12/11/22 Sermon Matthew 11:2-11 "Everlasting Joy" 17 Minutes

Matthew 11:2-11

This morning I'll be reading Matthew chapter 11 verses 2 through 11. And I'll be reading from the Holman Christian Standard Bible. Matthew 11:2-11 In verse 1,,, Jesus has just finished His instructions to the disciples as He sends them out to the cities of Israel to heal the sick,,, rase the dead,,, cleanse those with skin disease,,, drive out demons,,, etc.… and Jesus has gone to the town of Galilee to teach and preach where John sends his two disciples to ask Jesus if He was the Messiah! Matthew 11:2–11 (HCSB) 2 When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent a message by his disciples 3 and asked Him, “Are You the One who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” 4 Jesus replied to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see: 5 the blind see, the lame walk, those with skin diseases are healed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor are told the good news. 6 And if anyone is not offended because of Me, he is blessed.” 7 As these men went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swaying in the wind? 8 What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothes? Look, those who wear soft clothes are in kings’ palaces. 9 But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and far more than a prophet. 10 This is the one it is written about: Look, I am sending My messenger ahead of You; he will prepare Your way before You. 11 “I assure you: Among those born of women no one greater than John the Baptist has appeared, but the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. The word of God for the people of God,,, thanks be to God! God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning. Let us pray: Dear Lord,,, as we begin this morning,,, with everyone here today and all that are listening and watching by video,,, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen. ___________________________________ Last Sunday was the second Sunday of Advent and we lit the candle of Peace.

And I hope that you remember the words that were spoken during the reading,,, We light these candles, the candle of joyful hope and the candle of proclaimed peace, in part to remind ourselves that we are a people rising toward God’s promise.

But we also light them as a sign to the world, an announcement there are some who hold on to hope and there are some who work the ways of peace.

We stand as a sign that Emmanuel is still our fervent prayer.

We are looking back to the birth of Christ,,, the blessings of Christ in our lives today,,, and,,, we are also looking to the future,,, the glorious return of our Savior and Lord!

We watch and do our best to see the “hope” in this world,,, while holding on,,, to the sure “hope” that we have,,, in Jesus Christ,,, that also gives us the “proclaimed Peace” that we experience,,, no matter what.

This morning we lit the candle of “everlasting joy” so that all will know that we walk with a skip in our step because we can see the destination,,, and because of that,,, it is pure joy,,, as we are ascending to God’s promise.

Last week we also looked at Romans 15:4-13 and seen that Paul makes it clear to the people of Rome that the only way that they can truly experience “hope” and “peace”,,, is through the blessings that they receive from God!

That’s true for us as well!

And we have the chance to receive those blessings,,, because of Jesus Christ,,, and all that He did for us.

This morning we will look at these verses in Matthew and see how they help us in our walk with God this week.

___________________________________ Verses 2 and 3 say: 2 When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent a message by his disciples 3 and asked Him, “Are You the One who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”

John is in prison as we know from Matthew 14:3-4 that says: “For Herod had arrested John, chained him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, since John had been telling him, “It’s not lawful for you to have her!”

John is waiting,,, and,,, truthfully,,, John definitely knew,,, when Jesus came to him for baptism,,, that Jesus was the Messiah.

The Spirit descending and the voice from heaven made that clear.

But John didn’t yet understand what kind of Messiah Jesus was,,, he didn’t understand the way that the kingdom would be introduced.

John said in Matthew 3:12 “His winnowing shovel is in His hand, and He will clear His threshing floor and gather His wheat into the barn. But the chaff He will burn up with fire that never goes out.”

In other words,,, John expected the Messiah to come in judgment,,, rewarding the faithful,,, and punishing the wicked.

He didn’t yet realize that Jesus came the first time to teach,,, heal,,, and finally,,, suffer and die,,, for the sins of the world,,, for the benefit of all that would accept Him as their Lord and Savior today.

Only when Jesus returns a second time will he execute the kind of judgment that John expected,,, or was looking for at that time.

Because John didn’t realize this,,, maybe,,, he didn’t expect that he would be put in prison by King Herod when he challenged him to become a more godly ruler.

John probably thought that either Herod would repent,,, as so many had already done in response to his preaching,,, or else,,, God would “start at the top” and judge and punish Herod for his defiance.

