I invite you to turn to Matthew, 1st Gospel, New Testament, Matthew chapter 11 We are concluding our reflections on this chapter as we're working through this book, and today we come to verses 20 through 30 of Matthew chapter 11 Context again: being Jesus addressing the ministries of him and John the Baptist and the reception of those ministries by these certain cities and these masses of people who heard it and did not respond. And this becomes so helpful and instructive for us to understand that we lord we might respond to the lord's gracious call that is here.
So beginning at verse 20 today of Matthew chapter 11 "Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done because they did not repent. Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you. At that time, Jesus declared, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all who are labor and heavy who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
There is the reading of God's word.
Well, beloved, in the Lord, we have been studying, working through Matthew's gospel, and even for me as a pastor, I'm sometimes as I come to the next section startled by the words of Jesus. He is not the sentimental American version of Jesus that so many, nice, non-offending, effeminate, that so many have come to worship. Jesus is very direct. Jesus, at times, is very combative, isn't he? Our Lord has been doing wonderful things in the ministry, which is remarkable to study throughout Matthew's gospel, taking this great authority and reigning and showing that great reign, speaking of things, showing the good news of the kingdom has been preached far and wide in these regions. He has helped all kinds of people with healing and sicknesses. He has carried their burdens Isaiah 53 but all of this had a name, didn't it? All of this had a purpose, didn't it? It was the mission of Matthew, right from the beginning, which was said, "You shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins." That has to happen. Well, how does that happen? Well, for that to happen, he is calling people to come to him for eternal life. For that to happen, he is calling people to repentance and faith, isn't he? This has been emphasized. These are the first words out of Jesus's mouth: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!" "I'm here! I've arrived! I've come to this earth. Turn to me. Turn back, O Israel, to me." This is all over. We looked at this.
But there was a huge problem in Israel. We've been finding in chapter 11 is that many of them weren't even listening. At the ministry of John the Baptist, they liked the power of it we looked at last time. They liked the strength of the words. They liked the zeal of the followers. They thought the kingdom would come by force and strength, but they didn't like the message. And Jesus said, "You didn't listen to the message. You think he was doing this? You think he was just a reed shaken by the wind? He had an aim. He had a purpose." And then Jesus spoke of himself in the ministry. "And you guys all said, the Son of Man come eating with tax collectors and sinners. And you said he's a drunkard. You didn't listen."
Well, Jesus now finishes this thought. today we looked at that all last week he finishes the thought on the issue, and what he does here is really fascinating. He's explaining the just judgments of god why they are justified in this, age but in the midst of this what what makes this so overwhelming is that even though we're again first looking at the house of Israel here before the gospel will go out to the nations, it would first go to Israel, and then when they rejected it, which Romans tells us was in the plan of God, the gospel would go to the gentiles but here in the middle of this, he raises his voice to Israel and he says, "Come to me, and I will give you rest for your weary souls." It's such a beautiful call in this Gospel of Matthew we're going to spend a few minutes on. But it's important today because I think it's intended as we study it as Gentiles to make sure we're not behaving like Israel did with the Gospel. Right? We who have had all this blessing, we who have had all this added benefit, if we look at the people of the Escondido URC, you look at how blessed, how much you've had, there should be a challenge as to what you've done with it so that we don't fall into this error. And you should be able to walk away from this sermon saying, "I've come, I've come," or "I haven't." And there comes a sobering message for those who don't come.
I want to consider Jesus's just judgment here, his explanation, and then his call to receive deliverance. That's what we're looking at here: the just judgment, he explains it further, and then he gives a great call sort of the center of the book, in many ways a call to receive deliverance.
Since Matthew's gospel is the most Jewish of all the gospels, so we begin today at verse 20 "Then Jesus began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done because notice this is the heart of it they did not repent." The old King James, which is interesting I grabbed it for family devotions i was caught by the word that's used here: "Then he began to upbraid their cities." I just like the word. It just has such a powerful sense to it. It's a justified scolding of the cities. He is going after them. But it's startling, really, this upbraiding of their cities because they did not repent.
This is why we read Lord's Day 33 and you can go back and consider, if it's any confusing to anyone, you can go back and look: "What is what is repentance?" That's why that's why our confessions and catechisms are so helpful. They help us to find terms, don't they? This is how Jesus began his ministry: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand! Turn back to the Lord. Turn from your sins. Humble yourselves with contrite hearts and and and come to me the savior of israel and I will abundantly pardon!" That's Psalm 130 We sang these calls go out all the time in the gospels from Jesus, but you remember the context here?
