Matthew 11:20-27

Responding To The Gospel

When Jesus sent HIS Disciples out in pairs, HE told them whoever will not receive them that they are to shake off the dust under their feet as a testimony against them. HE also told them, "Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city”. (Mark 6:7-13) When we share the Gospel with people, we pray they will accept the LORD, yet most will reject the Gospel, just as those who lived in the 3 Galilean cities of Today's message.

 Jesus gives us a lesson on why so many reject the Gospel, and it is not because you are a terrible evangelist, it is GOD they reject. They reject GOD, because their own Worldly education says the things of GOD are foolishness and thus they would rather trust in man’s wisdom and man’s knowledge. Jesus tells us that it will be worst for them on the day of judgement, than it will be for the Indians of the old West who followed strange gods, before they heard the Gospel.

1. (Matthew 11:20-24) Jesus rebukes cities He performed miracles in

Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent: “Woe to you,! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.”

(Matthew 11:20-24)

1. Three Jewish Galilean rebuked for not accepting Jesus

1. Choraizin 

1. First miracle recorded in Matthew is the healing of the leper (Mattew 8:1-5)

2. Today nothing exists where Choraizin once existed

2. Bethsaida 

1. Hometown of Phillip, Andrew, and Peter came

2. Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law

3. Jesus healed a crowd sick and demon-possessed people (Matthew 8:16)

4. Today nothing exists where Bethsaida once existed

3. Capernaum

1. Jesus based HIS ministry here and HIS family lived here

2. Jesus healed the centurion’s paralyzed boy in Capernaum (8:5)

3. Healed paralyzed man lowered down through the roof (9:1-7)

4. Jairus’s daughter was resurrected, the hemorrhaging woman was healed, the blind men were given sight, and the demon-possessed man was freed (9:18-32)

5. Some, you remember, said, “Wow, we’ve never seen anything like this!” but others said, “Ignore him; he’s just demon-possessed.” (9:33-34)

6. Today nothing exists where Capernaum once existed

2. Tyre and Sidon, Jesus says would have repented if they saw the miracles

1. Tyre and Sidon are ancient Pheonician cities

2. Now Roman cities 

3. In ancient days they would capture Jews and sell them as slaves to Edomites (Amos 1:9) and Greeks (Joel 3:6). 

4. Jews saw these pagans as the epitome of evil. People from Tyre and Sidon were thought of by the Jews as cruel and proud 

5. Sometimes pagans who have never heard about the true God can be more impressed at the things of God than people who have had long exposure to the truth and have become insensitive to it.

6. Wicked Tyre and Sidon will be better off on judgment day than the 3 Jewish cities

3. How would America fare on Judgment day?

1. Jesus performed many miracles and blessed us through the years

1. America is prideful

2. We are rejecting Him and promoting all the evil of Sodom

2. America’s punishment will be like the first 3 cities

1. It will be better for Sodom on the day of judgment than for America

2. (Matthew 11:25-26) Jesus just rebuked 3 cities for their failure to receive, and now He turns from the rebuking of these cities to the Father in a prayer. These next verses can be difficult for some to understand.

At that time Jesus answered and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.

(Matthew 11:25-26)

1. Why would GOD stop some from understanding HIM? 

1. GOD blinds the Worldly wise and intelligent who are

1. Smug in their educated minds

2. They claim to be self-sufficient, self-made men

3. They believe they save themselves

4. Like the Pharisees, Sadducees, Scribes, Lawyers who taught a doctrine of salvation by the works they perform instead by faith

5. These men refuse to trust GOD, because their own Worldly education says the things of GOD are foolishness and thus they would rather trust in man’s wisdom and man’s knowledge, Paul tells of this dichotomy,

Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise  according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are,

1 Corinthians 1:25-28

3. (Matthew 11:27a) Jesus tells us HIS FATHER has given HIM all control

All things have been delivered to Me by My Father,

(Matthew 11:27a)

1. All power, not just a part, but all. Let us consider the power we see Jesus using

1. From the four Gospels we see that:

1. Jesus exercised authority over Satan when He was tempted (Matthew. 4:1-11)

1. Jesus had authority to drive out demons (Matthew 8:28-32) 

2. Jesus had authority over sickness through His healing miracles, and even over death (Matthew chapter9)

3. Jesus had authority over the wind and the water because he calmed the storm on the lake (Matthew 8:27) 

4. Jesus had authority to forgive sins, as we see from the story of the paralytic lowered through the roof (Matthew 9:6) 

5. Jesus has authority to judge each one of us and either send us to heaven or hell (Matthew 7:23; Matthew 10:15; 10:28; and 10:41-42)

