ResponsiveReiding

From Matthew 12:41 / Something Greater Part 2

Before we go back to treat the intervening verses of 9-40, it seems good to continue looking at the 3-fold “greater than” statements.

Hint to preachers: At times, you have to look at a larger portion to grasp the big picture, before going back to look at the individual portions. In this case, because the section encompasses these 3 related references, they need to be dealt with in that regard. Some passages will require more than one treatment to tease out both the big picture and the smaller parts.

Note that these latter two “greater” statements most certainly took place at another place and time. The narrative is arranged by Matthew to give us this emphasis. So be careful not to assume that all the entire section occurred at the very same time. By the inspiration of the Spirit – Matthew has helped us find this emphasis.

Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. Matt. 12:38-41

2 – Greater than Jonah

Now the idea here is really quite startling.

By the time this encounter happens, Jesus had already performed any number of healings and miracles.

He had been preaching in the synagogues for quite some time. And news of His healings and casting out demons was commonplace.

He had already given the Sermon on The Mount, healed a leper right after and interacted with them over healing others on the Sabbath.

One has to wonder just what kind of sign other than these things would have been sufficient for them?

Nothing keeps lost men bound in their sins and Christians paralyzed in confusion when making decisions, more than requiring God to give them “signs” rather than simply believing the truth.

We try to force God’s hand. Internally – even if not consciously – thinking to blame Him for not giving us enough proof. But what proof does the truth need? It ought to be obvious.

As we see here, the point of Jesus’ words are that the men of Nineveh saw no sign.

When Jonah was cast upon the shore he was hundreds of miles away from Nineveh. None of them saw it. But! they believed Jonah’s preaching. How very fallen we are indeed.

And Jesus here frustrates their attempt get Him to perform on demand. He is no trained seal.

The Scribes and Pharisees had seen Him cast out devils and yet here – they ask for a “sign”

So it is Jesus reminds them that those who were proverbial for being wicked pagans – the Ninevites – repented at the mere preaching of Jonah – and didn’t require some sign from him.

So the only “sign” they are going to get, is one that will be after the crucifixion. It won’t deal with their present unwillingness to believe.

But how does that factor into Jesus being greater than Jonah?

Jonah himself was a sign: And Christ is the reality the sign pointed to. And this, by both comparison and contrast.

‌1 – By comparison, Jonah’s time in the belly of the fish was type and shadow of Jesus’ burial: Matt. 12:40 / For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

2 – By contrast, Jonah preached judgment only: Christ both preached the forgiveness of sins, and died as the satisfaction of our sins.

3 – Jonah did no miracles: Christ demonstrated the Kingdom everywhere.

4 – Jonah was a most reluctant prophet: Christ came most willingly, even at the cost of exchanging His glory for humility, being brutalized and most cruelly murdered.

5 – Jonah only preached: Christ lived sinlessly, died as our substitute, was buried, and rose again for our justification.

6 – Jonah was in the fish for his own sins: Jesus was in the grave for ours.

7 – Jonah heard the Word of the Lord and ran from it: Jesus came specifically to do the will of the Father. Heb. 10:5-7 / …when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’ ”

8 – God’s will displeased Jonah: But in John 4:34 / Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.

9 – Jonah was a sign to Nineveh only: Christ is the sign of the great fallenness of mankind: Luke 2:34 / And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed.

‌Greater than Jonah indeed!

From Matthew 12:1-8 / Something Greater Part 1

The entire portion of 12:1-42 should be considered in terms of the triple repetition. 3 Times we read from Jesus’ lips that He is “greater than.”

vs. 6 – Something greater than the Temple is here –

vs. 41 – Something greater than Jonah is here –

vs. 42 – Something greater than Solomon is here.

Preachers, you might want to say something about the nature of repetition in the Bible as a means of emphasis. Since the original texts did not have devices like italics, bolding, highlighting, etc., repetition was the chief means. Note too that each of the points listed below could be expanded upon if this was a stand alone sermon, or kept in briefer form if the sermon encompasses all three – Temple, Jonah and Solomon.

Consider just the first today: 1 – Something Greater than The Temple is here.

The key point in this potion is that the reality is always to be considered above the symbolic. Symbols point to things, they are not the things themselves. And Jesus is saying that the Temple with all of its grandeur and divine appointment was never meant to be an end in itself, but is a symbol of that which is fulfilled in Christ.

