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God Has the Answers We Need!
The Gospel of Matthew
Matthew 9:14-17
Sermon by Rick Crandall
(Prepared October 20, 2021)
(I revised the background on October 22, 2021 to mention the gap between Matthew 4:11 and 4:12.)
BACKGROUND:
*Today in Matthew 9 some of John the Baptist's disciples went to Jesus with a question about fasting.
By this time, John had been in prison for some months.
Matthew 4:12 tells us that Jesus heard about John the Baptist being put into prison.
The Holy Spirit led Matthew to write this statement just after he reported Jesus' temptation in the wilderness, and just before he began to write about the Lord's ministry.
But there is a big jump forward between Matthew 4:11 and Matthew 4:12.
Under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, Matthew abruptly skipped forward almost a year.
He omitted the Judean ministry of Jesus that is covered in John 1-4.
*Later in Matthew 11:2-6, we will see that John was still in prison when he sent two disciples to make sure that Jesus was the promised Messiah.
Then Matthew 14:1-13 looks back to give us the details of John's arrest and execution by Herod the tetrarch.
We don't know exactly how long John was in prison before his death, but I have seen some estimates of two years.
(1)
*This is the background for the question about fasting from John the Baptist's disciples.
William MacDonald explained that John's disciples probably understood that their teacher was the forerunner of the Messiah.
But if that was the case, then why didn't Jesus' disciples not fast like the Pharisees and John's disciples?
The Pharisees fasted often, regularly twice a week, and on the great national days of fasting.
This was the custom of the land, and John did not change it.
*On top of that John's disciples were probably in deep grief over their leader's imprisonment.
Fasting was a natural expression of sorrow, and they may have wondered why Jesus' followers were not joining them in their grief.
(2)
*They had a big question, and Jesus had the answer they needed.
God always has the answers we need in life.
And in this case, the Lord told them three short parables to help them understand.
Remember that parables are simply earthly stories with a heavenly meaning.
And these parables can help us find the most important answers we need in life.
Please think about that as we read Matthew 9:14-17.
MESSAGE:
*Are you searching for answers today?
Sometimes we feel like a struggling young student named Ken.
During one exam, Ken's teacher asked him, "How close are you to the right answers?" Ken slowly looked around and said, "About two seats."
(3)
*Someday we will go through tests a whole lot harder than Ken's, and we are going to need some answers.
You may be searching for crucial answers right now.
That's what John the Baptist's disciples were doing 2,000 years ago.
They were troubled because their teacher was in prison.
They were confused about what God was doing.
They needed answers.
So do we.
And today's Scripture can help us find the most important answers we need.
1. THE FIRST LESSON IS: GO TO GOD FOR THE ANSWERS YOU NEED.
*This is especially true when you have a spiritual question.
Go to the right source.
That's what John's disciples did in vs. 14.
They went to Jesus and asked, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?"
Yes, we can hear a little complaint in their question, but they took their question to the right place.
They took it to Jesus.
*Notice that they wondered "why," and sometimes we will wonder the same thing.
But always remember that Jesus knows what it's like to be in our shoes.
He knows the pain of our grief and troubles.
Isaiah 53:3 gives this prophetic description of our Savior: "He is despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him."
*Jesus also knows the pain of our confusion.
One of the most memorable things the Lord said on the cross is in Matthew 27:46.
There Jesus cried out, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?''
*Of course, the Lord knew why He was suffering and dying on the cross.
It was for our sins.
That's why He was temporarily forsaken by the Father.
But our wonderful Savior was so willing to identify with us that He subjected Himself to the same kind of confusion we go through.
*It's summed up in the question "Why?"
Why is this terrible thing happening to me?
Why did I lose my job?
Why did I get sick?
Why is my family member sick?
Why did that wreck happen?
Why did they die so soon?
Why is my family messed up?
*It must be okay for us to ask why, because Jesus asked why on the cross, and He never did anything wrong.
The problem with asking why is that many times we won't get an answer in this world.
That's why a wise man once said a better question is, "What now?" "What should I do now, Lord?"
The Lord will always give us an answer to that question.
And one of the best things we can ever do is keep trusting in the Lord, even when we don’t understand why.
*Trust in the Lord enough to take your questions to Him.
Put God in the driver's seat of your life.
Yield to His infinite wisdom.
God may not do things the way we think is right, but He will always do the right things.
God never makes mistakes.
*But like John's disciples, we don't always understand what God is doing.
"Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?"
There are some big and little things we won't understand in life.
But the Lord will give us the answers we need, so go to God for the answers.
2. THEN LET JESUS POINT YOU TO THE RIGHT PRIORITIES IN LIFE.
*The Lord will always point us to the things that matter the most in life, and that's what Jesus here.
In vs. 15 He began by answering their question with another question.
And Jesus said, "Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?
But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast."
[1] JESUS POINTED JOHN'S DISCIPLES TO THE THINGS THAT MATTER MOST IN LIFE, AND THE FIRST THING HE STRESSED WAS RELATIONSHIPS.
*Our relationship with God, and our relationships with each other: These are God's greatest priorities for our lives.
That's why the Lord talked about the bridegroom and his friends.
Instead of "friends," the KJV mentions "the children of the bride chamber."
But John Gill explained that in those days, "children of the bride chamber" included the friends of the bridegroom.
(4)
*God designed earthly relationships to help us understand the kind of heavenly relationship He wants to have with us.
We know that having true friends is a great blessing, but the best friend we can ever have is Jesus Christ.
And God wants us to know Him as a friend.
*What's true about friends is also true about marriage.
There is a close parallel between marriage and the relationship Christ has with His church.
That's why the Bible calls Jesus our spiritual Bridegroom, and the Church is the Bride of Christ.
*Here is part of Paul's comparison from Ephesians 5:
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