Jesus - A Matter of Life and Death: Matthew 10-11

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Good day, and welcome to stories of a faithful god. I'm Dave Whittingham. How important is Jesus to you? What value does he have in your life? Where does he rank in your list of priorities?

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If you're just checking Jesus out, the answer is probably pretty low, although high enough to be worth checking out. It's great to have you listening, and I hope that this podcast is really helpful for you as you consider Jesus. If you've already become a follower of Jesus, the answer should be pretty easy. Right? We love Jesus.

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He's the boss. If I say, do you love Jesus more than your car? You'll probably say, of course. If I say, do you love him more than your mobile phone? You might say, naturally.

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Although, if you're anything like me, you might say it with a guilty twinge as you think about how much time you spend on your phone. What if I ask, do you love Jesus more than you love your mother? Would that make a difference to your answer? What about more than your dad or your children if you have them? Do you love Jesus more than life itself?

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Let me read to you something Jesus says in the passage we're looking at in this episode. It's one of the most shocking things Jesus says in all four of our historical accounts of him. It's from Matthew chapter 10 verse thirty seven and thirty eight. Jesus says, the one who loves a father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. The one who loves a son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever doesn't take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

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That isn't the saying of your sweet, friendly cardboard cutout Jesus. I've heard someone quoted as calling Jesus a megalomaniac for saying that, which sounds about right. If I said to you, the one who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, you'd think I was crazy. I was a narcissist. It's the sort of thing you'd expect to hear from Adolf Hitler.

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And yet, I'd suggest, when Jesus says these words, it's completely different. When Jesus says these words, they're not only true, they're also incredibly good. Jesus says them for our good. He says them so that we can have real life and to save us from death. So let's consider the challenging words of Jesus and the role he should play in our life as I present to you our next episode of stories of a faithful god.

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At the end of our last episode, we saw Jesus' deep compassion for the crowds who were following him. He said they were like sheep without a shepherd. He longed for them all to hear the good news of the kingdom of heaven. He told his disciples to pray and ask God to send out more workers so more people could hear the good news. Now Jesus himself sends out his chosen 12 disciples to expand his work.

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The number 12 is significant. In the Old Testament, there were 12 tribes of Israel, the people God chose to bless the whole world through. Now as that blessing is fulfilled in Jesus, the true Israelite, he's establishing a new people of God starting with a new 12. Jesus sends them out with remarkable authority, authority to do what he's been doing, not just teaching, but doing amazing signs and wonders. Chapter 10 verse one of Matthew's gospel tells us, he gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to heal every disease and sickness.

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In verse eight, he's even gonna give them authority to raise the dead. As we'll see later on in chapter 11, these are all signs that God's kingdom has come, signs that it's now time to turn away from sin and enter that kingdom. A lot of people expect those same signs today because we have the same message, but there are a couple of problems with that. Firstly, Jesus is very specifically giving this authority to the 12, not to all believers or even all Christian leaders. Secondly, we actually already have these signs.

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We just experience them in a different way. The people in those days saw them. We get to read about them. The signs have already happened, and they've happened very specifically to point us to Jesus. If you want to know the most crucial monumental time in all of history, the time that affects your life most today even more than current events, it's the moment in time when all these signs were happening, and they all centered around Jesus.

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The 12 only have the power to do the signs because of Jesus. Matthew lists who the 12 are. Knowing who they are was significant back then because Jesus had lots of followers, a lot of disciples, and so he was specifically setting these 12 apart. It was also significant after Jesus died and rose and returned to heaven. People needed to know who was really worth listening to, who really understood Jesus' message and had the right to keep teaching it.

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As time went on and the 12 died, people still made sure that true Christian teaching matched up to the teaching of the 12. These men would come to be known as apostles. The word apostle just means sent ones. Jesus officially sends these guys. Much later on, he's also gonna add to their number by sending Paul, which is a whole another wonderful story.

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But if you know the statement of belief that's called the Apostles' Creed, it wasn't written by the apostles. Rather, it was an early attempt to summarize some of the teachings that came from the apostles because the apostles are the way we learn about Jesus. So Matthew gives us the names of these apostles. He says, first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew, his brother, James, the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother. These guys were the first disciples, the four fishermen Jesus called back in chapter four.