6. Later on Jesus will tell us

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

Matthew 28:18-19

7. So we see HE was given authority to give us a commandment and bless us if we follow HIS command

2. Jesus also has the power to give us the;

1. Holy Spirit (Isaiah 11:1-2)

2. He has peace which He gives away (John 14:27; John 20:21-26)

3. He also has light, life, and love (John 1:4, John 1:17 John 1:26) which are the “light of men”

4. Jesus is the fountain of joy (John 15:11, John 16:24, John 17:23)

3. And this is only a partial list of all that has been handed over to Jesus!

4. We also know from Isaiah that the authority of Jesus increases in certain ways,

Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

Isaiah 9:7

Paul tells us all enemy has been put under Jesus feet

For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.

1 Corinthians 15:25-26

4. (Matthew 11:27b) So how can we KNOW the Father?

  and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.

(Matthew 11:27b)

1. To truly understand this, one must understand that no one but Christ can fully comprehend the nature and attributes of God

1. No one can truly and fully comprehend the nature of the incarnation Jesus Christ, except the FATHER, GOD

2. No one truly comprehends the workings or the uniqueness of the Godhead, known as the Holy Trinity, but the three members of the Holy Trinity, the FATHER ,SON, AND HOLY SPIRIT. Yet it does exist

3. We know in part, and until GOD opens our minds to know more we will always only know in part. 

For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.

1 Corinthians 13:9-12

4. This is the stumbling block that men of high Worldly intelligence cannot grasp, 

1. They need faith, but they can only believe what they see or understand with their man-made knowledge and wisdom.

5. This is what Jesus means when he tells us, 

I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent

(Matthew 11:25a ) 

6. This is also why Jesus thanks HIS FATHER for revealing these things to babes

1. A baby in the arms of her mother, trusts she will not be  dropped her or do her harm

2. This is why the Pharisees could not grasp the faith we have in a man who was crucified like a thief on a cross,and thus become the cornerstone of GOD’s Kingdom but a stumbling block for men of the World

Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone. As it is written: "BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A STUMBLING STONE AND ROCK OF OFFENSE, AND WHOEVER BELIEVES ON HIM WILL NOT BE PUT TO SHAME."

(Romans 9:32-33)

2. There are so many things about the Scriptures, and GOD's revelation of HIMSELF, that man does not yet understand. God created us, and in doing so HE wants us to understand everything HE made. HE never wanted us to be ignorant of what HE created. When GOD created Adam, He wanted him to explore and find everything HE made, and have fun naming them as HE discovered them. Yet the more we know, the more we know we do not know, and thus we are challenged by GOD to study so we can know HIM better. There are over 800,700 words in the Bible, and I admit I lost count how many times I have read the Bible from cover to cover, yet everytime I read it I learn something new. Understand this, you do not need a library of reference material to understand the Bible, because the Bible is in and of itself, the best commentary you can use to understand the Bible. Every verse and every thought that is written in the Bible has other verses somewhere in the Bible to help you understand what you are reading. 

5. If you were living in Capernaum Chorazin, or Bethsaida back in the year 29 A.D. 

1. Imagine the extraordinary access you would have had to actually meet Jesus?

2. If you saw the miracles HE performed, would you believe in HIM?

3. If HE healed you, or a loved one, would you tell everyone?

4. What if you saw others calling HIM names and accusing HIM of being the devil

1. Would you defend HIM?

5. Would you follow HIM to learn all HE wants to tell you?

6. Now imagine those who ignored HIM as they saw the miracles

7. This was the people of these cities, 

1. They saw, and still did not believe

8. You are only hear the Word preached, 

1. And you believe

9. I offer two incidents of faith, one needing proof, the other having blind faith

1. The Roman centurion had Faith Jesus could heal when his servant was dieing

 

“Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

1When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!

Matthew 8:5-13

2. Jesus Disciple, Thomas, said he needed proof of putting his hand in the wounds of Jesus to believe HE was resurrected.  

And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!” Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”  Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

John 20:26-29

1. So what kind of faith do you have? Is it weak or non-existent like those of Capernaum Chorazin, or Bethsaida, and like Thomas, or strong and unshakable like the Roman Centurion?