All of the Temple rites and rituals were meant to display something about Him! He was the REAL the types and shadows here were pointing to.

The Jews for the most part had missed this. The Temple as the very center of their society represented far more than sacrifice only.

But just think for a moment how it is that Jesus is the “greater than” the Temple was pointing to. It is profoundly sweet and glorious.

1 – God’s presence was to be found in the Holy of Holies: Here, Christ far excels – He brings and actually IS, God’s presence out among men. Remember the angel speaking to Joseph in Matt. 1?

‌Matthew 1:20–23 / But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).

‌2 – The Temple had a lampstand in the Holy Place: But in John 8:12 and 9:5 – Jesus said HE is the Light of the World. John 8:12 / Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” And as 2 Cor. 4:6 notes: For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

‌3 – The Temple had a table of shewbread: In John 6:35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

4 – The Temple had an altar of incense: Heb. 7:25 says: Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

‌5 – The Temple had the Ark of the Mosaic Covenant: Christ Himself is the New Covenant – ratified in His own blood – 1 Cor. 11:25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

‌6 – The Temple had the blood of bulls and goats on the mercy seat: Christ’s blood is on the mercy seat of the New Covenant, and it cleanses from all things which could not be cleansed under the Old.

7 – The Temple was the place of sacrifices: But Christ is the final sacrifice, and is the very mercy of God poured out in full. Jesus is the one Romans 3:25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. John 1:29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

‌This is how man-made religion always errs – it makes the instruments of religion more important than the One that religion is meant to serve, and the people it is meant to bless.

‌In this case, how can the regulations of the Temple be more important than the God the Temple is made for?

‌And how can the regulations of the Temple be more important than the people God intends the Temple to bless?

When we get these upside down, legalism reigns.

‌In fact – as Jesus says here – He is actually the Lord of The Sabbath and can administrate it as He sees fit – and so His disciples were doing nothing other than what He was allowing right at that moment!

‌Something greater than the Temple is here indeed – Christ Himself is here!

From Matthew 11:25-30 / Rest

Note first, how few, even among professed Believers actually rest in Jesus instead of trying to establish and live in confidence in our own performance or righteousness. How many of us sincerely trying to serve and walk with Christ do not rest in His finished sacrifice, His imputed righteousness, His promises to finish His work in us, in His knowledge of just how broken and sinful we were when He betrothed Himself to us, and how He has taken us to Himself fully aware of our remaining sin.

Note secondly, how the text answers the hidden question of some. Having received us, will He now put us off? Did He commit to us without knowing full well when, where and how we would fail Him? Was He unaware of the extent and ravages of indwelling sin? Did He make a mistake? No! We can rest in His unchanging love, in His sanctifying work, in His infinite longsuffering, in His mercy, in His grace, in His goodness, and in His unchangableness. He does not react to us, though He does respond. But His feelings and attitude toward us is not dependent upon us, but upon His freely given love.

Note third at how Jesus is inserted here – only a blasphemer or fool or lunatic could at this moment issue a call not to “seek God” – but “come to ME!” Jesus locates all of God’s blessing and presence in Himself. He is saying: “I alone can reveal the Father to you, so come to ME. Come to ME with your labor and burden – I (not God as though separate) will give you rest. Take MY yoke, i.e. serve ME.”

If He is not God – all of this is blasphemy.

So, what is the answer to those who are weak, burdened down, and in need of rest? The revelation of the Father (“learn of me”) which only He can give. The revelation of willing forgiveness, of “the day of the Lord”, to set the captives free. We must come to Jesus and to Him alone for this knowledge of God the Father. And we find His yoke easy, His burden light – for it is but by faith we enter into the riches of the Living God in Christ Jesus.

This in fact is the “easy” yoke and the “light” burden – to come to Him alone, and to trust Him alone, having believed Him alone. Come and be mine. Be yoked to me. That is the whole of it. And I will give you rest. I am meek, and approachable. Lowly, you need not raise yourself up to some level first. Just come.

All that you seek, is ultimately to be found in Him. So if you abandon trying to obtain it here – which is the impossible, exhausting and impossible task – and look to Him instead, the only task is to wait upon Him. This is infinitely lighter and easier than running from place to place, person to person, experience to experience to be filled. Keep fixed upon Him for your desires, and let Him fulfill them in His way, in His time – by Himself.

