The First Shepherds

Matthew 10:1-15 (1-6)

May 29, 2011

 

Last week we hit a transition passage in Matthew’s gospel.

 

Matthew concluded the section on Jesus’ power

And began to transition to the section on Jesus’ purpose.

 

Matthew 9:36-38 “Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. “Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”

 

For just a moment Matthew peels back the curtain

And shows us a side of Jesus that we all know and love.

 

Matthew showed us the heart of Jesus.

Sure we’ve seen His lineage and know He is the rightful King.

Sure we’ve heard His doctrine and know He preaches with conviction.

Sure we’ve seen His miracles and know He possesses power.

 

But here Matthew reminds that Jesus is also filled with compassion.

 

As Jesus was literally being bombarded by the masses of people,

He sort of has one of those “slow motion” moments.

 

(you’ve seen the movies when the main character goes into slow motion

to emphasize that he is taken back by what he sees)

 

Jesus just stopped and started looking at all these people

Who were flocking to Him.

 

And while their problems were extremely different,

These people all had two things in common.

 

“they were distressed and dispirited”

Or as we talked about last week, they were skinned and thrown aside.

 

Their problems varied greatly, but one thing

They all had in common, was they all needed a shepherd.

 

The shepherds of Israel had slaughtered the flock of God.

 

According to Ezekiel:

They had not strengthened the sickly

They had not healed the diseased

They had not bound up the broken

They had not brought back the scattered

They had not sought for the lost

 

And the flock showed all the signs of being a terrorized group.

And as Jesus took a moment to see what was going on around Him,

He was moved with compassion

And it prompted Him to give a solemn request.

 

“Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest

To send out workers into His harvest.”

 

Jesus said, WE NEED MORE WORKERS

We need more shepherds

We need people to care for God’s flock

 

And this of course directs us into His purpose.

 

WHY DID JESUS COME?

Luke 19:10 “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

 

Jesus came to rescue the sheep of Israel.

 

He was the Good Shepherd whom God had promised to send

Who would gather and heal the flock of God.

 

He would leave the 99 to search for the 1.

He would gently lead the nursing ewes.

He would ultimately lay down His life for the sheep.

 

And in His purpose He intended that others would help Him in His task.

And that is what we see occurring here.

 

After revealing the need for more shepherds

Jesus here summons and sends out the twelve to do just that.

 

BUT I MUST FOREWARN YOU.

We mentioned last week that

One of the problems in the scenario is that shepherds are few.

 

We said that shepherding is hard work,

But that is not the only reason that shepherds are few.

We will learn in this chapter that shepherding is also very dangerous.

 

The wolves that want to devour the sheep,

Will most certainly attack the shepherd who seeks to rescue them.

 

And so the truths Jesus reveals in this chapter are difficult.

We read of trials

We read of scourging

We read of betrayal

We read of hatred

We read of death

 

Yet, for those who accept the challenge and answer the call

This task ends in certain reward.

Matthew 10:42 “And whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.”

 

And so with the promise of danger and the certainty of reward,

Christ sends out the twelve to find the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

 

There are three things I want us to see

#1 THE POWER HE SHARED

Matthew 10:1

 

There are two words that really jump out at the beginning that verse.

“summoned” and “authority”

 

Jesus already revealed that shepherds must be sent by God,

And here Jesus does just that by summoning the twelve.

 

This was a divine calling.

This was a divine summons.

 

John 15:16 “You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.”

 

And we also notice the authority.

 

“Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority…”

 

If you have noticed nothing else about Jesus here in Matthew’s gospel,

You must have noticed His authority.

 

Matthew is mesmerized by the authority of Jesus.

(After all, shouldn’t a king have authority?)

 

Just look back at the Sermon on the Mount.

11 times Matthew recorded Jesus using the same phrase.

 

“I say”

 

Matthew 5:18 “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.”

 

Matthew 5:20 “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

 

Of course we remember those “You have heard…but I say” references.

 

Matthew 6:25 “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?”

 

11 times Jesus uses the phrase.

WHY IS THAT SIGNIFICANT?

No prophet every spoke like that before.

 

All the prophets of the Old Testament used a different phrase.

“Thus says the Lord”

 

Jesus said, “I say unto you”

 

It was authority.

And rest assured the people recognized it.

 

Matthew 7:28-29 “When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.”

 

But that was not all the authority Matthew showed.

 

Remember the centurion?

Matthew 8:7-9 “Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.” But the centurion said, ” Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. “For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”

 

How about the response of the disciples after the calming of the storm?

Matthew 8:26-27 “He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm. The men were amazed, and said, “What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”

 

Or do you remember what Jesus said to the doubting Pharisees?

Matthew 9:6 “But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” — then He said to the paralytic, “Get up, pick up your bed and go home.”

 

Matthew has been systematic in reminding you

That Jesus had authority like no one else.

 

And here we find that Christ takes His authority

And shares it with those He sends.

 

“Jesus summoned His disciples and gave them authority…”

 

And this is an important point for all of us to grasp.

 

We all know that Jesus has authority over all things.

He is Lord of Heaven and earth.

 

BUT LET ME ASK YOU, WHO ELSE HAS AUTHORITY?

Whoever He gives it to.

 

Is this not how a theocracy works?

Is this not how a king shares authority?

Those the king sends come with the authority of the King.

It is not their own authority, it is the king’s authority.

 

But they exercise it because to disobey them,

Is to disobey the one who sent them.

 

This is what we mean when we use the term “ambassador.”

 

2 Corinthians 5:20 “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”

 

Paul said we are just the messengers, but we speak with full authority,

Just like it was actually God speaking.

 

Jesus is giving His authority to those He has chosen.

 

And we even see some specifics about it.

“authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.”

 

Jesus gave supreme authority.

 

And incidentally, this is how Matthew’s gospel ended as well.

Matthew 28:18-20 “And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

 

Those whom Christ appoints He also endows with His authority.

 

You’ve probably heard it said before,

“God doesn’t call the equipped, He equips the called.”

 

Of course that means that none of us can use the excuse,

“I can’t do that” or “I’m just not good at that.”

 

BUT ALL THAT IS DOING IS DOUBTING THE POWER OF GOD.

 

Think of it this way.

I can’t paint the Mona Lisa, but I can’t blame it on the brush.

 

Yet when we act like we can’t do the work of the kingdom,

It is as though we are saying, God can’t use me, He is not that powerful.

 

The issue is not ability, it is availability.

Either we will obey the Master’s call or we won’t.

It has nothing to do with our ability.

 

Christ equips those He calls.

So you see The Power He Shared

#2 THE PEOPLE HE SUMMONED

Matthew 10:2-4

 

And this by the way only emphasizes what we just learned,

That God equips the called.

 

When you take just a moment and look at the names on this list,

You quickly learn that Jesus did not choose the cream of the crop.

 

Instead of the philosophers and historians of Greece…

Instead of the senators and orators of Rome…

Instead of the wise men of the east…

 

Jesus chose these 12.

Christ was not looking for men who could do it on their own.

He didn’t need men who could endure in their own strength…

He didn’t need men who could preach in their own wisdom…

 

He needed men who were empty vessels

Who could be used totally for Him, by Him and for His glory.

 

Paul would describe apostleship like this:

2 Corinthians 4:7 “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves;”

 

Paul knew that God likes to use clay pots.

Because glory really stands out in a clay pot.

 

And that is precisely what Jesus got with the 12.

These are without a doubt 12 ordinary men.

 

Now, other authors and preachers have done a wonderful job

Giving biographical sketches of these men,

And for just a moment I would like to stand on some of their shoulders

And introduce you to some of these disciples a little more.

 

Some generalities about the list of apostles or disciples.

 

They are listed here, also in Mark 3 and in Luke 6.

 

And all three of these lists have a couple of things in common.

• Peter is always first

• Judas is always last

• The top four are always the top four

• The bottom four are always the bottom four

 

Group 1 is always Peter, Andrew, James and John

Group 2 is always Matthew, Thomas, Philip, and Bartholomew

Group 3 is always James, Thaddaeus, Simon, and Judas

And that seems to be not only a list but sort of a rank,

For it is obvious that the top group

Consistently had closer access to Jesus than the rest of the 12.

 

John’s gospel even seems to sort of bear this out a little.

John 12:20-22 “Now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast; these then came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and began to ask him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip came and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip came and told Jesus.”

 

So you sort of see an order among the disciples.

 

And that is certainly true of Peter.

 

In fact Matthew unequivocally calls Peter “the first”.

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

 

“first” translates PROTOS

Which does not indicate chronological order,

But rather order of importance.

 

It is the word Paul used for himself in 1 Timothy

When he called himself the “chief of sinners” the PROTOS of sinners.

 

And certainly this makes sense here.

If you are talking chronologically then Peter was not the first,

For in fact it was Andrew who led Peter to Jesus.

 

No, Matthew reveals that Peter was the leader of the 12.

So even these 12 appointed men, endowed with the authority of Jesus

Had a clear leader in Peter.

 

This explains a little why Peter was always the spokesman for the group.

Peter took initiative.

 

AND WE LOVE PETER

• Very human

• Prone to mistakes, but made them going forward

(walking on water, following after arrest)

 

But Jesus used this impulsive fisherman,

In fact Jesus turned him into a rock

Who would bring Jerusalem to its knees at Pentecost.

