"What Did You Expect"
Notes
Transcript
Introduction:
This morning, we are going to continue looking at what Jesus had to say about the Kingdom of God in His encounter with some of John the Baptist’s disciples. Remember last week that we talked about how John had his doubts. The Kingdom of God had not come as he had expected. Maybe your Christian life has not gone as you would have expected either. We will talk about that this morning as we turn to Matthew 11.
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?
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.
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.’
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.
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.
Background
Again we pick up with Jesus addressing the crowds, only this time it is as the disciples of John the Baptist have left to give Jesus’ answer to John. Remember that John has asked if Jesus is the One they should look for or if they should look for another. Jesus pointed John to the miracles, and while we may not catch it so easily, the Scriptures concerning the Messiah. All of these miracles were manifestations of the prophecies of the Bible regarding the ministry of the Messiah. So essentially, Jesus is saying, “What does the Bible say and what do you see?”
When we hear John the Baptist, this robust prophet of God who so boldly pronounced Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world seem to doubt, it could cause us to judge John and think of him as a kind of second class Christian.
Have you ever wondered yourself? Have you ever had any doubts? What did you expect that the Christian life would look like when you started following Jesus?
It probably has not gone the way that you expected! Jesus defends John’s ministry and gives a great word of commendation to John and His ministry. John might not have been what people expected he should be, but he was also the greatest among the prophets and yet Jesus promises that those who are in the Kingdom of God have a greater ministry than even John the Baptist had.
Let’s dive in and see what Jesus says.
1. The Pressures of Serving the Kingdom of God (vv. 7-11)
1. The Pressures of Serving the Kingdom of God (vv. 7-11)
Illustration: Pressure Cookers
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?
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.
Jesus questions the crowds and asks them what they thought of John. It might seem that John the Baptist was a wishy-washy Christian, but Jesus reminds them of what they had seen when John was out prophesying in the wilderness.
Think about a few things that Jesus points out about John.
John was not a wafter
When you think about someone living in the wilderness, you don’t think about a sissy kind of man. You don’t think about someone who is effeminate or weak. It is rough living in the wilderness today, but think about living in the wilderness in John’s day.
4 John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
5 And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey.
John the Baptist is the Bear Grylls of the ancient world. He didn’t take a three day trip into the wilderness, he lived there! He was eating locusts and wild honey. I don’t known if you have ever watched one of those survival shows, but they eat all kinds of crazy stuff, but you know that is not their full meal because of the quantity that they eat. But it can be tough surviving in the wilderness.
Why did John do this? John was like a New Testament Elijah in a way, but he also was what we call an ascetic. An ascetic is a person that gives up the comforts of this world in order to get closer to God.
There was a period of time in the early church where we had these guys called the Desert Fathers. They lived in the desert of Egypt in the third century and gave up the luxuries of this life to focus on prayer and service to Christ in an attempt to get closer to God.
There was one of these guys named Simeon Stylites who lived for 37 years on a small platform on top of a pillar near Aleppo in Syria. People would come out to these guys for instruction because they felt that they were close to God since they had given up all of these things. Now, I don’t recommend us doing this today, nor do I think that Jesus would have commended this since He instructed us to go into all the world and preach the gospel, but they were a type of John the Baptist in the 3rd century.
John gave up these things to get closer to God and was set apart for God’s work from birth. Remember that his birth story is tied together with Jesus’ birth story. John shouldn’t have been able to be born, but it was God’s plan for him to prepare the way for the Messiah.
So Jesus questions the crowds who might be doubting and says, “What did you go out to see?” John was not a softy. John was not someone that was weak and fickle. He didn’t live in palaces and have the luxuries of the wealthy. He had renounced the world’s wealth.
Jesus asks if they thought John was like a reed shaken by the wind. The region that Jesus was in was a very fertile region around Galilee and it had reeds near the water and all around that would have been a common reference point for people. Jesus might have even looked across and saw once of these reeds blowing in the wind when He asked the crowds this question.
Did you expect John to be someone who changed his mind when things got bad? Of course not! John was not that type of person. John was used to rough living and even though he was in prison, that was not enough to shake his faith.
John wasn’t having doubts because he was facing hardship. Let me say that again so you hear me. John is not doubting Jesus because things are not going his way. His issue is that the Kingdom of God was not coming like he and many others expected and so John needed clarity from Jesus on this.
