Matthew 11 | The Upward Way | Bible Study with A. Z. Adams — Transcript

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1. 0:00[Music]
2. 0:00When Jesus had finished giving
3. 0:02instructions to his 12 disciples, he
4. 0:04departed from there to teach and preach
5. 0:07in their cities.
6. 0:09Now when John, while imprisoned, heard
7. 0:12of the works of Christ, he sent word by
8. 0:15his disciples and said to him, "Are you
9. 0:19the expected one, or shall we look for
10. 0:22someone else?"
11. 0:24Jesus answered and said to them, "Go and
12. 0:28report to John what you hear and see.
13. 0:33The blind receive sight and the lame
14. 0:36walk. The lepers are cleansed and the
15. 0:39deaf hear. The dead are raised up and
16. 0:42the poor have the gospel preached to
17. 0:44them. And blessed is he who does not
18. 0:48take offense at me." Jesus begins to
19. 0:51preach and great things are happening.
20. 0:53It's an exciting time. But something
21. 0:56tragic has also happened. The prophet
22. 1:00John the Baptist has been thrown in
23. 1:02prison.
24. 1:04And you just put yourself in his shoes.
25. 1:10You were supposed to be the one
26. 1:11preparing the way of the Lord and you
27. 1:14gave your life to it and you baptized
28. 1:17thousands and thousands and thousands of
29. 1:20people and something was happening and
30. 1:22you made disciples and they're baptizing
31. 1:24people and all of the sudden your
32. 1:27cousin, the Messiah comes along and you
33. 1:30acknowledge him. You say, "This is the
34. 1:32one whose sandal I am not worthy to
35. 1:34untie."
36. 1:36And then he's doing all this great stuff
37. 1:39and next thing you know, you go and act
38. 1:42like Jesus is telling other people to
39. 1:44act. You act with courage. You rebuke
40. 1:47King Herod to his face for something
41. 1:50evil he's done. And you get thrown in
42. 1:52prison.
43. 1:54And so you talk to your disciples
44. 1:57from between the bars of your cell and
45. 1:59say, "Could you go talk to Yeshua and
46. 2:02ask him, is he the one or should we be
47. 2:06looking for somebody else?" Because this
48. 2:09doesn't feel like how revolutions
49. 2:11happen. This doesn't feel like salvation
50. 2:14and redemption to Israel.
51. 2:17John is basically saying, "Why am I in
52. 2:19prison if you're the Messiah?"
53. 2:22And the question is, "Are you the one?"
54. 2:27Jesus answers in a very peculiar
55. 2:29fashion. He doesn't say, "Yes, I'm the
56. 2:31one."
57. 2:33He doesn't explain to them how he's the
58. 2:35one. He doesn't talk about genealogy. He
59. 2:37doesn't talk about anything. He says,
60. 2:38"Don't tell John what I say. Go tell
61. 2:40John what you see and what you hear."
62. 2:44He wants John's disciples to experience
63. 2:48something that they can convey with
64. 2:50conviction
65. 2:52to their teacher. You go tell John your
66. 2:56own experience.
67. 2:58And when God is doing something, it
68. 3:00doesn't need a lot of explanation. We
69. 3:03just need to be able to go tell what we
70. 3:05saw and what we heard.
71. 3:08And then he he says something. He says,
72. 3:10"Go tell John what you hear and see."
73. 3:13And he begins to say, "The blind receive
74. 3:17sight, and the lame walk, and the lepers
75. 3:19are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the
76. 3:21dead are raised up, and the poor have
77. 3:23the gospel preached to them."
78. 3:26But what he's doing is he's quoting an
79. 3:28Old Testament scripture verbatim.
80. 3:32He's quoting from Isaiah 35.
81. 3:37And Isaiah 35
82. 3:40says,
83. 3:42let me just read from Isaiah.
84. 3:45Say to those with anxious heart, take
85. 3:48courage. Fear not. Behold, your God
86. 3:53comes with vengeance. The recompense of
87. 3:56God will come, but he will save you.
