Matthew 11:7-19 (Mother's Day) - The Reaction of the Crowds: Rejection

Introduction:

I want you to imagine that you are in first century Israel, doing your normal everyday thing. Going to the market, stomping grapes barefoot, paying your taxes, fishing on the Sea of Galilee, I don’t know what else. You come up with something.

Now I want you to imagine that you walk up to say hello to one of your friends and they excitedly ask what you are doing with the rest of your day because they have just heard the most exciting news! There is a new prophet!

Well, that’s nothing new, there are prophets in every kingly court, including Herod’s. Why is this one worth the excitement?

But your friend tells you that this one is different. He is like Elijah, preaching in the wilderness and people are saying that he is baptizing people in the Jordan River as a sign of their repentance! People say his message is very provocative too! They are just about to leave to hear his message and see what he is like. After all, this may be a once in a lifetime opportunity. Will you go with them?

You might not be as excited as your friend, and in the back of your mind you might be thinking he could be a madman, but you are interested to see what this so called prophet has to say. So, you join your friend in leaving the city to go to the banks of the Jordan and hear this new prophet.

A short walk later, you come over the hill to see that there is an impressive crowd already there. Your friend was not the only one excited to hear his message.

What do you expect to see?

A well-dressed, well-respected religious leader? If so, this prophet will certainly look far more like a madman.

You quickly learn that this man is not going to meet expectations. He speaks strongly against respected religious leaders, he calls out the sin of the king, and he calls the people to turn from sin and repent (even the people who fast and sacrifice regularly!)

He wears clothes made from camel skin (how itchy!), he eats locusts and honey, and he sleeps out in the wilderness.

I think it would be understandable if some people just said he was a delusional man who should not be entertained as a prophet. But how would you react?

Last week we saw John the Baptist’s reaction to the teachings of Jesus, and he reacted with some doubt, asking whether Jesus is truly the Messiah or if he should be looking for another.

Jesus responded to that doubt by reminding John of the works he had done and the promises made about the Messiah and how those were being fulfilled in Christ!

In the same way, when doubts about Jesus truly being the Messiah, the Christ, begin to rise then we should remind ourselves of the work he accomplished and the great promises he has given us!

And now as those followers of John leave, Jesus turns to the crowds and speaks to them concerning their reactions to himself and to John.

And the reaction of the crowd is rejection

And the three main points for today are this:

The Role of Prophecy

The time of fulfillment is now

Rejection is to be expected

Matthew 11:7–19 (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.’

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. From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

“But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates,

“ ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;

we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’

For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ 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.”

The disciples of John leave with a message to deliver to John, and what does Jesus do next? Does he shake his head and turn to the others gathered, lamenting that even his own cousin is beginning to doubt?

No! Even in John’s doubt, Jesus reaffirms what is true about John. That he truly is a prophet, and even more than a prophet! And Jesus actually starts challenging the crowds gathered instead.

The crowds have been trying to figure out what kind of prophet John is, all the way since John 1.

And Jesus starts asking them about their assumptions and challenging their expectations of a prophet!

And let’s take a minute to ask that question of ourselves.

What is a prophet? What do they do? What visuals do I have in my mind when I think of a prophet?

Is it a man in a very expensive suit, telling churches that he has received a word from God for the church?

Is it a person who feels something really strongly and goes to tell other people in the church one on one that God has a specific plan for them?

Are they just weirdos who have heavenly visions and tell of things that will happen centuries later?

Are they all just insane?

This is a question that we need to ask ourselves because we need to earnestly think about the role of prophecy for God’s people.

We often feel a sense of foreboding around prophecy because we don’t really take the time to read the prophets and study their writings.

In the Old Testament, there certainly were times that prophets were foretelling events - there are many examples of Jesus fulfilling much of what was told in the prophets.

However, upon a closer reading of the prophets we see a few things that show us what prophets were supposed to be doing.

1. They called people to repent, to turn away, from their sinful ways and to turn back to God before He sent judgement on them!

2. They did this through proclaiming the Word of God, usually by pointing people back to what God had already said in the Scriptures given to them before! They usually were proclaiming and reminding people of the very truth that they should have known for centuries!

3. and sometimes, they were given new promises for God’s people to cling to and remember, but their primary job was to warn against sin, calling people to repentance, and to remind people about what God has already said.