Note fourth – can we have a better template for preaching the Gospel than this from Jesus’ own lips? I think not.

Tell them Christ invites all who have exhausted themselves in sin or religion to come to Him.

Tell them He alone can reveal the Father.

Tell them He alone can give them rest.

Tell them His way is easy and light – just to trust Him.

Tell them He calls sweetly and gently, not thundering the law from Sinai.

Tell them He seeks those who have thrown off pretense and feigned personal righteousness.

Tell them that in all this, He is doing the Father’s perfect will.

Tell them, there is hope and salvation in Him.

Tell them.

From Matthew 11:20-24 / Woe to You!

On the heels of explaining to the crowds how those serving God are out of step with those in the world, and how the World misunderstands them, He goes on to pronounce woes on several cities: Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum. These the text says, are where He performed “most of His mighty works.”

Note first then that the misunderstanding of the ministries of John and Jesus, is not an innocent mistake. The Kingdom had been demonstrated before them with multiple and incontrovertible proofs. They rejected the proof. It isn’t that there wasn’t enough proof. It is that they would not believe.

Jonathan Edwards is helpful here when he distinguishes between an inability to believe as though people do not have the faculty for faith, and a “moral inability.” He uses the example of Joseph’s brothers in Gen. 37:4 where we read that Joseph’s brothers “could not speak peacefully to him.” Why? Because “they hated him.” Why do people reject the Gospel, because our flesh is at enmity with God. We don’t want to submit to Christ. Later in Matt. 23 Jesus will cry to Jerusalem that He would have gathered her children together like a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but they “were not willing.”

It is the will of man which must be overcome for salvation to dawn. This is why we are all morally culpable before God. It is not that we cannot believe, as though we don’t have the capacity, it is that we will not because we want to serve self and not God.

Note secondly how it is Jesus denounces entire towns for their lack of repentance. Perhaps some individuals did, we cannot be sure. But each town, each community is dealt with as an entity. The zeitgeist of any given area speaks loudly. Communities, villages, cities, states?, nations? And let us be clear, America as a whole has not repented. Though the most marvelous of miracles have been done in it. It will suffer judgment worse than that of Tyre and Sidon for its rejection of Christ. We must see that judgment is not restricted to individuals, but to cultures, cities and the like. Do not doubt it. It is a powerful call then to join the new Community, the community of Christ. And to be citizens of His anew Jerusalem.

Note thirdly that future judgment is not a one-size-fits-all proposition. There will be judgment proportioned to the weight of various sins. It is vastly more egregious to hear the Gospel and reject it outright, than to have never heard at all. Tyre, Sidon and Sodom will receive their just due. But even greater guilt will accrue to those who saw and heard Jesus, and remained in their unbelief in the face of His incarnation.

Those fine, upstanding, normal people, people like you and me and our neighbors – not notorious sinners like those at Sodom, are more culpable and worthy of greater punishment for our apathy toward the Savior when exposed to Him.

We are wont to point the finger at the murders, the savages, the pagans and the brutal and make them the highest of sinners. Or, we point to the notorious, those whose sin is open and repugnant to us.

But it is those, the normal people, the average people, the not-so-wicked people – who having heard the Gospel and encountered the measure of Christ in His Church, who have simply shrugged their shoulders, and said “to each his own, its just not for me” – who live their nice neat every day, culturally upright lives who will one day see the real malignancy of that rejection.

Note lastly the profound grace in this warning. For that is what it is, a warning. The day of judgment was not yet. If they were hearing His voice that day, they had opportunity right then to repent. Or you as you are reading this today, repent! There is grace this moment. Here, once again, you have the opportunity to flee to the Savior for forgiveness and new life. He made them know the seriousness of their condition, but in doing so, He made it known they might come and be reconciled to Him if they would. And this is the seriousness of your situation if you are still outside of Christ. But in mercy and grace you’ve been warned again. And so there is till a door open. For how long, no one knows. But it stands before you today. By faith, enter in.