88. 4:01Then the eyes of the blind will be
89. 4:02opened and the ears of the deaf will be
90. 4:05unstopped. Then the lame will leap like
91. 4:08a deer and the tongue of the mute will
92. 4:10shout for joy. For waters will break
93. 4:13forth in the wilderness and streams in
94. 4:16the arava. The scorched land will become
95. 4:18a pool and the thirsty ground springs of
96. 4:21water. In the haunt of jackals its
97. 4:24resting place. Grass becomes reeds and
98. 4:28rushes. A highway will be there, a
99. 4:31roadway, and it will be called the
100. 4:33highway of holiness. So he says to John,
101. 4:37the roadbuilder, the one who prepares
102. 4:39the way of the Lord, the highways here,
103. 4:42and your God has come and he's walking
104. 4:45down this road and performing all these
105. 4:47miracles.
106. 4:49And then he finishes his admonition to
107. 4:51John. And blessed is he who does not
108. 4:56take offense at me. And what that
109. 4:59literally means is blessed is he who
110. 5:02does not feel that I have let him down.
111. 5:06John, please don't get offended that God
112. 5:10is unfolding the miracle in a way so
113. 5:12different than you expected. You built a
114. 5:15road and God is walking upon it. The
115. 5:18Lord is has taken up a tabernacle among
116. 5:21men. and he has pitched his tent among
117. 5:23us and we are beholding his glory. As
118. 5:27the men were going away, Jesus began to
119. 5:29speak to the crowds about John. What did
120. 5:33you go out into the wilderness to see? A
121. 5:35reed shaken by the wind. But what did
122. 5:37you go out to see? A man dressed in soft
123. 5:40clothing? Those who wear soft clothing
124. 5:43are in king's palaces. But what did you
125. 5:45go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell
126. 5:48you. and one who is more than a prophet.
127. 5:53This is the one about whom it is
128. 5:55written, "Behold, I send my messenger
129. 5:57ahead of you, and he will prepare your
130. 6:00way before you." That's the highway.
131. 6:05Truly, I say to you, among those born of
132. 6:08women, there has not arisen anyone
133. 6:11greater than John the Baptist. Yet, the
134. 6:14one who is least in the kingdom of
135. 6:16heaven is greater than he.
136. 6:19From the days of John the Baptist until
137. 6:21now, the kingdom of heaven suffers
138. 6:23violence, and violent men take it by
139. 6:26force. For all the prophets and the law
140. 6:29prophesied until John, and if you are
141. 6:32willing to accept it, John himself is
142. 6:34Elijah, who was to come. He who has ears
143. 6:38to hear, let him hear. Jesus is honoring
144. 6:41John. Jesus is saying, John is unlike
145. 6:45anybody. And he says that among those
146. 6:48born of women, John is the is greater
147. 6:53than any, but the least in the kingdom
148. 6:55of heaven is greater than he. And he is
149. 6:58eluding to the fact that John is not
150. 7:00born again.
151. 7:01John has the gift of God on him. John
152. 7:05moves in the spirit of God. But John has
153. 7:08not come into this spiritual kingdom
154. 7:11that Jesus is promising and that will be
155. 7:13born at the birth day of the church in
156. 7:16the day of Pentecost. He's still of
157. 7:18those born of women. And of all that
158. 7:20category, he's the greatest. But the
159. 7:22least in the kingdom of heaven is going
160. 7:24to have a faith and an inheritance and a
161. 7:27power
162. 7:29that John didn't even have. And then he
163. 7:32says, "From the days of John the Baptist
164. 7:34until now, the kingdom of heaven suffers
165. 7:37violence and violent men take it by
166. 7:39force." And what he's saying is up until
167. 7:42this point,
168. 7:44the kingdom of God has involved physical
169. 7:48force. It has involved violence.
170. 7:52But now a new power is here. Now God has
171. 7:56stepped upon the road that John prepared
172. 7:59in repentance. And now the power of
173. 8:02grace and the Holy Spirit can come. So
174. 8:04the illusion is now it's not going to be
175. 8:07a kingdom of violence. David's not going
176. 8:10to put this one to death and Moses isn't
177. 8:13going to command the stoning of that
178. 8:14one. Now after the sermon on the mount,
179. 8:17we're in a whole new situation. From the
180. 8:20days of John the Baptist until now, the
181. 8:23kingdom of heaven suffers violence and
182. 8:25violent men take it by force. For all
183. 8:29the prophets and the law prophesied
184. 8:32until John. So the law and the prophets
185. 8:35was a dispensation prior to John. And
186. 8:39it's that's what happens until then
187. 8:41until this cut off point. And if you are
188. 8:44willing to accept it, John himself is
189. 8:47Elijah who was to come. Now John has
190. 8:50been asked by the unbelieving Pharisees,
191. 8:52are you Elijah? and he said no
192. 8:56because they weren't willing to accept
193. 8:58it. But if they're willing to accept it,
194. 9:01he's going to meet that need and fulfill
195. 9:03that prophecy in their life of preparing
196. 9:07the way of the Lord.