Jesus’ reference to kings palaces and those who wear soft clothing is probably a jab at Herod who had arrested John because of his unlawful marriage. Remember that Herod had divorced his wife and married his brother Phillip’s wife and John had called him out on it. That is what led to his arrest.
2. John was a prophet.
Jesus follows up the first set of questions by directing the crowds to John’s occupation, or calling. John was a prophet. The people regarded John as a prophet and went to him to hear from God. Jesus affirms John as a prophet and even takes it further.
Jesus says in verses 9-11,
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.’
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.
Jesus affirms that John is a prophet but then says that he is the greatest of the prophets. Some of you may have read your Bibles and that might seem a little odd to you. You might think, what about Elijah or Elisha? Elijah called down fire from heaven and Elisha had a double portion of Elijah’s spirit. They performed more miracles than any prophet we have recorded and there is not one mention of John the Baptist performing a single miracle.
What about Isaiah? Isaiah had prophesied some of what Jesus has just referenced and he even was able to see into the throne room of God and see God!
Jesus says that John the Baptist is the greatest of the prophets because John got to see what he and all of the other prophets had pointed towards.
8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,
9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully,
11 inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories.
12 It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.
The Bible says that these prophets were pointing to Jesus and longed to see the revelation of Christ, the full revelation of God in the second Person of the Trinity. John the Baptist, not only pointed to Jesus in His ministry, but got to look across the River at Him and say, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” John got to baptize the One that all the prophets had pointed to.
But that leads us to the second thing we need to see this morning.
2. The Privilege of Serving in the Kingdom of God (vv.11)
2. The Privilege of Serving in the Kingdom of God (vv.11)
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.
Jesus says that John is the greatest of the prophets because of his ministry’s proximity to Christ, but now He says that those who serve in the Kingdom of God have a greater ministry than even John had.
The phrase “born of women” was a common way of referencing the physical birth of a person. Jesus taught Nicodemus about being born of the flesh vs. being born of the Spirit.
3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’
8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Being born of water or being born of woman is the same thing. It means to be physically born into this world, but it is not enough to be physically born. You need to be born of the Spirit to enter the Kingdom of God.
So anyone who is in the kingdom of God, even least in the Kingdom, is in a greater position of ministry than John’s. John pointed forward to Jesus, but we now point back to Jesus.
3. There Will Be Persecution Against the Kingdom of God (vv.12-19)
3. There Will Be Persecution Against the Kingdom of God (vv.12-19)
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.
As we wrap up what Jesus says, we see that he instructs the crowds that they should expect violence against the Kingdom of God. You might think that the way Jesus worded his previous statement in verse 11 would exclude John from the Kingdom, but that is not at all what Jesus is implying. Remember that Jesus is defending John.
Jesus is simply saying that throughout the history of the world, this world’s leaders have persecuted and attacked God’s people and in some instances, they have even thought they were serving God.
There was also a common belief that Elijah would come back before the Messiah. Jesus quotes from Malachi, the last Old Testament prophet. He pointed towards John the Baptist’s ministry which we saw Jesus quote from earlier and he also said that Elijah would come.
5 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.
6 And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”
Malachi is speaking of the type of ministry that John would have and not that a literal Elijah would come. John was that one who came in the spirit of Elijah, but we also see that Elijah did come in a way at the Transfiguration of Christ. He was with Moses on the Mountain when Jesus was transfigured before the disciples.
When Jesus says, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear,” He is saying pay attention! We see this language in Revelation in the letters to the Churches and it is a way of saying, “This is important!”
But then Jesus describes this generation of unbelievers. It was true then of His generation and now of our generation that they are fickle and you cannot please them.
Conclusion
What about you? Were you expecting Jesus to be someone different than He is?
Were you expecting that maybe Jesus would do something different with your life?
Are you disappointed?
Understand that God wants to use your life just like He used John the Baptist. He wants you to grow closer to Him and you don’t even have to go live on top of a platform to do it.
All you have to do is turn to Jesus, the one who died for your sins and mine. He gave His life to give us access to the Father.
We must use that access to our advantage to grow closer to the Father through the Holy Spirit as He makes us into the image of Christ.