From Matthew 11:16-18 / Out of Step

Note first, that those who would serve Christ, will always be out of step with the World, no matter what we do. No matter what the World does. And it is why we must be careful when political parties, personages, businesses or causes seek to trade on the name of Christ and Christians, when it is obvious they are not (as best as we can discern) true follows of the The Master. Though our purposes may seem to converge for a moment in time, rest assured, they will diverge just as quickly and the folly of it revealed. Seeking public approval for who and what we are in Jesus is a waste of time. We must not be concerned to court the World’s favor above seeking to delight our Redeemer.

Note secondly that those in Christ dance to a different tune than the World. What makes the World rejoice, makes us weep. And what often makes the World weep, does not, indeed CANNOT fill us with the same grief. We have other griefs to break our hearts – like the wickedness that pervades our culture. Just observe the reactions in our society around the striking down of Roe v Wade. Many openly wept and grieved. TV shows portrayed the horrors of the loss. Public discourse decried the loss of “women’s reproductive health rights” over the sparing of innocent lives from being slaughtered in their mother’s wombs. Christians necessarily rejoiced, while the World wept. And so it should always be in such matters.

Note thirdly how it is with Jesus’ words here; the conversation needs to be moved from curiosity with John, to the people considering their own plight. When discoursing with those around us regarding the issues of the day, we need to seek the Spirit’s wisdom and power and opportunity to steer the conversation to a different place. To use the discussion as a platform to consider spiritual and eternal matters.

We are endlessly wrapped up in questions about others, while barely (if at all) taking the time to truly examine our hearts before God. This preoccupation with others – which fuels the gossip industry, tabloid journalism, reality TV, and makes celebrities out of people who contribute nothing but the sordid details of their lives to others – pervades our current culture. But it is nothing new. People are always wanting to shift the focus to others, so as to avoid asking the serious questions of life about themselves. So it is in the face of that reality, Jesus demonstrates to us the need to turn the tables.

Note fourthly, with all the response to John’s preaching – still – the greater part of that generation remained caught up in its own thoughts and agenda. God’s purposes being wholly ignored. We must expect the same in our generation. There may be times of great revival and the moving of God’s Spirit among us, but we must not imagine turning the tide of culture so as to make the world around us “Christian.” If the preaching of John and Jesus together didn’t do so – will we imagine our efforts will? No. We get a reality check here. Yes, we preach and teach and testify of Christ with all hope and joy. But we also recognize there will such opposition. In due time, wisdom WILL still be justified by her deeds.

Lastly, herein is a most useful insight to how Scripture defines a “glutton.” If it were merely a matter of overeating or being overweight, then the charge against Jesus would be so patently and obviously false that it couldn’t bear the slightest weight of even the most rabid detractor. Gluttony in Scripture is more akin to our “party animal” – be he slim, svelte or hefty. It is one who is given over to dissolution. One who would rather party with friends than work. Lazy. Obdurate. Jesus at this point had no trade – He did not support Himself as best we know. In fact, we are told that He had a number of benefactors – women who contributed to giving Him the freedom to go about and teach (Luke 8:3). So given His free time to meet with and dine with tax collectors, and to be itinerant, the charge might have some plausibility.

And so Believers may well be considered the worthless naval-gazers of our day because we set our noses on matters of spiritual and eternal importance above each cause célèbre. So be it. As long as the charge holds no real weight. As long as we are not lost in dissolution and wastefulness, but set about the Master’s service.

Take heart Christian – if they so completely misunderstood both John and Jesus, then we ought not be surprised if the same is true for us. And again, in due time and in our case too – wisdom will be justified by her deeds.

From Matthew 11:7-15 / A Prophet Without Miracles

Having sent John’s disciples back to him, with a charge to report all that they had seen and heard of Jesus – He now turns to the crowds. As with His interaction with John’s men, He begins asking the crowds if they’ve digested what they have seen and heard of John?

Jesus says that John is the consummate prophet, in the very spirit of Elijah. Indeed he is prophesied about the Messiah’s forerunner. And yet 2 things are missing: a. He never does a single miracle. b. He never utters a word of predictive prophecy. What does He do? He recognizes and proclaims Christ. He point to the Lamb of God. And this, we can enter into as well. What a high a glorious thing He grants to us.

