Daily Bible Reading (Monday, January 15th)

15

Matthew 11 (ESV)

 

Messengers from John the Baptist

When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities.

Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers[a] are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? A man[b] dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. What then did you go out to see? A prophet?[c] Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 This is he of whom it is written,

“‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face,
    who will prepare your way before you.’

11 Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who 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 suffered violence,[d] and the violent take it by force. 13 For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, 14 and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. 15 He who has ears to hear,[e] let him hear.

16 “But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates,

17 “‘We played the flute 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, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.”[f]

Woe to Unrepentant Cities

20 Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. 21 “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. 22 But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 23 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. 24 But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.”

Come to Me, and I Will Give You Rest

25 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; 26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.[g] 27 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. 28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 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. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Footnotes:

  1. Matthew 11:5 Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13
  2. Matthew 11:8 Or Why then did you go out? To see a man…
  3. Matthew 11:9 Some manuscripts Why then did you go out? To see a prophet?
  4. Matthew 11:12 Or has been coming violently
  5. Matthew 11:15 Some manuscripts omit to hear
  6. Matthew 11:19 Some manuscripts children (compare Luke 7:35)
  7. Matthew 11:26 Or for so it pleased you well

15 Comments

It is striking to me how Jesus points out in so many ways the hypocrisy and self-promoting position of the pharisees in this passage. The saw the proof of who John the Baptist was, and Jesus' acts and still accused them both, and Jesus prays thanks that God gives wisdom not to the 'wise' (in their own eyes_ but the little children (those knowing their own need and dependency). I often pass by verses like these and miss the literary devices and significance of the words. Thank you Holy Spirit for illuminating the Word!!

Amen Sarah.

Jesus reminds us here that that his yoke is easy and those who put their faith in him will find rest for their souls. So many lost souls are trying to assuage God's wrath but Jesus calls out for those to trust in Him alone and find peace. We need to take that message to San Antonio.

"28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 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. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” I know that there has been so much going on recently that hits way too close to home, but it's great to know that we can have our burden lifted through Christ. It's just incredibly comforting.

"Come to me." I am bot encouraged and instructed by Jesus' invitation. I am encouraged that He invited me to come to Him. What grace! I am instructed by this that I need to extend the same offer to others - inviting them to the person of Jesus Christ with the confidence that He will not turn away any who sincerely come to Him.

For some reason, the last statement in verse 19 stood out to me, “Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.” I think it could also be safe to say that wisdom is also justified by the outcomes of those deeds. A wise decision, based on godliness, produces good fruit. I think that this verse is a good reminder and encouragement to always seek to make wise decisions, that way, those who condemn you will not have any grounds to stand upon since your decisions will justify themselves.

Thus reminds me that it is not my futile attempts at sanctification that will get me through the door. It is the Lord's sanctification. When I am burdened by the weight of being sanctified, it is Jesus carries that burden. I am to abide in Him. Praise the Lord that it is He doing the work, I would make a mess of it all. It also reminds and convicts me to not be the judge of others sanctification progress. In truth I want us ALL to be complete....but in my time. I am wrong to push that burden on to others, especially my spouse. A new concept I have been thinking on is Christ's condescension to us and ours to others. I hope that made sense..i may have run off in thought.

Thanks for sharing the FAT and passing the SALT

"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." How delightful those words still are! Yet at times I still find myself relying on self and finding little peace. I pray my focus will remain on Christ at all times... No matter what. He alone has the power to save!

“Come to me, all 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."”
‭‭As someone who attempted to earn righteousness through works prior to being saved by God at age 22, these verses are ones that ring so true, remind me of where I was / am now, and remind me of how imperative it is that I tell others about the freedom found only in repentance and belief in Jesus Christ.

Vs. 16-18 point to the heart of a great weakness of the wise and understanding of any age: having false expectations, even contradictory ones, and not recognizing the truth of God when it is before our eyes. Pride can overtake the wise and be their downfall. Jesus didn't act like they act, say what they said, play act at mourning when they play acted at mourning. We can come to Scripture the way they came to Jesus, molding its words and our interpretations to fit our expectations, lament of what we lament, rejoice over what we rejoice over, instead of letting it speak with full force and constantly adjust our expectations to the truth.

Theme Summary: For John (the greatest prophet who prepared the way for Jesus and his coming kingdom of heaven), Jesus points to his miracles as proof that he is the anointed one of God who was prophesied to come, but most of that generation will be judged harshly because they would not accept their works because they didn't meet that generations contradictory expectations. God the Father has hidden the truth from the wise and understanding of that generation, yet has graciously revealed the truth to simple children, to only the ones who the Son has chosen to reveal the Father and give rest.

(I tried posting this once before, but it didn't seem appear. Sorry if it shows up twice later.)

Thankful for the Holy Spirit living inside me and the "light burden" that it is to strive for righteousness when I rely on Him to help me. Frustrated by my tendency to try do things on my own, despite knowing that I have a helper.

I’m so thankful to be one of your little children, Lord. There is no greater gift than to be chosen by the Son to see the Father. Place your yoke upon me, Lord, and let me learn more. May I be as bold as John the Baptist in all things related to the gospel.

Verses 17-19 contrasted with verse 12 as Gordie remarked.

While God's people are forcing their way into the kingdom, there are these other people who are making foolish excuses. It's quite a contrast of response to Christ, really the excuses seem to come from a heart of, "suppressing the truth in unrighteousness" because both claims are simply unfounded. They are just excuses.

We might not do it with the Gospel message itself, but do we do it with those calls to labor? The calls to striving and pressing on, pereverence, repentance, evangelism, prayer? I think it can be tempting to look at the perfect standards and high calls to holiness as pie in the sky goals and sorta roll our eyes instead of violently pressing forward. We've heard it so many times, and we've fallen back asleep so many times; and besides we're doing better than everyone else anyway (right?). Nobody really perseveres and pressed their way in violently anymore (right?). That Bruce is just giving us unrealistic, lofty expectations... maybe we can find some other way to understand the bible regarding these things.

So off to sleep we go again.

I pray we would be like the ones forcing their way into the kingdom like violent men who would take it by force. Not like these mockers who hear the message, and come up with excuses to keep going their own way.

I’m like a child at this point wanting to pick everything from a candy store. But I choose verse 12. Luke 16:16 is a parallel verse. “The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John; since then the gospel of the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it.” The real question is, am I? Are you? “Violent men take it by force.” Literally, this means to seize upon with force. In the Greek it means to snatch, (Harpazo) to take by force, to snatch away or take to oneself. “Harpazomai” as in John 10:28.

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