 

We also are familiar with “Andrew his brother”.

 

Andrew doesn’t appear outspoken and bold, but Andrew is always bringing people to Jesus. (Peter, Greeks, Boy with fish)

 

And obviously Jesus uses people who bring others to Him.

You are also familiar with the other two we see here,

“James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother;”

 

Mark 3:17 “and James, the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James (to them He gave the name Boanerges, which means, “Sons of Thunder”);”

 

And who can forget these two rowdy brothers.

 

Luke 9:52-54 “and He sent messengers on ahead of Him, and they went and entered a village of the Samaritans to make arrangements for Him. But they did not receive Him, because He was traveling toward Jerusalem. When His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?”

 

These men were edgy and rough and absolutely intolerant.

 

Mark 9:38-39 “John said to Him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we tried to prevent him because he was not following us.” But Jesus said, “Do not hinder him, for there is no one who will perform a miracle in My name, and be able soon afterward to speak evil of Me.”

 

And who can forget the day that they used their mother

To petition for the best seats in the kingdom?

 

These guys were quick-tempered, impatient, always stirring the pot.

Yet Jesus uses men like this.

 

In fact, James was such a problem for the opposition

That he was the first one the enemy killed.

 

From there we see “Philip and Bartholomew”

 

Bartholomew is called Nathanael in John’s gospel.

Jesus called Philip

Philip found Nathanael

Nathanael was first to confess Jesus as the Son of God

 

Certainly Jesus used Philip, He was the first missionary of the church,

Leading the Ethiopian Eunich to Christ.

 

From there we see “Thomas” affectionately known as

“Doubting Thomas”, but that isn’t exactly accurate.

 

Thomas was just a pessimist.

 

When the disciples thought Jesus would die for going back to the home of Lazarus, Thomas said:

 

John 11:16 “Therefore Thomas, who is called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, so that we may die with Him.”

 

There we also learn that Thomas was a twin.

We also see his pessimism in the upper room

John 14:4-5 “And you know the way where I am going.” Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?”

 

And then there was the scene where he would not believe

Until he could touch the wounds.

 

And yet Jesus used that pessimist.

Some could argue that a pessimist has to have even greater faith.

(Thomas followed when he was certain he would die.)

 

Then “Matthew” introduces himself and he does so as “the tax collector”.

 

This would not have been a popular thing to keep bringing up,

And that alone reveals the humility of Matthew.

 

And of course Jesus uses humble men like Matthew

 

Then in the final group we see “James the son of Alphaeus”

 

In Mark 15:40 he is called:

“James the less”

 

And that again gives insight into his humility.

 

And interestingly enough, James was a disciple, but even 2,000 years later

We do not know a single word he spoke or a single thing he did.

 

He remains in obscurity even as one of the 12.

(Certainly not all followers are meant to be famous)

 

“Thaddaeus”

 

In Luke’s gospel he is called “Judas the son of James”

Which was his name.

 

“Thaddaeus” is a nickname.

It means “breast baby”

 

I don’t know if Matthew was aggravating him here, but it probably indicates that Thaddaeus was the youngest of the twelve.

 

And apart from one question he asks in the book of John,

We don’t know anything about this disciple as well.

 

Except to note that Jesus uses young people too.

 

The next disciples Matthew actually gives a little more insight about.

“Simon the Zealot”

 

The Zealots were a radical party

Who insisted upon throwing off the yoke of Rome.

 

One Jewish historian called them SICARII which means “daggermen”

Because they were famous for hiding daggers in their cloak which they would use

to stab Roman soldiers and then flee into the hills.

 

They were terrorists.

And yet Jesus chose one.

 

Jesus uses passionate people who well sell out for a cause.

 

And of course the list ends with “Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Him.”

 

Jesus knew all along, and yet he chose this traitor anyway.

 

BUT EVEN MORE AMAZING IS THAT

JUDAS COULD NOT THWART HIS PLAN.

 

But you see here those whom Jesus chose.

 

Truly, there is nothing innately special about this list.

 

He had several fishermen

He had at least one tax collector, one terrorist, one traitor,

And a breast baby.

 

• Peter was always overeager…

• Thomas was always skeptical…

• James and John wanted to destroy people…

• Andrew just kept bringing them to Jesus…

 

If God could use these guys, then God can use anyone.

 

The Power He Shared The People He Summoned

#3 THE PLACE HE SENT THEM

Matthew 10:5-6

 

Now obviously there is much more to the story than just this,

But I do want you to quickly recognize the parameter.

 

“These twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them: “Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans; but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

 

SO WHY DID JESUS SPECIFY THIS?

(certainly we know Jesus loved the Gentiles)

 

THIS IS WHY WE SAY IT IS NOT OVERLY EVANGELISTIC IN THEME

This command ties back to chapter 9 when He saw the sheep of Israel were “distressed and dispirited”

 

And the most extreme consequence was that many were “lost”.

 

This was not Jesus excluding Gentiles

This was about caring for the flock of God.

 

Yes Jesus wanted the lost saved,

But don’t miss that He wanted God’s flock to be cared for.

We learn not to be so enamored with more sheep

That we don’t care for the ones we have.

 

And so we learn two great things about our Lord.

• HE EQUIPS THOSE HE CALLS

• HE CALLS THEM FOR A SPECIFIC PURPOSE

 

Here it is to gather the sheep

That the bad shepherds of Israel had cast aside.

 

We are obviously encouraged to not only pray for workers,

But to understand that we just might be the workers

Our Lord wants to use.

 

Matthew 9:36-38 “Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. “Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”

 

The Necessity of Shepherds

Matthew 9:35-38

May 22, 2011

(Enlighten church as to our study of Elder led)

This morning we study a great passage in that regard

 

You are aware of the context of Matthew’s gospel.

 

Matthew’s gospel is very pointed.

That point is to unequivocally prove to you

That Jesus is the Messiah of God.

 

• Humanly Lineage (ch 1)

• Divine Lineage (ch 1)

• Kingly birth announcement (ch 2)

• His herald (ch 3)

• His coronation (ch 3)

• His testing (ch 4)

• His doctrine (ch 5-7)

 

Then in chapters 8 and 9 Matthew gives us yet another proof.

He is displaying the power of the king.

 

So our text this morning is found at the end of the section

In which Matthew reveals the enormous power of Jesus.

 

• He has restored a leper

• He has healed two paralytics

• He has removed a fever

• He has calmed a storm

• He has cast an army of demons out of a man

• He has healed a hemorrhaging woman

• He has raised a girl from the dead

• He has restored sight to the blind

• He has even given speech back to a mute man

 

And then Matthew sums up these two chapters by saying in verse 35, “Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.”

 

As if the specific accounts were not enough,

Matthew reveals that those specific accounts

Were really just the tip of the iceberg.

 

Jesus is wreaking havoc on the effects of sin.

And really that has been the theme of the two chapters.

Jesus vs Sin

But then to close the chapter Matthew reveals something

That should really catch all of our attention.

 

You see throughout these two chapters we also learn

Jesus was literally being bombarded by people.

 

After He healed Peter’s mother-in-law

Matthew 8:16 “When evening came, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill.”

 

And this crowd really got out of control

Matthew 8:18 “Now when Jesus saw a crowd around Him, He gave orders to depart to the other side of the sea.”

 

And of course who can forget the scene that emerged as Jesus healed the paralytic in chapter 9?

 

Matthew doesn’t mention it, but we know from Luke’s gospel we learn that this house was so crowded that in order to even get their friend to Jesus these men had to go on the roof, tear a hole in the roof and lower him down.

 

And really this is nothing new.

JESUS COULDN’T ESCAPE.

 

Everywhere He went He was instantly caught by someone else

Desiring help or deliverance.

 

Even to the point that while on the way to heal Jairus’ daughter

A woman in the crowd touched him to be healed of her bleeding.

 

And every second of every day was like this.

• Someone was always approaching Him

• Crowds were always forming.

• People were always yelling for Him to help.

 

And so as quickly as you recognize the power of the Messiah,

You also quickly recognize the desperation of the people.

 

And that is how Matthew closes this chapter.

 

(36-38) “Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. “Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”

 

And just to keep it simple from the outset, can we easily spot what happens here?

 

Jesus reveals that the needs of the people

Are bigger than one man can meet.

 

Now certainly that is not to minimize the power of Jesus,

These two chapters have done nothing but solidify

That Jesus can handle anything thrown His way.

 

Yet it doesn’t change the fact that as Jesus witnessed the mass of humanity flocking to Him for help, even He said “We need more workers”.

 

And I also hope you recognize that

It was a specific type of worker that was needed.

 

“Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd”

 

Then Jesus asks for workers.

WHAT TYPE OF WORKERS WERE NEEDED?

Shepherds.

 

And at this point let me just pause from our text a moment

And reveal why it is shepherds that Jesus wanted.

 

Shepherd is the terminology used

Because of all the animals that God could compare humanity to,

None fits the illustration better than a sheep.

And this is not a flattering comparison.

 

• Sheep are mindless.

• They are stupid for lack of a better term.

• They follow blindly

• They wander aimlessly

• They are lost easily

• And they are absolutely defenseless

 

There is no more defenseless, helpless,

And needy animal alive than the sheep.

