Matthew 11:7-15 - Listen!

11:7-15

Jesus then speaks to the crowds. People can be fickle, and they need to realise what they are thinking , why they are thinking it, and to get their ideas sorted out. Why were they interested in John? Was it to see a reed swayed by the wind, i.e. someone with no convictions of their own (like so many politicians). Was it to see a rich man? Or was it to see a prophet? They did recognise that John was somehow or other speaking God’s word. Jesus tells them that John was more than a prophet, he was fulfilling the words of Malachi 3:1. But John was great, but was only the messenger, what and who he was pointing to was what really mattered. The people needed to decide their own attitude to Jesus and the Kingdom of God.The miracles and the healings showed that the kingdom was advancing forcibly. Jesus identifies John with Elijah who was spoken of in Malachi. These days were crucial and people needed to listen.

Matthew 11:1-6 - Hold fast to the faith

11:1-6

Teaching was a key aspect of Jesus’ ministry, so after instructing the twelve disciples He went on to teach the people.. The people knew about John the Baptist, indeed John had been popular among the people. John was now in prison, and sent his disciples to inquire of Jesus if He indeed was the Messiah. John must have expected a more immediate and dramatic change when the Messiah came.

Jesus' reply was to point to what He was doing, what do they see and hear? They see the blind receiving sight, the lame walking, the lepers being cleansed, the deaf hearing, the dead being raised. Jesus then gives John what is a botha mild rebuke and an encouragement, “blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me”, John is encouraged to hold fast to his faith,a

Matthew 20:37-42 - Putting Christ above all

10:37-39

We must love Jesus more than our own family. Following Jesus means taking up our cross, being prepared to be utterly rejected by the world. Saving our life means we will lose it, losing it for Christ’s sake means we will find it.

10:40-42

If people welcome us as Christ’s disciples means they welcome Jesus. Helping Christ’s disciples, even in the smallest way, is very important. Our attitude towards Christ is vital.

Matthew 10:24-36 - Be realistic

10:24-31

Jesus suffered opposition, so the disciples would suffer opposition. Jesus was accused of being Beelzebub, so would the disciples. Do not be afraid is the command on how to respond to persecution. Eventually everything will be brought out into the open. We are to openly proclaim the gospel, the natural temptation is to keep things secret because of fear, but we must resist this. They can only kill the body, we should have more regard for the one who “can destroy both body and soul in hell”. Then we are reminded that we are precious to God. So here we see the importance of having a proper fear concern, and knowing that God cares for us.

10:32-36

We should be concerned about Jesus acknowledging us before God. How wonderful if we hear Him say, “He is mine, I know him”, how terrible if we hear him say “I never knew him”. 

The naive religious type has a totally unrealistic view of life,  and thinks Jesus is all about being “nice”. These verses give the lie to such unthinking notions. We need to be prepared to lose our life.

Matthew 10:16-25 - Opposition

10:16-20

Jesus does not have any illusions about the situation they are going into, they are being sent out like sheep among wolves. They are not to be naive, but as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as wolves. They would face persecutions, the promise is not that they will not face these things, but that the spirit would speak through them.

10:21-23

The warnings continue, there is no sugar coating. They would face opposition even from their own families. When persecution happens they were to flee. 10:23 is somewhat enigmatic. It could refer to the second coming, but that does not seem to fit the facts. Others take is as referring to AD 70 when Rome crushed Jerusalem.

10:24,25

Jesus suffered opposition, so the disciples would suffer opposition. Jesus was accused of being Beelzebub, so would the disciples.

Matthew 10:1-15 - Sent out

10:1-8

God prefers to work through people. In Genesis he told man to fill and subdue the earth, now He sends out the disciple to do His work. So Jesus gave the disciple authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and illness.  The disciples are then named. Later they would go all over, but for now their mission was limited to Israel, they were not to go among the Gentiles or Samaritans. They were to go to the lost sheep of Israel. They were to proclaim that “the Kingdom of heaven has come near”. They were to heal the sick and cast out demons “Freely you have received; freely give”.

10:9-15

This was a training mission, so they were to depend upon the Lord, trusting that God would provide. Often this would come through people, if someone welcomed them, they were to stay at that house, and to bless that home. While some will oppose, others will help, that is the way it is.\if someone does not welcome us we are to just accept it and move on. God will take care of that place on the day of judgement.

Matthew 9:35,36 - Workers

9:35,36

This verse gives a brief, but complete, summary of the ministry of Jesus. He went through all the towns and villages. He taught in their synagogues. He proclaimed the good news of the kingdom, i.e. the rule of God. He healed every disease and sickness. Teaching and healing went together in the ministry of Jesus, yet we seem insistent on separating them. There will be good Bible teaching churches, but not much, if anything, in the way of healings. There will be churches that focus on healings but whose teaching is limited. Neither is following a Biblical pattern.

Jesus was fully aware of the sinfulness of man, and was not afraid to speak about it, but He did not see humanity as “a bunch of dirty rotten sinners”. Instead He had compassion on the crowds, and He has compassion upon us. Matthew tells us why He had compassion, it was because the people were “harassed and helpless”, like sheep without a shepherd. We see here the importance of good leadership. We need good leadership within the church, and within the civic structures within society. Israel had neither, and the same applies to us today as well.