275. Exposition of Matthew 11:1-19, "Ears to Hear"

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I’m going through the book of Matthew this year at the church I lead in Tucson, Arizona.  Today, I’m covering Matthew 11:1-19, entitled “Ears to Hear.”  You’ll learn what to do when you have doubts, why encouraging words are so important and what to do when you are shopping around for a different church, job or environment. 

Transcript:

After Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee.  Matthew 11:1

After Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee.  Jesus finishes his preparation of his disciples and continues his personal ministry.  The disciples’ short-term or limited commission isn’t described.  Chapter 11 and 12 describe the varied responses people had to John and especially Jesus.

1.    John’s response to Jesus:  11:2-6

² When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples ³ to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”

⁴ Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: ⁵ The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy^[b] are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. ⁶ Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”

John doubts

After at least six months in a dungeon, John isn’t the man he once was.  John is disappointed, disillusioned, doubting, discouraged and depressed.  Why?  Jesus doesn’t follow his pattern of fasting and instead eats and drinks with sinners.  John has taken offence or has been “tripped up” by Jesus’ approach.  Another thing that may have bothered John is that Jesus didn’t immediately declare, “I’m the Messiah!”  John had predicted that Jesus was going to baptize with “fire.”  He may have had in his mind that Jesus was going to blow people away in massive judgment.  Elijah struggled when, after calling down fire from heaven, there was still opposition from Jezebel.  John may have felt like Jesus’ didn’t come through as he expected.  Jesus’ “low-key” ministry of preaching, eating and drinking with shady people wasn’t matching his expectations.  He was looking for something more “messianic” and judgmental. 

The good thing about John is that he goes to Jesus with his doubts and fears.  He doesn’t ghost Jesus, drop out or cut off communication.  He doesn’t pretend or hide his worries.  He goes to Jesus himself.  Did you know you can go to church without going to Christ?  You can spend years in church and still have doubts about your faith.  That’s when you need to get into the word and start praying to Jesus to help you build a solid foundation. 

Jesus reminded him of all the scriptures he WAS fulfilling in 11:4-5, but apparently this was not enough for John, he wanted to see fire falling from heaven.  John’s struggle shows how personal troubles and hardships can affect our walk with God.

Jesus gives John a mild rebuke in 11:6.  He cautions him about getting tripped up spiritually because his expectations aren’t being met.  It may have been because Jesus was bringing in a new era and a Kingdom that John only knew from afar.  He wasn’t part of it. He offers a beatitude that shows the importance of being willing to elevate Jesus over and above our own expectations and feelings.

There are times when we have been super strong in the past spiritually, but then things can “trip us up.”

·       Physical problems

·       Health issues

·       Losing people to death

·       Different church styles

·       Things changing in church

·       Things not being the way they are “supposed” to be

·       People doing things differently

This is where it takes spiritually conviction and flexibility to go to Jesus and remember he, not any method or circumstance is the source of your faith.  Things are going to change.  You will lose your health, your friends, your family.  The question is will that damage or strengthen your relationship with God.

2.   Jesus’ Response to John:  11:7-15

⁷ As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind? ⁸ If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces. ⁹ Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. ¹⁰ This is the one about whom it is written:

“‘I will send my messenger ahead of you,
    who will prepare your way before you.’^[c]

¹¹ Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. ¹² From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence,^[d] and violent people have been raiding it. ¹³ For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. ¹⁴ And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. ¹⁵ Whoever has ears, let them hear.

Jesus asks three times, what did you go out to see?  What were you expecting?  Not a reed swaying in the wind.  John wasn’t flexible, sensitive or tactful.  It is not surprising that he got thrown into prison for challenging the king about marrying his brother’s wife.  He wasn’t the kind of guy who was going to spin things or overlook things.  Jesus highlights this.  That’s what you’d expect from a prophet.

The Greatest

Jesus considers John the greatest of men and prophets up until that time.  He is not just a prophet, but the prophet who is predicted in Malachi 3:1 and 4:5-6. 

3 “I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty.  Malachi 3:1

⁵ “See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. ⁶ He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.”  Malachi 4:5-6

Imagine being a regular person who is predicted and highlighted in the Bible!  He is the last Old Testament Prophet.  He was great as a man, a prophet and a herald announcing God’s arrival on the planet.

What an encourager Jesus is!  He knew everything he said was going to get back to John.  So he takes time to really build up John and encourage him in his distress.  He verbally builds him up.  Are you an encourager?  Are you a person who not only recognizes the good points in other people, but talks about it, verbalizes it and praises that person both in their presence and when they aren’t there?  Praise gets back to people.  It is a loving currency in the kingdom of God.  Who have you praised recently?  Who have you written a card to?  Recently, I received a card of praise from Lena Valenzuela.  It made me choke up.  I put it up on my refrigerator so my family and friends could read it.  It carried me for about a week.  Today, take some time, not to gossip and tear down, but to praise and build up with your words.