 

They required constant protection and guidance from a shepherd.

 

AND WE ARE ALL SHEEP

 

It was God’s observation that all of us are in need of constant

Guidance, correction, provision, protection, and care.

 

IN SHORT, WE ALL NEED A SHEPHERD.

 

The beauty of this whole thing is that God is a great shepherd.

 

One of the first Scriptures you probably ever memorized was

Psalm 23, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want…”

 

God has always revealed Himself as a shepherd.

One of His 8 covenantal names is Jehovah Rohi (The Lord Shepherds).

 

Isaiah 40:11 “Like a shepherd He will tend His flock, In His arm He will gather the lambs And carry them in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing ewes.”

 

This is God, always concerned for the flock.

 

Also obvious throughout Scripture is that

God has always appointed earthly shepherds to care for His flock.

 

The Old Testament is full of them,

Perhaps some of the most famous would be men like Moses or David,

Who by the way each spent time as actual shepherds as well.

 

These men had charge over the flock of God,

And certainly they were not alone.

 

We are all familiar with the fact that Moses delegated out his authority

To elders in Israel to help him guide the flock of God.

 

And so God, the perfect Shepherd entrusted His flock

To undershepherds who would care for His flock.

 

The problem is that as time went on, those shepherds failed miserably.

 

TURN TO: EZEKIEL 34

 

(READ VS. 1-6)

• They did not feed the flock the word of God,

• They did not encourage the flock with the truth of God,

• They did not admonish those struggling in sin,

• They did not call the straying sheep to repentance,

• Nor were they concerned when one of God’s sheep disappeared.

• They were only concerned for their own well-being.

 

And this is not the only passage to this regard.

Jeremiah 10:21 “For the shepherds have become stupid And have not sought the LORD; Therefore they have not prospered, And all their flock is scattered.”

 

Jeremiah 23:1-2 “ Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of My pasture!” declares the LORD. Therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel concerning the shepherds who are tending My people: “You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not attended to them; behold, I am about to attend to you for the evil of your deeds,” declares the LORD.”

 

The shepherds of Israel were failing God’s flock.

This of course prompted God to go after His sheep Himself

(READ VS. 11-16)

 

And then God promised to give His sheep a new shepherd; a good one.

(READ VS. 23-24)

 

And of course this new good shepherd is Jesus

John 10:11 “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.”

 

John 10:14 “I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me,”

 

And certainly this was a job that Jesus embraced for Himself.

It cannot be overstated that Jesus loved the flock of God.

 

He laid down His life in order to rescue the flock

And as Jesus walked this earth, He perfectly shepherded God’s flock.

He cared for them flawlessly.

 

John 17:11-12 “I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are. “While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.”

 

Because Jesus recognized the owner of the flock,

And because Jesus recognized the need of the sheep,

Jesus willingly gave of Himself to shepherd the flock of God.

 

He fixed the problem that was created by the selfish shepherds of Israel.

 

And then, as Jesus left He again entrusted God’s flock

To faithful undershepherds who would care for it.

 

Who can forget the admonition that Jesus gave to Peter in John 21?

“Tend My lambs.” “Shepherd My sheep.” “Tend My sheep.”

 

It mattered to Jesus that God’s flock was cared for.

Of course as the church grew and as the apostles died,

These shepherds passed the staff on to other men who would also

Walk in the footsteps of the Lord and care for God’s flock.

 

Acts 14:23 “When they had appointed elders for them in every church, having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.”

 

The apostle Paul was especially burdened in this area.

He told Timothy,

2 Timothy 2:2 “The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”

He told Titus

Titus 1:5 “For this reason I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you,”

 

And when he met with the Ephesian elders he heavily charged them,

Acts 20:28 “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.”

 

AND SO THE SUCCESSION IS OBVIOUS.

 

Even Peter wrote:

1 Peter 5:1-4 “Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.”

 

The point thus far is this.

God still has a flock, and that flock still needs shepherds.

 

When you read that passage in Ezekiel 34 you are reminded that

• Sheep get sick and need to be strengthened.

• Sheep get diseased and need to be healed.

• Sheep get broken and need to be bound up.

• Sheep get scattered and need to be brought back.

• Sheep even get lost and need to be found.

 

In a spiritual sense we know that

• The people of God get sick (a term that means weak) and need to be encouraged.

• The people of God get diseased (or fall into sin) and need to be healed or admonished

• The people of God get broken (feel the effects and consequences of sinful choices) and need to be picked up.

• The people of God get scattered (discouraged and out of fellowship) and need to be admonished back into the fold

• The people of God even get lost (seemingly separated from God and His church) and they need to be found.

 

Who else but a shepherd?

 

God’s flock needs shepherds!

It is the way He designed it, it is the way He intended it,

 

And here in our text that is exactly what Jesus is saying again.

 

“Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. “Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”

 

And this morning,

I just want to point out three rather obvious things about what Jesus said.

 

Now the focus of this sermon is pointed.

• I certainly it preach it for myself.

• But I also preach it for any who aspire to shepherd God’s flock (as elders or deacons)

 

3 Things

#1 SHEPHERDS ARE NEEDED

Matthew 9:36

 

“Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.”

 

The obvious truth of this verse is that

There was a problem of shepherdless sheep.

 

It was clear that these people were not living with imaginary needs.

These people really were victimized.

These people really were in a bad way.

 

In fact Jesus gets pretty graphic in His description.

 

“they were distressed and dispirited”

 

“distressed” translates SKULLO

It literally means “to skin” or “to flay” or “to mangle”

And it became synonymous with being troubled.

 

“dispirited” translates RHIPTO

It literally means “to throw”

 

And when you put those together it is quite obvious what Jesus saw.

 

He didn’t see healthy, well-nourished, protected and contented sheep.

He saw a flock that had been skinned and cast aside.

(sheered and abandoned)

 

They were a neglected flock.

(Which is exactly what God described through Ezekiel)

 

This flock had gone without food.

This flock had gone without guidance.

This flock had gone without protection.

 

Not only were they victims of the predators,

But also victims of one another.

 

Ezekiel 34:17-22 “As for you, My flock, thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Behold, I will judge between one sheep and another, between the rams and the male goats. ‘Is it too slight a thing for you that you should feed in the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pastures? Or that you should drink of the clear waters, that you must foul the rest with your feet? ‘As for My flock, they must eat what you tread down with your feet and drink what you foul with your feet!'” Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD to them, “Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. “Because you push with side and with shoulder, and thrust at all the weak with your horns until you have scattered them abroad, therefore, I will deliver My flock, and they will no longer be a prey; and I will judge between one sheep and another.”

 

And so not only is the flock in danger from predators outside,

But the flock is also in danger from bullies within.

And no one had protected this flock from either.

 

They were “distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd”

 

And let me just first point out to you that Jesus SAW that.

“Seeing the people”

 

It is extremely easy to get lost in numerical growth,

And to get sucked into the mega-church game.

 

And before long many shepherds no longer see the sheep any more.

 

They are busy writing books and preaching conferences

And building budgets and growing a legacy.

And the sheep can literally just become a pawn in their game.

 

Sheep are sick and slaughtered right under their noses

And they never even see it.

 

The sheep need a shepherd that will see them.

That is precisely what Jesus did.

 

But that is not all.

“Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them”

 

It broke His heart to see all these broken, straying, malnourished,

Even lost sheep, and He wanted to do something about it.

 

THE SHEEP NEEDED A SHEPHERD

• They need someone who will feed them the truth of God’s word.

• They need someone who will confront their sin.

• They need someone who will admonish them.

• They need someone who will search for them when they are missing.

• They need someone who lay his own life down for their well-being.

John 10:11-14 “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. “He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. “He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep. “I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me,”

 

Shepherds are Needed

#2 SHEPHERDS ARE FEW

Matthew 9:37

 

Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.”

 

Most of the time people do injustice to this verse.

 

They see the word “harvest” and immediately jump to evangelism,

And completely forget that Jesus is still talking about distressed sheep.

 

Are some of the sheep lost?

Absolutely, and they must be sought after.

But the issue here is still shepherding.

 

And the point that Jesus is making is that

There aren’t many willing to be shepherds.

 

“the workers are few”

 

And make no mistake about it, shepherding is work.

 

1 Thessalonians 5:12-13 “But we request of you, brethren, that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you, and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction, and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Live in peace with one another.”

 

1 Timothy 5:17 “The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.”

 

Shepherding is hard work, and the implication of Jesus

Is that there aren’t many willing to do it.

 

Oh, there are plenty who want the title of shepherd,

There just aren’t many who want to do the work of a shepherd.

 

A shepherd’s job is hard.

• Sheep were always hungry…

• Sheep were always straying…

• Sheep were always in danger of attack…

• A SHEPHERD NEVER RESTED

(One shepherd was asked about the most important tool – “A FENCE”)

 

HOW THIS IS TRUE OF GOD’S FLOCK!

• Always needing to be fed…

• Often straying…

The hymn writer said it best, “Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love, here’s my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above.”

• And always in danger of attack…

 

1 Peter 5:8 “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

 

And if that were not enough, sheep get sick, sheep are weak,

And need nurturing.

 

James 5:13-15 “Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises. Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.”