"To what shall I like in this generation They, are like children playing in the marketplace. They they have the level of children playing in the marketplace they played the flute and they would not dance they played a dirge and They would not be involved They would not mourn They were never satisfied they were always complaining they always found a way to be critical with the ministries." I think about this: the ministries of Jesus and John. So if Jesus himself had put up a building and had a church, he would have a steady dose of people walking out complaining about it. That should affect us and to make us think if that happened to John the Baptist and Jesus, how are we receiving the ministry? And what would hold us back from receiving the ministry that Jesus he has?" He's hanging out with tax collectors and sinners: "He's a trunker They were always looking for something, looking for something to pin on him so they wouldn't have to come. But all these mighty works had been done i mean, it's a marvel in the previous section what he mentions. He raised the dead. The gospel was preached. Remember last time? "Go, tell John: the blind receive sight; the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed; the deaf hear; the dead are raised; and the poor have the good news preached to them. Blessed is he who's not offended by me."
Those are wonderful things, beloved. I mean, what else do people want? They saw the works, and they were so hard-hearted it didn't matter. They always found an excuse not to come.
Well, that's instructive because that's what drives Jesus's warning now his woes, his prophetic woes in the line of Old Testament prophets, the fulfillment of the prophets, the prophet here. So now he singles out three cities that had been there three cities where the majority of the populations had come out to hear him, three cities that that he had done mighty works and he went into their cities and he himself did mighty works in those cities. Most of the great works were performed in Capernaum, which was sort of home base for him. But then these two surrounding cities are mentioned here too, that he pronounces prophetic woes on curses on these cities.
You'll notice: "Woe to you, Chorazin, and woe to you, Bethsaida, in verse 21, for if the mighty works had been done, and you had been done in Tyre and in Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes."
Now, that's a pretty combative thing to go after cities. Did you see the energy last night in L.A.? The Dodgers? Can you imagine hearing Jesus stand up where everyone is all pumped up for going after New York? "You will be brought down, O.L.A. because of all those churches there that I put there and all that gospel that was preached, there's no repentance." You get a sense of how offensive that might be. But people love their city, don't they? I mean, I don't know if you love Escondido, but you should because you're here. You know, Escondido is an interesting place. Better than the valley!
Our Lord is taking this pretty seriously. Think of all their history in the cities. Chorazin was a few miles north of Capernaum. Today it's gone. Bethsaida was in the plain of Gennesaret. Jesus adds: "Capernaum, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You'll be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom what a comparison. It would have remained. Sodom would still be here if I went and did the works that I did here!"
This particular city is so hard-hearted that had I gone and done this in Sodom and Gomorrah where the angels were trying, remember, the angels were trying to pull, they pulled out Lot and had to rescue Lot because of the gross sexual immorality and because of the idleness and the wickedness that had I gone there, they would still be here. That is stunning.
We have to spend a moment here, don't we? It's a striking contrast that the Israelite cities here are in comparison to the Gentile ones. Tyre and Sidon were Gentile cities in Phoenicia and were powerful places throughout history of Baal worship and all kinds of materialism, but little light. And Sodom, you know, as we mentioned a moment ago, was full of all kinds of problems. Ezekiel doesn't just outline the sexual morality; it outlines the idleness of the society. Everything was idle. Nobody was working. In those places, little light was given. The only light Sodom had was righteous Lot. And God held Sodom accountable.
Here we are in Israel, three cities that Christ himself came to. That's what's Marvel about this. That's why he's emphasizing this. And he did all these works in front of them. He did all these works. The people of the cities refused. After seeing the dead raised, the sick healed, the gospel preached, good news given to them. What else do they want, right? This is why he was saying, "What do you want? You don't like the song. Good news. Healings. And no response."
Now it's important to think about for a minute: here are cities. Entire cities are spoken of as under judgment. Does God judge cities? Well, we have to think it's not so much that he's judging the entities itself. What Jesus is saying here is that in cities, in kingdoms, in countries, in nations, in places, judgment comes with a chord in accordance to the light that is given in a place. Now Romans 1 says, "Everyone is without excuse just by what's made." You're going to walk out into this beautiful theater today. You could go down to the beach and see the, you know, they say astronauts, when they get up into space and they look down at the earth, they're disoriented because they see we're all in this little tiny ball concealed in this ball, and they can't process that. and got this beautiful theater, the oceans have their limits, the birds are singing early in the morning, the beautiful formations in the sky, all that's without excuse.
But the Lord here in Matthew is showing us that first the gospel would go to Israel, and his intention was to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. It was the Lord's intention. While this world is still going is because he's evangelizing all the nations with the gospel, the people groups, all the peoples. In some places, that light is way brighter. In some places, more has been given. Here, all the citizens seem to have rejected Jesus himself. This is God. And Jesus is saying the judgment's going to affect the whole city because of this. He's marveling. Jesus is almost marveling that such works could be done in Israel with all this blessing, with all this resource, all these works, and a revelation of God in his Son and no repentance.
So woes come. "You guys will be brought down to hell."