That is the overwhelming majority of a prophet’s work.

And I think the Reformation rightly understood that to also be the primary work of the preacher!

The preaching work of a pastor is to teach and remind people of the Word of God, not his own opinions and thoughts on a topic! The work of preaching is the work of calling people to hear God’s word and then repent of their rebellion against it!

When the word of God is preached accurately and truly, it is as if God were sending a prophet to you for you to hear and respond to God’s message!

So, has that been twisted? Yes, in a multitude of ways in the first century and in the twenty-first century.

Jesus addresses those first and twenty-first century misconceptions in this passage by asking a question three times..

What did they go out into the wilderness to see?

A weak grass that blows whatever way the wind blows?

Were you expecting someone who would be easy to sway with public opinion?

Were you expecting a “yes man” who would tickle your ears and say all the things you want to hear?

So many of the so-called prophets of each century are only prophesying good things while the biblical prophets were proclaiming the need for repentance!

I could tell you countless stories of false prophesies by the charismatic prophets over the decades, and nearly all of them were them proclaiming their own positive fortune cookie feelings over a person or situation.

I could point you to countless sermons of so-called pastors who are spiritual yes men, telling you all the things you want to hear without ever calling for repentance! They deceive countless people because they are falsely proclaiming God’s acceptance of sinful selfish attitudes and actions.

Is that what we want from someone who is supposed to proclaim the word of God?

So did you go out to see someone dressed in fine clothing then?

The king’s prophets were given great luxury and they prophesied prosperity for the king and his realm.

Is that who you were looking for?

So who was it that you went to go out and see?

A prophet?

Yes! and John is more than a prophet!

He is the prophet who fulfills the prophecy of Malachi 3:1

Malachi 3:1 ESV

1 “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.

And then Jesus takes this even further!

He says that John is the messenger who prepares the way of the LORD Himself! And he is also the one called “Elijah” in Malachi 4:5 who clears the path for the great day of the Lord!

And Jesus ends this divergence with an interesting statement.

Matthew 11:15 ESV

15 He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

There are times in teaching where I will be assisting the students in answering a sheet while reading a section together.

When the important sections came, I would clear my throat in an obnoxious way to draw their attention so they would recognize that it comes

He is saying “Listen up! This is important! If you want to understand, this is it!”

Jesus is claiming his own divinity by saying these things! John is Elijah and Jesus is the LORD!

And John is considered as the greatest of the prophets because he is the one who tied together the old covenant and the new covenant. He is the one who proclaimed the coming King and got to see him!

But Jesus says that John is not just more than a prophet, he is more than any human. And yet Jesus says that the least in the Kingdom of Heaven is even greater than John!

As much as Jesus honors John, he says the least in his kingdom is greater than John!

Why? Because we get to know the way in which Jesus brings salvation!

All through the prophets they promise this “Day of the Lord”

The the time for the fulfillment of the message of the prophets is now!

Jesus fulfills it all! This is so important for us to understand!

But how is it that the crowds react to John and to Jesus?

They reject Jesus and his message, as well as his messenger John. and this is only 20 verses after Jesus says:

Matthew 10:40 ESV

40 “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me.

Jesus then moves to critiquing the crowds for this behavior by pulling out a proverb about children

1. What This Generation Is Like: Complaining Children (11:16–17)

Jesus offers a message of rejoicing

And they refuse to dance to Jesus’ music (v. 16)

John offered a message of repentance and mourning

And they refuse to mourn John’s prophetic dirge (v. 17)

2. Application: Reject John and Jesus (11:18–19a)

Call John demon-possessed (v. 18)

He refrained from drinking and eating for pleasure

Call Jesus a glutton and a drunkard (v. 19a)

3. Conclusion: Wisdom Is Justified (11:19b)

Recap

1. The role of prophecy

John’s Role is our Role - Prepare the way of the Lord!

2. The time of fulfillment is now

We have been given the great gift of knowing that if we are in Christ, then we are in the kingdom of God! We are living out the visions of the prophets!

The prophets promised the one who would save God’s people!

Jesus’ shed Blood covers

All the Sins

Of All God’s People

For all of time!

3. Rejection is to be expected

You cannot please everyone!

Don’t look to do so!

It will paralyze you with fear

The fear of man

Prayer of Response

Scriptural Assurance

John 3:16 ESV

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.