 

Shepherding is hard work, and because of that, true shepherds are few.

 

Shepherds are Needed Shepherds are Few

#3 SHEPHERDS ARE SENT

Matthew 9:38

 

In other words, this is not just something that any and everyone does.

If it were a matter of merely convincing men

Then Jesus would have told the disciples to go out and recruit workers.

 

But Jesus said, “Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”

 

Shepherds are sent by God.

 

Now I know what 1 Timothy says.

1 Timothy 3:1 “It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do.”

 

And we learn that the first requirement to be a shepherd

Is that you must want to do it.

 

But really that is just it.

The call to be a shepherd is such a difficult job

That the only way a person would desire to do it correctly

Is if God put that desire in them.

 

No one signs up for 24-7 care of a bunch of mindless sheep

Who are prone to wonder and easy prey,

Unless God puts it in his heart to do so.

SHEPHERDS ARE CALLED, BUT THEY ARE ALSO ACCOUNTABLE!

But that also means that you are divinely accountable to God.

 

1 Peter 5:1-2 “Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness;”

 

I love the phrase “shepherd the flock of God”

 

This is God’s flock.

And God entrusts men with this flock.

 

Jesus ascended to heaven, and as long as He is gone

He is asking men to feed them, protect them, guide them, bind them up,

And to search for them.

 

I certainly don’t want to be the shepherd that has to report to the Good Shepherd that I lost most of His sheep.

 

An actual shepherd was so afraid of this,

That he stole sheep remains from predators.

Amos 3:12 “Just as the shepherd snatches from the lion’s mouth a couple of legs or a piece of an ear, So will the sons of Israel dwelling in Samaria be snatched away — With the corner of a bed and the cover of a couch!”

 

Exodus 22:10-13 “If a man gives his neighbor a donkey, an ox, a sheep, or any animal to keep for him, and it dies or is hurt or is driven away while no one is looking, an oath before the LORD shall be made by the two of them that he has not laid hands on his neighbor’s property; and its owner shall accept it, and he shall not make restitution. “But if it is actually stolen from him, he shall make restitution to its owner. “If it is all torn to pieces, let him bring it as evidence; he shall not make restitution for what has been torn to pieces.”

 

Because shepherds are sent, God also holds them accountable.

Hebrews 13:17 “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.”

 

We give an account to God for how we shepherd His flock.

 

But the beauty of it all is this.

1 Peter 5:4 “And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.”

 

I want to challenge those in our midst

Who see the need for shepherds among God’s flock.

As a pastor

As a deacon

As a father

 

Don’t just pass off the burden by saying, “Oh, well there you have it, I don’t desire it, so I don’t have to worry about it.”

 

How can you live with yourself with such an attitude?

 

Jesus sent a challenge that shepherds are needed.

It is alarming to me how few are willing to answer His call.

 

Men I want to challenge you as God challenges me.

Shepherd the flock of God.

 

Open Eyes & Closed Hearts

Matthew 9:27-34

May 15, 2011 am

 

Matthew is in the midst of a section in which he is presenting to you

The undeniable power that Jesus has over sin.

 

• It started with the cleansing of a leper.

• From there he healed the centurion’s slave.

• He cast a fever out of Peter’s mother-in-law.

• He calmed the storm on the see

• He removed a legion of demons from a man

• He healed a paralytic

• He healed a hemorrhaging woman

• He raised a little girl back to life

 

It has obviously been one miraculous proof after another.

Each of these were meant to show that Jesus has power over sin,

Because He systematically reversed the effects of sin in people’s lives.

 

We have seen His power, but something else we have seen

Is that He is in very high demand.

 

Just consider this one day.

 

It started by preaching in a home

That was so crowded no one could get in.

 

It was then that four men tore a hole in the roof

And lowered their paralytic friend down to Jesus.

 

(9:9) “As Jesus went on from there…”

He saw Matthew

Banquet in Matthew’s home

Interrupted by debate with Pharisees and John’s disciples

 

(9:18) “While He was saying these things…”

The debate was cut short by Jairus who wanted his daughter raised

(Even a woman interrupted this while He was on the way)

Eventually He did make it to Jairus’ house and raise his daughter

 

(9:27) “As Jesus went on from there…”

These two blind men follow Him back to the house.

Jesus heals them.

 

(9:32) “As they were going out…”

They show up with a mute demon possessed man.

 

It is obvious that Jesus has had quite an exhausting day.

 

Of course we have seen this before.

 

Back in chapter 8

• The day started by preaching in the synagogue and casting out a demon.

• He then came to Peter’s house where He healed his mother-in-law

• He was then bombarded by a crowd He sought to escape

• That night He calmed the see

• The next day He healed the demoniac

• Then He was pushed back across the see

 

It has literally been non-stop for Jesus.

One need right after another, and often times several needs at once.

 

It sort of makes sense what we see next from Jesus.

Matthew 9:36-38 “Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. “Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”

 

Is it any wonder that Jesus asks for help?

Furthermore it makes perfect sense to us why in chapter 10

He will send out the 12 to seek out the lost sheep of Israel.

 

Not only has Jesus been powerful,

But He has also in high demand.

 

The bizarre thing is out of all the people that flocked to Him,

True followers are shockingly few.

 

And think about it for a moment.

Of all the responses that Matthew has shown you in this section, how many positive ones has Jesus received?

 

Answer: 1 (Matthew)

 

Aside from him

We have the scribe who loved comfort

We have the disciple who wanted his inheritance

We have the town of the demoniac who wanted Jesus to leave

We have the arrogant Pharisees who don’t understand compassion

We have John’s disciples who love legalism

We have the crowd at Jairus’ house who laughed at Him

 

Everyone else is completely missing the point.

And this final set of miracles only reiterates that sad truth.

 

And this morning we see the final proof in this section.

 

(Not the last miracles Matthew will show you, but the last ones in this section).

 

These seem to be the miracles that Matthew has been waiting for.

WHY?

 

While to you and I, overcoming death looked like the pinnacle miracle,

It really wasn’t to the Jews.

 

Matthew saved his biggest proof for last,

And that was the healing of the blind men and the mute man.

 

WHAT MADE THESE SO GREAT?

 

These are direct fulfillments of Messianic prophecy.

 

Isaiah 29:17-19 “Is it not yet just a little while Before Lebanon will be turned into a fertile field, And the fertile field will be considered as a forest? On that day the deaf will hear words of a book, And out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see. The afflicted also will increase their gladness in the LORD, And the needy of mankind will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.”

 

Isaiah 35:3-6a “Encourage the exhausted, and strengthen the feeble. Say to those with anxious heart, “Take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance; The recompense of God will come, But He will save you.” Then the eyes of the blind will be opened And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a deer, And the tongue of the mute will shout for joy.”

 

Isaiah 42:5-7 “Thus says God the LORD, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread out the earth and its offspring, Who gives breath to the people on it And spirit to those who walk in it, “I am the LORD, I have called You in righteousness, I will also hold You by the hand and watch over You, And I will appoint You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the nations, To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the dungeon And those who dwell in darkness from the prison.”

 

A man might come and do many amazing things,

But they knew they would spot the Messiah

When He gave sight to the blind and speech to the mute.

 

Remember when John was doubting?

Matthew 11:2-6 “Now when John, while imprisoned, heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to Him, “Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see: the BLIND RECEIVE SIGHT and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the POOR HAVE THE GOSPEL PREACHED TO THEM. “And blessed is he who does not take offense at Me.”

 

It is clear that Matthew saw these miracles

As the undeniable proofs of Jesus Messiahship.

 

And so Matthew places them as sort of the icing on the cake

For us here in this chapter.

 

THE TRAGEDY IS THAT IT DOESN’T SEEM TO BE ENOUGH.

 

#1 JESUS HEALS THE BLIND MEN

Matthew 9:27-31

 

Now as we study each of these miracles, you will notice that

They are very similar in the way Matthew presents them.

 

Matthew shows us the same four things about each of them.

 

The blind men

1) MESSIANIC RECOGNITION (27)

 

“As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!”

 

It is obvious that even though these men were blind

They knew what was going on around them.

 

It is possible they were even listening to the debate

Jesus was having with the Pharisees and John’s disciples.

 

And certainly they were aware of what Jairus did

In coming to get Jesus and the desperate act of the hemorrhaging woman.

 

These men had spotted Jesus as someone special.

And so the second Jesus leaves Jairus’ house, these men are after Him.

 

And what is obvious to us is that they are after Him

Because they have recognized Him to be the Messiah,

And therefore the One who can restore their sight.

 

Notice what they say to Him, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!”

 

“Son of David” is a Messianic title,

Clearly linking Jesus to the throne of David.

 

2) EXPRESSION OF FAITH (28)

 

“When He entered the house, the blind men came up to Him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.”

 

Jesus “entered the house” presumably He went back to Matthew’s house,

And these blind men just follow Him right inside.

 

They have the same type of desperation

That the leper, the centurion, the four friends, Jairus,

And the hemorrhaging woman all had.

 

They were not being turned away from Jesus.

 

And then Jesus asks a bizarre question.

“Do you believe that I am able to do this?”

Does that seem strange?

 

At this point we should think it was obvious what they believed,

And yet Jesus asks anyway.

