LOVE DENIED, LOVE PERSISTENT

LOVE DENIED, LOVE PERSISTENT Matthew 23:34-39 November 04, 2007 Given by: Pastor Rich Bersett [Index of Past Messages] Introduction One of my favorite stories is about the homeless hobo who was hungry and trudging his way through a rainstorm. He saw lights and made his way to an English inn. On the door was a sign with the name of the inn—George and the Dragon. Hopeful, he knocked on the sign. An ugly old woman opened the door just a bit & screamed, “What do you want? It’s the middle of the night!” “Yes, ma’am, I wonder if you might spare a small meal and a cot for the night?” “Go on, get out of here! You bloody bum—this ain’t no charity house!” She slammed the door. The hobo turned dejectedly into the storm. He went just a couple steps and returned to try again. He knocked again on the sign that read “George and the Dragon”. The hag opened the door – “You again? I thought I told you NO!” “Yes, I was wondering if I might speak with George this time?” The first response isn’t always the final word. Matthew 23. A Hard Word By now the scribes and Pharisees had received a lot of pushing and poking as Jesus mounts a relentless tirade against them—their religious hypocrisy, their inferior teaching of the law and the bad moral example they were to their followers. As we close out our study of Matthew 23, Jesus is reviling them concerning their treatment of God’s spokesmen, the prophets. Listen again to the last half of verse 31: …you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your forefathers! You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? I’m not sure Jesus’ language ever gets more vitriolic and condemning than this. This is no Jesus, meek and mild, is it? Once again, there is nothing more vexing to Jesus than false or ingenuine leaders who lead astray those who innocently follow them. He actually provokes them to be like their forefathers and kill off the new prophets of God, including (and chiefly) Himself: Fill up the measure of their sin—make your shameful behavior consistent! Then, in an interesting twist, Jesus says Therefore, I am sending you more spokespersons, and you will persecute and kill them just like your ancestors did. Let’s pause there just long enough to look a little more closely at those two lead words: Therefore and I. He has just assured them that given their track record and what they’re about to do to Him they’re qualified for first class accommodations in hell. Therefore, you will be visited by many prophets and teachers for this very reason—so you will do to them what I am predicting. And yet there is present here a redemptive theme. On the one hand it seems their fate is sealed. But on the other, the Lord will still send them messengers because it is still possible, even in the eleventh hour, to repent. They must choose. And because some of them might choose repentance, the messengers will be sent. Jesus’ words of frustrated love embody both judgment and mercy, dread and hope. A hard word and a gentle word. Love denied and love persistent. And just as Jesus was sent to the Jews, so too the Christian apostles and missionaries will go, first to the Jews, with the gospel. Secondly, the word “I” is significant here. All along when the prophets are referred to it is clear that they are sent by God. Suddenly Jesus makes a profound remark—a revelation, really, of enormous proportions--He says “I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers!” With one single-letter word He posits this electrifying truth that He is the Lord of all, the Creator-Redeemer, God Himself, the sender of prophets. Respect for God’s Messengers Let me insert a word we need to hear: the message from God, whether judgment or salvation, justice or mercy, is hallowed, sacred material. And because it is, those who are chosen by God to bear that message are sanctified by God, and should be respected. Are they perfect people, inerrant in all their ways? No. Are they always likable, our favorite kind of people? No. And will we always like what they say? No. But in so far as they are sent by the Lord with His Word, they must be respected. Why? Because they bear the truth of God. There may be a spokesman who dresses in a way that absolutely offends you. That person may be homely, socially backward, even mentally inferior to you, but when he speaks God’s truth, you must respect him enough to receive what God is saying. My mind races to 1 Thessalonians 5:12 – Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. 1 Timothy 5:17 – The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. Now you need to know, it is awkward and somewhat threatening for me to teach on the topic of respecting those who teach—as if I were insisting on your respect for me. It’s hard for me to stand here and say such things. But it is truth. And I’m not really saying it, God is! I will also do my best to earn your respect by being a devoted follower of Christ and a good, non-Pharisaic example as a leader, but you know as well as I do, I will let you down in both those categories. But you must respect your pastors and spiritual leaders for this reason: God said to do it. Consider also Hebrews 13:7 – Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. Hebrews 13:17 – Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you. A Reverse Transition Now, please try to follow me as I make a reverse transition back to Matthew 23 by way of 1 Thessalonians 2. I want us to read and consider verses 7-12. As we read through these verses, I ask you to watch for the two kinds of love and care Paul says was given to the Thessalonian believers by himself and His team. As apostles of Christ we could have been a burden to you, but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children. We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us. Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you. You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed. For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory. Did you catch the two brands of God’s love? Paul says he and his apostolic team ministered to the Thessalonian believers (see vs. 10) like a mom and like a dad. Mother love described in vss. 7-9 is caring, sharing and not burdening. This is tender, nurturing love—the kind you get from a mom more than a dad. Father love is described in vss. 10-12 in terms of “dealing” with his children, encouraging, comforting, urging them. This is the hard side of love, the side that insists his children living lives worthy of God. God’s Father Love and His Mother Love We need both these kinds of love. We need the pushing, exhorting kind of father love that keeps us reminded of what is right and godly and worthy of our best efforts. We need the urging, the spanking, the challenging, the authoritative voice of Father Love in our lives. But we also need the soft voice of soothing care at times. We need the understanding sigh of a mother whose love for her kids just oozes from every pore. We often need mother’s kind voice, the warm, bosomy hug that moms bring to us straight from God. We need that from our parents and our leaders. The Christians at Thessalonica needed God’s provision of both soft-sided love and hard-sided love. God’s Father Love I think we see that same duality in Jesus’ words at Matthew 23. Doesn’t the relentless rebuke of this entire