#1260 Matthew 11 Part 2 How Much Light

 

20 Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. 21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 23 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 24 But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.” Matthew 11: 20-24 ESV

Matthew 11: 20-24 

…47That servant who knows his master’s will but does not get ready or follow his instructions will be beaten with many blows. 48But the one who unknowingly does things worthy of punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and from him who has been entrusted with much, even more will be demanded. 49I have come to ignite a fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!… Luke 12: 47-49

Then He began to denounce the cities where most of His mighty works had been done - With power comes the responsibility for that power, even Peter Parker learned that, but with knowledge there need be a response, wisdom. Note, that the reproof, the change in tone to judgment, is towards the cities that saw Christ heal, raise from the dead and heard the preaching of this same individual, who did all these things openly before them. They never denounced His miracles in these cities, as far as saying they did not happen, that was unquestionable, but they did denounce when He did them and by whom He did them. Even in the Talmud they do not question that the miracles took place, they know they happened, but they were offended by the words of Christ and the person of Christ. We have already seen that there is confusion surrounding the Messiah, that the Messiah in the minds of most of the people, regardless of Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53, should look different than this son of a carpenter. They haven't an ounce of repentance in them, they are not the blessed who mourn over their sins and see themselves as poor in spirit, no, they want a Messiah who conforms to their ideals. 

…28Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29How much more severely do you think one deserves to be punished who has trampled on the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and insulted the Spirit of grace? 30For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge His people.”… Hebrews 10: 28-30

Because they did not repent - People always say, I use to say, "I need more evidence, I need to feel something, see something, a miracle, and then I will believe", I even have a tattoo that reminds me of this, that I would have supposedly believed if I saw something like the two witnesses of the end times, if I saw them lying dead in the street and then brought back to life. If God healed my epilepsy I would believe, if  He made me wealthy I would serve Him, if He altered the gospel some then it would be more palatable for me, so how do you interpret something like this? These people saw His power over sickness, disease, deformity, blindness, demons and even death, all the things that result from sin, yet they didn't repent, which means to turn away from their sin. Everyone wants to be released from the repercussions of their sin, but no one want to let go of their sin. My sin doesn't make me feel bad, I like it, so it must be that the consequences are unfair. We will even make others suffer to avoid the consequences of our actions.  

…33Nevertheless, I must keep going today and tomorrow and the next day, for it is not admissible for a prophet to perish outside of Jerusalem. 34O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling! 35Look, your house is left to you desolate. And I tell you that you will not see Me again until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.’ ”… Luke 13: 33-35

Chorazin and Bethsaida - These are towns in the district of Galilee, not far from Capernaum, where Peter and Andrew lived. These are towns that saw many miracles, heard the call to repentance from the prophet John and also Jesus and His disciples. Of all the excuses men offer up, not seeing, not hearing, they could not claim this; they had been witnesses to the power of God, just like those who grumbled in the wilderness during Moses's day. 

Tyre and Sidon - These two pagan cities would have repented if they saw these miracles. The hardness is incredible, but don't be deceived, this is the hardness of many who grow up in church. 

Chorazin and Bethsaida are to be judged more severely because of more exposure to the Son of God. Privilege brings responsibility. Increased privilege brings increased responsibility. What was happening in Chorazin and Bethsaida was the message of Christ was producing death to death to death to death, compounding degrees of punishment in hell. That’s why verse 22 says, “It will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than you.”

Tyre and Sidon never heard the gospel. You might think that because these two cities heard the gospel, that was an advantage. No, just the opposite, just the opposite. Tyre and Sidon were idolatrous, full of Baal worship, immorality, wickedness, pride. They were worthy of judgment and damnation, and it came. You can read about in Ezekiel 26 to 28, Isaiah 23. And prophets like Amos and Joel and Jeremiah pronounced judgment on those two coastal cities: Tyre and Sidon.