 

What Jesus does is unequivocally reveal

That these men knew He could heal them.

 

Whatever questions we have about these men in a moment,

We know that they came to Jesus believing He could make them see.

 

“They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.”

 

And so we see and expression of faith.

3) MIRACULOUS HEALING (29-30a)

 

“Then He touched their eyes, saying, “It shall be done to you according to your faith.” And their eyes were opened.”

 

And there we have the miracle.

 

And once again we marvel at what Jesus can do.

 

Even in our world of technology,

Restoring sight to the blind is an impossibility.

 

I spent no less than 5 trips to an optometrist just trying to get contacts to work,

Let alone restoring sight to the blind.

 

And yet all Jesus does is touch their eyes

And instantly these men can see.

We can definitely declare that Jesus is the prophesied Messiah.

 

And only if the story had ended there.

4) BLATANT DISREGARD (30b-31)

 

“And Jesus sternly warned them: “See that no one knows about this!” But they went out and spread the news about Him throughout all that land.”

 

Now we don’t know why Jesus told them not to tell anyone.

 

But He did and He was stern about it.

This was no insignificant command from Him.

He was serious.

 

And therefore regardless of His reasons, He expected these men to obey.

 

Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.”

But these men didn’t.

“they went out and spread the news about Him throughout all that land.”

 

Now look, we can all sugar coat this if we want.

We can all offer them a pass if we want.

“Oh, but these guys were just so excited that they couldn’t keep it in.”

 

Listen, Jesus always had a way of going after the heart of a man.

Jesus always has a way of testing our love and true devotion.

 

And obviously for these men

Jesus wanted that love proven by their silence.

 

Now Jesus didn’t tell everyone to keep quiet.

Remember the demoniac?

Luke 8:38-39 “But the man from whom the demons had gone out was begging Him that he might accompany Him; but He sent him away, saying, “Return to your house and describe what great things God has done for you.” So he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.”

 

Obviously Jesus’ command to these men

Had as much to do with their heart condition as it did anything.

 

As a sign of love, as a sign of commitment, He wanted silence from them.

But they wouldn’t give it.

 

They delighted too much in telling their story,

And so their story ends in disobedience.

 

#2 JESUS CASTS OUT A MUTE DEMON

Matthew 9:32-34

 

“As they were going out, a mute, demon-possessed man was brought to Him.”

 

If you read in the King James it says, “they brought to Him a dumb man”

And it has led many to assume that it was in fact

The blind men who brought him.

 

No, they clearly went out to spread the word,

This was someone else who brought this man.

 

No sooner does Jesus finish that miracle than here comes another one.

 

And again we see the same four aspects.

1) EXPRESSION OF FAITH (32)

 

Now this expression of faith is different than the first.

 

There the blind men came to Jesus openly declaring their belief in Him,

But this miracle is more like the centurion’s slave,

The paralytic with four friends, or even Jairus’ daughter.

 

All of those received Jesus’ healing benefit

Based upon the faith of someone else.

 

And so did this man.

 

We don’t know who believed, but someone obviously did.

 

2) MIRACULOUS HEALING (33a)

 

“After the demon was cast out, the mute man spoke;”

 

Apparently it was the demon who was mute,

And when he left the man could speak.

 

And yet again we have a miracle.

 

No fight is recorded, no major battle, it doesn’t even appear difficult.

 

“the demon was cast out”

 

Again Jesus did what was utterly impossible for man to do.

It was a miracle.

And there is no doubt Jesus is the Messiah.

 

And this miracle sparked a reaction.

3) MESSIANIC RECOGNITION (33b)

 

“and the crowds were amazed, and were saying, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.”

 

The crowd was blown away by what Jesus did.

And it is obvious that they spotted Jesus for what He was.

They recognized that He was no ordinary man.

They recognized that He was no ordinary doctor.

 

This man did what no human could do.

 

He was obviously the One that Isaiah wrote about.

He is obviously the King of Israel.

The crowd could see that quickly.

 

And again if only the story ended here.

4) BLATANT DISREGARD (34)

 

“But the Pharisees were saying, “He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.”

It is amazing how extremely hard-hearted

Man can be towards the truth of God.

 

These Pharisees were confronted with absolute truth

And yet willfully and blatantly disregarded it.

 

They actually give credit for His power to Satan the ruler of the demons.

 

You see, there was no denying His power,

The only thing they could do was deny His source.

 

And so we conclude this section on Jesus’ power with two undeniable miracles,

And yet two accounts of those who blatantly disregard Him anyway.

 

One disregarded the command he was given

One walked in outright defiance of the proof he had seen

One abused His mercy

One attacked it

 

And once again we are struck with that sobering reality,

That despite the truths of Jesus,

Mankind seems to want to cling to his sin.

 

While Leo, Michael, and I were traveling back this weekend

We had a conversation about the free will of man.

 

And there is much we could talk about,

But one thing I would remind you of, that whatever you want to call

The will of man, you cannot call it “free”.

Mankind has never had “free will”.

 

The will of man is most certainly and undeniably bent toward sin.

 

HE IS NOT FREE HE IS A SLAVE TO SIN.

John 8:34 “Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.”

 

And this concept is seen all the way back to the beginning.

 

Genesis 6:5 “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

 

And even to the times of the New Testament.

Ephesians 2:1-3 “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.”

 

Man was anything but free,

And his will was anything but for the things of God.

 

The point is that if given a choice man has chosen sin

And will choose sin every single time.

 

The masses clung to Him for healing, and removal of demons,

And for a free meal,

Yet when He asked of them in return

They almost all of them turned and walked away.

 

WHY IS THAT?

Because they had a refusal to leave their sin.

 

They all came to Jesus in selfishness, and that will never work.

You must come to Jesus in submission.

 

Matthew 16:21-24 “From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.” Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.”

 

And that is one of the things that Matthew

Has been showing us here in his gospel.

 

Masses were flocking to Jesus.

They were flocking at such a rate that He could literally get no rest.

 

You would think that His following would be huge.

But that wasn’t the case.

 

DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY THERE WERE?

Acts 1:15 “At this time Peter stood up in the midst of the brethren (a gathering of about one hundred and twenty persons was there together)…”

 

So out of all these crowds that bombarded Him everywhere He went,

Only 120 truly chose to die to themselves and follow Him.

 

Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

 

 

 

And if those facts do nothing for us,

They should remind us that there is a great difference

Between one who flocks to Jesus out of selfish reasons

And one who desires to submit to Jesus under any circumstance.

 

It is very easy in this life to be attracted to Jesus.

Especially when we want to be healed…

Or when we want to be provided for…

Or when we want to be protected…

Or when we want to escape hell…

 

Jesus becomes very popular at those moments.

And that is fine, for Jesus can do all those things.

 

But the danger we must resist

Is the danger of only coming to Him to get something from Him,

Just so we can return to our former way of life

With a little less difficulty than before.

 

After finishing this section on the power of Jesus,

There is no way that anyone in here can deny that Jesus is the Messiah.

 

But the purpose is not just to convince you of who Jesus is.

The purpose of this section

Is to push you to submit your life to the King.

 

And we must leave our sin behind in order to do it.

 

 

This morning let me remind you again that Jesus is the Messiah,

And that because He is the Messiah,

You and I must submit our lives to Him.

 

Psalms 95 “O come, let us sing for joy to the LORD, Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. For the LORD is a great God And a great King above all gods, In whose hand are the depths of the earth, The peaks of the mountains are His also. The sea is His, for it was He who made it, And His hands formed the dry land. Come, let us worship and bow down, Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker. For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand. Today, if you would hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, As in the day of Massah in the wilderness, “When your fathers tested Me, They tried Me, though they had seen My work. “For forty years I loathed that generation, And said they are a people who err in their heart, And they do not know My ways. “Therefore I swore in My anger, Truly they shall not enter into My rest.”

 

Multitudes came for healing, but found no rest.

Submit your life to Christ, and find the rest of God.

 

18-26)

Jesus Vs. Death

Matthew 9:18-26

May 8, 2011 (am)

 

I don’t suppose it is any mystery

What man has perceived as his greatest threat in life.

On a whole there is nothing that mankind fears worse than death.

 

One man said:

“Despite all our medical advances and great steps in technology death remains our nation’s number one killer.”

 

Now certainly there are other words that scare us.

“Cancer” or “He’s been in an accident” or “Heart Attack” or “Tornado” or “Fire”

 

But those words really only scare us because of what they represent.

They each represent the possibility of death.

 

BUT I SUPPOSE WE SHOULD ASK WHY DO PEOPLE HATE DEATH SO MUCH?

 

Some might say because of how it occurs; the pain of death.

But really there are some who live with much more pain than they will ever

die with.

 

Some might say it is the uncertainty of death,

Yet most still have a belief in some sort of afterlife or eternal reward.

 

The thing that makes death so awful to us is its finality.

As long as a person is sick there is hope,

But once death moves in, there is a finality involved.

 

It is after death that you hear terms like

“It’s over” or “Closure”

 

Because one thing we know of death is that once it enters,

There is no reversal.

 

And this reality has grieved more than one person in history.