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James is actually gonna be the first of the 12 to be killed for telling people about Jesus. You can read about that in Acts chapter 12. Then we have Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax collector. We read about Jesus calling Matthew in the last episode. He's the one who wrote this gospel, and you can understand why he'd want to tell people about Jesus.

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He was saved from being a sinner, an outcast, and a traitor into this position of privilege. He knows firsthand the joy of the grace and kindness and compassion Jesus offers. I mean, all the apostles know that in one way or another, but we see it so clearly here in this story. Then we have James, the son of Alpheus and Thaddeus. That's the second James who's in the 12.

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There are James's all over the place. Jesus has a brother called James who's not one of the 12, but he does become the leader of the church in Jerusalem later on. Finally, there's Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot who also betrayed him. All the gospel writers who give this list of apostles end with that note about Judas Iscariot. It's both a warning of what's to come in the life of Jesus and also a reminder for later.

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When you listen to the 12, he's not one of them. In Acts chapter one, they actually replaced Judas, who's killed himself by that time, and they replace him with a man named Matthias. They wanna keep the symbolic number of 12. And although we don't hear about Matthias in the gospels, we are told in Acts that he hung out with Jesus and the 12 all the time, so he knows his stuff. Having gathered the 12, Jesus gives them their mission.

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It's a limited mission. It isn't the Great Commission that the gospel ends with, where Jesus will send his disciples to the entire world. Now this is a very specific mission to the Jews, what Jesus calls the lost sheep of Israel, because they are lost, not geographically lost. They're lost from God. They're completely unable to find their way back to him even though they're meant to have a special relationship with him.

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But now, like the good shepherd he is, Jesus is sending out workers to show them the way back. In verse five, he says to the 12, don't take the road that leads to the Gentiles, and don't enter any Samaritan town. Instead, go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, proclaim the kingdom of heaven has come near. Heal the sick.

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Raise the dead. Cleanse those with leprosy. Drive out demons. In other words, the signs will back up the message. They're the sorts of things you'd expect to see when the kingdom of heaven is coming near, the kingdom that God promised to establish, the kingdom that'll last forever, a kingdom of peace and joy.

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Jesus isn't rejecting non Jewish people. It's just that the blessing, the invitation goes first to the chosen people of Israel, the ones who have the Old Testament, and so the ones who have the prophecies foretelling the coming of the kingdom. Virtually all the first believers are Jews, and from them, the good news will go out. Jesus is very clear with the 12 that he's not sending them out to get rich or to make any kind of profit. He says in verse eight, freely you received, freely give.

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Don't acquire gold, silver, or copper for your money belts. Don't take a traveling bag for the road or an extra shirt, sandals, a staff, for the worker is worthy of his food. When you enter any town or village, find out who is worthy and stay there until you leave. Jesus also makes it clear that not everyone's gonna like the message they bring. He doesn't want them to stay in a town begging people to accept Jesus if they're stubborn.

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This is a moment in time, an urgent time, a time for getting the message out as quickly as possible. You don't wanna waste time with people who don't wanna listen. He says in verse 14, if anyone does not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that house or town. Truly, I tell you, it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town. The coming of the kingdom of heaven brings peace and forgiveness for those who enter, but it'll also bring justice.

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That's why Jesus has been inviting people to repent and turn away from sin. When the kingdom comes, you wanna be forgiven, not standing guilty before the judge. The Jews of Jesus' day should know that. How much more information do they have about God and the coming king than the people of Sodom and Gomorrah ever did? They have the law, the prophets.

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They're now the first to get the news and signs about Jesus. But if they reject Jesus, it'll be worse for them than for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. Don't misunderstand. The people of Sodom and Gomorrah were evil people. If you've forgotten the story, you can read it in Genesis eighteen and nineteen.

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Abraham bargained with God for these cities. He said, surely surely you won't destroy them if there are 50 righteous people in the towns. And God said, sure. I will save the entire area for their sake. And then Abraham goes to 45 and then 40, 30, 20, 10.

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And each time, God says, yes. I will save the towns even if there are only that amount of righteous people in there. But even then, the small number couldn't be found. The cities were riddled with evil. In fact, the men of one of the towns tried to rape the angels God sent to check things out.

