Following the Way of Jesus (4)

The King at Work - Repent and Rest!

Matthew 11:20–30 NIV84

Then Jesus began to denounce the cities in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent. “Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the skies? No, you will go down to the depths. If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.” At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure. “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

I. With Privilege Comes Responsibility - vs 20-24.

John the Baptist had enjoyed the great privilege of being a forerunner of Jesus. But with that privilege came a great responsibility to stay true to Jesus, especially now that he was imprisoned by Herod Antipas. In contrast with the willing service of John, Matthew reveals to us the unwillingness of many to serve Jesus Christ in the privileged cities where Jesus had performed “most of His miracles.”

Privileged Witnesses have a Responsibility to Respond to what they See and Hear!

Jesus contrasts cities like Korazin, Bethsaida - in which the healing of a blind man took place and also a place where Jesus taught and healed many and where nearby, the feeding of the 5000 took place see Mark 8:22ff.; Luke 9:10ff - and Capernaum - the principal scene of the Galilean ministry(see on Matt 4:13) - and therefore the cities that had an exceptional opportunity to repent.

These all saw the mighty works of Jesus, and cities like Tyre, Sidon - often attacked by the Old Testament prophets for their rejection of God and his will (Isa. 23; Ezek. 26–28; Amos 1:9–10) and symbolized the arrogance of the pagan world; as well as Sodom, a place notorious for its idolatry and immorality(see Gen 19:1-10), punished so severely by Almighty God pagan, idolatrous cities, which did not.

Korazin; Bethsaida and Capernaum had received such a privileged, upfront view of the Messiah but they did not really heed His message pointed at through the miracles, which was essentially encapsulated in His preaching “Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is near!”.

The failure of ‘this generation’ to respond to Jesus’ appeal (Matt 11:16–19) is matched by the failure of these cities and lakeside towns, to respond to his mighty works. These alone, even without a verbal message, (so the repentance of a whole community at Nineveh at Jonah’s preaching, cf. Jonah 3) should have responded, but there had been no general change of attitude; no change of heart and life that reveals that they had turned to God who was at work in Jesus.

As Jesus said to John the Baptist in Matt 11:4-6

Matthew 11:4–6 (NIV84)

Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.”

The miracles seen by the people of these cities should have led these people to embrace the Messenger and His message and to turn and repent of their own way! To repent is to turn from their rebellious attitude towards God and we have already seen in Matthew 3:1 with John the Baptist, and Matthew 4:17 with Jesus, they called upon people to “repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is near” A new age had dawned; a new realm was invading the earth and people must repent; changing their hearts and minds to receive God’s message of salvation and be born again and enter the Kingdom(so John 3:5).

2. Privileged Witnesses will be Judged more Severely for failing to Respond to What they See and Hear!

Notice Jesus’ words about what will happen to those who fail to repent - “I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon..for Sodom...on the day of judgment than for you.”

All the inhabitants of all of these cities will face the judgement of God, God’s assessment of their rebellion and lack of repentance will be just and will consider the privileges involved.

Think of how scandalous this must have sounded to Jesus’ hearers. Law-abinding, God-fearing Jews who failed to respond to the direct evidence and appeal of Jesus and his mighty works was worse even than the paganism of Tyre and Sidon. They had not the excuse of ignorance(see Matt 10:15). Indeed, Capernaum is denounced in words which echo Isaiah’s oracle against the king of Babylon, which echoes the judgment on Lucifer, the Guardian Angel - “And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the skies? No, you will go down to the depths.” see Isa. 14:13–15) - Capernaum’s arrogant pride, like that Babylon is rooted in that Satanic self-sufficiency which always leads to destruction - “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.Israel’s great enemy of the past, will lead to its downfall.”(Prov 16:18).

Yes, arrogance and immorality and indeed pagan idolatry will be punished on the Day of Judgment, but not so severely as the rejection of God’s direct appeal to repentance - ‘Only the rejection of forgiveness is unforgivable.’(R.T. France)

“In a nuclear war or accident, the damage depends on the level of radiation to which people are exposed; in the judgement of God, the damnation depends on the level of privilege and revelation to which people are exposed. The greater our knowledge of gospel truth, the more serious our lack of submission to Christ becomes.”(Iain D. Cambell - Opening up Matthew’s Gospel).