 

Solomon wrote:

Ecclesiastes 2:12-17 “So I turned to consider wisdom, madness and folly; for what will the man do who will come after the king except what has already been done? And I saw that wisdom excels folly as light excels darkness. The wise man’s eyes are in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I know that one fate befalls them both. Then I said to myself, “As is the fate of the fool, it will also befall me. Why then have I been extremely wise?” So I said to myself, “This too is vanity.” For there is no lasting remembrance of the wise man as with the fool, inasmuch as in the coming days all will be forgotten. And how the wise man and the fool alike die! So I hated life, for the work which had been done under the sun was grievous to me; because everything is futility and striving after wind.”

Ecclesiastes 9:2-6 “It is the same for all. There is one fate for the righteous and for the wicked; for the good, for the clean and for the unclean; for the man who offers a sacrifice and for the one who does not sacrifice. As the good man is, so is the sinner; as the swearer is, so is the one who is afraid to swear. This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that there is one fate for all men. Furthermore, the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil and insanity is in their hearts throughout their lives. Afterwards they go to the dead. For whoever is joined with all the living, there is hope; surely a live dog is better than a dead lion. For the living know they will die; but the dead do not know anything, nor have they any longer a reward, for their memory is forgotten. Indeed their love, their hate and their zeal have already perished, and they will no longer have a share in all that is done under the sun.”

 

But he certainly wasn’t alone in his hatred and despair in light of death.

Even people in Jesus day saw death as a final thing.

 

Remember when Jesus allowed Lazarus to die?

Martha

John 11:21 “Martha then said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”

 

Notice she didn’t say, “O good You are here, because Lazarus has died.”

She thought death to be final.

 

Of course she proves that later.

John 11:39 “Jesus said, “Remove the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days.”

 

Remember Mary?

John 11:32 “Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”

 

Remember the Crowd?

John 11:37 “But some of them said, “Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have kept this man also from dying?”

 

And even in the story we read here,

Mark records that while Jesus is on the way to this man’s house

He receives messengers.

 

Mark 5:35 “While He was still speaking, they came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, “Your daughter has died; why trouble the Teacher anymore?”

 

You see they all thought death was final.

There is really no need to try anything else.

 

Even after Jesus ascended and the church began to grow,

There was one church that was grieving over believers

Who were dying before Jesus returned.

 

1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.”

DEATH IS HATED ENEMY

 

Now, in a theological sense

We understand that death is merely a consequence of sin.

 

Romans 5:12-14 “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned — for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.”

 

Death accompanied sin.

And now people die because of sin.

 

And that is what makes Jesus so wonderful.

 

Scripture clearly declares

That Christ came to defeat sin and ultimately death.

 

1 Corinthians 15:20-26 “But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming, then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death.”

 

Hebrews 2:14-15 “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.”

 

And thanks to the work of Jesus one day death will be no more.

 

Revelation 21:1-4 “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”

 

And to prove the reality of that promise

Jesus displayed His power over death while on earth.

 

No, He didn’t stop everyone from dying or even raise everyone from the dead.

The full benefit of His redemption is yet to be fully realized.

(We still have sickness and death)

 

But while on earth

Jesus unequivocally proved Himself to be the Messiah by overcoming it.

And that is why Matthew includes this story here.

 

Matthew doesn’t give you as much detail as the other gospel writers, But Matthew does drive home his main point with absolute clarity

And that is that death was present and Jesus defeated it.

 

What we have here in Matthew’s gospel is a compound miracle.

• We have one person whose life was stolen after 12 years.

• We have another whose life has been stole for 12 years.

 

Jesus comes to deliver both.

 

And with that being said, let’s look at Jesus’ power over death

As we see these two miracles this morning.

 

4 points.

#1 THE HUMBLE DECLARATION

Matthew 9:18-19

 

Now we do know that the point of this miracle

Is to prove Jesus’ power over death,

But that does not mean that is the only point which Matthew makes.

 

We have just learned in previous weeks what Jesus expects from sinners.

Jesus expects sinners to leave their sin and follow Him.

 

And it didn’t matter if that sin was

The greed of Matthew,

The arrogance of the Pharisees,

The self-made religion of John’s disciples.

 

They all had to deny themselves in order to come to Christ.

 

I say that because not only does this incident prove Jesus power,

But it also serves as a wonderful example

Of another man coming to Jesus the right way.

 

“While He was saying these things to them, a synagogue official came and bowed down before Him,”

 

Now this is no little incident.

Jesus is still in the middle of the conversation with John’s disciples

About their legalism and the importance of leaving the old garment behind

In order to embrace the new one.

 

And they get a living illustration of man doing just that.

 

Here comes “a synagogue official”

The word Matthew uses is ARCHONE which is an official.

Mark goes a little farther and calls him the

(ar-khee-soon-ag-o-gos)

 

And that phrase doesn’t make him just any old official,

But the actual head honcho and premier ruler of the synagogue.

 

One commentator writes:

“It was his duty to select the readers or teachers in the synagogue, to examine the discourses of the public speakers, and to see that all things were done with decency and in accordance with ancestral usage.”

 

Another writes:

“He supervised the worship services and oversaw the work of the other elders, which included teaching, adjudicating disputes, and other such leadership duties.”

 

And that is amazing since Jesus is in the middle of a conversation

With Pharisees and legalistic followers of John.

 

• But this man didn’t come at night.

• He didn’t come under false pretense.

• He didn’t come trying to save face.

 

He came exactly how Jesus said a man should come.

He came in humility and total self-denial.

 

“came and bowed down before Him”

 

There would have been no way for him to explain this away

To all the other religious elite that were standing around.

 

This man fully humbled himself.

 

And we know why he did.

“and said, “My daughter has just died;”

 

Mark and Luke both say that she was at the point of death,

But Matthew sort of quick telling the story

Gets to the point and that is that the girl is dead.

 

This man is driven to Jesus because death has struck his immediate family and like the rest of us, he has no answer for it.

 

But he does have faith.

“but come and lay Your hand on her, and she will live.”

 

No doubt as Jesus has worked miracles all over this man’s area,

There has been more than one person give testimony to him

About what Jesus has done.

 

Some probably came to ask his opinion on the matter

But however he came to know about Jesus,

He was certain Jesus could help his daughter.

 

(19) “Jesus got up and began to follow him, and so did His disciples.”

 

And yet again we see that Jesus responds to faith.

 

The Humble Declaration

#2 THE ACT OF DESPERATION

Matthew 9:20-22

 

What happens here is interesting.

 

It really happens as somewhat of an interruption in the story.

This woman almost slips in unannounced.

It almost reads like it wasn’t part of the script.

 

But we have here another woman desperate

For what could only be found in Jesus.

This woman wanted her life back as well.

 

“And a woman who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years, came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak;”

 

There again we know that Matthew isn’t giving the whole story.

He seems much more interested on the outcome than the details.

 

But the other gospels do help us fill in the gaps.

 

Mark tells us just how bad it was for this lady.

Mark 5:26 “and had endured much at the hands of many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but rather had grown worse”

 

Luke is similar only Luke doesn’t paint the doctors so badly as Mark.

Luke 8:43 “And a woman who had a hemorrhage for twelve years, and could not be healed by anyone,”

 

This woman was in bad shape, and nothing was helping her.

 

She had been bleeding for 12 years.

And of course that alone would be a nuisance,

But you know it was far much more than that.

 

Leviticus 15:25-27 “Now if a woman has a discharge of her blood many days, not at the period of her menstrual impurity, or if she has a discharge beyond that period, all the days of her impure discharge she shall continue as though in her menstrual impurity; she is unclean. ‘Any bed on which she lies all the days of her discharge shall be to her like her bed at menstruation; and every thing on which she sits shall be unclean, like her uncleanness at that time. ‘Likewise, whoever touches them shall be unclean and shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening.”

This woman was like a leper – She was walking defilement.

You couldn’t touch her.

You couldn’t sit where she had sat.

You couldn’t sleep where she had slept.

 

She was unclean and therefore an outcast.

The only difference between her and a leper is that she was not contagious

And so she did not have to cut herself off from society.

 

She may not have been dead,

But you can hardly call what she experienced “life”.

 

And here again we see great faith.

 

She “came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak; for she was saying to herself, “If I only touch His garment, I will get well.”

 

And this is amazing to me.

HOW DID SHE KNOW THAT?

 

She obviously had accredited Jesus with more power than most people.

Even the synagogue official asked for Jesus

To “lay Your hand on” his daughter.

 

But this woman believed that she could just touch His coat and be healed.

And bearing in mind all the medical procedures she had had done,

This is some kind of faith to think this will work.

 

No we don’t know where she got this, but we do know her faith caught on.

Matthew 14:35-36 “And when the men of that place recognized Him, they sent word into all that surrounding district and brought to Him all who were sick; and they implored Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it were cured.”

 

Mark 3:9-10 “And He told His disciples that a boat should stand ready for Him because of the crowd, so that they would not crowd Him; for He had healed many, with the result that all those who had afflictions pressed around Him in order to touch Him.”

 

That woman started something.

 

(22) “But Jesus turning and seeing her said, “Daughter, take courage; your faith has made you well.” At once the woman was made well.”

 

Now you have seen that before haven’t you?

Matthew 9:2 “And they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, “Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven.”

 

Remember the phrase the word Jesus uses here for “courage”

Meant that which you are afraid of is gone.

