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38th Street Church of Christ 3904 38th Street NW Canton, Ohio 44718 330-492-5523 Fax: 330-493-7119 |
“A Different Kind Of Messenger” |
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I. Introduction.
A. John, the baptizer, or immerser, came to proclaim that
“. . . the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” (Matthew 3:2).
But, as a messenger from God, as the first true prophet
to appear in Palestine for over 400 years, he was rejected
by many because they were looking for a different kind of
messenger. When that messenger Himself came, many of
these same skeptics rejected Him as well, in even more
emphatic, and harsh, terms.1. Nothing either John or He said convinced them to
confess and repent of their sins.2. In fact, the longer this different messenger preached
and taught, the angrier some people – people of
power, position, and status – became.3. There was no real validity to their criticisms, and
rejections, of either John or Jesus. What they hated
was the indictment of both of these men against
them.B. There is no difference with people today. There are still
those who don’t want to hear the truth, because they’re not
looking for the truth, they’re not open to the truth. They
will not acknowledge their sin, and, therefore, don’t need
a Savior. They are content to simply criticize, or get angry
with, believers.C. In Matthew 11:16, Jesus began a response to the negative
critics before Him with what was, to them, a familiar
phrase: “But to what shall I liken this generation? . . .”1. In the “Midrash,” a compilation of traditional
Jewish teaching, that was the most common way to
introduce a parable.
2. Good teachers realize they must instruct their
hearers with word pictures, analogies, similes
(likenesses), or other figures of speech and
comparison to make their point clear. The Jewish
rabbis usually began their parables with this
question: “How can I illustrate what this generation
is like?”3. Jesus goes on (re-read verses 16-17).
D. In the center of every town of some size, there was the
“town square,” or a public park called in the Greek, the
“agora.” It meant “marketplace.”1. On market days, people filled up that open space
with their stalls, or carts, filled with merchandise.2. Naturally, it was a favorite place for children to
explore, run around, make new friends, and play
games together. Just as is true today, these games,
a play in general, mimics, or imitates, life. This is
what Jesus is referring to in verse 17.3. From the exuberance and joy of a wedding feast,
then turn to the solemn, and subdued, actions of a
funeral, the two major public social events children
would be most familiar with.a. For weddings, a great procession made its
way through the town. There was the bride,
the groom, friends of both, and everyone
else in the wedding audience. Then, to
accompany the procession, there were
people playing flutes, dancing for joy on
this special day for the couple.b. Funeral processions were just as common a
sight, with mourners lifting the body high to
carry it through the town. Following them
came the deceased’s family. They could
hire women who were professional
mourners, lamenting the passing of this
loved one from earthly life.4. But, as is always true, some children didn’t want to
play. You can picture them saying: “We don’t
want to play your stupid game!” So, someone in
the group says, “All right. We’ll change the game.
If you don’t like “wedding,” we’ll play “funeral,”
the opposite extreme. But, the answer comes back,
“We don’t want to play either. We don’t want to
be involved at all. Just leave us alone.” This is the
idea behind Jesus’ words in Matthew 11: 17.E. Obstinate children. The sad game, or the glad game. It
didn’t matter. Some were simply not going to play, no
matter how others tried to accommodate them. Their role
was to sit stubbornly on the sidelines and criticize. Jesus
recognizes, and illustrates, the obstinacy of human nature.II. No Satisfaction.
A. Toward the end of His ministry on earth, Jesus is
confronted by the critics once again, this time with a
question for Him (Read, Matthew 21:23).1. In light of the extraordinary things Jesus was doing,
this question is not really surprising. Just the day
before, He’d “cleansed” the Temple, driving out
those who’d made the “house of prayer” nothing
more than a “den of thieves.” This naturally
brought up the question of His authority to take
such drastic action against these people.2. At that time, Jesus was not ready to give them a
direct answer as to where His authority originated.
