Introduction In this chapter the Lord Jesus defends the ministry of John the Baptist. The chapter began with a request by John; are you the one (vv.1-3)? The request brought reassurances by Jesus; proof for John and praise for John. But now Jesus will address the issue of prejudice against John and Jesus will rebuke three cities in the Galilee. This is significant because this is the first mention of rebuke and condemnation by Jesus in Matthew s gospel. Jesus rebukes the childish crowd and the cities for their witness of His miracles and still they reject Christ. In Colorado Springs militant atheists purchased Billboard time. The Fox news headline reads: Go ahead and skip church. The billboards feature a smiling Santa Claus with the text: "Just be good for goodness sake. Happy Holidays! The signs appear in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Raleigh, North Carolina. American Atheists program director Nick Fish said his group aimed to combat stereotypes. And what is the prejudice and stereotypes do you suppose the atheist groups is fighting? The Bible urges people to be childlike but not childish. But spoiled children who demand entertainment and something new did not begin in our generation. Jesus speaks to a generation who refused to be serious about life and death. The atheist sponsored billboard encourages Christians to Go ahead and skip church. I find that interesting. Boycott church. Just be good for goodness sake. Excuses For The King (vv.16-19) Matthew 11:16 24 (NKJV)16 But to what shall I liken this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their companions, The people of Israel were a privileged generation. The two most important people in God s redemptive history were living and teaching in their midst. They were able to hear the words of John the Baptist with their own ears. They were eye-witnesses to the teaching of Jesus and the miracles of Jesus! But the generation seemed closed to their message! Jesus compares the people of Israel to spoiled children playing a game. In the ancient world marketplaces were what the name implies; the place to go and sell and buy and trade goods and services. Buying selling and trading was often a weekly affair and children would go the place where the adults would conduct business. In their marketplaces children would do what children do everywhere in the world; form friendships and relationships and play with one another. In every generation children play! What did you play? Did you play war, soldiers, house? Dressup? Makeup? In the 1950 s boys were found of playing cowboys and indians! 1
As strange as it may seem in the first century children were fond of playing wedding and funeral! Weddings and funerals were times of great drama; of great emotion; of great sorrow and great joy! Children pretend to do what adults do for real. But these are children determined to have their own way. 17and saying: We played the flute for you, And you did not dance; We mourned to you, And you did not lament. 18For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He has a demon. Now Jesus likens the ministry of John the Baptist to a funeral. John emphasized repentance, dying to self and certain judgment. He himself lived a life of radical self-denial. 19The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners! But wisdom is justified by her children. The description Jesus provides is first in relation to John the Baptist and then to Himself. The children are not content with John or Jesus. They will not accept the discipline, severity, or asceticism of John typified by self-denial or fasting (see v.18) or the gracious social interactions typified by Matthew s banquet for sinners (see v.19). The self-denial of John was chalked up to demonic influence and the libertine (freedom) behavior of Jesus was chalked up to the accusation of excess! But were either true? Did John have a demon? Was Jesus guilty of over-indulgence? The accusations were false. The truth the children were unwilling to repent of sin and experience joy and celebration and freedom in God s provision in Christ Jesus the Lord. The attitude of the children described reveal their severe disconnect with God s revelation and spiritual values! We might say foolishness is justified by her children. Locked up in the foolish child is the heart of anger. Locked up in the heart of foolishness is misguided observations, contradictory decisions and unreasonable criticisms! But what does the foolishness of the children confirm! The methods and message of God are true! Wisdom from above is pure peaceable and gentle. Wisdom and truth will justify itself no matter how perverted man s attitude! John the Baptist came neither eating or drinking means he lived a life of discipline, selfsacrifice and self-denial. The people resented this and so they accused John of having a devil. John insisted that the people not be simply spiritual shoppers picking and choosing from some philosophical smorgasbord. John called people to decision. Turn from sin. Cry out to God. Seek God s grace and mercy forgiveness. But the people grew tired of John s message. Instead of turning from sin they began to question John s righteousness (he has a devil). What 2