The Kingdom of Heaven

At the same time, John is outside of the Kingdom of heaven.  Jesus came to build his church.  The church is like an embassy from heaven.  In this world but belonging to heaven and filled with citizens of heaven.  John is on the hinge of history between the Old and New Testament.  Just as Moses was an amazing prophet and leader and yet never got into the promised land himself, John led the people right up to the gates of God’s Kingdom but wasn’t a part of it himself.  John was a servant to the law, Jesus revealed the sonship of the gospel.  John’s message was about repentance and reformation, Jesus’ was about repentance and regeneration.  Just like Moses, they are in heaven because of their faith, but they never were part of God’s Kingdom on earth.   

11:12:  Forceful men. 

This is one of the most controversial scriptures in the Bible.  Is it forceful men who grab hold of it or is it subject to violence.  In the past it was interpreted as saying you needed to be forceful to enter or grab hold of the kingdom of God.  I lean toward the second explanation because both John and Jesus were victims of violence as they announced the Kingdom of God.

11:14  John=Elijah. 

This is the only reference in the New Testament where Jesus makes the connection clear that John is the “Elijah” who was to come.  He looked like it, wearing the uniform of the prophet Elijah with a leather belt wrapped around him.  He preached like it.  He had a similar hardline temperament.  He experienced super highs and popularity and super lows and isolation. 

11:15  Whoever has ears, let them hear. 

Jesus often used this to invite people to concentrate and think deeply on what he is really trying to say.  This is why you can grow up in church for years hearing the Bible preached and yet one day, you finally “hear” the message for the first time.    How do you know if you are really hearing God’s message?  You can feel it.  You can feel it in your body.  You get goosebumps or the hair on your arm stands up.  You lean forward, you get focused. You start thinking about it after church.  You come up with ideas to put it into practice.  You think, “That guy’s talking about me!”  These are signs that you have ears to hear God’s message to you and that should encourage you.   Many people go their whole lives hearing, but they aren’t really listening.  Pray that God opens your eyes and ears to really see and hear his message for you.

 

3.   People’s Response to John and Jesus:  11:16-19

¹⁶ “To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others:

¹⁷ “‘We played the pipe 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, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is proved right by her deeds.”

11:16-17 

People of Jesus’ time were unresponsive to both John and Jesus.  John and Jesus had two different ministry styles or approaches, but like a child that refuses to stop sulking, nothing could make the crowds happy.  John’s method was appropriate for the work that God gave him, calling to repentance, getting your heart and life ready to come into God’s presence.  He was single-minded, intense and strong.    Jesus’ approach was perfectly suited to show another side of God, loving, seeking, reaching out, wanting to be with people.  There was no pleasing them the crowds.  John was too intense, hardline and strict.  Jesus was too loosy-goosy, indulgent and social.  He finishes by saying the “proof of the pudding is in the eating.” 

We can make the mistake of getting more wrapped up in “style” rather than “substance.”  This is especially true if you have been around church for a while.  We are looking for the right delivery, the right feeling, the right package rather than the right message.  John and Jesus were both right for what they had to accomplish.  They got God’s will done.  Many rejected them because they were hard to please.  They should have focused on the message rather than the man or the manner.

You might be just like the people in these crowds.  People like the Pharisees, Saducees and Teachers of the law.  You see flaws in every church, church members and church leaders.  You can pick apart, dissect, scoff at all the failings of various approaches.  This often leads to church-hopping.  You never settle in to one spiritual family.  You are looking for the “just-right” church of Christ.”  This one is hard to find because it mirrors your desires, strengths and weaknesses.  The problem with this response is that you never engage spiritually, you always have a reason for not following Christ closely because no one can bring you the experience you say you are looking for.  I was interviewing Dr. Sean St. Jean on my podcast recently.  He wrote a book about spiritual trauma and talked about how people come to him who are looking to go to different churches because they aren’t happy with __________.  He tells them “choose your dysfunction.”  Every family and every spiritual family has its own flavor of dysfunction.  You may not spot it until you’ve been there a few months, but don’t worry, you’ll find it.  And at that point you’ll pick up and go looking for the perfect church that has:

·       The right kids kingdom

·       The right music

·       The right teaching

·       The right length of worship

·       The right time of worship

·       The right kind of people

o  Same race

o  Wealthy

o  “Put together”

o  People your age

o  People you can date and marry

·       The right kind of parking

Unfortunately, after a few years like this, people often get so frustrated that they can’t get what they want that they disconnect entirely.  They look down on all churches and disconnect from Jesus’ body.  They opt for a religion created in their mind.  Just them and Jesus. 

If you’ve been playing your pipe trying to get churches to dance the way you want, maybe the problem is with you, not with Jesus or his church.       

Next Steps

·       Don’t let troubles trip you up.  Go to Jesus and ask him for the help you need in trials.

·       Encourage someone today and this week.  Praise people in front of them and in their absence.

·       Find a church and stick with it.  Connect to Jesus through his body and grow.