chapter put you in mind of a disappointed and angry dad whose child has borrowed the family car, gotten in a bad accident and is not insured, and failed the blood alcohol test? Pacing back and forth the father deliberately chooses language that is very strong to make his point. He brings forth grave threats of swift judgment and punishment. The comparison is fair, though admittedly, when Jesus speaks of deep hypocrisy, false teaching and the punishment of hell, all images of a rebellious teenager fade. And it is love that chastens. It is not just judgmental threats without the possibility of parole. He also extends one more opportunity to the religious leaders to humble themselves (23:12), the prophets He sends will offer them forgiveness and restoration through faith in Jesus. His heart is still to gather them, redeemed and restored under his wings, IF they repent. But He must in a desperate attempt to bring them to the conviction hold sternly before them the fact that their house is desolate and their hope is gone. The sad and angry father rehearses again with the errant child the litany of rules, trying to bring him to his senses about what is right. Therefore I am sending you prophets, teachers—but you’ll probably ignore them and end up killing them like your forbears did! Jesus is ever the teacher, making certain the children know exactly where they are going wrong, exactly why it is wrong. Dads, more than moms, warn. One Christian comedian told on his parents, saying that his mother was a screamer. And he and his brother never listened to her—until she got through several levels of shrillness and volume. Then, when they recognized that special pitch, they did what they were told. “My father, on the other hand, didn’t have to scream,” he said. “We knew what he was capable of doing and how short a fuse he had. Instead of yelling, he simply made a little noise, drawing breath through his teeth. And we moved.” In no uncertain terms, Jesus warns these religious leaders what is coming because of their sin. The description of the violence and mayhem described in vss. 35-36, which is probably a reference to the fall of Jerusalem which occurred in AD 70, just 40 years later. God’s Mother Love Universally, kids in trouble would much rather answer to mom. Partly because we all believe we can get to her—with a few tears, a pitiful, sad look, a promise to do better, a well-timed hug—it wasn’t guaranteed, but compared to dad, mom was almost a pushover. Until, of course, she resorted to the terrible seven words of doom: just wait till you father gets home! God built mothers to provide what fathers find difficult to do. There is only one word to capture the magic of mom’s ministry to her children: maternal. She provides the warm and soft side of love—something every child needs on a regular basis. Children need the understanding and soul-comforting words of the parent with the softer, sweeter voice, less hairy arms—someone who can occasionally cry with them. If you will permit me interpretive latitude, I believe the maternal quality of God’s love comes through in verse 37: O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers he chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. You can almost hear His voice soften as Jesus changes His tone from condemnation to the sad, wistful pleading of a parent whose only wish is that his child’s attitude would turn from rebellion to surrender—surrender to her loving invitation to forgiveness. There is a woundedness in her voice that says to her child—O how I love you, and how I want it to go well for you! Please, please listen to what I am saying. You don’t have to continue in your sin and sorrow. You can come back to me—I am here for you. But I can’t give you the full measure of my love until you repent and submit to it. Pleadingly, the mother love of God waits for you, willing and wanting to heal the hurtful distance your sin created between you and Him. He offers to replace your pain with His peace. Verse 38: Look, your house is left to you desolate. Offering reconciliation, even begging for it, the mother love of God says to all his wayward children what Romans 5:1 declares—being justified through faith, you can have peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. There is grace available for your forgiveness. Let faith guide you back into my full favor. Listen, there is no depth of sin, no broken fellowship with God that He will not repair if you repent and return to Him. How does a sinful child return? He must exercise the humility of verse 12, admitting his fault, being genuinely repentant and trusting in God’s love. Through faith in Jesus, which is nothing short of obedience to Him, every person, any person in this room can be fully restored to your loving God. How can that be? Only because God, your true, loving parent has made a way. When Jesus is in fact murdered by these rebellious religious leaders, His unjustified suffering and death paid your debt. He did it all for you. Soften your hard heart and receive it. Conclusion Why wouldn’t the scribes and Pharisees repent. It’s very simple. In verse 37 Jesus says but you were not willing. The love of God, thus far denied by them, is yet persistent. He waits, He yearns, He pleads, He provides the way to return. The love of God does wait for each of us—but not eternally. There is a cut-off point where His offer of salvation comes to an end. Jesus is preparing to leave the temple. For just a while He waits. And the last things He says is this: For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord’. (23:39) That’s a quote from Psalm 118, and it ought to sound familiar. It certainly did to the scribes and Pharisees. That’s what faithful people said when Jesus came into Jerusalem just a few hours before this encounter. But the religious leaders refused to say it. They refused to admit that it was true that Jesus was God’s promised Messiah—the answer to sinful man’s need. This then is what Christ does for us in his suffering and death. He reveals to us the heart of God. It is of immense consequence that we understand his mother love and his father love. He loves us with an infinite compassion and He hates our sins with a perfect hatred. The gospel message is simple and direct: Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved. The gospel is not a discussion or a debate; it is an announcement and an invitation. You either accept it or you reject it. What about you? Are you willing? Right now it’s not too late, but soon it will be. One day, the Lord Jesus will return, and history comes to an end. That day is also the end of all opportunities to repent, because that is the day of judgment. We don’t know when that day will come. But even if we did, there’s no guarantee we won’t die before that day. When we die our opportunity for faith and repentance ends, too. I want to offer you a simple way of looking at God’s loving offer: Because Jesus died to pay the debt of every sin and every sinner, your problem really isn’t sin any longer. That problem has been taken care of. Now, after the death and resurrection of Jesus, there is only ONE SIN that will keep you from fellowship with God and everlasting heaven. That sin is not responding in faith to Jesus. John 3:18 – Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.     [Back to Top]