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And so God judged them and destroyed them. And yet it'll be so much worse for the Jewish towns and cities where people reject the salvation on offer in Jesus. As the 12 go on their mission, Jesus warns that the opposition against them will be violent. They'll be treated as criminals. Jesus doesn't hold back.

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He describes how dramatic the opposition will be. And here, at least, it sounds like he's warning them not just about this limited mission, but also about their broader mission to come. He talks about how they'll witness to the Gentiles, which says the limited mission is only for a limited time. In verse 16, he says, look. I'm sending you out like sheep among wolves.

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Therefore, be as shrewd as serpents and as innocent as doves. Beware of them because they will hand you over to local courts and flog you in their synagogues. You will even be brought before governors and kings because of me to bear witness to them and to the Gentiles. It's easy to read over that quickly, but can you imagine the fear and hurt that comes from being turned on by your own community? People who you think, these are my people, but instead they flog you and hand you over to law courts and to people who can have you put to death.

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In that situation, it would be tempting to preempt their violence and evil with your own violence and evil, to gather supporters around you who protect you, to use lies or bribes or political underhandedness to try and get ahead of the game. But Jesus firmly says no. You 12 are not to play the game like the world plays the game. Yes. Be as shrewd as serpents.

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Don't be fools. That's why you see in acts, the apostles often walk away from opposition when they get the chance. It's not wrong to be shrewd as long as it's matched with the innocence of doves. When people bring charges against them, they mustn't have a case against them. Their only crime should be that they've told people the good news about Jesus.

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That's why the apostle Paul says, we have renounced secret and shameful things, not acting deceitfully or distorting the word of God, but commending ourselves before God to everyone's conscience by an open display of the truth. That's two Corinthians chapter four verse two. So they must be innocent. As well as being tempted to be underhanded, they'll also be tempted to be afraid. I mean, it makes sense, doesn't it?

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Being arrested, flogged, put on trial in front of kings and governors, that's pretty intimidating. In that situation, I can imagine my brain just freezing up, and I wouldn't be able to say anything valuable. But Jesus comforts the 12. He says in verse 19, but when they hand you over, don't worry about how or what you are to speak, for you will be given what to say at that hour because it isn't you speaking, but the spirit of your father is speaking through you. In other words, God's sending you on this mission.

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He's in charge of the mission. He'll make sure the mission works. Rest in him. When you feel abandoned by everyone around you, God hasn't abandoned you. It's so important to remember that because they will be abandoned by everyone.

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Jesus doesn't sugarcoat it. He tells them plainly, it's gonna get as bad as it's possible to get. He says in verse 21, brother will betray brother to death and a father his child. Children will rise up against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by everyone because of my name.

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But... And this is what makes it all worth it. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. This is not an easy mission. People who make a stand for Jesus will lose friendships.

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They'll even have family members turn on them. And I've known people who have said, that's too much for me. They'd prefer to maintain that relationship with their child or parent or friend than maintain their relationship with Jesus. But Jesus is the only one who can save you in the end. We're so good at only looking at what's directly in front of us right now.

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It's worth remembering, though. The friendship of Jesus will never end, but all other friendships in hell will end. Hell is where you're shut out from God and his glory and every good thing that comes from him, like friendship and kindness and love. You may be in hell with your friends, but they won't be your friends. You may be in hell with your loved ones, but you won't love them and they won't love you.

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With Jesus, though, in eternity, you'll gain more friendships than you ever thought possible. You'll be a part of God's family that'll be closer than anything you've ever experienced, and you'll know the love of God which is so high and wide and deep that it's unfathomable. The friendship of Jesus is worth more than we can possibly imagine. In this world, though, you will face rejection. In verse 24, Jesus says, a disciple is not above his teacher or a slave above his master.

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It is enough for a disciple to become like his teacher and a slave like his master. If they called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household? Beelzebul is another name for Satan or the devil, the prince of demons. In the last chapter, we actually heard the Pharisees say that Jesus had the power of the prince of demons. So if that's how they treat Jesus, it isn't gonna be any better for his disciples.