 

And he told the woman the same thing.

“take courage; your faith has made you well.”

 

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

 

Jesus didn’t just heal her body, Jesus forgave her soul.

Mark 5:34 “And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your affliction.”

 

That woman was well and healed.

She was forgiven and she stopped bleeding.

 

JESUS RAISED HER FROM SPIRITUAL DEATH INTO SPIRITUAL LIFE

The fact that she stopped bleeding was simply the proof.

 

And this just for a woman that interrupted another miracle.

 

The Humble Declaration, The Act of Desperation

#3 THE NOISY DISORDER

Matthew 9:23-24

 

Now I separate this part out of the story because

I want you to realize that the faith of this synagogue ruler

And the faith of this woman are NOT THE NORM.

 

Their faith stands in stark contrast

To the normal response of humanity and that is seen here.

 

(23-24) “When Jesus came into the official’s house, and saw the flute-players and the crowd in noisy disorder, He said, “Leave; for the girl has not died, but is asleep.” And they began laughing at Him.”

 

These were more of those professional mourners.

 

In those days they actually had professional mourners who came

And helped you have a horrible time in regard to death.

These were people who made their living off the finality of death.

 

Now it is easy to spot that they were not genuine,

For when Jesus says, “the girl has not died, but is asleep.”

This crowd instantly goes from heart wrenching sobbing, to “laughing”.

 

And this, by the way, is the normal response of the world to Christ.

 

It is faith that denies self and believes in Christ anyway.

 

And Without faith you miss a miracle.

(25) “But when the crowd had been sent out”

 

I’ve often wondered if that was a moment similar to the temple clearing.

 

Regardless of how they were sent out, we do know that

Because of their lack of faith they missed a miracle.

 

The Humble Declaration, The Act of Desperation, The Noisy Disorder

#4 THE AMAZING DELIVERANCE

Matthew 9:25-26

 

Here Matthew is just amazingly simplistic in what he writes.

 

“He entered and took her by the hand, and the girl got up.”

 

Do you know what is amazing about that?

Nothing. – I do that to Hannah every morning for school.

 

I mean, come on, this is death.

• Shouldn’t you at least have to wave your arms or rebuke the demons or lay on top of her like Elisha did?

 

• Shouldn’t there be some special prayer, or incantation, shouldn’t there be at least some loud shouting or something like that?

 

And the answer is “no”.

 

Jesus power was so much superior to the power of death

That it didn’t even require a struggle.

 

He reached into death, grabbed this girls hand,

And pulled her right out of it.

 

(And He didn’t even break a sweat doing it.)

 

But that is nothing new for Him.

He just told Lazarus to come out, and He did.

He just told the widow’s son to get up, and He did.

 

Death was no match for Jesus.

 

• This enemy that so torments and so mocks humanity…

• This enemy that is known worldwide for its ability not to surrender its prey…

• This enemy that has a reputation of finality…

 

This powerful taunting enemy comes up against Jesus

And doesn’t offer any more resistance than a common cold.

 

THE POINT?

Jesus has power over death.

 

Revelation 1:17-18 “When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.”

 

Now days death can still mock us. (and it does)

Now days death can still visit us. (and it does; taking loved ones)

Now days death can still grab us. (and it will)

 

But because of Jesus death cannot hold us.

Jesus has the keys.

Jesus conquered death.

 

And as you know this isn’t really even about death.

This is really about Jesus conquering sin.

 

Death is just a consequence of sin.

And what Matthew continues to show us is that Jesus can conquer sin.

 

We know that because He is systematically undoing all of sins effects.

• Sickness (the leper, the paralytic, the fever)

• Fallen creation (the storm)

• Demons (the Gadarene demoniac)

• And even death (like we see here)

 

There is no doubt that Jesus is the Messiah.

Jesus is the Savior.

Jesus is the One to follow.

 

And if you want your sin forgiven, then do what the synagogue ruler did and bow before Him.

 

If you want your sin forgiven, then do what the woman did and fight the crowd to get to Him.

 

BUT RUN TO JESUS AND TRUST HIM.

HE RESPONDS TO FAITH.

 

Matthew 11:28-30 “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.”

 

Jesus vs. Sinners – part 2

Matthew 9:9-17 (14-17)

 

I know it has been a couple of weeks since we last talked about this verse,

So let me sort of refresh you a little as to what is going on.

 

As you know, we are in this section of Matthew’s gospel

In which Matthew is revealing to us the power of Jesus.

 

Certainly this is to demonstrate the validity to His claim to be the Messiah.

Power over sickness

Power over fallen nature

Power over demons and the devil

Power over sin

 

And then squeezed in between these miraculous events

Matthew also reveals how the people are responding to Jesus.

 

You will remember the first that we saw was back in (8:18-22) when Jesus was approached by a scribe and another man who wanted to follow.

 

Jesus revealed that following Him would not be without sacrifice.

One man would have to leave his comfort.

The other would have to leave his inheritance.

 

And so while the two chapters are predominantly about Jesus power, Matthew has taken opportunity to also reveal how people are responding.

 

And that is also what we are seeing in our text here.

 

We have called this portion, “Jesus vs. Sinners”

It reminds us that while Jesus handled sin with relative ease,

Sinners often gave Jesus greater difficulty.

 

And we learned that the reason sinners can be so difficult to reach

Is because in order to come to Christ they must leave their sin.

 

This was something the scribe and other disciple back in chapter 8

Were not willing to do.

 

BUT LEAVING SIN IS REQUIRED

And we saw that last time as we discussed the first two encounters.

 

#1 THE PROVEN SINNERS (9-10)

 

And of course this was the tax collectors

And the types of people who associate with tax collectors.

 

These were the traitors the obviously greedy.

These were the worldly and those without scruples.

No one doubted that they were sinners,

Not even the tax collectors themselves doubted it.

 

But we learned that Jesus seemed to be quite successful reaching them.

 

After putting His ability to forgive sin on display by healing the paralytic

It is obvious that Matthew wanted the forgiveness that Jesus offered.

 

And so the only invitation given to Matthew was “Follow Me”.

And Matthew did.

 

He left his tax booth (leaving his greed) and followed Jesus.

 

If only it were that easy with every sinner.

But you will remember that it wasn’t.

 

The Proven Sinners

#2 THE PAPER SAINTS (11-13)

 

And of course this was a reference to the Pharisees

Who were only good on paper.

 

These were those of whom Jesus spoke as

Cleaning the outside of the cup and of the dish,

But inside were full of lawlessness and self-indulgence.

 

They of course revealed their ignorance by asking:

(11) “Why is your Teacher eating with the tax collectors and sinners?”

 

And of course it was not that the Pharisees weren’t sinners, they were. They just didn’t know it.

 

And so the invitation to them was quite different.

They were not told to follow Jesus.

They were told “go and learn”.

 

And so while the proven sinners readily came to Jesus,

It was the paper saints who refused to come.

 

And now we get to the third group that Jesus deals with.

 

The Proven Sinners, The Paper Saints

#3 THE PROGRAMMED STUDENTS

Matthew 9:14-17

 

Now this is a really interesting group of people.

 

And many people, because of their association with John the Baptist

Assume them to be on the up and up.

They are indeed “the disciples of John”

 

That means when John came preaching in the wilderness

They were mesmerized by him and couldn’t get enough.

 

They decided to stick with John.

It is probably fair to assume that they also gave up the luxury of life

And to a degree copied John’s lifestyle.

 

But there is one glaring problem with these men.

 

And that is that the ministry of John the Baptist is now over.

Matthew 4:12 “Now when Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, He withdrew into Galilee;”

 

Furthermore before John was imprisoned he was quite clear

With his disciples about what they should do.

 

John 1:35-37 “Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.”

 

Even later:

John 3:25-30 “Therefore there arose a discussion on the part of John’s disciples with a Jew about purification. And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified, behold, He is baptizing and all are coming to Him.” John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven. “You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, ‘ I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent ahead of Him.’ “He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been made full. “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

 

And so John was clear that his disciples needed now

To latch on to the One John had been pointing to.

 

What is obvious is that these disciples hadn’t.

So while they were identified as disciples of John, that really wasn’t true,

Because they actually failed to do what John told them to do.

 

What we do realize is that

These men had obviously found a comfortable spot in religion.

They had found a routine that was working for them,

And one that maybe even made sense to them.

 

It was a lifestyle of self-abasement and worldly rejection.

The problem is that it had turned into a legalistic lifestyle.

 

NOW LET’S TALK ABOUT LEGALISM FOR JUST A MOMENT

What is legalism?

The dictionary: “The doctrine of justification by works”

 

It is a picture of a person who seeks to make themselves pleasing to God

On the basis of deeds that they do.

 

John’s disciples legalism was revealed through self-abasement.

They thought to make themselves pleasing to God

By doing without the things of the world.

 

And this of course is not the only example in Scripture.

 

Take the Galatian churches.

They had been taught that in order to please God they must be circumcised.

 

But Paul adamantly called that teaching “a different gospel”

 

Galatians 1:6-7 “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.”

 

Furthermore Paul heavily rebuked the Galatians for believing it.

Galatians 3:1-3 “You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?”

 

But they are also not alone.

 

A similar deception was occurring at Colossae.