Note first the nature of John’s ministry! It is one filled with power. Multitudes are pursuing entrance into the Kingdom with violence, like a seige upon a city. Anyone could tell something unique was happening. But is often the case, people can be more curious than thoughtful about what they are witnessing.

Note secondly how John’s preaching is having such an effect. He is nothing short of “Elijah”. Jesus will go on to note how they were not really listening to John’s message. Those who did, repented of their sins and sought God. And yet how few made the connection back to Jesus – even after John’s proclamation of Him being the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Often, we must connect the dots for people. They do not on their own.

Note third that the ministry of the Disciples (at least prior to Pentecost, and with the exception of Peter & Paul) had no such power or public response. They were no less disciples. No less chosen. No less anointed. No less commissioned. And yet none seem to have the same response of the masses in preaching. We must bow to the Father’s sovereignty in such matters. We must repel jealousy and comparison. We must betake ourselves to our commission and remain faithful in it. Yes, we may cry for the same results – even wrestle for them, and then we must leave things in the hands of our Lord.

Note fourth that Jesus’ statement regarding the kingdom of heaven suffering violence may be taken more than one way. It may refer (as above) to how many when convicted of their sins rush into it like a city under seige.

Then, it might refer to the simple fact that when Christ and The Kingdom are proclaimed, there will always be violent opposition to it. Men reject above all, submission to God and His Word. We still want to be our own god and will resist Christ’s Lordship any way we can. And John’s imprisonment certainly demonstrates violent rejection of his message.

Or, look how men have sought to take the kingdom of heaven by their own strength. How they use the law and prophets like weapons to claim their own right and their own righteousness to heaven. But we cannot take heaven by such means. We neither have a right to it by birth, nor by virtue of our having possessed or obeyed the law. Heaven must take us. It must conquer us. We must come before Heaven’s King, defeated by our sin, decrying our own righteousness and pleading to be forgiven our self-reliance, self-righteousness and pride. We must cast ourselves on the coming King’s mercy and His message of grace. No man can storm heaven’s gates. He must be carried into those gates a captive of war and a trophy of all conquering love. So they came to be baptized. To own their sin and their uncleanness. And in their surrender, found a willing and inviting Savior. Oh what a Christ He is!

Or lastly – the Kingdom of God has to force its way into the World – men do not receive it gladly. It is a conquering work. Warfare. Men’s souls are not subdued with anything less than the power of the Holy Spirit. Almighty God Himself must bind up and cast out the strong man. As Paul will note in 2 Cor. 4:6 it takes no less power to create a new heart in a person than it did to begin the whole of Creation – calling light out of darkness. Salvation is a most miraculous thing indeed! All of the Prophets were violently causing the light of God’s truth to break in upon the darkness of this sin filled world. And while John is the last of his breed, so even now the true light will dawn Himself. Jesus, the Light of the World is come. John gave the last announcement that He would come – we announce that He is here. And so the Spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Note fifth in this entire section, as per Blomberg – as great as John is, there is yet the blessing of the New Covenant. And the least among us sharing in those privileges is blessed higher than the greatest of all the OT saints and prophets. Grasp what it means to be “in Christ.” Father forgive me for failing to understand this.

From Matthew 11:2-6 / “Are You the One?”

Commentators are divided as to what was behind John sending his disciples to Jesus.

J.C. Ryle, similar to Calvin for instance, thinks this was by no means a moment of doubt in John. John, knowing his time was short, was getting his own followers to make the necessary shift to Jesus. After all, hadn’t John been the first to proclaim who Jesus was and that, by supernatural revelation? One would think he was by not shaken in the least.

Others speculate that John, expecting Jesus’ to rise to a more common vision of Messiahship, began to doubt his identification of Jesus as the Messiah. In prison, facing death when he thought the Messiah would change everything, was near fainting.

Which ever view one takes (I tend to think as Ryle and Calvin) this much is certain – how often the answers to our deepest questions and concerns are right there before us – we simply need to truly contemplate what it is we see and hear.

Men say they need “proof” of God. Open your eyes and your ears – and you will have all the proof you need. Fail at that, and no other proof will suffice.

So Jesus sends the men back asking them to bear witness to what they themselves have seen and heard. The blind are given sight. The lame walk. Lepers are fully cured. Deaf men hear. The dead are raised up again. The Gospel of the Kingdom is being preached to even the poor. What more can you ask for proof?

