The Gospel and the Kingdom - Matthew - Jesus' Revelation - Part 1

 

TEXT: Matthew 11:27-30 – “²⁷ All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. ²⁸ Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am ^[f]gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Continuing our study in the Book of Matthew,  we have started looking at Jesus as He reassures the disciples of John the Baptist, rebukes several cities, rejoices in His Father’s wisdom, and reveals that He is the only way to the Father in Chapter 11.

Today, we will conclude this chapter by looking at Jesus’ revelation that He is the only way to the Father. Do you want to know God?

Start with the Illumination that Jesus says in verse 27.

Jesus says this: God the Father has entrusted all things to Him. Jesus is saying, “I hold the power and authority of the kingdom of God.” This verse is very much like John 14:6 where Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

He further says no one truly knows Him except the Father. You see, the Father and the Son have a unique relationship and know each other in a way that we could never know either of them. They are bound together in their deity (their Godness) and in their nature. 

Jesus goes on to say, no one truly knows the Father except the Son. However, He doesn’t stop there. This is the beautiful part of the Gospel: that we might know God. Jesus says, “No one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son desires to reveal him.”

There it is! There is the Good News! Not merely that we could be saved from our sins, which is glorious in and of itself, but that through Jesus we might know God the Father! If Jesus reveals the Father to us, then we can truly know God! 

The knowledge of the Father and the Son can both be revealed to us, through Jesus Christ. If He opens our eyes, we can respond, we have the secrets of the kingdom of God revealed to us, and we can have God Himself revealed to us so that we might know Him. 

God loves us so that we might love Him. As the song says, “Oh, how I love Jesus. Oh, how I love Jesus. Oh, how I love Jesus, because He first loved me.” Do you know Jesus? Do you know God the Father, through Jesus? When Jesus reveals Himself and the Father to us, it changes our lives. We no longer have to carry the burden of sin and this world on our own.

That brings us to our final point, the Invitation verses 28-30. We will muse over this tomorrow.

 

The Gospel and the Kingdom - Matthew - Jesus Rejoicing in The Father's Wisdom

 

TEXT: Matthew 11:25-26 – “At that time Jesus answered and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. ²⁶ Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.”

Continuing our study in the Book of Matthew,  we have started looking at Jesus as He reassures the disciples of John the Baptist, rebukes several cities, rejoices in His Father’s wisdom, and reveals that He is the only way to the Father in Chapter 11.

Today, we will ponder about how Jesus rejoices in His Father’s wisdom and reveals that He is the only way to the Father. In Matthew’s record of these events, Jesus moves immediately from the condemnation of the towns who did not believe to a moment of prayer spent speaking to God the Father. 

Jesus is praising the Father. He is praising Him for something specific. Look again at verse 25. Jesus is praising the Father for hiding the deep truths of the faith from the wise and intelligent of the world. and Jesus is praising the Father for revealing the deep truths of the faith to infants. 

Now, this takes some explaining. 

First of all, this is not to say that if you are a follower of Jesus that you are not wise and intelligent. Actually, it’s quite the opposite. To be a follower of Jesus is to be truly wise and intelligent. 

There is a self-proclaimed worldly wisdom and intelligence which can lead to arrogance, self-dependence, and false confidence. This type of wisdom and intelligence can lead people to think that they don’t need God, it can lead them to believe that the things of Jesus are foolish, and it can lead them straight to Hell. For those who may not know what I’m saying, this basically means that there are people who think they’re smart, but they’re not really smart in God’s eyes. 

Then, Jesus speaks of infants, or little children. When Jesus speaks of infants, He speaks of those who are helpless on their own and are dependent on someone else. Jesus speaks here of little children. Those who are utterly dependent upon someone else. 

In contrast to the “wise and intelligent” of the world, who think they have it all figured out and don’t need God; Jesus says that the Father has revealed the truths of the kingdom of God to those who are like little children, who are like infants, who know that they need someone to help them. 

Are you like the wise and the intelligent, or are you like the lowly infant?

• Do you think you have things figured out?
• Do you think that you’re good?
• Or, do you know that you need Jesus and His grace?
• Do you know that you’re only good through the blessings of Jesus?

Finally, we see in verse 26, that it was God’s will to do it this way. Jesus says, “It seemed good in Your sight.” Part of the reason that Jesus is praising the Father is because this was His good pleasure. God wanted it this way, and His will is being accomplished. Jesus praises God that His good pleasure is being worked out. 

Listen, it is the good pleasure of the Father that the kingdom of God would be revealed and manifested to those who are needy and dependent like little children; like infants. The pleasure of God can be displayed in us, by our taking the mentality of a helpless person who desperately needs someone to come alongside us and pick us up, provide for us, and care for us. 

No matter if we are a toddler, a ten-year-old, a teenager, a twenty-something, a toward-the-end-of-lifer, or anywhere in between, there is something within us that stems from our sinful nature that makes us feel like we don’t need help, we’ve got it figured out, we are wise and intelligent all on our own.

Don’t live that way!

Listen, the pleasure of the Father is that you would come to Him and say, “I need you! Help me!”

When you do so, He will reveal the kingdom of God to you. That is the good pleasure of the Father. 

 

The Gospel and the Kingdom - Matthew - Jesus' Rebuke - Part 3

 

TEXT: Matthew 11:23-24 – “²³ And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. ²⁴ But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.”

Continuing our study in the Book of Matthew. We have started looking at Jesus as He reassures the disciples of John the Baptist rebukes several cities, rejoices in His Father’s wisdom, and reveals that He is the only way to the Father in Chapter 11. We saw that even the strongest of Saints can be affected by Doubt, Despair, and Depression. 

Today, let us finish our look at Matthew’s account of the Rebuking by the Savior. We contemplated the cities of Korazin and Bethsaida. We conclude with Capernaum. Again, let us consider its privilege in verse 23. Jesus also did many miracles as He taught in their midst. It is one of the three key cities in which Jesus spent much of his ministry. It was part of the “Evangelical Triangle,” the small area where most of Jesus’ miracles were displayed (Matt. 11:20). They had been blessed with an abundance of evidence and teaching.

He calls them out because of their pride in verse 23. Looked at themselves as being exalted into Heaven. Yet, they rejected Him. They did not repent and seek the Kingdom of God. They did not believe in Him as the promised Messiah. They thought they had it made.

And because of this, He spoke of their upcoming punishment in verse 24. Jesus proclaims that Sodom will be better off in the day of Judgment. Sodom destroyed by fire and brimstone for their wickedness. All traces of Sodom have been covered – possibly the Dead Sea. The people of Capernaum had rejected Him. They did not repent and seek the Kingdom of God. They did not believe in Him as the promised Messiah. Once again, this is a fearful declaration coming from Jesus.

Three quick takeaways – Warning to our nation today as we conclude this section of study.

1. To those whom much is given – much is required. (Luke 12:48)
2. Even those who are used by God in mighty ways can face punishment
3. We as a nation need to return to admitting Jesus is God and follow His teaching in His Word.

Tomorrow we will move into Jesus' Rejoicings.