23 12.15

INTRODUCTION

You’ve heard such phrases as:

Take me to your leader

Who’s in charge here

People not only want to know who is in charge, they want to be in charge. We know this happens on the world stage where there have been countries that have tried to dominate the world, but it also happens at every level below that all the way down to the family. If you’ve had a two-year-old running around the house you’ve seen it even there. Two-year-olds (AKA, the terrible twos) are trying to demonstrate their independence.

They need to know who is in charge. They need to know it’s not them and they need to know there are boundaries.

In his gospel Matthew is showing that Jesus is king. Jesus is in charge and has authority. Throughout the gospel Matthew shows how that authority is challenged. Last week we saw how the authority of Jesus was challenged when his disciples were plucking heads of wheat on the Sabbath. His authority was challenged when the Pharisees brought to Jesus a man whose hand was crippled and asked Jesus if it was lawful to heal the man on the Sabbath.

Of course the ultimate challenge to his authority will take place when they send Jesus to the cross.

SERMON

How do those in positions of power act? They want everyone to know they have power. They want everyone to know they are in control. For example, think about what happens when the President walks into a room. Everyone has been prepared in advance. Everyone knows he is coming. He rarely arrives on time. If someone is going to have to wait it’s not going to be him. When he enters the band strikes up “Hail to the Chief.” There’s a lot of pomp and circumstance to make the most of the President. It’s all drummed up to make him look like he’s in charge and has a lot of power.

But how did Jesus do it? Our passage tonight is from Matthew 12. Matthew is going to quote from Isaiah 42. It’s the longest Old Testament quote found in Matthew’s gospel. In this prophecy Isaiah describes the humility of Jesus and the stance the religious leaders continue to take against him.

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Can you imagine how different things would have been if Jesus had wanted to gather large crowds. If Jesus had loved the attention and applause, he easily could have had thousands clamoring after him. He could easily have amassed a good size army of followers who would have been willing to fight for him and even to die for him.

Instead, what we see is Jesus trying not to make a big deal of his presence. He wanted people to believe in him, but he wasn’t trying to whip up crowds into an emotional frenzy. He wanted them to follow him, but he wanted them to do so for the right reason. Therefore, we see him trying to diminish what he’s doing when he has the opportunity to do the opposite.

For example, in our passage we’re told about Jesus healing we read how Jesus tells them not to tell anyone about him. He could have used that healing as an opportunity to make himself well known, but it seems he would rather stay almost anonymous.

That’s because Jesus isn’t trying to make a big show. His actions, his statements, and the prophesy from Isaiah backs this up. Unlike too many preachers today, Jesus was not trying to draw a lot attention to himself. When demons try to say who he is Jesus forbids them. When Jesus heals someone his first comment is “Don’t tell anyone.”

By this time we might dived the people into three groups. Just about everyone has heard about Jesus, his teachings, and the miracles he’d been performing. As a result, everyone had begun to form an opinion about who he is.

The first was made up of those who were for Jesus. These are the ones who believed Jesus to be from God. We know about the twelve, but it’s easy for us to overlook th others. After Jesus is crucified we read about Joseph of Arimathea who asked for his body in order to bury it. We read about some women who traveled with Jesus. Some of them had influential husbands and they financially helped to support Jesus’ ministry. Some of these women went to the tomb early Sunday morning to finish the burial preparations. There were the two unnamed followers of Jesus that he met with on the road to Emmaus. And then there were many others who had followed Jesus during his ministry, two of which had been with Jesus during his ministry though only two – Justus and Matthias – had been with Jesus from the beginning. In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul refers to the more than five hundred believers Jesus appeared to before his ascension. The point is we don’t know how many followers Jesus had. We don’t know how many had firmly placed their faith in Jesus as the Messiah, but it was a decent size.

The second was made up of those who didn’t want Jesus around any longer. In verse 14 we read about how the Pharisees were plotting against Jesus deciding how they might kill him. Mark tells us that they were plotting with the Herodians. That would be like the Democrats and Republicans working together to get rid an Independent. These two groups don’t usually get along. They’re usually at each other’s throats. But this mutual enemy has brought them together. Not only did they not believe Jesus to be from God, they wanted to kill him. There reasons were varied. Some saw Jesus as a threat to their own power. They wanted to be in control. Jesus was gathering large crowds. If he wanted he could easily use those crowds to his advantage and sway them against the religious leaders. They wanted to prevent that. Some saw Jesus as a threat to the peace. In Acts 5 we read about two different men who had raised up followers and tried to overthrow the Roman rule. The Romans quickly squashed those rebellions. The religious leaders were concerned that if outbreaks like that continued the Romans would do even more. They wouldn’t just stop with the rebels. And in 70 AD that’s exactly what happened. Tired of the constant rebellion the Roman army finally destroyed Jerusalem with its temple. Jewish priests have not been able to offer sacrifices since. And today there’s a Muslim mosque on the temple mount. The religious leaders didn’t want to take that chance so they planned to get rid of Jesus.

