclaimed Without Compromise in His Message (Matt. 11:7-10)

Look at how Jesus describes John in these verses:

Matthew 11:7–10 ESV

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

This is where I get the description of John as a man who proclaimed the arrival of Jesus with “unshakeable toughness”. Look at verse 7—Jesus says, “What did you go out in the wilderness to see? A reed shaken in the wind??” No, Jesus says—John was a man who was unshakeable!

John was not like the description of the doubter in James 1:6, “like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind...”

John proclaimed his message with conviction (cp. James 1:6)

John wasn’t the guy who wet his finger and stuck it in the air to see which way the wind was blowing so he could adapt his message to the times, was he? He wasn’t one of those preachers who act they’re embarrassed and apologetic about God’s Word—he didn’t stammer where the Word of God speaks; he didn’t whisper where the Word of God roars! He was unshakeable in his convictions about the message God had given him to deliver— “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!”

Not only did John proclaim his message with conviction, Jesus says that John

Proclaimed his message with courage (cp. Daniel 3:17-18)

Matthew 11:8 ESV

What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses.

John was not a “yes-man”—he wasn’t one of those smarmy, cringing underlings that are always telling the boss how smart and funny he is. He wasn’t one of those people who are always trying to impress the “cool kids”, copying the way they dress and talk, copying their Abercrombie and Fitch t-shirts with one that says “Abreadcrumb and Fish” (yes, that’s actually a thing!) He was willing to take a hit, he was willing to take a stand. He was cut from the same cloth as Daniel’s three friends Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, when the king threatened to throw them into the fiery furnace unless they bowed to the idol he had made:

Daniel 3:17–18 ESV

If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

“God is able to deliver me from your hand, but even if He does not, I will not bow! You can throw me into that furnace, and then you will have my charred bones—but you will never have my submission!”

Where is that courage today, beloved? Where is that conviction in our churches? The Evangelical church has traded the conviction and courage of John the Baptist for the sinking sands of capitulation. We have wet our collective fingers and stuck them in the winds of the culture and decided that we need to “go along to get along”, afraid that if we keep offending the culture they won’t allow us a place at the table, they won’t allow our voices to be heard in the public square. “Oh, we need to keep from offending anyone, or else they won’t want to hear our message!”

But what if that message is meant to be offensive to them?? What if we are supposed to preach “the offense of the Cross” that we saw Paul preach in Galatians 5:11? What if, instead of worrying that we’ll offend someone if we share the Gospel with them, we finally got it through our heads that the world is going to be offended no matter what, and so if they’re going to be offended, they may as well be offended by our proclamation, and not by our cowardice!

We need less of the soft, wishy-washy sycophant and more of the unshakeably tough prophet in the church today. We don’t need more yes-men in the Evangelical world, kow-towing to a culture bent on silencing and denying us. We need men who define a gentleman the way Oscar Wilde did, as one who “never gives offense unintentionally!

John the Baptist proclaimed without compromise in his message with unshakeable toughness. And Jesus promises us here in verse 11 that we can have that same unshakeable toughness in even greater measure than John did!

Matthew 11:11 ESV

Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

Did you catch that? John was the greatest prophet the world has ever seen—but Christian, you and I have an even greater standing in the Kingdom than he does! If John baptized his thousands, you will baptize your tens of thousands! If John called a provincial governor to repentance, you will call the nations to repentance! If all of Jerusalem came out to hear John preach, then all of the world will come out to hear you!

Why is that? Why does Jesus say that you have a greater ministry than John the Baptist ever could?

Because you live in a world where Jesus has risen from the dead! John never got to see the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ—all he got to see was the very beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry. But you, Christian! You live in a world that will never be the same, because you live in a world where Jesus Christ has come in the flesh! And because we live in a world where Jesus Christ has come,

III. We Stand Without Apology in our Offensiveness (Matthew 11:11)

Christian—this world can deny Christ all it wants, but it can never go back to a time when Jesus has not come! The Sun of Righteousness has risen with healing in His wings, and they cannot stop that Sun from rising! They may hate the darkness rather than the light, but the Light will continue to dawn whether they like it or not! So that means that you can

Stand in the present reign of Christ (Ephesians 5:11-14)

As Paul writes in Ephesians:

Ephesians 5:11–14 ESV

Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

So don’t compromise, Christian—call this world to wake from its sleep, to turn from the darkness to light! The dawn of the present reign of Jesus Christ is shining even now. Go into that darkness and throw the curtains open and point out the window: “The Sun is coming up, you need to prepare for the arrival of the Day! Stop sleeping in your sin and spiritual death—come to Jesus Christ because He is coming!” Oh, you’ll offend them, all right, but it doesn’t matter if they’re offended! The Light is coming anyway!

Stand in the present reign of Christ, and

Stand in the redeeming power of Christ (2 Corinthians 4:4; )

Jesus tells John to cast aside his doubts by looking at the power of God revealed in His ministry: The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed. Christian, you live in a world where Jesus Christ has come in the flesh—you live in a world where His power has been revealed in His death, burial and resurrection, and the world can never go back to a time when He has not come. And the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ has purchased redemption for all who come to Him, and is powerful to save all who come to Him!

But make no mistake—this world is deeply offended by this Gospel! This world is full of people who have been blinded by the god of this world “to keep them from seeing the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, the image of God” (2 Cor. 4:4). And when you suggest to them that they are blind, you will offend them! But stand without apology in that offensiveness! The death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ is powerful to open those blind eyes, to turn them from darkness to light and the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are being sanctified by faith in Christ!

This world is full of people who have been crippled and mutilated by their sinful passions and disordered desires—people who have mutilated their bodies in an attempt to reject the sexual identity that God created them with. And they are deeply offended when you refuse to join them in their delusion by referring to them by the gender God gave them. But Christian, you stand without apology in the redeeming power of Christ for them! Preach this Gospel to them, that they can have forgiveness of their sins, healing for their deep and painful brokenness, that Jesus Christ can restore them from the crippled and broken misery that they are living in, and they can be whole again!

This world is full of people who are suffering in the filth and shame of their sin, rotting away in their spiritual leprosy of their rebellion against God—they have driven everyone away, they are isolated and miserable in their sin—but you, Christian can embrace them in their mess! Go to them in their isolation, enter the mess and misery of their lives just as Jesus Christ entered the mess of this world in order to save us!

Jesus Christ left His glory in Heaven with His Father and came to this dark, ruined world, taking on our flesh and then taking on the corruption and decay of our sin on the Cross, dying under the wrath of God so that everyone who calls on Him will be saved from that corruption and decay! Oh, this sorry world hates that message, is deeply offended to be told that it is guilty—but Christian, you stand without apology in the offense of the Cross! Stand with unshakeable toughness, proclaim without compromise, and be a happy herald that calls this world to come—and welcome!—to Jesus Christ!

BENEDICTION

Jude 24–25 ESV

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION:

Have you ever had a time when God did not meet your expectations in the way He answered your prayers? How can focusing on His promises in the Bible and His power in your life help to keep you from stumbling in your faith?

What does it mean that “the world can never go back to a time when Jesus Christ has not risen from the dead”? How does the present reality of Jesus’ reign give you confidence to stand in a world that is offended by Him?

Where are you tempted to “go along to get along” when it comes to your convictions as a believer? How does this passage help you “stand without apology”, even if it means that you will give offense to someone?

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