Indeed, what more might you are I or anyone else need? Are not the life, words and acts of Jesus incontrovertible proof of His divinity and mission? He was a public figure. His detractors could have easily disproved His miracles if they had been false. But no one does. His contemporaries may try to assign the source of His works to demonic powers – but they could not deny they truly happened.

And so I ask you today reader – what do you say to these things? What do you make of the evidence?

Note secondly, that we must not reject the obvious truth because it does not fit with our pre-conceived notions.

Jesus may not have been the Messiah they imagined the Messiah would be – but here He was, fulfilling Scripture. Jesus appeals to Isaiah 61:1-2 in giving His answer. As He would say to the Pharisees, “If you believed Moses, you would believe me.” And, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.”

Maybe the Jesus of the Bible isn’t the Jesus we want Him to be or imagined Him to be. Many a time I’ve heard people say – upon reading something in Scripture they do not like – “I would never serve a God like that.

No less than Oprah Winfrey testified that she abandoned the God of the Bible because she read in the Old Testament that God said He was a jealous God over His people Israel. She had weighed God in her balances and found Him wanting in His being “jealous” which she thought beneath Him. That God, she would not have.

But God and His Christ must be received on their own terms. We cannot re-create Him to our likeness. We must take Him in His wrath as well as His mercy. In His sovereignty as well as in His love. His holiness as well as His grace. His demands, as well as His blessings.

We may well need to reject the God of our imaginations, but we dare not reject the God revealed in the Bible, and in the face of Jesus Christ. Do not stumble over who and what He truly is.

Father, save us from our heart’s blindness and deafness. We are so dead and dull. Open our eyes, that we may truly see and comprehend His glory. It isn’t that the Sun hasn’t risen upon us and shined in His perfection – it is that we are blind. Save us!

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.

rom Matthew 10:40-42 – An Apostolic Primer Part 5

These last 3 verses close out Jesus’ preparation of His Apostles for their mission to the lost sheep of Israel, proclaiming the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, healing the sick, raising the dead, cleansing lepers and casting out demons. (vss. 6-8) It is a profoundly singular mission. Later, when He sends out the 72, Jesus’ gives a nearly identical set of instruction in preparing them. In both cases, the mission is short term and localized. But they both serve to give us insight today in what is left to us in our places and age and what we can expect to experience as we carry His message to the World.

Note then that while Jesus has given us the authority to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom in His name, we do not see the same commission in terms of healing and miracles repeated for the greater Church. And it is not that God does not still graciously heal and defy demonic powers; He still can and still does. It is rather that bringing the change from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant, especially to the Jewish nation, required dramatic proof of epic and unprecedented proportions. Given their heritage of the Mosaic/Joshua, and the Elisha/Elijah eras of the miraculous, at the most pivotal points in Israel’s history – Jesus’ ministry had to arrive and be seen on the same level. Indeed, to supersede both. So in John 9 we’ll hear the people testify: “Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind.” Neither previous era had seen what Jesus had done.

God was visiting His people in a way that would not be as necessary to those of us without that heritage. God incarnate was among them. We were born under the age of the New Covenant, they were undergoing a cataclysmic change. So Jesus can say to Thomas in John 20 “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” We do not experience immediate manifestations of the risen Christ as they did after His resurrection. But we are called to believe their witness. In the proclamation of the Gospel without proofs (above the miracle of the new birth) we are brought back to the Garden to live by faith – by simply believing what God has said is true, and ordering our lives accordingly. Believers today participate in reversing Adam’s unbelief. What an amazing gift!

Note then in this closing text of Ch. 10, the repetition of the word “because.” It is most important.

Those who hear the and respond to the Gospel of Jesus Christ preached, as that, the Gospel of Jesus Christ preached – receive the blessing of the Gospel: forgiveness of sin, salvation from the wrath of God, the infilling of The Spirit, the fellowship of the saints, the open door to the Father’s throne in prayer, the promise of the resurrection, eternal life, and eternal union with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We’ll read an echo of this later in Paul’s letter to the Galatians when he says: you “received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus.”

Whenever, wherever men and women receive the Gospel as sent from God, as cosmic, eternal truth, they will receive the rewards due faithful prophets, righteous God fearers and true disciples. Grace upon grace upon grace. Not just mercy – bounty and blessing and glory.