They hadn’t been totally destroyed, because in Matthew 15:21 it says Jesus visited them. But our Lord says, “If the miracles that had been done in Chorazin and Bethsaida had been done there, they would have repented.” So Chorazin and Bethsaida, granted so much more privilege than their rejection, received so much more punishment. And that is to say there are degrees of punishment in hell.

Then in verse 23 and 24 He adds a second illustration: “And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades”; – or hell in this case – “for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day. Nevertheless I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you.” Which is worse, to be a sodomite, trying to rape angels, or be a religious Jew in Capernaum rejecting Jesus Christ? Hell is hotter for the religious Jew who rejected Jesus Christ than it is for a sodomite who tried to rape angels; because judgment is connected to how much revelation you have received.

Capernaum exceeded Chorazin and Bethsaida in privilege. There were more of our Lord’s miracles done in Capernaum even than those other two towns. Sodom exceeded Tyre and Sidon in wickedness. Tyre and Sidon were wicked, but they’re still around even today, or remnants of them. They were around in our Lord’s time. Not so, Sodom. God buried Sodom under fire and brimstone for their homosexual perversion. In the judgment it will be worse for the people in Capernaum, who saw Jesus, heard Jesus, witnessed the miracles and rejected Him, than it will be for the inhabitants of Sodom. - J Mac

Do you have access to a Bible? Have you ever looked at nature and wondered at the possibility and probability of unguided, spontaneous  generation? Do you know for certain that things can come into being without design, without cause? Is it possible to exchange the names Chorazin and Bethsaida for any city in the U.S., where there is no physical veil? The amount of light that some have received and tried so desperately to extinguish, oh my, I can only thank God, I wouldn't have come except by His grace. 

…31It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. 32 Remember the early days that you were in the light. In those days, you endured a great conflict in the face of suffering. 33Sometimes you were publicly exposed to ridicule and persecution; at other times you were partners with those who were so treated.… Hebrews 10: 31-33

#1259 Matthew 11 Part 1 The One Who Is Not Offended By Me

When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities.

2 Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples 3 and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” 4 And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. 6 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

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.

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

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

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

18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ 19 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.” Matthew 11: 1-19 ESV

Matthew 11: 1-19

Matthew 3 on John the Baptist

Malachi 4 

When John heard in prison - People were just as big on hearing that they were sinners back then, and  the average Joe on the street might yell at you, may pick a fight with you, but when you tell the king he is a sinner, then he has the power to throw you in jail. John confronted Herod, and we will learn more about that in Matthew 14.

“Herod Antipas of Galilee had paid a visit to his brother in Rome. During that visit he seduced his brother’s wife. He came home again, dismissed his own wife, and married the sister-in-law whom he had lured away from her husband. Publicly and sternly John rebuked Herod. It was never safe to rebuke an eastern despot and Herod took his revenge; John was thrown into the dungeons of the fortress of Machaerus in the mountains near the Dead Sea.” (Barclay) - E Word

Are You the One Who is to come, or shall we look for Another - Jesus has come preaching the kingdom, and John is the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy of a voice of one calling from the wilderness. John baptized Jesus, acknowledging that He truly comes before him, even though John was born first, and his ministry started first, preparing the way of the Lord, crying out for the people to repent. He is in jail now, and he sends his disciples to ask Jesus a question. I don't believe in any way that John's faith has hit such a crisis as to now be an unbeliever, and it is possible that he, like many, even Jesus's own disciples, expected the Kingdom to come right then, for there to be a huge political uprising now, and I think we will have even more reason to see it from a Millennial, Messianic perspective in Jesus answer to John's disciples. Whatever the reason, disappointment, present living quarters, confusion in his eschatology, he has come to a place of doubt. 

