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MATTHEW: AN OVERVIEW (Part V)
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(Chapters 11-13)
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Jim Laws
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By the time the reader gets to chapter 11 in
the book of Matthew he finds himself in the third important section. This
section will continue through chapter 13. In chapter 11 there is the
interesting discussion about John the Baptist (1-19). John, who has been cast
into prison by Herod (see Matt. 14:3-12; Mark 6:14-29;
Luke 9:7-9) sends an interesting request of the Lord. "Art thou he that
should come, or do we look for another" (Matt. 11:3). Jesus explains to
the disciples of John to tell John "again" (4). Evidently, John,
being in prison for righteousness sake, needed to be reminded. So Jesus
answers him in a unique way. He tells the disciples of John to return to him
and tell him what they see and hear. The blind receive their sight and the
lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised from
the dead and the gospel is being preached to the poor (5). The Lord's
response to John is meant to say that only God can do what everyone sees and
hears. Jesus proves himself to be who he claimed to be by his powerful work
and words. Then Jesus asks the people, when you went out to see John what did
you expect to see, a reed shaken by the wind (7)? Jesus in effect is saying
that even though John is suffering for righteousness sake he will remain firm
(7-9). Once again Matthew records a reference of prophecy and its
fulfillment. In this Jesus refers to John as the fulfillment of Old Testament
prophecy, (Isa. 40:3; Mal. 3:1). He came to prepare
the way and this he did. By verse 11 you have a remarkable statement made by
Christ concerning John that deserves our serious study. Here he states,
"Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath,
not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least
in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." Jesus makes it clear that
there is none greater than John, however, John would live and die before the
establishment of the kingdom (the church - Acts 2). Therefore, due to the new
birth (John 3) we stand in a closer relationship to Christ than even John did
while he was living here on earth. John indeed was the Elijah that was
prophesied from the Old Testament, the forerunner of the Lord (14).
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Jesus predicts judgment for the cities of Chorazin and Bethsaida
for their unbelief. Then, upon the heels of this condemnation, the message of
the king is given, "Come unto me, all ye that labour
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take
my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye
shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is
light" (28-30). The teaching of the Jewish rabbis was indeed a burden
and a yoke. The teaching of mere men could not and can not give rest. Such
always proves to be a moral and spiritual burden. In light of this Jesus
gives this universal invitation, which only he, possessing all authority,
could truly give. When says "all" he means it. For Jesus to say
"come to me" he means that he is the answer to the spiritual
problems we face with sin. No mere human system will save--only Christ and
his will for our lives can save.
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In chapter 12 you will read of the statement by
Jesus that he is Lord of the Sabbath (vs. 8). As the Pharisees saw some of
the disciples picking the heads of grain from the barley field and eating
them, the Pharisees were quick to accuse these disciples of violating the
Sabbath. Jesus shows their inconsistency in this accusation by pointing out
that David, whom the Pharisees had great respect for, was guilty of eating the
showbread (vs. 3, 4; see 1 Sam. 21:1-6), but that they would not accuse David
of any wrongdoing. Yet, they were quick to accuse Jesus and his disciples who
were really innocent (vs. 6, 7). To show their inconsistency Jesus points out
that some work may be done on the Sabbath (vs. 5), such as, the priest and
their work in the temple. Jesus compares what his disciples did with what the
priests do in the temple (vs. 6). The disciples and their obligation to serve
him is even greater than the service offered by the
priests in the temple (vs. 6). The fact that Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath has
already been proven by what Jesus has said and the miracles he has performed
(vs. 8). This really places the conduct of Jesus above reproach and serves as
a guide to understand properly the Sabbath. This statement about Jesus being
Lord of the Sabbath, in effect, becomes yet another statement of his divine
authority.
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Jesus goes into the synagogue and the question
concerning healing on the Sabbath is brought up by the Jews. Jesus tells them
by their own practice they understand that it is lawful to relieve the
suffering of "one sheep" on the Sabbath, then how much more is it
lawful to do the same for a man--both were lawful. Jesus followed up the
truth of his argument with the miraculous act of healing the man. Being
defeated by Jesus again and again the Pharisees take council on how to get
rid of Jesus.
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Jesus heals the man who was possessed with a
demon and as the people are amazed, the Pharisees accuse Jesus of doing such
by the power of Beelzebub (vs. 24). As Jesus refutes this assertion as being
really baseless and illogical, he goes on to point out an important matter
concerning the sin of blasphemy (vs. 31-37; see also Mark 3:29, 30). Blasphemy is any sort of speech, which is
disrespectful toward that which is divine. In this instance, blasphemy is
committed toward the work of the Holy Spirit. In the passage the Pharisees
were attributing the miracle to the work of Satan. This was a blasphemous
thing to do. When one becomes so hard hearted, so as to reject the work of
the Holy Spirit, then one is guilty of committing a sin that one can not
receive forgiveness, namely unbelief. Since the blood of Christ will cleanse
any and all sin, then there can be no one specific sin which cannot be
forgiven, excepting unbelief. When one becomes so hard hearted as to reject
the revelation the Holy Spirit has given, then he is rejecting the only means
of faith that is available to him regarding Christ and his will for our
lives. This was exactly what the Pharisees were doing. To commit sin, that is
not pardoned, yields eternal condemnation (vs. 32).
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Matthew then presents the first group of
parables taught by Jesus beside the Sea of Galilee. He
speaks of the parable of the sower and then the
parable of the weeds (vs. 24-30. This is followed by the parable of the
mustard seed and the yeast. What is a parable and why did Jesus teach by this
means? We have often said that a parable is "an earthly story with a
heavenly meaning" and there is a lot of truth to this. The original
meaning of the term goes back to the word parabole,
which literally means, "a placing beside." Vine says that it
signifies "a placing of one thing beside another with a view to
comparison." Here Jesus speaks in parables regarding the kingdom.
Evidently the disciples noticed a change in the way Jesus was teaching and
they asked him, "Why speakest thou unto them
in parables" (vs. 10)? Jesus answered them by saying that this knowledge
concerning the kingdom had been given to them but not to others (vs. 11).
Those who were willing to hear his message could understand it and be blessed
by it (vs. 12). However, there were others who "seeing see not; and
hearing they hear not, neither do they understand" (vs. 13). In other words,
if one's heart were receptive, they could understand, but then there were
others who would not understand, because of their own self-imposed blindness.
Jesus knew that there would be enemies of his who would try to destroy the
message. One needs a heart willing to seek for the meaning of the teaching.
So, Jesus would speak to them in parables and tell them just how precious the
kingdom is: worth more than all one possesses (vs. 44). The kingdom of heaven
is worth more than all that is precious in this world (vs. 45). The parable
of the net taught them that both the good and the bad are caught up in the
kingdom and that they will be severed from each other in the last day (a
similar message to that of the parables of the tares).
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Laws PublishingMATTHEW continued
