PORTRAITS OF JESUS TO IGNITE FAITH, HOPE AND LOVE:
JESUS IS SOVEREIGN
Matthew 11: 20-30
INTRODUCTION
The title to today’s message is "Jesus is Sovereign". For many
of us the word "sovereign" has little meaning. It is a strange
word that is used by theologians and philosophers and really religious
people but has little practical meaning for the ordinary person. However,
I want you to know that understanding and loving the sovereignty of God
will yield the most profound benefits to your life. It is a word that
every Christian should understand and delight in. What does it mean when
God tells us that he is sovereign? There are three things that sovereignty
entails.
First, to say that God is sovereign is to say that he is free. That is,
God is free to do all that he pleases to do. There is no one and no thing
outside of God that constrains his attitudes and his actions. Psalm 135:
5-6 says, "I know that the Lord is great, that our Lord is greater
than all gods. The Lord does whatever pleases him in the heavens and on
the earth, in the seas and all their depths." God is not free to
do anything. For example he is not free to sin. He is free to do whatever
he wants to do, whatever pleases him and sin never pleases him. Second,
God has the right or the authority to do whatever he wants to do. He made
the heavens and the earth. All things exist by his command and will. Tina
just read one of the most forceful statements of God’s right to do all
he pleases in Romans 9: 19-21, "One of you will say to me, ‘Then
why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?’ But who are you,
O man, to talk back to God? ‘Shall what is formed say to him who formed
it, "Why did you make me like this?"’ Does not the potter have
the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble
purposes and some for common use?" Third, God has the power
to fulfill all that he freely wills. The prophet Jeremiah makes this point,
"Ah Sovereign Lord you made the heavens and the earth by your great
power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you."
The whole Bible, from one end to the other, asserts that God is free
to do, has the right to do and has the power to do whatever he pleases.
That’s why this passage is so amazing. We discover here that this man,
Jesus, who was hungry and thirsty and tired, was no less than the Sovereign
Lord of all creation. What we discover about the Father and the Son and
how he saves his people in this passage is nothing short of astounding.
MAIN POINT
Jesus displays his freedom, authority and power by…
I. Condemning those who do not repent when shown God’s mercy (vv.
20-24)
Our passage opens with Jesus doing something that the average person
thinks that Jesus never did. He denounced and condemned people. He denounced
all the inhabitants of the cities where he had performed most of his miracles,
Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum. This is a very strong word. Jesus is
very angry and is letting everyone know that how these towns have reacted
to him and his miracles is nothing short of wickedness. He solemnly declares
that the inhabitants of these cities are most certainly going to hell
for how they treated him. In fact Jesus says that the inhabitants of these
little Jewish villages are going to be treated worse in hell than the
people who lived in the great and sinful non-Jewish cities of Tyre, Sidon
and Sodom.
In the OT there are several Gentile cities and nations that are especially
condemned for their wickedness. These three are among that infamous group
that epitomizes the idol-worshipping, depraved and barbaric non-Jewish
cultures. If you were to visit these little Jewish towns you would discover
they were not hotbeds of immorality. In fact all three of them had low
crime rates. There were few, if any prostitutes in their streets. Most
of the people were hard working moms and dads and children who faithfully
went to the synagogue each week and celebrated the Jewish holidays with
precision. No mob had ever formed in any of these cities in order to rape
and murder a visitor as happened in the city of Sodom. There was not widespread
lust and greed openly on display in the markets as in the merchant city
of Tyre. Yet, Jesus says that those living in these little villages of
Galilee will suffer more in hell than those living in the wicked cities
of Tyre, Sidon and Sodom.
Why are these idyllic little villages more offensive to God then those
lusty, greedy, idolatrous Gentile cities? God’s anger towards them is
so great because his mercy towards them in Jesus has been so great. If
Tyre, Sidon and the land of Sodom had witnessed the miracles of Jesus
they would have repented of their great wickedness. The people of these
villages, however, have had all this kindness poured upon them and they
have refused to repent. They have had, in Jesus and his work, clearer
revelations of God and of his willingness to pardon sinners than anyone
in all of history and yet they have been unmoved by this mercy. These
upstanding Jewish citizens are more hardened to God and to his ways then
the people who lived in Sodom and Gomorrah. Notice he is not just denouncing
the Jewish leaders but three entire Jewish towns including the children.
What is it that Jesus thinks ought to have happened in these towns when
he was there teaching and performing miracles? First, notice what we are
told did happen in these towns. In 7:28 we are told, "When Jesus
finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching…"
In 9:8 after he heals the paralyzed youth, "When the crowd saw this,
they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority
to men." In 9:33 after he heals the deaf and dumb man, "The
crowd was amazed and said, "Nothing like this has ever been seen
in Israel." People were emotionally stirred by what they saw and
heard from Jesus. They praised God for what he did. They recognized that
he was absolutely unique. But they did not repent.