He was not prepared to say, outright, that He was
the Son of God. That would have brought on a
crisis too soon. He still, in the next few days, had
teaching to do before going to Calvary.3. It sometimes takes courage, and self-control, to
wait for the right moment, to wait on God’s time.B. So, Jesus countered the question put to Him with another
question, put to His enemies, whom He now found to make
a choice between truth and a lie (Read, Matthew 21:24-27).1. These were men who had rejected John, and his call
to repentance. They were also men well-aware of
the tenuous nature of power, and the crowd’s
support.2. In response to Jesus’ question they chose to lie:
“. . . ‘We do not know,’ . . .” (verse 27). They stood
self-condemned. They should have known, as
scholars they should have recognized both John and
Jesus.3. In this scene from the last week of Jesus’ life before
Calvary, there is a grim warning for everyone.a. If we put expediency over principle we
condemn ourselves.b. The question then becomes not “What is
true?”, but “What is it safe to say?” The
cowardly lie, or shameful silence, dishonor
us, and do not deceive the omniscient God.C. Going back to Matthew 11, what Jesus says of the
children’s games and play make the situation clear. Some
people don’t want to “play,” no matter what the game is,
and no matter how you approach them, or what
compromises you offer them. They refuse to be satisfied,
and will always find some fault to use as a justification for
their negative attitude.D. The application of Jesus’ illustration comes in verses 18
and 19 (re-read).1. John came in a “funeral” mode, austere, dressed in
camel’s hair (which was often black), eating locusts
and wild honey. He lived in the desert as a hermit,
outside of normal social relationships. He came
proclaiming a message of judgment and
condemnation (“. . . even now the ax is laid to the
root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does
not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the
fire.” Matthew 3:10).2. John’s was a call for repentance, and for people to
demonstrate the sincerity of that repentance. He
was that “. . . ‘voice of one crying in the
wilderness: . . .’ ” (Isaiah 40:3; Matthew 3:3).3. John’s behavior led some to the conclusion that he
was demon possessed (Matthew 11:18).4. Following John came Jesus, the Son of God. In
Matthew 11:19, He uses His human title, the “Son
of Man.” It emphasizes His humanity – He came to
live as other people lived. His was the opposite of
John’s “funeral” style. He was the “wedding” of
verse 17.5. Jesus had a social life, and visited villages and
towns, as well as the great city of Jerusalem. He
worshipped in synagogues and in the Temple; he
traveled the length and breadth of Palestine.6. This contrast of styles can be seen again in
Matthew 9:14-15 (read). The very same allusions
are used here as in Matthew 11, the “funeral”
(John), and the “wedding” (Jesus).E. Jesus came in a very different way from John, and, still,
He was resented, and rejected. Because He was among
the people, Jesus was criticized. Because He injected
Himself into the daily lives of people, He was rejected,
and classified as one who didn’t care who He was seen
with, or where He went.F. Some people just refused to be satisfied. The commentator,
William Barclay, puts it this way:The plain fact is that when people do not want to listen to
the truth, they will easily enough find an excuse for not
listening. They do not even try to be consistent in their
criticism. They’ll criticize the same person and the same
institution from quite opposite grounds and reasons. If
people are determined to make no response, they will
remain stubbornly and sullenly unresponsive no matter
what invitation is made to them.III. Conclusion.
A. The Jewish leadership was captive to their critical,
stubborn hearts. No matter what Jesus did, or what He
said, they refused to accept Him as the Messiah, as they
had rejected John as the prophet spoken of in Isaiah.B. In Matthew 11:19, Jesus says: “. . . ‘wisdom is justified
by her children [or works].’ ” Both John and Jesus were
doing the will of God. Jesus says to these skeptics, “You
sit back and criticize, no matter what John or I do. No
matter what message we bring, you attack it as false. But,
truth will justify itself by what it produces. You can
criticize the Christ, but you shall see what the truth brings
when lives are changed. You can persecute the church and
attempt to destroy it, but you will see the impact it will
have on the world.”1. What the message produces is the unanswerable
argument.2. Both John and Jesus, different kinds of messengers,
were justified by what they accomplished in the
hearts and lives of those who believed in them and
accepted the message they brought to a lost world.C. Those who are not looking for the truth cannot know it.
Those who will not believe the truth, will continue in
bondage to the lies of Satan and his servants. Spiritual
freedom is in Christ, and the truth of God’s word
(Read, John 8:31-36).