…2“Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her forced labor has been completed; her iniquity has been pardoned. For she has received from the hand of the LORD double for all her sins.” 3A voice of one calling: “Prepare the way for the LORD in the wilderness; make a straight highway for our God in the desert. 4Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill made low; the uneven ground will become smooth, and the rugged land a plain.… Isaiah: 40:2-4

29The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30This is He of whom I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.’ 31I myself did not know Him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that He might be revealed to Israel.”… John 1: 29-31

It’s as if you have to believe something before you can doubt it; you have to be committed to it before you would begin to question it, so that doubt is pointed up as the unique problem of the believer. There’s only one time in the gospels when it refers to unbelievers in reference to doubt, and when it does, it uses a word that means ‘to keep in suspense.’ And it is a term that is nowhere else used in the New Testament. The normal terms that surround the concept of doubt are used of believers.

Now I say that, in a sense, to encourage you, that doubt is something that occurs in the life of a believer. In fact, the illustration in Matthew 11 happens to be John the Baptist’s. Now, unless you might think – unless you might think that John the Baptist was a weak believer, verse 11 will help you. It says, “Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist.” Now, if the greatest man that ever lived up until his time had doubts, then we can be a little comforted, can we not, when we doubt?

So doubt is basically a problem encountered by believers. Over and over, for example, in Matthew, Jesus said to His disciples, “Oh you of” – What? – “little faith.” And on some occasions, “How long will you doubt?” he said. They had committed themselves to Him. They had believed, but their belief, from time to time, hit some snags that made them doubt. Jesus said to them in John – in Matthew 21:21, “If you have faith and doubt not, you shall not only do this to the fig tree, but also,” and He goes on to talk about moving mountains. So He had to continually remind them not to doubt. - J Mac

Blind receive their sight and the lame walk - Before this he tells John's disciples to tell what they "hear and see", so they are witnessing these miracles as Jesus performs them. He has been preaching about the Kingdom, which He will rule as the Lion of Judah, but right now He is looking towards the cross, as the Passover Lamb. These are aspects of the Kingdom, remember, even after the fall people lived longer lives, but the population and gene pool were reduced greatly after the flood, and the environment changed as well. During the Millennial Kingdom Christ will reign, healing disease, and someone who dies at the age of a hundred will be considered young. This was all foretold in the OT, and many of Jesus's followers are seeing the signs of it now, so they are expecting it now, yet He still has to die for their sins. This is His answer back to John though, that He is the One, look, these are the signs, this is the Messiah. He refers John back to what the prophet Isaiah said:

5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,

and the ears of the deaf unstopped;

6 then shall the lame man leap like a deer,

and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.

For waters break forth in the wilderness,

and streams in the desert; Isaiah 35: 5-6

…19I will rejoice in Jerusalem and take delight in My people. The sounds of weeping and crying will no longer be heard in her. 20No longer will a nursing infant live but a few days, or an old man fail to live out his years. For the youth will die at a hundred years, and he who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed. 21They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.… Isaiah 65: 19-21

Blessed is the one who is not offended by Me - As we learned in the last chapter it is a divisive message, but to the one who accepts it, it is salvation. It's a hard calling, but here John the Baptist is the first to die on account of this truth. Preaching repentance, being a disciple of Jesus is a lesson in self denial, it's not how you want it to be, what you would like it to be, wanting something to be true doesn't make it so, but nothing that you suffer is outside of God's sovereignty, and everything here in this time and space is minute, far less than what we deserved. Don't be ashamed of the One Who brings you this grace.

ii. “Blessed is he who can be left in prison, can be silenced in his testimony, can seem to be deserted of his Lord, and yet can shut out every doubt. John speedily regained this blessedness, and fully recovered his serenity.” (Spurgeon)

A reed shaken by the wind - Most people would know better than to speak out against a culture and it's king, but not John, he saw the honor of God at stake and raised his voice against those who flagrantly paraded their sin. He was not easily shaken by them, so Christ speaks out on his behalf, lest others think he wavered here for his question. Christ's own disciples will abandon Him for a time, and when things don't play out like we thought they would, when people will not tolerate the truth, detest logic and reason, we must still tell it, and look to God come what may. I live and work in what is like Babylon, with people that too often remind us of the Peter principal, wind vanes, as I have said before, not sure of what they believe from day to day until they lick their finger and stick it up in the air. So many have to check Facebook, the television, their favorite celebrities' tweets, the majority, the popular opinion, but Jesus is saying John is not like that, He believes in God and is not compromised.  He is not like the Pharisees or the culture.