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The rejection faced by the 12 must not slow them down, though. There's an urgency to their mission. Jesus tells them in verse 23, when they persecute you in one town, flee to another. For truly, I tell you, you will not have gone through the towns of Israel before the son of man comes. Jesus is referring to the great prophecy in Daniel chapter seven.

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Daniel describes the day of judgment where God sits on his judgment seat and destroys the evil rulers of the world. Then in verse 13, he says, I continued watching in the night visions, and suddenly, one like a son of man was coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the ancient of days, that's God, and was escorted before him. He was given dominion and glory and a kingdom so that those of every people, nation, and language should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will not be destroyed.

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Now if this son of man is coming to receive his kingdom, then that means the judgment is coming as well, and the people need to be warned. Are they going to stand with the son of man or against him? And yet there's a confusion that can come here. We think of the judgment day and the end of the world happening when Jesus comes again. There's even an old hymn, low, he comes with clouds descending, tying this passage, the coming of the son of man, to the end of the world.

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And if you only had the Old Testament, that's exactly what you'd expect. You'd expect everything to happen at once. The judgment of God's enemies, the salvation of God's people, the arrival of the king. The New Testament expands on that, though. What seemed like one event when it was far off, When you look closer, it's actually two events or at least one event spread over a very long time.

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A bit like if you see a tree in the distance, but as you get closer and look from a slightly different angle, you see it's a whole row of trees. It's the same with the end of the world. It starts with Jesus' first coming and will end with his second coming. If you go to the end of Matthew's gospel where Jesus gives the great commission, where he sends out the disciples into all the world, he's able to do that for a very specific reason. He says in Matthew 28 verse 20, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.

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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, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. You see, by that stage, after Jesus has died and been raised to life, the son of man has come. He's come before the throne of God condemned by humans, but exonerated and given all authority by God. He has all authority in heaven and on earth. His kingdom is established.

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The judgment of the world has come on him at the cross. By raising him to life, God was announcing to the universe that he is the eternal king. And yet there's still a judgment to come, and there's still a day coming when every eye will see Jesus and acknowledge him as lord. The mission of the 12 now, though, is still urgent because they're calling on the Israelites now to recognize their Christ, their Messiah now, to not miss what's happening right in front of them, but instead turn and be saved. And so the 12 must go urgently to the lost sheep of Israel, go to preach and suffer and be rejected and be beaten.

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As they go, they must not be afraid of those people who are gonna treat them like that. I mean, seriously, what can those people do to them? The most they can do, the worst possible thing is kill them, which is nothing. Jesus says in verse 28, don't fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul. Rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

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What is death when you serve the king who can raise you to life? Or what is life when it's a life lived in opposition to the one who can throw you into hell for all eternity? They should fear the one who's actually worth fearing, not those who can only kill the body, but the one who can cast you into hell. But, of course, if you do fear God, you have nothing to fear, not even from God. Rather, you're safe in his love and care.

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In verse 29, Jesus says, aren't two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your father's consent. But even the hairs of your head have all been counted. So don't be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows.

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Therefore, anyone who will acknowledge me before others, I will also acknowledge him before my father in heaven, but whoever denies me before others, I will also deny him before my father in heaven. In other words, there's no fence sitting here. You're either with Jesus or against him. If you're trying to sit on the fence, you're against him. If you're for him, though, you're for God.

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Jesus is the only one who can keep you safe here and in eternity. His kingdom is the only one that'll last. Your country that you live in now will be short lived, but Christ's kingdom will endure. Your family, your friendships, they can only endure if they stand with Jesus, which means they won't all endure. In verse 34, Jesus says, don't assume that I came to bring peace on the earth.

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I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and a man's enemies will be the members of his household. Those are difficult words to hear, and we need to hear them in the context of what Jesus is saying to the 12. He isn't saying he's against relationships. In fact, there are lots of ways that becoming a follower of Jesus will strengthen your relationships.

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Jesus isn't saying he's come to be a mischief maker, causing chaos for chaos' sake. He doesn't enjoy civil war. Rather, Jesus is describing what happens when people have to choose between Jesus or sin, whether they'll submit to the authority of Jesus or try to snatch that authority themselves. Will they acknowledge his crown or try to wear the crown themselves? As that choice is laid before people, they'll go in different ways.