We have to own and answer to our response to God and He will respect it, for whatever it is! Whether it is outright rejection based on hostility or mere indifference, which completely disregards God to the extent that we just can’t be bothered to even see God as an issue to be considered or taken seriously enough to criticize.

Geoffrey Studdert-Kennedy was an English Anglican priest, he was born in 1883 and died in 1929. During World War I Kennedy served as an Army Chaplain and it was his custom to hand out Woodbine cigarettes along with spiritual aid for the injured and dying soliders – hence his nickname “Woodbine Willie”. Upon return to England after the war Kennedy was fueled with a desire to bring justice and righteousness to the workers of England.

When Jesus came to Golgotha They hanged Him on a tree, They drove great nails through hands and feet, And made a Calvary. They crowned Him with a crown of thorns; Red were His wounds and deep, For those were crude and cruel days, And human flesh was cheap.

When Jesus came to Birmingham, They simply passed Him by; They never hurt a hair of Him, They only let Him die. For men had grown more tender, And they would not give Him pain; They only just passed down the street, And left Him in the rain.

Still Jesus cried, “Forgive them, For they know not what they do.”

We will have to answer for it as well! “The day of judgment” will be a day of reckoning and we need to take this seriously.

In the midst of the American Civil War, in 1863, Abraham Lincoln addressed the people during a National Day of Prayer in this way: “We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven. We have been preserved, the many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to God that made us It behooves us, then to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.” (April 30, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln's Proclamation for a National Day of Fasting, Humiliation and Prayer).

Could that not be said of the UK? Of us?

Indeed, Indifference to the Lord will continue in the world until Jesus returns: “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man.People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. “It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. “It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed”(Luke 17:26-30).

And the thing to remember this morning is this, all of us have had an opportunity to hear and respond positively to God’s Word, and some of us have even to see it miraculously demonstrated, so to reject it now, leaves us without excuse on Judgment Day. Indeed, the writer to the Hebrews says: “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain terrifying expectation of judgment, and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries” (Heb. 10:26–27).

With privilege comes responsibility; and the greater privilege, the greater the responsibility! “If we put off repentance another day, we have a day more to repent of, and a day less to repent in.”

II. With Revelation Comes Rest - vs 25-30.

In contrast with the misunderstanding and rejection which have dominated this chapter so far, these verses show us who can truly appreciate Jesus’ mission, and what he offers to them.

Note Matt 11:25, “At that time,” which like like the word ‘then’ in Matt 11:20 points to a close connection with the verses that precede. This is Jesus’ response to his rejection by the religious leadership, as well as the general pupulace of Korazin; Bethsaida and Capernaum - “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.”

1. We have a Revelation of the Father’s relationship with the Son:

The relationship implied by Jesus’ use of ‘Father’ in v25 is here spelt out.

There are no secrets between Father and Son; they share the same knowledge and this arises from an intimate awareness of one another. The exclusive communion between Father and Son is of the essence of their relationship - “I and the Father are one”(Joh 10:30)

This is a unique relationship and for anyone else to share in this knowledge, however, is a matter of revelation, and as such is not a natural right, but a matter of divine choice - “No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

2. We have a Revelation of God’s gracious dealings with people in the World:

Notice also that Jesus contrasts “The wise and learned” with the “little children”:

The wise and learned”are those who deighted in and lived up to their reputation for being well-schooled and learned and insightful. The religious leaders; the political analists; the social commentators should have seen and understood, but sadly they were blind to the truth as it was in Jesus!

Instead it was “the little children”, mere babes in comparison to the “wise and learned”: whose humble, unlearned, simple approach to Jesus and His miracles and teaching caused them to embrace Him whilst living with the many unanswewed questions that remained! (see Matt 21:15-16 “Do you hear what these children are saying?”).

These “little childen” are not literally so as, “Jesus uses children, as elsewhere, as the paradigm of those whom the world regards as insignificant; but in this context they also represent those who are free from false preconceptions and so are open to the new light now being revealed to them.” (R.T. France). Whilst the learned theologians rejected Jesus; those who had no such advantage, those who were unsophisticated and simply remained open to the beleif that God was somehow in this work of Jesus, accepted Him.