…13until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, as we mature to the full measure of the stature of Christ. 14Then we will no longer be infants, tossed about by the waves and carried around by every wind of teaching and by the clever cunning of men in their deceitful scheming. 15Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Christ Himself, who is the head.… Ephesians 4: 13-15

A man dressed in soft clothing - These were the rich, the influential, the politicians, those who dressed for success and played the game. John was an alien to all that, a man in animal skin, roaming the wilderness, standing up to the present rulers and darkness of the age. He wasn't royalty, was not wealthy, not a famous warrior or athlete, not even a fancy scribe, the greatest preacher was eating locust and honey, not going to red carpet events. The human eye would pass over him quickly, but that mouth, that burning in the bosom, that fire that came forth, the message of repentance, it drew both friends and enemies. 

I send my messenger before your face - Jesus reveals John's identity in the OT.

1“Behold, I will send My messenger, who will prepare the way before Me. Then the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple— the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight— see, He is coming,” says the LORD of Hosts. 2But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire, like a launderer’s soap.… Malachi 3: 1-2

Yet the one who is least in the Kingdom is greater than he - John came much in the manner of the prophets before him, and he was greater in that they foretold Messiah, but he was there to baptize and bear witness to Him. He came preaching repentance because of the people's breach of the law, yet Christ was bringing in the New Covenant of His blood. John would die before this, but Chris's disciples would go on to preach it and make it known to the world. Those living in the Millennial Kingdom will enjoy the presence of Christ teaching them directly, a more fuller, clearer picture of all that has taken place and come to fulfillment. 

6 But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises.

7 For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. 8 But God found fault with the people and said:

“The days are coming, declares the Lord,

when I will make a new covenant

with the people of Israel

and with the people of Judah.

9 It will not be like the covenant

I made with their ancestors

when I took them by the hand

to lead them out of Egypt,

because they did not remain faithful to my covenant,

and I turned away from them,

declares the Lord.

10 This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel

after that time, declares the Lord.

I will put my laws in their minds

and write them on their hearts.

I will be their God,

and they will be my people.

11 No longer will they teach their neighbor,

or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’

because they will all know me,

from the least of them to the greatest.

12 For I will forgive their wickedness

and will remember their sins no more.”

13 By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear. Hebrews 8: 6-13

“As we may say, as a rule, that the darkest day is lighter than the brightest night; so John, though first of his own order, is behind the last of the new or Gospel order. The least in the Gospel stands on higher ground than the greatest under the law.” (Spurgeon)

The Kingdom of Heaven has suffered violence - It is not preached without price of turmoil.

i. The exact sense of this has been greatly debated, and is made more difficult by complicated grammar. Carson probably gives the best sense of both expressions. “The kingdom has come with holy power and magnificent energy that has been pushing back the frontiers of darkness. This is especially manifest in Jesus’ miracles and ties in with Jesus’ response to the Baptist…The kingdom is making great strides; now is the time for courageous souls, forceful people, to take hold of it.” (Carson)

ii. The kingdom will never be received passively. It is always founded on God’s work on our behalf, but God’s work will always produce a response in us. “They are not lazy wishes or cold endeavours that will bring men to heaven.” (Poole)

iii. “Frequently complaints are made and surprise expressed by individuals who have never found a blessing rest upon anything they have attempted to do in the service of God. ‘I have been a Sunday-school teacher for years,’ says one, ‘and I have never seen any of my girls or boys converted.’ No, and the reason most likely is you have never been violent about it; you have never been compelled by the Divine Spirit to make up your mind that converted they should be, and no stone should be left unturned until they were. You have never been brought by the Spirit to such a passion, that you have said, ‘I cannot live unless God bless me. I cannot exist unless I see some of these children saved.’ Then, falling on your knees in agony of prayer, and putting forth afterwards your trust with the same intensity towards heaven, you would never have been disappointed, ‘for the violent take it by force.’” (Spurgeon)

He is Elijah who is to come - He is not literally, but comes in the spirit of the prophet. Moses and Elijah stand with Jesus on the mount during the transfiguration.