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And it isn't like people disagreeing on whether a movie was good or not. This is choosing which side of a war you're going to be on. And when people choose different sides, it'll be painful. But the painful choice has to be made, which brings us to the words we started the episode with. In verse 37, Jesus says, the one who loves a father or mother more than me is not worthy of me.

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The one who loves a son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever doesn't take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. And then here's a bit I didn't read out before. Jesus continues, anyone who finds his life will lose it, and anyone who loses his life because of me will find it. You see, Jesus is the only one who can give life. He's the king of all the universe.

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All authority in heaven and on earth belong to him. He isn't an egocentric megalomaniac. He's the one who rightfully has the authority to rule, And it's so good that he's the ruler. Just think about what we've seen in him throughout the gospel. Love, compassion, power, wisdom.

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He rescues the weak, loves the outcast, gives hope to the hopeless, and life to the dead. There is no one else you'd want as king of the universe. And yet to follow him in this life will mean pain and suffering, and for some, even death. As Jesus says, though, anyone who loses his life because of me will find it. As we said before, what is death when you serve the one who gives eternal life?

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It's nothing but sleep. On the other hand, what's death when you reject Jesus? It's the loss of everything. Your family, your friends, your career, your retirement plans, everything. The missionary Jim Elliot wrote these words.

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He said, he's no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. He wrote those words not too long before he was killed by the very people he was trying to tell about Jesus. He died perhaps a few decades before he would have died anyway, but because he put his hope in Jesus, he'll live forever. It isn't just about a person's relationship with Jesus, though.

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I mean, at its heart, it is, but that'll actually flow out into how people treat the ambassadors that Jesus sends out. You can't say, I love Jesus, but I hate Matthew and his gospel, or I love Jesus, but I hate the apostle Paul. In verse 40, Jesus says to the 12, the one who welcomes you welcomes me, and the one who welcomes me welcomes him who sent me. Anyone who welcomes a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and anyone who welcomes a righteous person because he's righteous will receive a righteous person's reward. And whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he's a disciple, truly I tell you, he will never lose his reward.

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You see how intimately Jesus is tied to his disciples, how closely he identifies with his people. It doesn't mean you can be kind to followers of Jesus while rejecting Jesus himself. Rather, how you treat Christians will be an outworking of how you treat Christ. At the moment, we can't physically see Christ, but we do see his people. Jesus loves his people, and if we love him, we'll love his people too.

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Chapter 11 begins with an unexpected wobble from someone who you expect is 100% team Jesus. The wobble comes from John the Baptist. When John had baptized Jesus back in chapter three, he'd recognized Jesus as greater than him, as the one he'd been preparing people for. Now John's faced exactly the sort of persecution Jesus has just warned his disciples about, not for speaking about Jesus specifically, but for telling king Herod Antipas that God's not really happy with him for making off with his brother's wife. Kings don't often like having their moral life called into question, so he's locked John up.

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As John's wasting away in prison for doing exactly the job God gave him to do, he starts to hear stories. News is passed to him of the sorts of things Jesus is getting up to, and John gets a little worried. It seems Jesus isn't doing all the things John expects. Has he jumped the gun in calling Jesus the Christ, the coming king? Has he put his hope in the wrong person?

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John sends a message through his disciples to Jesus. We hear it in chapter 11 verse three. It says, are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else? Notice John isn't rejecting Jesus. He's just unsure.

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He still trusts Jesus enough to ask him the question, and it's the sort of question which, if you're sitting in prison with a serious danger of having your head cut off, feels kind of urgent. You really want to know who the savior is. Matthew doesn't tell us what Jesus isn't doing that John expects him to do. If we think about Jesus as the son of man, though, or as the Christ, you'd expect him to establish God's kingdom, God's rule. And if you have a purely Old Testament perspective, you expect that to be a geographical kingdom with Jerusalem at its center.

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The New Testament helps us to understand the picture in a clearer way, though. This is another way the promised end time event stretches out into a long event once you're closer to it. So Jesus will establish a geographical, physical kingdom. But as we read in Revelation, that physical kingdom will be in the new creation with a new Jerusalem that'll come down out of heaven. It's sad that even today, some Christians still think establishing the kingdom of God revolves around the modern state of Israel and the old Jerusalem at its center.