However, Jesus makes it clear that this was not the product of some natural instinct or naive gullability; no it was as a result of the gracious will of the Father, who has hidden and revealed Himself.

This calls forth thanksgiving from Jesus as He expresses His dependenceand delight in his Father’s will - “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.”(vs 25-26) Whether people believe in Jesus or not; whether they repent or remain stubborn, Jesus does not forget to praise His Father in Heaven and to acknowledge His plan and purposes. Spiritual understanding does not depend on human equipment or status. It is “the gift of God”(Eph 2;8), and so is given to those in whom he is well pleased (see Matt 3:17)

Spiritual understanding depends on the sovereign purpose of the Lord and we need His Holy Spirit to “open the eyes” of our heart so that we can believe ( see Acts 16:14 and Eph 1:18).

This passage is profoundly important for our understanding of the effectiveness of the gospel, as well as for our approach to gospel evangelism. On the one hand, Jesus emphasizes the absolute sovereignty of God in the matter of salvation. No one can be saved apart from God revealing himself to sinners. And God reveals himself only to those sinners whom he chooses.

‘No one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him’ (v. 27). Jesus’ choice of us precedes our choice of him. “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to bear good fruit, fruit that will remain”(John 15:16).

The famous American Bible teacher Donald Grey Barnhouse (1895–1960) often used an illustration to help people make sense of election. He asked them to imagine a cross like the one on which Jesus died, only so large that it had a door in it. Over the door were these words from Revelation: “Whosoever will may come.” These words represent the free and universal offer of the gospel. By God’s grace, the message of salvation is for everyone. Every man, woman, and child who will come to the cross is invited to believe in Jesus Christ and enter eternal life. On the other side of the door a happy surprise awaits the one who believes and enters. From the inside, anyone glancing back can see these words from Ephesians written above the door: “Chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world.” Election is best understood in hindsight, for it is only after coming to Christ that one can know whether one has been chosen in Christ. Those who make a decision for Christ find that God made a decision for them in eternity past. It’s a glorious truth which does not bear arguing about but does require us to believe. Indeed Spurgeon summed it up beautifully in a sermon entitled High Doctrine And Broad Doctrine on John 6:37 when he stated: “I was once asked to reconcile these two statements and I answered, "No, I never reconcile friends." These two passages never fell out—they are perfectly agreed! It is folly to imagine a difference and then set about removing it! It is like making a man of straw and then going out to fight with it. The grand declaration of the purpose of God that He will save His own is quite consistent with the widest declaration that whoever will come to Christ shall be saved!” He amusingly reported of his friend, Malachi, a “who was rather a stout Calvinist? He said, "Now, Mala-chi, I owe you £2. Before I discharge the debt I need you to tell me whether I am predestinated to pay you." Malachi opened wide his hand and said, "Put the £2 there and I will tell you directly." Like most sensible folk, he preferred to prophesy after the event—and there are many advantages in keeping to that method! It is evidently the natural order of things for uninspired folk. Whether the Father gave me to Christ or not, I cannot discover till I know whether I have come to Christ! When I know that I have truly come to Christ with all my heart, then I am certain that I was given to Christ and I find no difficulty in so believing! Yes, my heart is glad to think that I am saved in the same way as others are saved!...Take, then, these two Truths of God, and know that they are equally precious portions of one harmonious whole! Let us not quibble over them, or indulge a foolish favoritism for one and a prejudice against the other, but let us receive both with a candid, large-hearted love of the Truth of God such as children of God should exhibit. We are not called upon to explain, but to accept! Let us believe if we cannot reconcile! Here are two jewels—let us wear them both.”

And when we bring this truth to bear on our context, we see Jesus teaching is the reversal of the world’s standards; the world’s way of dispensing honour and status is based upon social advantage or in recognition of educational achievement, but not so with God. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:18-24

1 Corinthians 1:18–24 (NIV84)

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”

This echoes Isaiah 29:14, ‘the wisdom of their wise men shall perish”; not because God despises wisdom, indeed, he encourages us to “get wisdom, get understanding”(Prov 4:5); but the wisdom that most concerns Him is the wisdom that leads to “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”(Prov 9:10), to a revential respect of God and His holiness!