makes you so great John? Who appointed you spokesman for God? What makes you so special? You are no better than anyone else! You Christians think you are so good. You think you are so holy. You think you are better than everyone else. What you really want to do is restrict our freedom to eat or drink or our freedom of sexual expression! Like so many people who preach a message of judgment John s message stung and then bruised the conscience. Then came the comments; John why can t you be more loving, more tolerant, more forgiving, more accepting? Why can t you have a more positive message? Don t you know that when you point out people are sinners and must turn from sin that turns people off? Robert Schuller went on record that he does not like to bring up the subject of sin. Joel Osteen has gone on record that he does not like to bring up the subject of sin. And so the message drifts to positive self regard self esteem and self-help. Jesus is the Son of Man (v.19). Jesus is accused of being a friend of outcasts and sinners and he was! The religious leaders suspected that Jesus did not only befriend sinners but participated in sin with the sinners! But no one had proof (it did not exist). Jesus came to earth to offer deliverance from sin. William Barclay writes; The plain fact is that when people do not want to listen to the truth, they will easily find an excuse for not listening. They do not even try to be consistent in their criticism. They will criticize the same person and the same institution from quite opposite grounds and reasons (quoted from John MacArthur p. 262). Modern critics are quick to point the finger and blame the church and other religions for the slaughter of people groups and violence. If they thought John was in the funeral mode; they though Jesus was in the party mode. The religious leaders and haters lumped Jesus in with the party-goers! I like Jesus because Jesus knew how to have fun! Jesus did not live the life of an ascetic. He engaged in the normal activities of a normal Jew living in the first century. Jesus attended weddings. Jesus attended funerals (but when Jesus showed up the person apparently did not stay dead!). Scholars debate whether Jesus drank fermented wine (he did!). The religious leaders and the common folk who condemned John or Jesus did not seem very interested in the truth! There are still people willing to make up lies about Jesus or Christianity or Church. Some will pay to have a billboard urging Christians to ditch church. Yet even the harshest critics of the Church still find themselves stumbling over Jesus! How do you explain Him? How do you explain His teachings, His sacrifice? And how do you explain His claim that he would die and come back to life? How explain the transformation of wicked people to something else? How do you explain orphanages, hospitals, and social service agencies founded by Christians? How do you explain angry people, bitter people, self-destructive people who are changed? 3
John and Jesus could not be reasoned down so they are shouted down! If the truth could not condemn them lies were made up! It may be wisdom is justified by her children is a proverb or a well known aphorism. Jesus is wisdom incarnate (see 1 Corinthians 1:30). The unwise slander Him. Yet Jesus is vindicated by His word and works. Though the religious leaders dismiss Jesus and the people forsake Jesus the Messiah is vindicated by His miracles and the spiritual transformation of His followers. Apathy Towards The King (vv.20-24) 20Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent: Who are these people? They are the people who willfully, deliberately deny God s message and messenger! This is the determined unbeliever unwilling to believe the Lord Jesus Christ and His teaching! And who are the objects of Jesus severe rebuke? Those who have an unreasonable opposition to Christ who remain unmoved by His power or His presence! 21 Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! 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. 22But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. 23And 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. 24But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you. What do we know about Chorazin? Next to nothing. Bethsaida is mentioned only casually (see John 21:25). We do have a little more information about Capernaum. This leads me to believe that much of what Jesus did was not necessarily mentioned or recorded in our Gospels! But what is said in our gospel is of immense importance! These cities are said by our Lord Jesus Christ to be infinitely more guilty than the cities of Tyre and Sidon Syrian cities in antiquity Phoenician ports to the north. Jesus said; they did not repent (v.20). Why does Jesus pronounce such harsh judgment? They seemed linked to three things; privileges; pride and punishment. Privileges 4
The rebuke is linked to privileges. Jesus speaks of mighty works in verses 20-21. These are miracles. With great privilege comes great responsibility. Chorazin and Bethsaida and Capernaum were the scenes of powerful and public miracles! You would think that revival would ensue and national movement of repentance would take place! But miracles do not always result in a change of heart! There is no record that the people in those cities tried to stone Jesus, or run Jesus out of town. They didn t mount we hate Jesus campaigns. They simply ignored Him. While Jesus taught, preached and performed miracles, they went about their business as if it didn t matter. These are people who did not seem to care about the outcome or the consequences of Jesus ministry. The cities and people were privileged with the presence and the power of God and therefore bear far greater responsibility. To whom much is given much is required. Each generation has unique privileges. Sometimes people ignore their privileges or abuse their privileges. And what is