…4“Remember the law of My servant Moses, the statutes and ordinances I commanded him for all Israel at Horeb. 5Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD. 6And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse.”… Malachi 4: 4-6

Played the flute and mourned - Jesus came healing, teaching, turning water into wine, and John came more somber, mourning, fasting, and people came for the fish and bread, to see miracles, many came to hear the preaching of John, but most could not truly hear either Jesus or John. They called Jesus a friend of tax collectors and prostitutes, as though they knew who and what His mission should be. He should be friends with hypocrites instead, overthrow Rome and put the religious elite in seats of power and privilege. That's what they wanted, not the repentance of John, who called them vipers, or Jesus, who forgave adulteresses and called tax collectors. 

#1258 Matthew 10 Part 6 Reception

 

40 “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. 41 The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person's reward. 42 And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.” Matthew 10: 40-42 ESV

Matthew 10: 40-42

When we bring the sword that separates, on the one hand are the unbelievers, but ah, on the other hand are the – what? – the believers. And when we preach, and when we live, and when we give our testimony, some believe, don't they? And for them, everything is so positive. Not everyone is going to refuse the message of the disciples. Some are going to believe. Some are going to receive them. Some are going to receive their Lord.

And since we have limited ability to reward their faith, the Lord’ll do it for us. Look at verse 40; this is great, “He that receiveth you receiveth Me, and he that receiveth Me receiveth Him that sent Me.” This is incredible.

Let me tell you what’s in the word “receive” here. When you go out, and you represent Jesus Christ, and you speak of Jesus Christ, and you give Jesus Christ message, the people who believe it are the ones who receive you. It is a full receiving that they accept you and your message. And when you go out – and they don't all get hostile, but some receive you. The ones that receive you are receiving the Lord, and the ones that are receiving the Lord are receiving the one who sent the Lord. So, you know what? You become an agency of men receiving God Himself. What a marvelous thing.

On the one hand, you create this antagonism. On the other hand, you create this marvelous reality that people receive God through you. Every time somebody says to me, “You know, I was saved when you preached,” or, “I received Christ when you talked, or when you told me the Gospel,” I am thrilled beyond the ability to express. Aren't you? Because God has used a frail human instrument as an agency. And when someone receives us, they receive the Lord and the Father who sent Him. What an incredible thought. We give people the Trinity as it were. - J Mac

Whoever receives you receives Me - Jesus is the One Who sent them, so when they are received it is by those who are receiving Jesus. This is not always the case, as we heard earlier in the chapter, sometimes they weren't to let their peace rest on a certain house, because contrary to what they had been told and hoped, that person was not of God. There are those who use the same vocabulary and would love your commendation, would love to name drop, and like corporate ladder climbers, would use your name to their advantage. Take my picture with him so I can post it on social media and people will say, "oh, they know each other, and if he is willing to pose with him, well, he must condone him as a message carrier." This goes deeper then bringing them in for coffee, because the disciples are going out with the gospel of the Kingdom, so those that receive them are receiving the message entrusted to them. They were vessels, God's mouth piece to the world.

A Prophet - You are taking him in as a missionary, God's voice, and this is not because you think it is, but because this is truly a prophet, a gospel laborer. We have been warned of false prophets over and over, so someone claiming this title is not the point, that was meaningless even back then if it were not tested and true. People who claim the title today should not come to my house, because I will tell them what they really are, and they will not be welcome to stay. In order to do the job of a husband, wife, father, mother, we must know what the Scriptures actually say and confront the wolves with the truth. The truth exposes them for what they are. Now, for those who are real teachers, professors of the Word, who are missionaries carrying the gospel abroad, this is a wonderful place to invest our time and resources. Be wise as serpents and harmless as doves, measure who you are letting into your house to have influence over your family. 