When they see Jesus cast out demons they are quick to accuse Jesus of do so with the help of the devil. They are trying to discredit Jesus. Of course they are right to oppose him because he isn’t working for God, he’s working with the devil. It’s the devil – Beelzebub – that gives him the ability to do that. But Jesus counters their argument. First, what good would it do for Satan to give him power to cast out demons. If Jesus were working with Satan then Satan would be working against himself. His kingdom would be divided and it would not stand. That just doesn’t make sense. Plus, if Jesus is getting his power from the devil then where are the other Jews who are also casting out demons getting their power? Are the religious leaders saying they get their power from Beelzebub too? The religious leaders weren’t ready to go that far, but they did want to do whatever they could to discredit and ruin the reputation of Jesus.

And then third, there was the group – the largest group – who just didn’t want to make a decision. They didn’t want to get involved. They are attracted to the stories they were hearing about Jesus. They were intrigued that Jesus might be the one they’d been waiting for. Had God finally sent the promised Messiah? When they heard stories about Jesus healing the sick and raising the dead back to life they had to wonder. When they learned about how Jesus had confronted the Pharisees with their own hypocrisy they probably gave a silent cheer. They were quietly asking if Jesus could be the Son of David.

However, at the same time, they were afraid to make a public decision because of the religious leaders. They had been warned that if they chose to follow Jesus they would be kicked out of the synagogue. If that happened they would no longer be able to hear God’s word taught. They would no longer be allowed to worship God. Jesus might be the One, but they weren’t sure and they didn’t want to risk it, so they refused to make a decision.

We can see all of those groups today. There are those who are willing to sacrifice it all for Jesus. They are even willing to die if necessary. Then there are those who are actively working against Jesus. Some of the more prominent ones write books and make movies where Jesus and his followers are made up. There are places where Christians are arrested and persecuted because the leaders want to stamp out anything having to do with God and Jesus. And then there are those who just don’t want to make a decision.

There may be many reasons for their decision not to make a choice. Some just aren’t sure what they should believe. They hear both sides of the argument and haven’t been completely convinced by either side, so they hold off. It’s an important decision and they don’t want to make the wrong one so they don’t make one.

Others want to place their faith in Jesus but are afraid of what others will say or do if they decide to follow Jesus. As I said, there are many places in the world today where it’s illegal to change your faith or convert to Christianity. There are places where Christians are killed or not allowed to take an active role in the community.

And then there are those who believe Jesus is from God but they just aren’t willing to allow Jesus to rule in their lives. They know that if they become Christians they’ll have to let Jesus tell them what to do or not to do and they don’t want that. They’re enjoying their sinful lifestyle and don’t want to give it up yet. They figure they’ll make a decision to follow Jesus later, after they’ve had some fun. Then they’ll settle down.

But what does Jesus say about these groups?

Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. (Matthew 12:30)

Jesus is saying that we have to make a decision. We obviously can’t make a decision against him. If we do we will receive his judgment. But too, we can’t decide not to decide because that’s a decision as well. Imagine driving down the road and you see this sign that says “Fork ahead.” You know even before you see it that you’re going to have to make a decision – go left or go right. You’re not sure so you put off making a decision. But before long the road make the decision for you. Not to make a decision will lead you off the road entirely. Jesus says those who have not chosen to be with him are choosing to be against him.

Then Jesus makes what is perhaps one of the most misunderstood statements in the Bible. Jesus that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. Every other kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but this sin – blasphemy against the Holy Spirit – can not be. So what does it mean to blasphemy the Holy Spirit?

Looking at the context blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is to attribute the work of the Spirit to something other than the Spirit. In this case the Pharisees are attributing the casting out of demons to the work of Satan. But people do it whenever they conclude that miracles – changed lives – are the result of hypnotism or mental delusion. They are taking the glory that belongs to God and give it to another. If we aren’t willing to admit the power of the Spirit to change lives how then can the Spirit change our lives? If you continue to deny the reality of God and his work in the world how can he save you?

So we have to make a decision. Will we allow Jesus to be our king? Will we follow him? Will we accept the work he’s done for others and allow him to have control over our lives?

What does it mean for us today to be with Jesus? Jesus says you can tell those who are following him by the fruit in their lives. Just as you can tell an apple tree from a peach tree by it’s fruit, you can tell a follower of Jesus from one who doesn’t follow Jesus by their fruit.

Jesus says the Pharisees were demonstrating what was in them by the fruit they were producing.

If we are being led by Jesus we will produce fruit that shows it. The disciples did. In Acts 4 Peter and John stood before the rulers and elders in Jerusalem. They were questioning the authority by which they were healing and preaching. After explaining to them how it was through Jesus who they had crucified but had raised back to life, we’re told how the leaders took note of how the men had been with Jesus. These were fishermen. They had not been trained in theology. Yet they stood there with courage and wisdom because of their time with Jesus. The fruit of their lives showed they were following Jesus.

What does that fruit look like in our lives? To begin with it looks like what Paul described in Galatians 5: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 2:23-23). If the fruit of our lives is contrary to that, if the way was act and the things we say are contrary to that, then we are not allowing Jesus to control our lives.

Jesus came to be king, but he’s not going to force his rule in our lives. That’s what Isaiah was saying. Jesus won’t quarrel or cry out. He won’t break a bruised reed or snuff out a smoldering wick. Jesus is king, but he won’t make us follow or obey him. It’s up to us.

What fruit are you producing? Are you allowing Jesus to be king in your life?