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For John, though, who doesn't have the New Testament, you can understand his nervousness. Jesus replies to John by demonstrating to his disciples what he's been doing. In verse four, he says to them, go and report to John what you see and hear. The blind receive their sight. The lame walk.

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Those with leprosy are cleansed. The deaf hear. The dead are raised, and the poor are told the good news. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me. How does that help answer John's question?

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It's because those are exactly the sorts of things the Old Testament says you'll see when God comes to save his people. The prophet Isaiah spoke about it. Let me read to you Isaiah 35 starting from partway through verse two. Isaiah says, they will see the glory of the lord, the splendor of our god. Strengthen the weak hands.

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Steady the shaking knees. Say to the cowardly, be strong. Do not fear. Here is your god. Vengeance is coming.

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God's retribution is coming. He will save you. Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will sing for joy. For water will gush out in the wilderness and streams in the desert.

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The parched ground will become a pool, and the thirsty land springs. In the haunt of jackals, in their lairs, there'll be grass, reeds, and papyrus. A road will be there and a way. It will be called the holy way. The unclean will not travel on it, but it will be for the one who walks the path.

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Fools will not wander on it. There will be no lion there, and no vicious beast will go up on it. They will not be found there. But the redeemed will walk on it, and the ransomed of the Lord will return and come to Zion with singing, crowned with unending joy. Joy and gladness will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee.

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That's pretty fantastic news for God's people. And Jesus is pointing John to that passage and saying, look. It's happening just like God said it would. And did you notice how he finished? He said, blessed is the one who isn't offended by me.

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In other words, John, don't panic. Don't turn away. Don't be offended if it doesn't look exactly like you expect. Blessing is coming. Hold fast.

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Just like he said in the last chapter, the one who endures to the end will be saved. Jesus is bringing good, so stick with him. John's disciples head back with the answer, and Jesus turns to the crowd around him. He wants them to understand the importance and significance of John. Just like he wants John to understand the time he's in, Jesus wants the crowd to understand the time they're in.

[00:39:34] - [Speaker 0]
And just like the miracles were a sign for John, John himself is a sign for the crowd. It's worth remembering people had flocked to see John from all over Judea and Galilee. In fact, in the book of Acts, Paul finds disciples of John up in Ephesus in modern day Turkey, which should give you some idea of the impact of John's ministry. So Jesus asks the crowd in verse seven, what did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swaying in the wind?

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What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothes? See, those who wear soft clothes are in royal palaces. What then did you go out to see? A prophet?

[00:40:18] - [Speaker 0]
Yes. I tell you in more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written, see. I'm sending my messenger ahead of you. He will prepare your way before you.

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Jesus is referencing Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament. Malachi speaks of this messenger coming before the arrival of God. God will come to judge those who are against him and save those who trust him. In Malachi four verse one, we're told, for look, the day is coming burning like a furnace when all the arrogant and everyone who commits wickedness will become stubble. The coming day will consume them, says the lord of armies, not leaving them root or branches.

[00:41:04] - [Speaker 0]
But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings, and you will go out and playfully jump like calves from the stall. Before that happens, this messenger will come. Right at the end of the book, Malachi says that this messenger will be Elijah. He'll prepare people for God's coming. And the way you prepare people is by calling them to repent, turn away from sin and back to God, which is exactly what John's been doing.

[00:41:39] - [Speaker 0]
God says in the very last verse of the Old Testament, look, I am going to send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes, and he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse. Now back in Matthew, Jesus tells the crowd in verse 14, if you're willing to accept it, he, John, is the Elijah who is to come. Let everyone who has ears listen. Jesus is showing the urgent need for a response.

[00:42:21] - [Speaker 0]
John came to prepare people, and now God's come in Jesus. And while it isn't the moment of the final judgment, in a sense, it is a time for their judgment. They don't get the next two thousand years to consider what to do. They have Jesus standing right in front of them now. They need to make a decision now.

[00:42:46] - [Speaker 0]
Sadly, so many are missing their moment. They've mocked John the Baptist, and they've mocked Jesus. In the weird, sad irony of sin, they've actually mocked them for opposite things. John, they treat as a party pooper. Jesus, they treat as a guy that parties too hard.