197. 9:10He goes on in verse 16, but to what
198. 9:12shall I compare this generation? It is
199. 9:15like children sitting in the
200. 9:16marketplaces who call out to other
201. 9:19children.
202. 9:21And they say, "We played the flute for
203. 9:24you and you did not dance.
204. 9:27We sang a durge and you did not mourn.
205. 9:32For John came neither eating nor
206. 9:34drinking, and they say he has a demon."
207. 9:37The Son of Man came eating and drinking,
208. 9:39and they say, "Behold, a gluttonous man
209. 9:42and a drunkard, a friend of tax
210. 9:44collectors and sinners." Yet wisdom is
211. 9:48vindicated by her deeds.
212. 9:54What Jesus is saying is the religious of
213. 9:56his day had an expectation of who John
214. 10:00should be and so they couldn't accept
215. 10:03that he was Elijah. And they had an
216. 10:05expectation of who Jesus should be. In
217. 10:07essence, John came singing a durge of
218. 10:11repentance.
219. 10:13Jesus came playing the flute for the
220. 10:17dancing of the bridegroom. But they
221. 10:19didn't respond to either. They couldn't
222. 10:22get excited about either because they
223. 10:24said John was a demon-possessed and
224. 10:27Jesus was a glutton. So he's basically
225. 10:30saying we can't do anything right
226. 10:33because you are more
227. 10:36submitted to your traditions and
228. 10:37expectations than you are to God.
229. 10:42But he says wisdom will be proved right
230. 10:45by her deeds.
231. 10:47You won't be able to wipe away what was
232. 10:50actually done by those who came in the
233. 10:52name of the Lord.
234. 10:54Then he began to denounce the cities in
235. 10:57which most of his miracles were done
236. 10:59because they did not repent.
237. 11:03Woe to you Corazine.
238. 11:05Woe to you Beth besta for if the
239. 11:08miracles had occurred in Ty and Siden
240. 11:12which occurred in you, they would have
241. 11:14repented long ago in sackcloth and
242. 11:17ashes. Nevertheless, I say to you, it
243. 11:20will be more tolerable for Ty and Siden
244. 11:22in the day of judgment than for you. And
245. 11:25you, Capernium, will not be exalted to
246. 11:28heaven, will you? You will descend into
247. 11:31Hades. For if the miracles had occurred
248. 11:34in Sodom,
249. 11:36which occurred in you, it would have
250. 11:39remained to this day. Nevertheless, I
251. 11:42say to you that it will be more
252. 11:43tolerable for the land of Sodom in the
253. 11:47day of judgment than for you.
254. 11:51At that time Jesus said,
255. 11:53"I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven
256. 11:56and earth, that you have hidden these
257. 12:00things from the wise and intelligent and
258. 12:04have revealed them to infants."
259. 12:07Yes, Father, for this was well pleasing
260. 12:11in your sight. All things have been
261. 12:14handed over to me by my Father, and no
262. 12:18one knows the Son except the Father, nor
263. 12:21does anyone know the Father except the
264. 12:23Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to
265. 12:26reveal him.
266. 12:28Come to me all who are weary and heavy
267. 12:32laden, and I will give you rest.
268. 12:36Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
269. 12:40for I am gentle and humble in heart, and
270. 12:44you will find rest for your souls. For
271. 12:46my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
272. 12:51He's inviting people to come if they're
273. 12:55weary with their own human efforts, if
274. 12:57they're weary with their weariesome
275. 13:00religious traditions and learn from him
276. 13:03and take his yoke upon them. And this is
277. 13:06not in contrast to what he was saying in
278. 13:09the previous chapter about life being so
279. 13:12hard and persecution being real. This is
280. 13:15saying, "I will be with you and the yoke
281. 13:18is going to be real. It's going to be
282. 13:20hard, but it's going to be easy because
283. 13:24he's carrying it with us. Because we're
284. 13:26not alone. It's going to be easy and
285. 13:29light because we're not doing it in our
286. 13:31own strength, but by the grace that he
287. 13:34provides.
288. 13:36[Music]