Matthew 11:20-30
The Rebuke of the King
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Matt. 11:20 Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent:
Pray
Intro
√ The rebuke of the King
Our text this morning is a continuation of Jesus’ commentary on the generation that He was trying to reach. You’ll remember that He described their behavior in vs. 16-19 as…
Childish because they rejected both John and Jesus because they weren’t interested in the kind of Messiah that Jesus presented.
They wanted Messiah their way, or no way.
So, we find Jesus now speaking a strong rebuke to the people and the cities where He spent most of His ministry.
√ He’s the King
The fatal mistake of the people in Jesus’ day was that they failed to acknowledge Him as the King!
King’s aren’t voted into office.
King’s don’t change their behavior to accommodate the people…
…the people change to accommodate the King!
So, because Jesus didn’t “dance and mourn” the way that people wanted Him to they rejected Him as their King.
The problem for them is that while they could chose to ignore Him at His 1st Advent when He came as a Humble Servant King…
…they won’t be able to ignore Him when they stand before His at the Great White Throne judgment.
Those who reject Christ as King are doomed to be rejected by Him on Judgment Day, that’s the thrust of Jesus’ rebuke to the people of His generation.
Ap. He’s still the King!
We live in a generation that does not want to acknowledge Jesus as King.
Those of the world and many in the “Church” today are busy redefining “who” Jesus is, and “who” He is not by the standard of their own bias.
The central issue of this movement to redefine the Messiah is whether or not Jesus is the King to whom each of us must give account.
By diminishing His authority people then feel free to live life as they want with total disregard for the mandates of Scripture.
The end result is that many in our generation are only interested in the Lamb of God (as they define Him)…
…not the Lion of Judah to whom every person must give account!
Be careful how you chose to respond to Jesus today. He’s coming back and it won’t be with a Cross…
…it will be with a Sword!
Rebuke (Vs. 21-24)
Matt. 11:20 Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent:
Matt. 11:21 “Woe to
you, Chorazin! Woe to you,
Matt. 11:22 But I say
to you, it will be more tolerable for
Matt. 11:23 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.
Matt. 11:24 But I say
to you that it shall be more tolerable for the
√ Rebuke
“Rebuke” ~ that sounds harsh, it is! Whenever I hear people say…
“I like the God of the New Testament, but not the God of the Old Testament.”
…I recognize that they haven’t really read either with much discernment.
Their rational is that Jesus as they perceive Him is somehow different than the God Who is revealed in the Old Testament.
They see Jesus as a gentle guy who likes children, loves sinners, and would never say anything that would make people uncomfortable.
Somehow they missed verses like these!
To rebuke means…
“To reprove, chastise, upbraid, point out a fault”
While some might think that sounds too “judgmental”, the reality is that God rebukes people because He loves them! Proverbs tells us…
Faithful are the wounds of a friend,
But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. ~ 27:6
Jesus is the best friend a person can ever have and He isn’t willing to let anyone perish…
…therefore, He rebukes those who are in danger of judgment.
√ Reason for rebuke
You’ll note that Jesus rebukes the communities of Chorazin,
…had huge Gambling Casinos, a large homosexual population, produced illicit drug!
No, Jesus rebuked them because they would not repent!
Look at vs. 20 again…
“Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent.”
Repent, repent of what?
√ Repentance
Perhaps it would be helpful to define the word “repent”, it means…
“To turn around, to change one’s mind, or to go in a different direction”.
In the context of Jesus’ comments (vs. 16-19) He is rebuking these communities because they…
Didn’t change their mind regarding Jesus and embrace Him as the Messiah.
Didn’t change the direction of their life from following the vain traditions of the religious leaders and follow Jesus.
Instead, in spite of the overwhelming evidence that Jesus was the Messiah (attested by all the miracles they’d seen Him do)…
…they rejected Him because He didn’t meet their expectations of what Messiah should be.
So, Jesus rebukes them for their childish stubbornness because He can see that if they don’t repent…
…they will perish!
√ Judgment Day
Jesus warns the people of these three communities that if they don’t repent then their fate on Judgment Day
will be worse than the judgment of
That would catch the attention of the Jews whom Jesus was speaking to!
The reason is that these three cities were all Gentile cities, and one was notorious world wide for the corruption and moral filth of her inhabitants!
Yet, Jesus says these Gentiles will fare better on Judgment
Day than the good Jewish people of Chorazin,
How can that be!?
While Jesus’ teaching didn’t square with the theology of the religious leaders who taught that God had created Gentiles to fuel the fires of hell.
The reality is that from God’s perspective the sin of
Why? Because as Jesus tells us in vs. 21-24…
They heard Jesus teach, they saw the miracles that He did, He lived there…
…yet they refused to turn from their own ways and follow Him.
Whereas Jesus tells us that if
…then they would have repented!
Ex.
