Joy Series

INTRODUCTION

• Have you ever been criticized before for something you did that was different than what others were doing?

• Have you ever faced criticism when you have led ministries within the church?

• You are not alone; even Jesus was criticized in about every direction.

• Today we will begin a five-week series entitled "Criticizing Jesus- The Words of Jesus."

• This five-week series will look at the criticisms Jesus faced during his ministry.

• What does each criticism reveal about Jesus's" character, priorities, authority, and mission?

• A survey of the Gospels will show you that Jesus took a lot of criticism: from Pharisees, scribes, Herodians, Romans, and even from members of his own family.

• Some of the criticism was surprisingly harsh, and yet He kept preaching and teaching the kingdom and being obedient to God.

• Each criticism of Jesus gives us a unique perspective on his life and ministry.

• First, it shows us how his contemporaries viewed Him: they seemed either afraid of the consequences of his teachings or angry with Him over His teachings.

• Second, we are given an opportunity to learn more about Jesus, both from what they were criticizing and how He responded to the criticism.

• The title of the message today is JOY, surprisingly, not CRITICISM! 😀

• The reason for the title is when Jesus was confronted with criticism, Jesus went to the heart of the criticism.

• Sometimes in life, we face legitimate reasons to be criticized; other times, the critic is the issue.

• Of course, with Jesus, the critic was ALWAYS the issue!

• Today you can open your bible to Matthew 9:14-17.

• I will read the passage.

Matthew 9:14–17 (NET 2nd ed.)

14 Then John’s disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples don’t fast?”

15 Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests cannot mourn while the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days are coming when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and then they will fast.

16 No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment because the patch will pull away from the garment and the tear will be worse.

17 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the skins burst and the wine is spilled out and the skins are destroyed. Instead they put new wine into new wineskins and both are preserved.”

SERMON

I. Go with the flow?

• This last controversy recorded in this period of Jesus's Galilean ministry bears evidence that the roots of this criticism flowed from something that happened just before this event.

• This criticism seems to have its roots in the time Jesus went into the home of Matthew right after Jesus called Matthew to follow Him.

• The Pharisees criticized Jesus for eating at the home of a tax collector and all of his sinner friends.

• Jews are not supposed to do that and should not hang out with traitorous tax collectors.

• Jesus was able to shut the Pharisees down, so the Pharisees did something you do when it gets handed to you; you look for allies.

• They found some with of all people, the disciples of John the Baptist.

• The Pharisees had attempted to set John and his disciples against Jesus; however, John had unapologetically proclaimed in John 3:25-ff that Jesus must increase and he decrease.

• John was the one who was making the path for Jesus!

• Why would the disciples of John ask this question?

• John the Baptist was now in prison.

• Some of his faithful disciples were still taking the time to comfort John while he was in prison and continue carrying out his slowly dying ministry.

• Some of John's followers were still seeking to keep John'sJohn's ministry going even after John's death. (Matthew 14:12; Acts 19:1-6.

• This is the backdrop of the criticism Jesus faced.

• The Pharisees seemed to have some success with the disciples of John concerning their criticism of Jesus.

• Look at verse 14.

Matthew 9:14 (NET 2nd ed.)

14 Then John’s disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples don’t fast?”

• John the Baptist was known for a strict, ascetic lifestyle (Matthew 3:4), so his disciples were also most likely strict in their self-discipline.

• When they observed Jesus and his disciples, they thought they saw a group of people without self-control.

• They asked him, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?"

• It's worth noting that at this moment, at least, the disciples of John the Baptist identify more strongly with the Pharisees than with the followers of Jesus.