[00:43:06] - [Speaker 0]
They refuse to be satisfied no matter how the messenger of truth comes. They simply don't wanna hear the truth. Jesus says in verse 16, to what should I compare this generation? It's like children in the marketplace who call out to the other children, we played the flute for you, but you didn't dance. We sang a lament, but you didn't mourn.

[00:43:27] - [Speaker 0]
For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, oh, he has a demon. The son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, look. A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners. Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds. People often think they're so clever in their mockery of Jesus and Christianity.

[00:43:49] - [Speaker 0]
They use big, clever sounding words and arguments. When you look carefully at what they're saying, though, it's ridiculous. They're like children teasing someone. You know what children do when they've picked their mark. They'll say, do this.

[00:44:03] - [Speaker 0]
And if the person does it, they'll say, no. No. No. We don't want you to do that. There's no way for the person to win because the kids just wanna have fun teasing them.

[00:44:13] - [Speaker 0]
That's like people's excuses for rejecting Jesus. People will say whatever comes into their head. And if they're shown to be wrong, they find some other excuse not to believe. Not believing in Jesus is deadly, though, especially especially when you've been given an abundance of evidence. There's a common feeling that if only Jesus would do as many miracles today as he did back then, more people would become Christian.

[00:44:44] - [Speaker 0]
Sadly, that just isn't true. And we know because it wasn't true two thousand years ago. The people around Galilee see more from Jesus than anyone else in all of history, and still so many reject him. They refuse to repent and turn back to God, and it's a disaster. Jesus calls out to some of the towns where he's been doing lots of his miracles in verse 21, and he says, woe to you, Chorazin.

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Woe to you, Bethsaida. For if the miracles that were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented in sackcloth and ashes long ago. But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No.

[00:45:35] - [Speaker 0]
You will go down to Hades. For if the miracles that were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until today. But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you. They had the Old Testament, the law, and the prophets. They had the warnings of John the Baptist calling them to repent, and they had God himself among them in Jesus proving himself time and time again, and they still didn't repent.

[00:46:07] - [Speaker 0]
And so on the judgment day, the people who are known throughout history as the embodiment of evil, the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, will have it better than them. In the condemnation Jesus has just announced, it's clear that the people and towns that have rejected him are responsible for their rejection. They need to own it. They don't have any excuses. There's no one else to blame for their failure.

[00:46:54] - [Speaker 0]
It's their sin and their sin alone. And yet, in the very next verse, Jesus prays, and what he prays seems extraordinary, perhaps even shocking, certainly hard to understand in light of what he's just said. Have a listen from verse 25. Jesus says, I praise you, father, lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and revealed them to infants. Yes, father, because this was your good pleasure.

[00:47:29] - [Speaker 0]
On the one hand, people are guilty for rejecting Jesus. On the other hand, they've rejected Jesus because the Lord of heaven has hidden the truth from them. What's going on? Sin is all about trying to take control from God for yourself. That's the nature of sin.

[00:47:50] - [Speaker 0]
So the sinful heart says, I want to decide whether I want Jesus or not. I don't want God to tell me I need Jesus or to make me want Jesus. And so in that sense, these people really are rejecting Jesus in their sinful hearts. They really are deciding against him, and they really are responsible for that decision. Of course, one of the lies of sin is the lie that it sets you free, free from God, free from his authority, free to make your own decisions.

[00:48:22] - [Speaker 0]
Actually, what sin does is enslave you to sin. It traps you into making sinful choices. You're unable to break out of it. In Ephesians two, Paul talks about how people without Christ are dead in sin. Dead people don't make free decisions.

[00:48:40] - [Speaker 0]
A dead dog floating down a river never decides to swim upriver or to the edge of the river. It just floats wherever the river takes it. It's the same with sinful people, which means left to ourselves, none of us would repent and choose to follow Jesus. None of us would realize that we need Jesus in order to have life. None of us would reject sin and call Christ our lord.