Instead,,, Herod threw John in prison and he was held there,,, locked up,,, when he was used to the wide open spaces,,, wondering what was happening,,, or going to happen?

Not what you would expect for the one that was to prepare the world for Jesus,,, who was supposed to come,,, with his winnowing shovel in his hand!

So John sent messengers to Jesus to ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”

In other words,,, “Was I wrong,,, to say that you were the Messiah?”

And we see Jesus’ answer in the next few verses.

___________________________________ Verses 4 through 6 say: 4 Jesus replied to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see: 5 the blind see, the lame walk, those with skin diseases are healed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor are told the good news. 6 And if anyone is not offended because of Me, he is blessed.”

Jesus doesn’t answer with a straight yes or no.

The works that He tells the disciples,,, come from the prophecy of Isaiah 35:5-6 and Isaiah 61:1 “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 in the wilderness, and streams in the desert;” 61:1: “The Spirit of the Lord God is on Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners;”

This prophecy would have been familiar to John,,, and the disciples.

These words should show John,,, that Jesus is the Promised Messiah,,, and they will reassure John,,, and the disciples of that fact,,, as they deal with their doubts,,, during this time!

___________________________________ Verses 7 through 10 say: 7 As these men went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swaying in the wind? 8 What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothes? Look, those who wear soft clothes are in kings’ palaces. 9 But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and far more than a prophet. 10 This is the one it is written about: Look, I am sending My messenger ahead of You; he will prepare Your way before You.

Jesus speaks to the crowd to let them know the type of man that John really was,,, and remind them that John was the messenger that was sent to prepare the way for Jesus’ ministry.

And the next verse lets us know how great of a prophet he was.

___________________________________ Verse 11 says: 11 “I assure you: Among those born of women no one greater than John the Baptist has appeared, but the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

John was called the greatest by Jesus because,,, he was chosen by God to personally prepare the world for Christ’s arrival.

John was also the “greatest” in that he preached with the power of Elijah (Luke 1:17; 3:7–18),,, and he shared many qualities with Elijah,,, including calling a nation to repentance,,, rebuking the king,,, and continuing in the face of public misunderstanding and malicious persecution (Matthew 11:16–18; Mark 6:14–19).

But,,, Jesus also said,,, but the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

John Wesley said as he quoted an ancient author,,, John was greater than all who had been then born of women, but he was cut off before the kingdom of heaven was given.”

“He was blameless, as to that righteousness which is by the law; but he fell short of those who are perfected by the spirit of life which is in Christ.

Whosoever therefore is least in the kingdom of heaven, by Christian regeneration, is greater than any who has attained only the righteousness of the law, because the law maketh nothing perfect.”

It may farther mean, the least true Christian believer, has a more perfect knowledge of Jesus Christ, of his redemption and kingdom, than John the Baptist had; who died before the full manifestation of the Gospel.

___________________________________ We can see that John was chosen by God,,, given a job to do that he carried out to the best of his ability,,, and yet,,, he still ends up in prison,,, with doubts and questions!

When we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior,,, some times,,, we may be left with our own doubts and questions.

The world that we live in is riddled with sin,,, and we must live with the problems that has created.

That’s where our questions and doubts need to go to Christ!

He can comfort us,,, even while we don’t fully understand what is happening at the time.

We can learn from the example of John,,, by being sure that we do like him and seek Jesus to answer our questions and doubts,,, instead of letting satan guide our thoughts and actions in ways that he will always try to do to make us doubt.

You see,,, our deep and “everlasting joy” comes from the assurance that we have as children of God,,, because of everything that Jesus did for us when He died on the cross for our sins!

As it was stated during the reading earlier,,, This morning we lit the candle of “everlasting joy” so that all will know that we walk with a skip in our step because we can see the destination,,, and because of that,,, it is pure joy,,, as we are ascending to God’s promise.

God loves us,,, and we know that even when we doubt and question what is happening,,, like John,,, we trust in the answer that we get,,, from Jesus Christ,,, our Lord and Savior,,, as we are ascending,,, to God’s promise,,, and continue to experience that “everlasting joy” as we continue our advent journey,,, towards the celebration of Jesus’ birth!

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