In other words, when they saw this amazing grace, they were supposed
to be overwhelmed with how undeserving they were to be recipients of and
witnesses to such kindness. They ought to have broken down into violent
sobbing as they considered how unfaithful and unloving they were towards
God and others. They ought to have cried out to Jesus to save them and
to forgive them. They ought to have begged for the opportunity to follow
him. They ought to have openly admitted their sins and made restitution
where they could. They ought to have pursued knowing and obeying and worshipping
Jesus with the same passion they pursued getting married and earning money
and going on a vacation.
I’m not just making this up. When Jesus says that Tyre and Sidon would
have repented in dust and ashes long ago if they had seen Christ’s miracles
he is calling to mind the many instances in the OT where we see people
and cities repenting. Probably the one that any thoughtful Jewish person
in the audience would have remembered is the repentance of the city of
Ninevah in the book of Jonah. Ninevah was the capital of the nation of
Assyria. It was another of those great and violent and depraved Gentile
cities. In almost every reference in the OT it is condemned. But in Jonah
3, after the prophet has spent several days walking through the city streets
calling out, "Forty days and Ninevah will be destroyed", we
discover that the entire city repents. "The Ninevites believed God.
They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least,
put on sackcloth. When the news reached the king of Ninevah, he rose from
his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and
sat down in ashes." He then issued a decree that commanded everyone,
including the animals to fast from food and water and to wear sackcloth.
He commanded everyone to call on God. He commanded that everyone stop
doing evil and violence. He said, "Who knows? God may yet relent
and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish."
This is what Jesus is condemning these cities for not doing. This is
the only way to respond to the grace of God in Christ. Every Christian,
when they first see the beauty of Christ and their own ugliness due to
sin repent. Repentance is when you see your sin and the kindness of Jesus
and you are ashamed and full of guilt. You yearn to know and love and
obey Christ and you long to be free from sin. You realize you have no
power to do either and so you cry out. You tell God your sins and ask
him to have mercy on you for the sake of Jesus. You stop sinning and begin
doing right. You apologize to all you’ve offended because you long so
desperately to be with Christ. This is repentance and anything short of
that is to be like these cities that Jesus condemns. You can be emotionally
stirred by what you learn of Jesus. You can praise God for Jesus. You
can believe he is unique. But none of that is repentance. Repentance is
not just a one time thing. Repentance is a way of life for the Christian.
James 4:9-10 says it like this, "Grieve, mourn and wail. Turn your
laughter into mourning and your joy into gloom. Humble yourselves before
the Lord that he may lift you up."
Jesus displays his freedom, authority and power by…
- Condemning those who do not repent when shown God’s mercy
- And by…
II. Choosing, along with the Father, to whom he will reveal himself
and the Father (vv. 25-27)
He now turns to his heavenly Father and prays, out loud. Why does he
do this? First, he does it because he is moved with joy as he considers
God’s power in saving whomever he wants. He is happy as he considers God’s
sovereignty in the salvation of people and so he praises him. (Let me
just make a note here. One of the chief benefits to knowing and loving
God’s sovereignty is joy in God that produces worship. Meditating on God’s
freedom, authority and power to do all he delights to do will fill you
with joy that produces thanksgiving.) Second, he prays this prayer because
he needs to address the question that his statements about these cities
have raised. If Jesus and his Father know that all it would have taken
to save the people who lived in the cities of Tyre, Sidon and Sodom was
someone to perform the miracles Jesus performed, then why didn’t he make
sure they got the revelation they needed?
God did not perform miracles in these pagan cities for the same reason
he did not do more to overcome the rebellion of the people in the towns
of Galilee. He didn’t want to. Notice what Jesus says in v. 26. It pleases
God to both hide himself and the way of salvation from some people and
to reveal it to others. This means that there is something more important
to God, something that pleases him more, than the salvation of people.
He does take pleasure in saving people but he also takes pleasure in hiding
the knowledge of salvation from people. In order for God to take pleasure
in both of these things then God must take pleasure in something greater
that both hiding and revealing accomplish. That something is his own glory.
We can see this shown in Jesus’ response of praise to the Father for his
hiding and revealing work. God displays the manifold excellencies of his
glory by the different ways he deals with different people. He is seen
to be a more glorious being by revealing himself to some sinners but hiding
himself from others.
If you’re following me the question you are asking is how can this be
fair? How can God withhold from one person something that he knows will
save him but then give that same thing to someone else? Let’s consider
the city of Sodom for instance. What do we know about Sodom? It was a
very wicked city. In fact, if you’ll recall from Genesis 18 and Abraham’s
prayer on behalf of Sodom there were not even 10 righteous people in the
entire city and that includes the children. Then in chapter 19 the entire
city, men, women and children form a mob and try to take the two angels
from Lot’s house in order to rape them and murder them. Lot warns his
son-in-laws that the city is going to be destroyed and they just mock
him. Clearly these are very evil people.