[00:49:09] - [Speaker 0]
Every single human who's ever lived would die in our sin unless God saved us, unless God opens our eyes to the truth and changes our hearts so that we want to choose Jesus, unless he so transforms our outlook that we wouldn't want any outcome other than to accept Jesus Christ as lord. How wonderful and amazing that God would do that for his enemies. In Jesus' ministry, he's done that in such a way as to destroy another one of the great lies of sin, the lie that we're clever enough to think our way into the good life, to work out the world for ourselves, to understand and perceive things to such a degree that we can be masters of our own fate. Actually, sin stops you from seeing the truth. You're blinded by lies that makes you foolish even if you appear very wise and clever.

[00:50:15] - [Speaker 0]
And Jesus is so thankful that his father's hidden the truth from the people who think they're so clever. He's excited that the truth's been shown to those who know they need help. It highlights the goodness of humbly relying on God, and it shuns the arrogance of self determination. Think of the Pharisees. They're among the most learned people of the day.

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And in all their study and learning and wisdom and insight, what have they concluded about Jesus? That he's from the devil. They have no idea. But the humble fishermen, the sinners, the weak, the blind, they're the ones who see. They're who God's revealed the truth to.

[00:51:03] - [Speaker 0]
And what wonderful truth, the truth of who Jesus really is, a man but more than a man, God the son in human form, the truth that in Jesus, we can know God. He isn't distant or foreign or unknowable. In Jesus, we see his character, his love, what he finds joy in, what he hates, his wisdom and justice and grace and faithfulness. And so if we want to know God, we need Jesus. Not any other religious leader.

[00:51:35] - [Speaker 0]
It isn't choose your own adventure. Jesus is the key. In verse 27, he says, all things have been entrusted to me by my father. No one knows the son except the father, and no one knows the father except the son and anyone to whom the son desires to reveal him. So if you know God, it's only because of Jesus, and you should give thanks to him for it.

[00:52:05] - [Speaker 0]
If you trust Jesus, it's because the father's revealed your need for him, and you should thank him for that. If you want to know God, if you want to know the freedom that only he can give, if you want to be saved from the lies and saved from death and have real full life, you need to come to Jesus. There is no other way. Thankfully, Jesus wants you to come. He stretches his arms out wide and gives the invitation to those who know they need help, to those who know they can't have true life on their own, to those who are tired and worn out from the burden of trying to live without the one who gives life.

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In verse 28, Jesus says, come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you'll find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. That's the best offer you'll ever get. Coming to Jesus isn't a burden.

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It's a joy. It isn't a weight. It's a lifting of the weight. It isn't hard work. It's rest.

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If you aren't yet a follower of Jesus, take up his offer now. Turn away from sin and ask him to take your guilt, your burden, your sin on himself. Ask him to carry you because he can do what you can't. If you are a follower of Jesus, as the temptations come to give up on him, to value other people and other things more than him, Remember the joy that only he can give. Remember how good it is that in him, we know the truth.

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In him, we have life. In him, we have God. In him, we have rest. In him, we have eternity. In him, we have a humble king who holds us and will never let us go.

[00:54:18] - [Speaker 0]
So stick with Jesus. Thanks so much for listening, everyone. If the episode has raised any questions or you want to pass on a comment, I'd love to hear from you. You can head to the contact page at my website, faithfulgod.net. That's faithfulgod.net.

[00:54:48] - [Speaker 0]
Something else you can do at faithfulgod.net is make a donation. If you appreciate this ministry and want to see it grow and expand, I'd love your help. You can donate a one off small amount. If you just want to give a dollar an episode, that's totally fine. You can also set up an ongoing donation to help me going forward.

[00:55:07] - [Speaker 0]
We're gonna take a break from Matthew's gospel for a while. In the next series, we're gonna jump back into one Samuel in the Old Testament. We covered the first half last year in episodes 36 to 40. If you wanna get your head back in that space, you can go back and listen. We left with God having just given victory to David over Goliath.

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In the next part of the story, we're gonna hear how David's hunted and threatened by King Saul and how our faithful God protects and sustains him. It's a time period where David wrote a lot of his psalms, asking God for help and remembering his faithfulness. It should be lots of fun to get into. Finally, one last request from me. If you're enjoying the show, it would really help if you could leave a written review on whatever listening platform you use.

[00:55:55] - [Speaker 0]
It means the app recommends the podcast more to other listeners, and so you help the pod grow. For now, keep trusting Jesus, and we'll talk again soon.