If you do not know Him today – hear the words of this Gospel: Jesus Christ, God incarnate in human flesh, died for OUR sins, and this, in accordance with what the Scriptures always taught by types, shadows and prophecies. He truly died and was buried. But He also rose from the dead on the 3rd day, as the Scriptures also testified would happen. He appeared to those who had been with Him during His earthly ministry, so that there could be no mistake it was really Him. And He appeared to masses of men, not just one or two, corroborating the Disciples’ testimony. Then He commissioned all who believe in Him as our substitute on the Cross bearing God’s wrath upon human sin – to preach this Gospel yo you, that you may believe, be baptized as His disciple too, and obey Him as Lord. Come.

From Matthew 10:34-39 – An Apostolic Primer Part 4

Perhaps one of the most startling statements by Jesus, and set in direct opposition to the assumptions of many – is vs. 34: “Do not think I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.”

There are two things to note here right off: 1 – How foreign this language is to the many who have never really read their Bibles, even though they may call themselves by the name “Christian.” 2 – How different this warfare that Jesus mentions is from the misconceptions of so many.

So we are left with 2 questions: 1 – What is the sword Jesus said He came to bring. 2 – What is the peace He came to destroy with it? The answers come in the following verses.

I am afraid that this element of Gospel understanding and preaching seems to be virtually absent from our pulpits and popular Christian literature today. But we must make no mistake, the Gospel divides. It separates. It instigates and prosecutes a vicious war.

First, it sets a person at odds with the sin they once loved. The Gospel opens our eyes to the heinousness of our sin when we see what it looked like to have God’s wrath poured out upon Jesus in the crucifixion. The Cross was no cosmic slap on the wrist or a gentle rebuke. The savagery of the Cross shows us what God’s wrath looks like. How He hates sin. And it calls us to hate sin too. And to hate it above all – in ourselves. It calls us to see what our sin cost the Savior. And so it means we can never be at peace with our sin ever again – but that we will be in constant conflict with its indwelling remnants.

The Gospel of trusting Christ’s atoning sacrifice alone for our reconciliation to the Father sends the sword against our human pride. It slashes to pieces the self-deluded peace of our being good enough in ourselves, of our not being THAT bad. The man or woman who comes to Christ still arrogant about their own righteousness, no matter how slight, is still at peace with the flesh and devil, and at war with God. And He aims to disrupt any remaining peace with the flesh and the devil.

Coming to the Gospel, coming to Christ as Lord of all invites the sword to sever any love that would claim loyalty or supremacy over Christ. No, it does not mean we stop loving parents, spouses or children. We’re commanded to love even our enemies. But the Gospel wars against an idolatrous love of friends and family, or anything else which – when push comes to shove – we choose over obeying and following Christ.

The Gospel refuses to let us live at peace with the values of The World. We war against the ever vacillating and plummeting morality of the culture. We fight against taking on those views and opinions which drive the fallen world around us and instead insist in shining the light of God’s Word to illuminate the path we are to walk. We cannot be at peace with sexual perversion, political corruption, worship of the individual and vain philosophies but clearly while lovingly declare the truth about sin – calling sin, sin – especially in ourselves – and proclaiming Christ in all of His mediatorial glory. We do not war against sinners themselves, but against the chains of sin that hold them captives.

The Gospel will not let us make peace with false Gospels. We must call them out for what they are. We bring the sword of Biblical truth bear in examining and destroying false notions of God, Christ, The Holy Spirit, The Bible, and especially the demand of Scripture to repent of sin and turn to faith in Jesus Christ alone for salvation. We cannot be at peace with so-called gospels that have no cross in them – either Christ’s in His substitutionary atonement, nor ours in following Him, and being marginalized or cast out from the world because of the exclusivity of proclaiming the necessity of Christ as Lord, repentance from sin, and that we hold THE Truth in Jesus.

Such a battle is costly. But look at Jesus’ assurance – it is true, whoever finds their life in living for themselves and this world, will in the end – actually lose their lives .Eternally. But those who turn their backs on peace with this world, sin and falsehood to follow Christ – will find true, everlasting and glorious life in Him.

Flee to Him today. Jesus saves sinners. I know. I’m the worst. And He saved me.