"Are You The One?" Matthew 11a_Oct 3 2021
Notes
Transcript
Greeting & Scripture Reading
Greeting & Scripture Reading
Hey folks - glad you’re with us
Continuing: God With Us
Bibles: Matthew 11
When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities. 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?” 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. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
(pray…)
If you remember - out all four gospels:
Mark is the most dramatic
Luke is the most thematic
John is the most theological
Matthew is considered to be the most structured
Matthew has a special structure: five sections - or, five books
Chapters 11-13: Book Three
We start to see the Jews being confused about the kingdom of Heaven Jesus talks about
Matthew: “The Gospel of the Messiah”
Mostly written to: Jewish audience
To prove Jesus was the Messiah who was promised to come
The overarching theme comes to us from Chapter 1: God With Us
We’ve seen Jesus begin his ministry - and talk about his kingdom - and preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”
Before all of that: John the Baptist preached the same thing
He stood up to the Pharisees
John prepared the way for Jesus as the Messiah
And when Jesus came to him to be baptized, John didn’t want to do it
This is the same John the Baptist who earlier said: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.'
Then he said: 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.
And when Jesus wanted him to baptize him, he tried to prevent it and said: I am the one who needs to be baptized by you...so why are you coming to me?”
And now - he’s questioning if Jesus is even the Messiah
Where is John right now in Chapter 11?
Prison
Remember - After his temptation in the wilderness, Jesus heard that John was arrested
Now, here we are in Matthew 11 and it says that while John was in prison, he sent his disciples to find out who Jesus was
Luke says that John sent two disciples
John - who is considered probably the greatest prophet
In verse 11, Jesus said
Mt 11:11 “Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist.
But now - John is asking, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”
“Are you really the Messiah, or shall we consider another candidate?
What is going on here?
Of all people - why would John question this?
Part of the answer is to figure out what John is really asking
I think the 2nd verse is important - that it reminds us that John was in prison at the time
He couldn’t just walk up to Jesus and ask him
He was stuck behind bars
John is really asking, “I thought you were the Jewish Messiah who was to come and liberate his people!”
“Here I am stuck in prison - my freedom has been taken away by the authorities.”
“I thought you were going to stand up against the authorities!”
Notice that verse 2 says that John heard the deeds of Jesus - “the Christ” (6 times in Matthew)
Jesus’ basic reply was: “And here are the results of those deeds”
I think the answer is - that truly all of us - at certain parts of our walk with Christ
Here are the possible reasons, the scholars give, why John doubted:
That Jesus was healing too many people, without passing judgment on any of them – actually he does...
That Jesus actually touched unclean people
That Jesus is only healing people – and that he's not “bringing his Kingdom”
Any one of those could be possible – but here's what I think was going on with John:
John was in prison – and his circumstances were clouding his faith
His circumstances were clouding his faith
Do your circumstances ever cloud your faith?
Better question: Is your faith strong enough to weather your circumstances?
We all go through struggles – and struggle with our faith
Have you lost your faith?
I think maybe John was really saying this:
“If Jesus was the true Messiah, he could end this political oppression and get me out of Jail”
Isn't that what usually tests our faith?
If God was real – he could save me from my troubles
I think that's what John was essentially saying
If God was truly God – he could end all this suffering
If God is a God of love – why is there so much pain & suffering in the world?
People indite God – they blame him – they've allowed a chip on their shoulder...
But it's a little hard to do that – Christianity is the only religion – where God himself suffered
Not only did Jesus suffer on the cross and before the cross – he suffered for you and for me
Jesus suffered for you and for me
The Bible says that we share in Christ's sufferings
But it also says that one day, we will share in his glory
• Romans 8:17 And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God's glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.
Here's how Jesus answered John -
4 And Jesus answered them, “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.
Notice that he mentioned the preaching of the good news – right along with healing & resurrecting people
Jesus is saying – the Lord is at work showing compassion and love to the people
“John, I'm doing the work of my Father – have faith”
Jesus: “John, I haven't forgotten about you”
Here's what Isaiah 35 says:
And when he comes, he will open the eyes of the blind
and unplug the ears of the deaf.
6 The lame will leap like a deer,
and those who cannot speak will sing for joy!
Springs will gush forth in the wilderness,
and streams will water the wasteland.
That is Isaiah introducing the Messiah
He's telling John, “You introduced me – remember what Isaiah said when he introduced me?”
And then, Jesus says something very interesting here in verse 6...
6 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
Jesus is referring to John's predicament – Jesus is really saying, “Don't judge God by your circumstances”
Jesus is saying, “Trust me that I know what I'm doing”
Can we just let God be God?
Can we just trust that God knows what he's doing?
Don't judge God based on your circumstances – trust him for what he has done for you
This interaction had apparently gotten the attention of the crowds – so then Jesus addresses them
• Verse 7...
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?
Jesus is turning the tables on the crowds – probably because they wanted to see John fail
Now, back then, reeds near the Jordan River were either very weak – or some of them reached 5 meters tall!
Some of the ancient coins had depictions of reeds on them
He's telling the people – John is not weak
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.
John didn't wear soft clothing – John the Baptist wasn't GQ
He was this weird looking dude – who wore camel's hair and ate locusts & honey
In other words – John's not wealthy – none of the prophets were really wealthy
What did you expect?
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.’
You need to understand that some of the Jews believed that the prophets had died off
That there were no more prophets anymore
But John was a fulfillment of Malachi 3:1 which says: Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me.
John was more than just an announcer of Jesus – he was the continuation of Elijah's ministry – as outlined in Malachi 4:5-6
Jesus is telling the people that John is the real deal
And he's telling John that he's the real deal – and to keep his faith strong
11 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.
This is a Jewish audience – with a Jewish understanding
Jesus is elevating the disciples – he's not really diminishing John
12 From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. 13 For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, 14 and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. 15 He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
16 “But to what shall I compare this generation?
This is a Rabbinic expression – it means: an analogy is about to happen
16 “But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates,
17 “‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’
A lot of scholars have different takes on what this means
I think what Jesus is saying here is this: You all have different expectations – and you're never satisfied with anything
‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’
That's what our world has become today!
Our world is only satisfied in itself
18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.”
When you suffer – you basically have two choices
1. Withdraw from God & possibly get mad at him
2. Cry out to God and find every reason to increase your faith
Most people chose #1 – but it gets them nowhere
God doesn't automatically end affliction in our lives – neither did he do it in Bible times
Can I say this? We have no right to blame God for our suffering – because of what Jesus did for us on the cross
2 Corinthians 4:17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison
But this hope is only for the believer...
Your afflictions are meant to drive you closer to God
That you recognize – God came down to Earth – humbled himself in all humility in a man's body – was tortured, and died on the cross
For your redemption
And we share in that suffering – so that we can share in his glory
But...your afflictions are only “light” and “momentary” if you place your faith in him