The Weekend Word

Matthew 11:16-30

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.

• Is this not us? John and Jesus don’t live up to our expectations and we are all fickled?
• You party too much / you don’t party with us.
• We are never happy – not even when someone comes along in our best interest. Why? Because we don’t want our best interest – we want our selfish interest.

Woe to Unrepentant Cities – Now we come to the “woes” of scripture. When you look for certainty in the words of Jesus, do you ever turn to the Woes? They offer great certainty – they will come to pass.

²⁰ Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent.

• What are these mighty works?
• Taking dead, damned sinners and making them saved children of God.

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.

• Did Jesus say this in his calm polite Jesus voice or did he boom it across town?
• I find this interesting. You don’t think of Sodom & Gomorrah and Tyre & Sidon as God loving or God fearing people – BUT…
• Jesus says they would have believed IF they would have experienced what we have experienced.

²² But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you.

• Note that Jesus validates that there is / will be a Day of Judgment.

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.

• Capernaum seems like a such nice city … but they are getting a Woe
• These cities listed are the places that Jesus did most of his teaching and miraculous works… and was rejected.

²⁴ But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.”

• Jesus validates the idea of degrees of judgment / punishment.
• These words of Jesus are meant to kill. Only after Jesus has killed you with the full weight of the law can he bring you to life (make you Alive) through the gospel.
• Today, perhaps we should be hearing – Woe to you south Orange County
• Woe to you Abiding Savior
• Woe to you Sunday morning Bible class.
• We don’t hear this much today but this is preaching – Jesus style.
• Ultimately, Jesus is seeking repentance. Many verses are “you will perish … unless you repent”.

Come to Me, and I Will Give You Rest

²⁵ At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children;

• I wish I had the time and energy to read all of the primary documents containing “God” conversations of other religions … but I don’t
• Look at what Jesus is doing – he is praising the Father for hiding truth (capital T truth) from a certain group of people.
• What is being hidden?
• The wise and understanding are those who think they have it all figured out
• And in truth, God is hiding the missing piece from them

²⁶ yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.

• AND it is his will to do so.
• Just wait until we get to the parables – Jesus even explains that he tells parables to keep truth from others.
• Why? – So they cannot take over the kingdom by force.
• They cannot say “stand back God, I will show you how to do it.”
• No, It’s for the ‘Little Ones’ – faith
• Again, isn’t this just the opposite of what you would expect from a god?
• God should be giving all the needed information to all so that all have an equal chance.

²⁷ All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

• Matt 28:18 = “And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”
• How can we know the Father? – aside from Jesus we cannot.
• Jesus reveals the Father …to whom he chooses.
• This is what Jesus is all about – to reveal himself to us so that we can know the Father.
• Jesus is the least one – but still greater than John the B and he is in communion with the Father
• Jesus means “I am simply doing the Father’s will here – this is what it means to be savior of the whole world – Messiah – Emmanuel – to save MY people – to reveal the father.”

²⁸ Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

• Who are those people described in that verse.
• First, these are the only people who come to Jesus.
• This is Sabbath talk – This is Salvation talk
• Jesus does all of his work and it is for you and then says it is finished and now fulfills all that was meant in the Sabbath.

²⁹ Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

• This rest talk will lead us into Chapter 12 where we will see Jesus as the Lord of the Sabbath.
• Rest comes from being yoked to Jesus.

³⁰ For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

• After all the hard things, now Jesus takes over.
• It’s funny, we enslave ourselves and Jesus frees us.