…25Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will hunger. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. 26Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers treated the false prophets in the same way. Luke 6: 25-26

A righteous man - This is the same man when you think about it; a man that preaches the truth is the prophet, and the man that practices the truth he preaches is a righteous man. Those that desire righteousness will be drawn to those who live righteously. I don't want a teacher who is more immature than me; I want someone I can look up to, who says what's right and does what's right. The disciple were being called to right doctrine but also to lives marked by repentance from sin. 

…15And the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick. The Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail. 17Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.… James 5: 15-17

…13Keep Your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then I will be blameless and cleansed of great transgression. 14May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. Psalm 19: 13-14

Even a cup of cold water - Just like the poor could give the sacrifice they could afford, that of the pigeons, so a cup of cold water can go a long way in the Kingdom of God. We see that He is talking to His disciples, so those that would go out in His name should be humble and pleased with whatever accommodations are provided them. I have tried to get this point across to my children, that sometimes you are eating someone's very best, the most they could afford to give you, and when you put it in that perspective then a glass of water, a plate of beans, a cup of rice, a bit of kidney, or a single chicken liver or foot, that is a feast. We have no right to turn up our nose at what others considered a blessing to have at all.  

…6Therefore My people will know My name; therefore they will know on that day that I am He who speaks. Here I am!” 7How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!” 8Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices, together they shout for joy. For every eye will see when the LORD returns to Zion.… Isaiah 52: 6-8

#1257 Matthew 10 Part 5 The Great Divide

 

34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. 37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Matthew 10: 34-39

Matthew 10: 34-39

10Woe to me, my mother, that you have borne me, a man of strife and conflict in all the land. I have neither lent nor borrowed, yet everyone curses me. Jeremiah 15: 10

Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth - Jesus, the Messiah, is also known in the OT as the Prince of Peace, so its easy to see how the Jews of that time would be confused. I mean even in our own time there are those who profess to be Christians, who take a Post Millennial view, and think that we are in the Millennial reign now. They believe that God just threw out a thousand years but didn't mean a thousand years, though He's not a God of confusion, and many I have talked to and heard think that they are ushering in the Kingdom, that it's kind of evolving to where the earth is governed by goodness. I am personally waiting for Christ to come back and establish peace. We have to take the whole counsel of God, and even some of the early Rabbinical teachers understood that the Messiah would suffer, in other words, He would not be well received. The Prophet Isaiah speaks of both appearances. Jesus has already told them that a servant is not above his master, the student should expect the same treatment as his teacher.

2 It shall come to pass in the latter days

that the mountain of the house of the Lord

shall be established as the highest of the mountains,

and shall be lifted up above the hills;

and all the nations shall flow to it,

3 and many peoples shall come, and say:

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,

to the house of the God of Jacob,

that he may teach us his ways

and that we may walk in his paths.”

For out of Zion shall go forth the law,

and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

4 He shall judge between the nations,

and shall decide disputes for many peoples;

and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,

and their spears into pruning hooks;

nation shall not lift up sword against nation,

neither shall they learn war anymore.  Isaiah 2: 2-4

More on Isaiah 2

Isaiah's prophecy of the suffering servant

But a sword - He is making this more and more clear, that "yeah, He is the way, the truth and the life, that no one comes to the Father but by Him", and this is peace, peace with God, the peace offering of Christ, to be offered up as the solely acceptable and pleasing sacrifice to God for the sins of all who believe. At the same time, the world is still born, hates God, is at enmity with Him, and people love and defend the very things that God calls us to repent of. So here is this sword, and it is the truth, and He will have them make no mistake about this, this sword divides. It separates truth from error, it rips open the veil, it causes tension with those who hate the truth and those, who by the grace of God, have come to love it. Jesus was the most polarizing man in all of history, just go out and tell the whole world that there is a God, that He hates sin, tell them what He calls sin, and then tell them that there is only One way to be reconciled to your Creator and that is through the life, death and resurrection of His Son, believe me, this divides.

