Jesus continued to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee, but His ministry had increasing opposition. While John the Baptist was in prison, he heard what Christ was doing. He had preached that Jesus was the Messiah, but now he wasn’t so sure so He send word by his disciples to ask, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?" - Matt. 11:3. Why would John ask this? Perhaps he thought God had forgotten him or that Jesus would come and rescue him. Maybe he thought Jesus would rise up as a political king. He was probably depressed and kept in a dungeon and even tortured. Doubts may have set in. He probably didn't realize this would be so hard.
John the Baptist is like people today with confusion and doubts when times get hard. When we doubt, we should bring it to Jesus just as John did. He understands and will be there to assure us. Jesus answered by pointing John to the book of Isaiah in the Old Testament telling him Isaiah's words were being fulfilled and that Jesus was the one.
Are there times when you doubt?
Isaiah's prophecies were fulfilled in Jesus' ministry:
Jesus reminded the crowd that John was God’s chosen massager and was more than a prophet. He was a special servant sent by God. He told them that no one was greater than John. "Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." - Matt. 11:11. John was the greatest because he was chosen to testify to the world about the coming of Jesus, but in heaven the lowest ranked person is greater than John because Jesus saved them from their sins.
Principle: God reveals Himself and removes doubt as we sincerely seek Him in His Word.
Matthew 11:20-30 – Rest From Rules
The people in the cities of Galilee heard Jesus' teaching and saw His miracles, but they did not repent. Jesus compared them to Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom. These were sinful cities God brought great judgment on in the Old Testament. The Galilee cities would experience greater judgment, because they had witnessed Jesus and His miracles but still did not believe. Their accountability was greater. They needed to confess and believe if they wanted eternal life.
We today have the whole story of Jesus and how He forgives, yet people today still do not repent. The world today has greater a responsibility and a greater accountability before God. If we do not repent, our judgment will be much more severe than the Galilee cities.
The Bible has warnings and rules, but rules are not where salvation come from. It's all about the heart. We worship God because He has given us grace. He reveals Himself to us not because we deserve Him, but because He loves us. We are to worship Him and Him alone.
Jesus gives us a beautiful invitation in Matt. 11:28-30 - "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." He promises to give us rest, if we lean on Him He is always there to help, comfort and guide us when we are down or stressed or overworked. When we let go of our control and lean on Him, that's when we get rest. A yoke is used to direct oxen. His yoke directs us. Follow Him and He will direct you.
Principle: True rest is found only in Jesus Christ.
Are you tired of trying to fit into a mold that God never meant you to be in?
Jesus understands perfectly the burdens of this world. He understands perfectly the burden of sin. Sin can destroy what God is creating, but Christ has defeated sin and we don’t have to carry that burden. To be yoked to Christ is turning of our heart towards His heart and aligning our mind with His mind. He comes alongside to help, heal, encourage and provide the grace we need. It’s letting Him carry your burden of worry and letting Him take away the pressure and stress of the day. He will give you peace and rest for your soul.
Matthew 12 – Eternal Rest
The Pharisees tried to trap Jesus by attacking His disciples. They accused them of breaking the Sabbath when they picked grain to eat. It wasn’t wrong to eat from a field as they passed (Deut. 23:25). The problem the Pharisees had was the disciples did it on the Sabbath. Jesus points out examples of David and his men when they ate the consecrated bread on the Sabbath when they were hungry. He also pointed out the priest did sacrifices on the Sabbath yet were innocent.
Jesus also healed a man on the Sabbath which the Pharisees questioned. Jesus said it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath. (Matt. 12:12). Jesus saw human suffering and did not worry about people pleasing.
The Sabbath is all about being with Jesus. It was not about rules, but about spending time with Jesus. They lost sight of the dos and don'ts and forgot about mercy. The Pharisees then went out and plotted how to kill Jesus.
Jesus then healed a demon-possessed man. The people were astonished and said, "Could this be the Son of David?" - Matt. 12:23. When the Pharisees saw this, they were jealous of His power so the suggested that He was working with Beelzebub, the prince of demons. Jesus knew their thoughts and said, "If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself." - Matt. 12:26. Jesus said Satan was like "the strong man” and had made people his slaves and were his property. But Jesus had gone into Satan’s kingdom and removed people from it and Satan could not stop Jesus because Jesus was more powerful.
Notice that Jesus knew their thoughts. Jesus knows all. He even knows our thoughts.
Jesus talked about blasphemy against the Holy Spirit and that it is a sin that will not be forgiven. What is a sin against the Spirit? It is the sin that continues to reject the Spirit. He always forgives when we repent, but if you do not repent and believe then that is a sin against the Holy Spirit.
“But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.” – Matt. 12:36. Words are so easy, but so powerful. Words are what is in your heart. Often we don’t think carefully about what we say. Words can acquit or condemn. Ask God to show you where your words need to change so they will not come out again.
The Pharisees ask for Jesus to show them a sign that He was from God. Jesus said they were wicked and adulterous for asking. He used the sign of Jonah being in the fish for 3 days and the future sign would be Jesus' resurrection in 3 days after His death.
Jesus said if we get rid of evil or sin in our hearts and replace it with nothing, then it comes back even stronger. We need to replace it with God (Matt. 12:43-45). You can't take a neutral position. To be indifferent is to be against Jesus.
Matt. 12:45-50 can be hard for us to understand why Jesus said what He said. But this is a lesson for us. He was saying that natural relationships are important, but not as important as the spiritual relationship we have in Christ. He wasn’t turning His back on His family. Later on we see that Jesus still cared for them. At the cross, He entrusting care of His mother to John (John 19:26). Jesus was promising His family would be determined by obedience – not blood, not genealogy, not politics, not power, and not money. Jesus invites you to be part of His family.
Principle: Those who follow Jesus are part of His family; those who reject Him are excluded.
Do you have the privilege of being in God's family?
Join me here next week as we continue our study of Matthew -- I encourage you to trust in Jesus.
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