So, Jesus warns the malcontented multitudes to turn before it’s too late.
Ap. Respond to the King today!
It’s interesting to see how the Lord’s warnings played out
after He left the region of the
All three cities lie in ruin, none has been inhabited since about 800 A.D.
The only city that has survived in the
The lesson we can learn from these three cities is that we ought never to treat lightly the opportunity to respond to the King.
Don’t ignore the prompting of the Holy Spirit, don’t turn away when salvation is offered.
We who live in the
Hear the Gospel 24/7 on TV, radio, and Internet
Church on every corner
Strong intellectually satisfying evidence available to answer every objection to the Christian faith.
Don’t turn away as the people did in Jesus day and suffer judgment for it. Repent today and come under the protection of the King!
Revelation (Vs. 25-27)
Matt. 11:25 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.
Matt. 11:26 Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.
Matt. 11:27 All things have been delivered to Me by My 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.
√ Revelation
Jesus praises His Father for the method He has chosen to make Himself know to Mankind.
That is, He has chosen to reveal the
As opposed to those who mistakenly believe that they can apprehend God through the exercise of their intellect (those with the childish attitude in vs. 16-19).
That’s why we find that Jesus was better received by the common people…
Fishermen
Farmers
Soldiers
…than by the religious leaders.
Ex. The religious leaders
John 5:39 You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.
The religious leaders were well educated men, given to hours of study and the exercise of their mind…
…yet, they couldn’t discern the Truth when He was standing right in front of them!
Reminds us that Revelation can only be received, not discovered
That is, what we know about God, the spirit realm, and what is required of Men can only be known through revelation.
Because if God wants to hide Himself then there is no tool available to Man to discern God.
While we may see the evidence of His existence, the marvel of Creation for example, and even postulate His character and nature by what we observe in life…
…the fullness of His character and the knowledge of Him can only be obtained through the benevolent impartation of His revelation.
The knowledge of God finds it’s perfect expression in the revelation of Jesus Christ!
John writes…
John 1:18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.
Jesus revealed…
John 14:8 Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.”
John 14:9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
John said…
1John 2:23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
So, ultimately we can only know God through the Person of His Son Jesus Christ!
We have to accept by faith what God says about Himself through the Revelation of His Son because we have no other tool to make Him known to us.
So, Jesus praises His Father for the method by which He has made Himself known to us…
…child-like faith in the Son of God.
Rest (Vs. 28-30)
Matt. 11:28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Matt. 11:29 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.
Matt. 11:30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
√ Rest
Not everyone in the crowd was opposed to Jesus, in fact, many were desperate to hear Him because they believed that He was in fact the Messiah King.
To them Jesus offers rest!
Rest from the vain pursuit of peace, joy and righteousness they couldn’t obtain through the dead works of the Law.
How could they, or we, obtain this rest? Jesus says…
Come
Take
Learn
…and we’ll find rest for our souls along with the peace, joy, and righteousness we could never find in religion.
1) Come
The righteousness offered by the Pharisees was a religion of “do”.
Do the works of the Law and the traditions of the elders.
If you do enough works and do them well then they promised you could obtain a right standing with God.
People who practice a religion of works get worn out trying to do enough!
On the other hand Jesus offered a righteousness that was obtained simply by coming to Him.
To come to Jesus means to trust in Him and His work instead of the works of our flesh.
Jesus then imparts His righteousness to us as a benefit of our relationship, not as a result of our doing.
People who have a relationship with Jesus find rest because they trust in what Jesus has already done!
Note the invitation is to all. Anyone who wants to experience rest can have it simply by coming to the King!
2) Take
“Take my yoke” was a common idiom in Jesus’ day used by Rabbis to mean, “become my disciple”.
To take the yoke of Jesus then speaks of a deeper relationship with the King.
Moving from simply being saved to becoming a disciple of Jesus. It might help to think of the distinction between coming to Jesus and taking His yoke this way…
We come to Jesus for salvation, salvation is peace with God ~ Rom. 5:1
Healing the broken relationship between God and Man.
When we take His yoke we become a disciple and experience the peace of God ~ Phil. 4:6-8
Living in the benefits of a restored relationship with God.
When Jesus says that His yoke is easy He means that it is “well fitting”.
3) Learn
The final step in obtaining the rest that Jesus offers is to learn from Him.
Note the context of the school of learning…
“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.” ~ vs. 29
Our learning takes place while hooked to the yoke! The picture that Jesus is painting for us is something that would have been familiar to His audience.
Ex. Training a new ox
Always yoked to an experienced ox so that the young one could learn how to pull with plow in the most efficient way.
Not bucking and pulling
Rather, a steady pace
The application is that in our Christian experience we need to follow the Lord’s example and leading, rather, than running off in a thousand directions doing our own thing.
If we learn from Jesus we’ll make it over the long haul!
So, Jesus offers us the rest that the religious of Man can’t provide!
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