1And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2in which you used to walk when you conformed to the ways of this world and of the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit who is now at work in the sons of disobedience. 3All of us also lived among them at one time, fulfilling the cravings of our flesh and indulging its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature children of wrath.… Ephesians 2: 1-3

…18Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil. 20Everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come into the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.… John 3: 18-20

A man against his father, a daughter against her mother - In case you were wondering, yes, this includes familial ties. It's not just a man going against the grain of atheism, or leaving Mormonism, Judaism, Islam, for Christ, obviously those differences occur in families as well, but I have seen it also in the evangelical church. I have had these issues with my own father, though I did not grow up with him, yet we took him in for a time, and he professed to be a Christian. He said some right things with his mouth, knew some of the vocabulary, but accepted another gospel, was blown about by every wind of strange doctrine. He changed for whoever was in the room until he no longer wished to be there, couldn't stand the reading of certain passages of Scripture, did not want to be questioned on his doctrine or lifestyle. I have seen the same thing with my wife, yet those matriarchs in her family did not profess to believe, made fun of people who did, tried to use the weight of their position in the family, their wealth, their influence, guilt, anything to impose their will and ideology, but my wife became more and more enamored with Christ. We don't seek to be divisive, but you tell the truth, you don't bow to their idols, and guess what, regardless of what you would like it to be, regardless of your hope, the closer you draw to God, the wider the ravine. 

A person's enemies will be those of his own household - I pray hard even now, because I see people I am close to fail in the simple things God has asked of us. Sometimes my children are rebellious, and yet they think they would be the good guys in a story about persecution, even though they can't be asked to do something good and useful, like cleaning the dishes now. What if they could gain popularity, be held in high esteem by millions of people, what would they choose then? If you can justify rebellion now, if you think your life is difficult in a first world scenario, and you're mad now at those who correct you for doing the things that God says not to do, how will you respond to bigger temptations and more difficult trials? Look at Cain, what did his brother do to him? His brother took God at His word and offered a more pleasing sacrifice than Cain. He chose godliness, and God corrected his brother for offering an inferior sacrifice and for having a heart bent on evil, feeding it, pandering and bandaging an ego that needed to die, but instead he let it grow until it begged for the sacrifice of his brother, Abel. He then slew his brother with a stone. Long before the first bullet was ever made millions died at the hands of others, murder is not in any instrument or tool, it comes from the heart. 

We should expect that normally, following Jesus makes us better husbands, fathers, wives, mothers, sons, daughters and so forth. Yet there are times when the presence of Jesus divides rather than unifies.

ii. The greatest danger of idolatry comes not from what is bad, but from what is good – like love in family relationships. The greatest danger to the best comes from second best. - E Word

Whoever loves father or mother...son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me - Jesus is calling for the ultimate allegiance, that He, through Whom all things were created, and He, the soul redeemer, the Lamb worthy, slain for His sheep, that He be lifted up, that He hold the highest seat in your heart. If He does then the outward sign of this will be your willingness to tell the truth even when it is unpopular, to acknowledge Him even when it causes family to hate you or walk away. This is an awesome story that J Mac tells about John Bunyan, a great man of faith. I know a lot of people today that excuse everything family. If someone in their family is doing it then they defend it. I see crazy celebrities on tv who think they're great parents for letting children make decisions they are not equipped to make, but they are popular with their kids, their friends, and mom and dad are culturally hip, plus they have enough money to bail you out when it proves to be stupid advice. I have heard parents tell other parents, "but look, he or she is crying because you won't give them what they want, you are making them feel bad, just buy it for them", and they mistakenly call that love. As it will turn out, the one that gives you everything you want is not the good parent, but the one that instills in you a fear and reverence for God, that is the real parent, that is the one who loves you enough not to send you speeding towards a meeting with a Holy and just God, one where you will not be able to throw a temper tantrum to get out of it.  