There is something deeply mysterious about al of this interaction of the divine will with the human will. It is not that God violates our will; it is rather that He persuades the unwilling to be willing and convinces the unconvinced. As the Hymn writer Jean Ingelow put it in 1838:

I sought the Lord, and afterward I knew he moved my soul to seek him, seeking me. It was not I that found, O Savior true, no, I was found of thee.

Thou didst reach forth thy hand and mine enfold, I walked and sank not on the storm-vexed sea. ‘Twas not so much that I on thee took hold as thou, dear Lord, on me.

I find, I walk, I love, but, oh, the whole of love is but my answer, Lord, to thee! For thou wert long beforehand with my soul, always thou lovedst me.

We cannot be saved unless God takes the initiative. This is His way in Christ - John 3:16. Yet, mark it well, no one is saved without freely choosing Christ, it is both/and, not either/or!

We hold in tension, the doctrine of God’s sovereignty and human responsibility, which is why we freely offer the gospel to all who will receive it! After all the same Jesus who said:”All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.”(John 6:37). People are given and they come to Jesus!

Likewise here in Matthew 11:28, Jesus says, ‘Come to me…I will give you rest’ (v. 28). It is a free offer and it is for us to receive it, freely!

3. We have a Revelation of Jesus’ readiness to carry our burdens:

And noticce what Jesus offers to those who have had this great revelation of God in Christ - He offers them Rest!

Revelation is designed to bring “rest for your souls”!

This “rest” comes exclusively through knowing Jesus! He offers himself and promises rest.

Rest from being weary and burdened by the excessive demands of religious duty, predicated on the idea that if we try really hard and keep ourselves from sinning, whilst following the rules we might find ourselves good enough!

Jesus promises us rest from an accusing and guilty conscience; rest from always wondering what life is all about and whether there is any real purose to it. Rest from the fear of death and the uncertainty of an afterlife; rest from the prospect of oblivion, or even worse, an eterrnity of unforgiveness and agony in Hell.

And notice that this rest comes not from being set free to be ourselves but rather being set free to be under His “yoke”. Modern culture encourages us to independence and doing things our own way by “finding ourselves” and being “true you ourselves” which can lead to very destructive behaviours; but Jesus tells us to find ourselves in Him for to be true to ourselves is to acknowledge our weakness and dependence by being tightly aligned to Him!

Jesus calls us not to the strong and self-sufficient, but to recognise that we are weak and weary and in need of Him!.

Are you “weary and burdened” down with it all? Do you find yourself fretting and anxious over the uncertainty and unpredictability of life? Jesus issues his invitation to you!

The rest Jesus offers instead is not a release from all obligations as Matthew 5:20 shows because our “righteousness” needs to “exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and the Pharisees”. There is tilla yoke and a burden to carry, BUT He carries it for us! He lightens our load.

Ours is not a yoke of oppression (Isa. 9:4; 58:6; Jer. 27–28), it is a yoke in the service of God which we are proud to carry! (Jer. 2:20; Lam. 3:27). Indeed Jewish Rabbis wrote about the ‘yoke of the law’ in terms of obedience to it as one every Jew willingly carry. because after all the function of a yoke for bests of birden is to make a burden easier to carry.

Jesus’ yoke is easy (Grk: chrēstos - ‘good’, ‘kind’). It makes lighter demands and represents entering into a disciple-relationship in which we “learn from” Jesus whos is both “gentle and lowly in heart” (cf. 2 Cor. 10:1; Isaiah 42:2–3; Isaiah 53:1–2, Zechariah 9:9), a character Jesus expects, and creates, in his disciples (Matt 5:3ff.)

The prophet Jeremiah appealed to the Jews at a crossroads in their lives:

Jeremiah 6:16 NIV84

This is what the Lord says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’

What about you today? Will you say, Yes Lord, I will take your yoke and learn from me? Or will you say “I will not, Jesus!”?