Had God shown any kindness to the people of Sodom? He gave them life
and food and clothing and blue skies and the enjoyment of life. He rescued
them from foreign invasion through Abraham. Abraham prayed for them. He
sent angels to warn them. He sent Lot, Abraham’s nephew to live among
them. In short, God was very gracious to this city. How did they respond
to his grace? They rejected it and so they were judged for their wickedness.
Did they deserve more kindness from God? No. Did they deserve to be punished?
Yes. Could God have been more kind to them? Yes. Was God obligated to
be more kind to them? No. God deals with people differently but he never
deals with anyone unfairly. In fact, he is being enormously kind to every
human being that is alive at this moment. However, he is being more kind
to some than to others. He has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy and
he hides things from those he wants to hide things from and all of it
for the glory of his own name.
Now, let me really get you excited. Look at v. 25 again. Why did most
of the people living in the towns of Galilee not believe? Jesus’ first
answer is because God hid the identity of Jesus and his salvation from
them. But there is another reason. They did not believe because they were
"wise and intelligent." In other words they didn’t want to believe,
to repent. They were convinced that they were acceptable to God. They
were sure they understood who God was and how to know him. They did not
need Jesus. They didn’t repent because they didn’t want to repent and
they didn’t repent because God hid the truth from them. Both things are
true. On the other hand, why did the centurion who lived in Capernaum
believe in Jesus? He believed because the Father was pleased to reveal
the identity of Jesus to him and because he was an "infant."
In other words he knew that he was helpless and ignorant and dependent.
He believed in Jesus because he wanted and needed to believe in Jesus
and because the Father revealed the truth about Jesus to him.
Now look at v. 26 because now Jesus makes the most extraordinary claim
he’s made up to this point in Matthew. What are the "all things"
that have been committed by the Father to Jesus? If we just stick to this
verse the "all things" are an exhaustive knowledge of the Father
and the sovereignty to reveal the Father to whoever he wants. The Father
knows Jesus, the eternal Son, intimately and exhaustively. The Son knows
the Father exclusively and exhaustively. They exist in a unique relationship
that excludes all others from its intimacy. But also, the Father has given
the Son the freedom, authority and power to reveal the knowledge of God
to whomever he wants. Everything Jesus needs to accomplish his great work
of saving all those who he desires to reveal the Father to, has been given
to him by the Father. Jesus has everything that I need, that you need,
to be eternally happy. He knows everything there is to know about the
Father and he is able to impart that knowledge to whomever he wants. But,
while he has everything I need to be eternally happy, how do I know if
he’ll be pleased to reveal the Father to me? How do I know that this sovereign
Christ wants to reveal the Father to me? If Jesus and the Father are ultimately
in charge of whom will be saved, what can I do to be saved? That, my friends
is the next point.
Jesus displays his freedom, authority and power by…
- Condemning those who do not repent when shown God’s mercy
- Choosing, in full agreement with the Father, to whom he will reveal
himself and the Father
- And by…
III. Commanding those enslaved by sin and law to enslave themselves
to him (vv. 28-30)
The relationship between what Jesus just said and what he now commands
in these verses is so cool. He has just said the ultimate reason standing
behind anyone’s salvation is his will. He has a group of people in mind
that he is determined to reveal the Father and his salvation to. Now,
in v. 28, he tells us who those people are and how it is that he saves
them. Who are the people Jesus reveals the Father to? The only people
that Jesus saves are those who are weary and heavy laden and who obey
his command to come to him and take his yoke upon them. First of all,
what does it mean for a person to be weary and heavy laden? He is not
talking about a subjective, psychological state. He’s not talking about
depressed people or burned out people or stressed out people. The condition
of being weary and heavy laden may have some subjective, psychological
symptoms but they are not what he is talking about.
First, the heavy load is what causes the weariness of these people. When
Jesus says that the solution for these people is to take his yoke upon
them he is implying that they already have a yoke on them that is over-loaded
and they are wearied to the point of exhaustion by carrying it. So what
is the yoke and the burden that Jesus wants us to get rid of? I think
there are at least two things that this heavy laden yoke that wears us
out refers to. In dozens of places in the OT the yoke is used as a metaphor
for the oppression of one of Israel’s enemies. For example in Jeremiah
28: 14, "This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says:
I will put an iron yoke on the necks of all these nations to make them
serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and they will serve him." This
yoke of oppression in almost every instance is the direct result of the
sin of Israel. In other words their enemies rule over them because of
their sin. They are enslaved to another nation because they rebelled against
God. So it seems to me that one of the heavy loads that wears people out
is their own sin and the consequences of it. What Jesus is offering to
do is to release us from our slavery to sin, which is wearing us out.