Now, that's the last message we ever hear anymore, but it's an important one. Do you guys think how many people think they're going to heaven? Nobody worries about it. And Jesus says, "Do you think so? You think you're going to heaven, Capernaum? You're going to hell!" whoa Stunning.
The day of judgment is according to the light given. Jesus taught this everywhere: "That servant who knew his master's will but did not get ready or act according to his will will receive a severe beating. But the one who did not know and did what deserved a beating will receive the light beating. Everyone to whom much was given of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much they will demand the more."
So if we understand the principle: God did all these mighty works in Israel. He first went to Israel, and now the Son of God was sent to these cities, and these cities saw all these marvelous works and rejected it. So according to the light that is given, the judgments meted out here the gospel would eventually go from Israel to the Gentiles. For this reason, and that's why there were parables that's saying, "Listen, if you're not going to respond, I will take the kingdom and give it to those worthy to receive it. It will be received." So this is the principle that we have to appreciate up front. The principle applies across the board: to nations, to cities, to institutions, to schools, to churches. It's the principle of "to whom much is given, much is required."
Take our land. I'm not arguing whether a nation is Christian here. That's not what I'm doing. I recognize that in a great nation, some nations receive great light. Freedom. Freedom to worship. People in communist China marvel at such freedom. Over the years, freedom to have the scriptures, freedom to freedom to come up to the Lord's house. Freedom to read without persecution. Freedom to go and speak without persecution. With all that knowledge, have the peoples turned to Christ? In different times you've seen response, sure. But I suppose we should just ask in our day: "As the trampling down of what is moral and the destruction of marriage and greed and abortion, injustice but then to have the gospel preached so freely to take that light and to reject it Jesus says the judgment on this greater light will be greater on that situation than those who had none or little.
And what's going well right now because of it? What about communities? What about schools? What about churches? All this gospel, all this resource, all this light. What is deserved if one community has been given so much and another community across the city hasn't been given not much? If there's no response. Where light is given, how the people respond to that light affects the whole place. In a good way. Doesn't it? And you see, Jesus is pushing here. The day of judgment will not be a good day for people who have taken that light and put it under a bowl, hidden it, and not come.
Now this is a mystery to all of us, isn't it? We get a glimpse now into the heavenly council in the second point where he explains further. What's hard for us here is the question: "If they saw all this, how in the world could they not believe?" I mean, that's the stunning issue, isn't it? It seems impossible that they would not repent. That's what's unbelievable here. And we know what Jesus said to the rich man who in Lazarus, the parable: Lazarus was the poor man, the rich man goes down in hell, and he says, "Listen, I don't want any my relatives to come here. Would you tell Abraham to tell them, go back and let me go back and tell them not to come to this place?" And he says, "What do you mean? If somebody rises from the dead, they still won't believe?"
"At that time Jesus declared, i thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children. whoa Yes, Father, that was your gracious will
It's a contrast here. It's not a contrast between those who are really smart and those who are dumb, those who are educated and those who are not. It's a simple contrast. Jesus has given a window into why many don't believe him where great light has been given. And that reason is, ready? Pride. Pride.
The whole concern of this section is that people were too prideful to put down their knee and confess their sins and come to Jesus for eternal life. And so they would come to him thinking that they needed to be saved was the greatest offense. "What do I need to be saved from?" They were finally content with their moral lives, their rich lives, their fulfilled lives.
"Father, I thank you," and to the council here that you have hidden the kingdom, that's what he's talking about, and its arrival from the self-confident, from those who think they are superior, who think they are wise and who are absolutely content in themselves. That is a righteous judgment on those who refuse Christ. But that his gracious will is that, listen, those who come to him in childlike faith, entering the kingdom, these are blessed of God.
Think of what's coming in Matthew: "Let the little children come to me and do not forbid it, for if such is the kingdom of heaven." And you see, this is so wonderful because what's said next is powerful.
"All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone, now listen carefully, to whom the Son chooses to reveal himself."
Now let's talk profession of faith for a minute. What we just saw this morning is beautiful: "Peter, who do you say that I am?" That's coming in Matthew 16. And Simon said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Okay, he just professed faith with an understanding of who Jesus is. And Jesus answered, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven."
Think of the authority in the gospels here. It's been given to him so that he has everything in his hand that is needed for somebody to be saved. Everything is put into the hand of Jesus. This is what it said here. For somebody to be saved, everything that is needed. Jesus now prays intimate fellowship and knowledge between the Father and the Son, because they know each other. The Son chooses to take and reveals that to the needy, the humble, the broken, the contrite, the tax collectors, the sinners. You just saw this happen this morning: Christina humbly sought the Lord, humbly sat under his word, Listen. And God has blessed you. The Father, through the Son, has revealed all this to you.
And you see, after all this unbelief in Israel, here, beloved, to close this out today, comes one of the most amazing calls in all the Bible. Having said the Son has everything in his hand to save and reveal. He has to open up minds and reveal. he will reveal Himself to whom He will, here it is, with open arms now, He says, come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, I will give you rest."