John Bunyan knew all about this, only in a kind of a special way. They told John Bunyan to quit preaching. But he said “I cannot quit preaching because God has called me to preach.”

And they said, “If you preach, we'll put you in prison.”

And so he said to himself, “If I go to prison, who cares for my family? But how can I close my mouth when God has called me to preach?”

And so, he committed his family to the care of God and was obedient to the call of God and preached. And they put him in prison. And since then, he’s blessed millions of families, because it was there he wrote Pilgrim’s Progress.

But listen to what he said, “The parting with my wife and poor children hath often been to me, in this place, as the pulling of the flesh from my bones. And that not only because I am somewhat too fond of these great mercies, but also because I should have often brought to my mind the many hardships, miseries, and wants that my poor family was like to meet with should I be taken from them, especially my poor, blind child who lay nearer my heart than all I have besides. Oh, the thought of the hardship I thought my blind one might go under would break my heart to pieces.

“But yet, recalling myself, thought I, ‘I must venture all with God, though it go to the quick to leave you.’ Oh, I saw in this condition I was a man who was pulling down his house upon the head of his wife and children, yet thought I, ‘I must do it; I must do it.’” End quote.

I pray to God I never have to make that decision, don't you? And for some of us, it doesn't have to be, but for some of us it may. Some of you have had to make a choice. You've confessed Jesus Christ, and it's alienated your family from you. But that’s the way we prove the reality, you see? One who says, “I'm not willing to make that sacrifice,” isn't genuine. - J Mac

Whoever does not take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me - We have often taught and been taught wrongly in the church, that this has to do with bearing, putting up with someone else, as if my wife were my cross, my child, my epilepsy, my cancer, and so on. The context doesn't communicate this, and the disciples lived in Galilee, were familiar with Palestine and Roman occupation, for them the cross meant one thing, death. When Rome told you to take up your cross you were going in one direction, and you weren't going to talk your way out of it, you were carrying, on your back, the instrument of your own torture and death. Knowing what sort of prolonged agony this was, it's humiliating, barbarous nature, the disciples have gone all the way from the loss of friendship to the loss of family unity and now death. This is the price of discipleship, though not every disciple will experience torture or be murdered, he or she must acknowledge that this is the call, this is on the contract, it is never off the table, and we are okay with that because this present suffering does not compare to eternal glory. It is interesting too, that His disciples still aren't aware that He will take up His cross and go to Calvary; the sight of that must have caused these words, "follow me" to echo in their heads for some time.

“When the Roman general, Varus, had broken the revolt of Judas in Galilee [4 BC], he crucified two thousand Jews, and placed the crosses by the wayside along the roads to Galilee.” (Barclay)

17And if we are children, then we are heirs: heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer with Him, so that we may also be glorified with Him. 18 I consider that our present sufferings are not comparable to the glory that will be revealed in us. 19The creation waits in eager expectation for the revelation of the sons of God.… Romans 8: 17-19

…19For through the law I died to the law so that I might live to God. 20I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. 21I do not set aside the grace of God. For if righteousness comes through the law, Christ died for nothing.… Galatians 2: 19-21

Whoever finds his life will lose it - There is often a way to avoid the cross, and I have heard this lie told often among those that are religious, that teach a pattern of denying the truth. If you make peace with the culture, become liked by the culture, hold the truth back, deny Christ, water down the gospel, change what God says, omit what God says, add to what God says, well then you will find this life, they will not be threatened by you because you won't tell the truth that they hate. You will salvage yourself from the cross that Christ has told you to take, because for fear of death you have denied the only begotten Son of God. You will trade eternal life for temporary comfort, forever for forgettable seconds. You may get promoted, you may live a long time here, may enjoy the riches of this life for a season, but what an uneven trade, a horrible investment.