the greatest privilege in the universe? It is to know the Lord Jesus Christ and be accepted by God in Christ. Pride Why use the word pride? Because of their rejection! The people in the cities did not repent (vv.20-21). They did not believe. The childishness is seen as perverse! They turned from what was good to what was wrong! They acted contrary to the evidence; opposed what was right, reasonable and acceptable to God. Punishment And what then is the appropriate punishment? Wicked Tyre and Sidon will fare better on judgment day then Chorazin and Bethsaida. Sodom s punishment is less severe than Capernaum (brought down to Hades). Jesus did not speak in Sodom or cast out devils in Sodom or heal the sick in Sodom or raise the dead in Sodom! Sodom is a symbol of sin and judgment. And yet Jesus says that Sodom could have been forgiven its sin if its people had repented. Sodom was judged and destroyed because of sin. It would have not been destroyed had its people repented. Sodom and the people of Sodom will answer for much in the day of judgment. But they have less to answer for than you or I. Billy Graham said, If God fails to judge San Francisco he owes Sodom and Gommorah an apology. In the ancient world Tyre and Sidon were goddess cultures. It was also the place where vast amounts of wealth were generated. Modern equivalents might me San Francisco a port town; or Las Vegas or Hollywood. Tyre was so proud and evil that the prophet Ezekiel compared her king with the prince of darkness Satan himself. The cities were also noted for violence, greed, pride, injustice and immorality. The immoral behavior was so profound and severe that God judged the cities and destroyed the cities. Jesus is in effect saying it will be better off for unbelieving pagans than for unbelieving Jews! 5
And Jesus knows their fate. The fact that Jesus knows their fate, past, present and future suggests that He is the judge. Jesus is the judge for those who reject Him. Jesus reveals there is a judgment and degrees of judgment. Why else would Jesus use the expression tolerable and intolerable. There are degrees of privilege. There are degrees of judgment. Our response to the message of Jesus determines how severely we will be judged. But he that knew not, and did not commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whosoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more (Luke 12:48). Paul warned the Romans (2:5); But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. Some of you may think; I ll take my chances. Of course you will. Conclusion The atheist billboard invites you to skip church. There are so many religions how can you know which one is right? How do you know the Bible is even true? How can you believe anything about Jesus since all the writers in the first century were clearly biased? Does the Bible predict things in advance? Isn t sin something that is really determined by culture? How can Christians claim that Jesus is God? How can Christians claim that Jesus rose from the dead? Who cares if the Bible is true and Jesus is God? What difference does that make to me? What about miracles? Important questions. Do you want to know the answer? Do you want to know the truth? But what about the person who has no interest in the truth and only uses questions to ignore confuse or resist the truth? The people Jesus is speaking of do not want the truth and make excuses to resist the truth! Miracles do not matter for those who are committed to unbelief. Remember everything that Jesus has said and done points to both his identity and His mission as Messiah. Matthew has made a persuasive case that Jesus is King and Messiah by prophecy and power. Christ s reproach towards the cities seem much more severe than even towards the religious leaders. It s one thing to say I don t know about Jesus and its another to say I don t care about Jesus. In 1954 Reader s Digest told the story that President FDR got tired of the smiling fawning crowds and one day decided to play a joke at the White House reception. He decided to see if anyone was paying attention. As each person came up to him with extended hand, he flashed that big smile and said, I murdered my grandmother this morning. People would respond with comments like; how lovely or keep up the good work. Nobody listened to what he was saying. Eventually a foreign diplomat showed up extended his hand and the president repeated 6
the refrain, I murdered my grandmother this morning. The foreign diplomat was reported to have taken the presidents hand and softly say; I m sure she had coming! Are we really listening to Jesus? Do we really care what He has to say? Are we like stubborn children playing a game but never satisfied with the outcome? Weep. I don t feel like weeping. Dance. I don t feel like dancing. Children often justify their wisdom and ideas even if that wisdom or ideas don t make much sense! Their privileges? The presence of Jesus and the gospel. Such exposure condemns a person who refuses to respond. Why? Opportunity. The opportunity to know Christ. They refused to repent. A person who refuses to repent and continues in a life-style of rebellion and disobedience invites judgment. Note -judgment is based not simply on doing what s wrong but refusing to do what s right. Our atheist friends would have us believe that if we do good for goodness sake that exonerates us from our obligations to God. Let s be clear. The atheist believes there is no God and there is no obligation. In this passage Jesus links judgment to those who neglect Him and reject Him! 7