Come. So after the woes, he finishes this out as if to say, "That can all be overturned. Come. I'll give you help. I'll give you hope." The cities had just heard, whoa It can be replaced with mercy even after the rejection and after the refusal. He puts out his arms and he says, "I have everything given to me to save and to deliver, O Israel, by my Father. So come to me. I'm the mediator of the covenant. Come to me. Here's what you need: you who are weary and you who are heavy laden."
"You, Pharisees, have burdened the people with things they cannot do in the world the heavy yokes that you take on yourselves that you cannot bear. You cannot bear what you're going through in life." Jesus didn't start singling out who this is for. He threw out his arms to everyone. "Come. Why would any of you be troubled with my judgment if I've just given you a way out? I will give you, listen, rest.
The next section, the next section's about an argument over Sabbath, isn't it? You need rest. I'm going to free you from the yoke of the Pharisees. I will give you rest from all your evil works. I'll give you rest from your burdens of heart. I will give you rest from your fears. I will give you rest with all of your anxieties, from all your anxieties, despair.
"Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. I'm gentle and I'm lowly of heart. I'll give this to you. Come." Yoke among the Jews was the demands of the scribes and the Pharisees. It was since the law itself, It was called the yoke of the Torah. It was called the yoke of The commandments. And the leaders had made that yoke unbearable for people. The yoke was a wooden frame they would put on shoulders to make carrying a load easier. Jesus is saying, "I'm not like that. They've loaded that thing heavier and heavier and heavier. You can't even move on the Sabbath. I'm not like that. I'm meek. I'm lowly in heart. Wow. I am one who will love you and care for you. Let me carry your burden. Listen, let me carry your burden. Let me carry the burden of the law for you that you can't. Let me carry all your worry and your anxiety."
Any of you trying to do that? I'm willing. This is the most beautiful words that could be said from God himself: "I'm willing." Are you? I'm able. It's all been given in my hand. It's been entrusted to me to do so. I'll give you rest. I promise.
How many of you are burdened? How many of you are fretful? How many of you are distressed because your sin?
Why don't you listen to what one pastor said? "The rest and peace of heart and mind which Jesus here provides is the very opposite of the aggravated mental stress that sends so many people to the doctors, hospital, and death. Now, this isn't always the case. You know that. Absence of peace, whether in the form of anxiety of rancor and vindictiveness, may lead to ulcers, colitis, high blood pressures, heart attacks. Again, that's not always the case. The teachings of Christ, if taken seriously, now this is a Reformed pastor, have a curative effect on the entire person: soul and body. He's a complete Savior."
We take on so, I mean, we sing it in the song, oh what needless pain we bear." Brothers and sisters, you're taking on way too much on yourself. Are you hearing him? "Come to me."
What makes no sense is that so many would refuse and repent and believe in him when this is what he's offering: salvation, rest, peace. Our sin has severely alienated us from God. It's made us miserable in worry and fret and distress. The rest he promises is for body and soul.
When you turn to me, I promise: turn from hard-heartedness, turn from this attitude that's never satisfied with the flute or the dirge.
Now let me ask this question in closing. We live in this wonderful community. I love our community. I'm so thankful for our community. So much blessing here. How could you not see it? That God chose in this corner of Broadway to fill a community to be a light. It's just true, isn't it? What an amazing thing! of all that God has done for this community: Bibles in your homes, a church where you can go and Sabbath, you can gather and worship, you can hear the living word of God. We have on this campus a Christian school. Some of you send your kids there. Think about that. That's a good choice. And there's a blessing for that, in that.
I asked last time, "What do you want?"
May we all be assured that we as a community have come to Christ for rest. Jesus references in Romans 10, it's kind of that Paul uses it, to Israel: "All day long, I stretched out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people. I told them to come. They wouldn't come."
He is gentle. He is lowly. He is not a dreaded foe for anyone who will come. So come. What does that mean? Believe in him. Enjoy him. Think what we looked at with um repentance: wholehearted joy in Christ, to delight yourself, to do everything that's good. What a Savior, beloved! He will carry whatever is burdening you. Cast it upon him because he cares for you.
"Blessed is he," says Jesus, "who is not offended because of me."
Amen.
Lord, thank you for all that you've done for us. Thank you for your care in our lives and thank you for telling us the truth. May the light that is in this place shine bright. May it never as the Sermon on the Mount said be put under a bowl or a lamp be put out. May that light, Lord, in this place and the light of your gospel among your people all throughout the earth shine. And may people, O Lord, come to the Savior. Thank you for the salvation you've given to us. Thank you for saving and revealing this to us. Thank you for calling us by your sovereign will. We give you our sincere praise, asking that we would respond in such a way that pleases you. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you.