From Matthew 11:1 – The Way of The King

Chapter 10 is occupied with Jesus’ appointment of the twelve, and then His detailed instructions. Those instructions were twofold. Some of what He said to them pertained to their immediate mission, and some had to do with their larger mission and the future, after He was gone.

All in all, we see Christ as the Good Shepherd who prepares His own for each and every circumstance. In His warnings He also reminded them how He would always provide. They heard or reception and opposition; the working of miracles and the persecution of the lost. Of great victories and severe trials. And so our own lives in serving Him still are. We are not to be shocked at trials, but nor are we to be daunted by them. And through our hands in the preaching and living of the Gospel, men’s souls are raised from the dead, those who cannot walk before God are freed from their bondage. Some, bound even by demonic forces are set at liberty, and every sin and stain cleansed in the blood of the Lamb.

So in the first verse of chapter 11 we see several things of note.

Note first how after sending out the 12, He did not sit back and watch, He continued to labor too. So it is today. Preachers and teachers of the Gospel ought to be aware that we never labor in His field by ourselves, but that He is also still laboring with us. He has not left us to our own devices. He has equipped us, but He Himself is still at the work too. Just as He said to His detractors in John 5 “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” And dear Christian, it is still so today. Take heart. You do not labor alone.

Note secondly the nature of His own labors, and how that serves as a directive to us. What occupied His own efforts? Preaching and teaching. People need the Word of God proclaimed to them. Above everything else – we need to hear God, and we hear Him best and most in the proclaiming of the kingdom of Christ.

Communications experts tell us that sermonizing is a poor and inefficient way of communicating. That it is old fashioned, passe and that there are much better methods. But the God/Man didn’t think so. He gave Himself to it, and charged His disciples likewise. It may not be the World’s method, but it is His. It may not be the latest method, the coolest, the naturally most attractive nor the preferred among the intelligentsia of our day – but it is the way He has chosen to be represented and made known. “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” “and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel.” (Rom. 10:14-15 & 15:20a)

I find then 2 compelling things here.

First, how necessary it is for the Church not to give up on Jesus’ method. Preaching the Word is His chosen way to bring in the lost, weed out the dabblers, edify the saints, and make His glory known. We ought not to try and out reason God. He knows why He has determined this to be His way. Ours is to carry it out.

Second, how necessary it is for His People to attend to His ways by making sure we are sitting under sound preaching. In our flesh, we too might prefer other ways to edify our souls, and in truth, we should take advantage of all we can. But we ought never neglect to sit and hear the Word of God preached to our souls. It is His manna for our generation. It is His way. We might find it dull at times, repetitive, the same-old same-old. But it is His provision. And our souls are fed there, that we might be strong and healthy before Him. Let us never disdain His provision because we would prefer leaks and garlic from Egypt.