Colossians 2:16-23 “Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day — things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God. If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!” (which all refer to things destined to perish with use) — in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.”

 

And there again someone was adding “self-abasement and severe treatment of the body” as ways of making yourself pleasing to God.

 

Again, the Colossians could trust in Christ if they wanted,

But in order to be pleasing to God

They needed to live a life of physical abandon.

 

Now I hope you recognize the deceptive quality here,

And why it is so prevalent.

 

Legalism appeals to the human nature.

HOW?

 

Because it feeds the ego.

No, going without food is not necessarily pleasant, nor is self-abasement,

But to complete such a task is an extreme ego boost.

 

It provides opportunity for self-glorification and judgment of others.

 

Furthermore legalism embraces Biblical concepts.

 

The Galatians were being circumcised.

But isn’t circumcision actually commanded by God?

 

The Colossians were doing without luxury.

But doesn’t God tell us to forsake the world?

 

And so the argument can be very tricky.

(Keep in mind that the best lies are 90% truth)

 

The problem is the motive behind the deed.

 

Works of are NEVER a means to make oneself pleasing to God.

Works ARE the natural choice of one who has been made pleasing.

 

Romans 4:11 “and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised, so that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be credited to them,”

 

There we clearly see that Abraham’s circumcision did not justify him.

It was a sign (a picture of what God had done in his heart)

It was a seal (an evidence that Abraham would obey God)

 

But it did not make him right before God.

 

But none the less you see what legalism looks like,

And this is where John’s disciples were.

They thought they were pleasing based upon their self-abasement.

 

Furthermore as Jesus will reveal in a moment,

They didn’t really even know why they were doing what they were doing.

They were simply “Programmed Students”

 

And they also are confronted with Jesus.

 

 

Now their point of concern is different from the Pharisees.

They probably understood why Jesus associated with the sinners,

What they didn’t understand is why He ate with them.

 

John associated with sinners, but John never joined in their actions.

They didn’t see how the Son of God could enjoy the “finer things”

 

And so they also come to Jesus with questions.

(14) “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?”

 

Well first I suppose it would do us some good

To reiterate why they and the Pharisees fast.

 

The Pharisees fast to be noticed by men.

Matthew 6:16 “Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.”

 

And we also have a pretty good idea as to why the disciples of John fast.

John’s Disciples fast to be noticed by God.

 

They were monks.

They were using their fasting as a tool

To make themselves pleasing to God.

 

AND SO THEY THOUGHT JESUS TO BE A CONTRADICTION

 

Matthew 11:19 “The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”

 

John’s disciples had a man-made condition placed on righteousness

That God’s word had never enforced.

 

They thought that being a follower of God required going without food.

(At least good food)

 

That message didn’t come from God,

That message came from demons.

 

1 Timothy 4:1-5 “But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude; for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer.”

 

And so we have here in John’s disciples an example of legalism.

 

NOW WHY IS LEGALISM SO WRONG?

1) It Perverts the Gospel

 

As Paul said, this is another gospel.

This is a distorted gospel.

And that of course means it really isn’t the gospel at all.

 

And when you lose the true gospel

You lose any and all opportunity for salvation.

 

Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”

 

How can men be led to trust in Christ if they are persuaded to earn salvation themselves?

 

In fact this is so dangerous that Paul pronounced a curse

On any who would promote legalism.

 

Galatians 1:8-9 “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!”

 

2) It Steals Christ’s Glory

 

Christ alone gets the glory for redemption.

If you add to His work one of your own,

Then you steal a piece of the glory that is only His.

 

That is why Paul wrote:

Galatians 6:14 “But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”

 

Those who are legalistic may trust in Christ a lot,

But they do not trust in Christ alone,

And that is less than He deserves.

 

“Love so amazing, so divine, demands my heart, my soul, my all”

 

3) It Ends in Condemnation

 

If men are persuaded to trust in their own works,

Then they have a problem.

 

For no man can do enough to justify himself in the sight of God.

Romans 3:20 “because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.”

 

Galatians 2:16 “nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.”

Those who seek to work themselves pleasing to God

Will only find their labor unsuccessful at the day of judgment.

 

For Christ and Christ alone can save.

“no man comes unto the Father but by Me.”

 

Legalism ends in condemnation.

 

And this is what Jesus is about to reveal to John’s disciples

Who are caught in this legalism.

 

They are convinced they are pleasing because of their self-abasement,

And can’t understand why Jesus doesn’t join them.

 

And so let’s look at Jesus response to their legalistic religion.

1) RELIGION CAN BE DUMB (15)

 

They came to Jesus and asked why do You not fast.

Jesus countered by saying, “Well why do you fast?”

 

The time for fasting will be when I am gone and they are in mourning

And want to seek Me out.

 

But it seems dumb to fast when I am standing right here in front of them.

 

Remember, fasting occurs any time

The spiritual takes precedent over the physical.

 

Fasting is not a means by which to get God’s attention,

Fasting is evidence that God has your attention.

 

John’s disciples were fasting and they didn’t even know why.

 

And that fact should lead us all to an honest evaluation.

 

WHY DO WE DO THE THINGS WE DO?

Is it because it is Biblically warranted?

Is it because it is pleasing to God?

Or do we just do it because we have always done it this way?

 

(I got in trouble for not putting the linen over the Lord’s Supper)

 

Isaiah 29:13 “Then the Lord said, “Because this people draw near with their words And honor Me with their lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote,”

 

It is an absolute shame when we only do things

Because we have always done them.

 

John’s disciples were fasting and didn’t even know why.

That is kind of dumb.

2) RELIGION CAN BE DEFILING (16)

 

Here is a simple modern day illustration.

 

When you were patching clothes you knew better

Than to put unshrunk cloth on an old garment.

 

Not only would the patch not work,

But you ran the risk of actually causing more harm than good.

 

The point, if you do something dumb (like religion for no reason)

You run the risk not only of it not working,

But even of it actually causing more harm than good.

 

Jesus was revealing here that the Old Covenant

And the New Covenant cannot be joined together.

 

You cannot have them both at the same time.

You cannot earn salvation and have it given at the same time.

 

Hebrews 8:7 “For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second.”

 

The old garment doesn’t need to be patched,

It needs to be thrown away.

 

If you try to patch it and combine the two, you will ruin both of them.

 

Your religion is not only dumb, but it can even be defiling.

3) RELIGION CAN BE DESTRUCTIVE (17)

 

A very similar illustration.

If you put new wine into old dry skins,

The new wine will burst them and you will lose everything.

 

And here the results are even more drastic

It will all be “ruined”

 

And religion can actually go this far

To ruin the freedom and salvation of Christ.

 

I can give you an illustration of this happening.

A few years ago we had a local minister who liked writing articles in the paper

About how baptism was necessary for salvation.

 

He quoted half a verse.

Mark 16:16a “He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved…”

 

He took that and ran with it as the absolute and total doctrine of Scripture

In regard to salvation.

 

Had he quoted the rest of the verse he would have realized that

Scripture was not promoting baptism as a pre-requisite for salvation,

But merely as a genuine fruit of it.

 

Mark 16:16 “He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.”

 

We know that because Mark said nothing

About the absence of baptism being grounds for condemnation.

 

Only the absence of belief is grounds for condemnation.

 

The end result of such heresy however is that

Men begin to trust in their baptism as the reason they are saved.

 

Paul told the Galatians who wanted to trust in circumcision

This sobering reality:

Galatians 5:4 “You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.”

 

Meaning if you try to earn salvation through works,

Then you are in effect throwing grace out the window.

 

And that was the same danger John’s disciples were in.

They not only had a dumb religion…

They not only had a defiling religion…

They had a destructive religion…

 

They had a religion that would eventually condemn their souls.

These legalistic students were way off.

 

And so Jesus has an invitation for them as well.

 

The Proven sinners had to “Follow Me”

The Paper saints had to “go and learn”

 

Here is the invitation for the Programmed students

“put new wine into fresh wineskins”

 

Jesus was telling them to let go of the old garment.

Jesus was telling them to let go of the old wineskin.

 

They must choose to trust Christ and quit leaning

On their works of the law as a means of justification.

 

They had to let go of their traditions and religious practices.

DOES THAT SEEM STRANGE?

(that Jesus would ask a man to let go of his religion?)

 

The Jews had to do it in gobs.

One of the hardest things about a Jew becoming a Christian

Was his decision to let go of the religious traditions of his parents.

 

In fact if they confessed Christ they were cut off from the synagogue

And excluded from the feasts.

 

That is why the writer of Hebrews said:

Hebrews 13:9-14 “Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, through which those who were so occupied were not benefited. We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside the camp. Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate. So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.”

 

They would have to let go of their old covenant…

They would have to leave their old traditions…

They would have to follow Christ alone.

 

THE POINT IS THIS

When Jesus confronts sinners

They must leave their sin and follow Him.

 

It doesn’t matter if that sin is Greed like Matthew had.

It doesn’t matter if that sin is Arrogance like the Pharisees had.

It doesn’t matter if that sin is Legalism like John’s disciples had.

 

All sin must go and Christ must be followed.

 

And friend that is precisely what He asks of each of us.

Let go of your sin and trust in Christ.

 

Acts 3:19 “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;”