So Jesus’ command is this, "Come to me all you who are tired of sin.
You who are weighed down with the guilt and misery of your sin. You who
want to stop loving sin and living in sin. You come to me and exchange
the yoke of sin for my yoke."
The second thing to which this heavily burdened yoke refers is seen in
Acts 15:10. In this chapter the leaders of the early church are discussing
whether the Gentiles who are becoming Christians must also be circumcised
and required to obey the OT law. In v. 5 we are told, "Then some
of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and
said, ‘The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to obey the law of
Moses.’" Then Peter stands and answers them and in v. 10 he says,
"Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of
the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to
bear? No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we
are saved, just as they are." Another kind of heavy yoke that wears
people out is the yoke of trying to gain God’s favor by keeping his law.
People who know that God only accepts the righteous and set out to be
righteous soon discover that they can never be what they know they ought
to be. So the law becomes to them a great weight that does not give life
but constantly condemns them and consigns them to hell. So Jesus says,
"Come to me all you who hunger to be righteous but have discovered
that there is nothing you can do to make yourself righteous. You who are
weighed down by the guilt and condemnation of the law, come to me. Throw
off the yoke of your own self-righteousness and take up the yoke of my
righteousness."
The first conditions that must be met by those who Jesus is pleased to
save is they must be tired of sin and want to leave it behind and they
must have sought to obey the law and failed. They must be overwhelmed
with their inability to keep God’s laws and with their love of sin. The
second condition is that they must come to Jesus, take his yoke upon them
and learn from him. What does this mean? First, you must come to Jesus
as he is revealed in the pages of this book. It does no good to go to
a Jesus who does not exist except in your own fantasy. Second, you must
come to Jesus, not to church, not to the pastor, not to a Bible study.
This is a little tricky because the NT teaches that you are not coming
to Jesus unless you are coming to his church. But just because you are
coming to church does not mean you are coming to Jesus. Third, to take
the yoke of Jesus upon you means that you are submitting to him. Taking
Jesus’ yoke upon oneself necessitates submission to him in all that he
is. We submit to him as Savior, Teacher and King. We depend upon him alone
to save. We depend upon him alone to tell us the truth. We depend upon
him alone to direct us and protect us. To take his yoke upon us is to
enroll in his school. We are to learn from him. What we learn is the knowledge
of God. We learn that he is the treasure that our hearts have been seeking.
To take upon us the yoke of Jesus is to say, "I want to be the slave
of Jesus." Please note that this coming to Jesus and submitting to
him is the same thing as repentance. Not doing this results in being denounced
by Jesus just as the cities of Galilee were denounced.
Those to whom Jesus is revealing the Father are those who are weary of
sin and law and who are coming to him, submitting themselves as slaves
to him and learning from him. The benefit that Jesus offers is rest for
our souls. This is not primarily a psychological state. Ultimately this
is referring to heaven. Rev. 14:13 says, "Blessed are the dead who
die in the Lord from now on. ‘Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘they will rest
from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.’" But it also
means that there is no longer the experience of condemnation from the
law. There is the sweet assurance that my sins are forgiven, that I belong
to God. In addition I am no longer a slave to sin because I am a slave
to Christ. It is the rest of loving the good and being able to do the
good rather than the experience of wanting the good but having no ability
to do the good. This is the good life that Paul describes as being the
life of every Christian in Romans 6. "But thanks be to God that though
you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching
to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have
become slaves to righteousness." This is the greatest rest that the
weary and heavy laden can imagine. What sweetness to no longer be enslaved
to sin or to live under the condemnation of the law.
Every person sitting in this room is wearing a yoke of slavery. You are
either bearing the heavy yoke of sin and law or you are wearing the merciful
and light yoke of slavery to Christ. Those whom Jesus reveals himself
to are those who have been worn out by their sin and inability to obey
God and who gladly want Christ’s yoke. Ultimately the rest that Jesus
has for us is the rest of knowing God, of living as his child in humble
dependence upon him for all things. Refusing to come to Jesus is to place
yourself among those cities that did not repent and who will suffer more
in hell. To not obey the command to "come to me" is to assert
that you are one of the wise and intelligent and not one of the infants.
So come to Christ and take his yoke upon you and learn from him and you
will find rest for your souls.
Jesus displays his freedom, authority and power by…
- Condemning those who do not repent when shown God’s mercy
- Choosing, in full agreement with the Father, to whom he will reveal
himself and the Father
- Commanding those enslaved by sin and law to enslave themselves
to him
© Copyright
2000 John Swanson.
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