2. Learn From Me Series

Learn From Me

Matthew 11:26-30

I invite you to turn in your Bibles to Matthew 11. If you are using one of the pew Bibles, this is page 766.

I’m so glad you’re here today as we continue our series, Discipled. If that’s a new word to you, or one you’ve heard tossed around in church it simply means to be a student or a learner. It’s an invitation to a relationship with a master teacher, following them, and adhering to their way of life. ”

And it isn’t an option. Discipleship is vital to the life of a growing Christian. Our discipleship guides every area of life. I’ve heard it explained this way: Every naval fleet is guided by whatever ship the admiral is on. This is the flagship. And whenever the navy goes out in battle formation, they all line up behind the flagship. It is usually the largest, fastest, and most heavily armed of all the ship in the fleet.

So for a Christian, your flagship is your discipleship. Discipleship directs every other ship in your fleet. It directs your friendships, your kinship, your courtships, your leadership, your ownership, your stewardship, your partnerships, your citizenship. You line up all of these other ships behind your discipleship, and you will be ready for battle.

To begin, let’s take a moment to read Matthew 11:25-30 together…

Let’s Pray

Before we get into these verses, let’s put them in context of the rest of the chapter. Chapter 11 starts with some of John the Baptist’s disciples coming to Jesus to ask Him if He was the promised Messiah, or if they should wait for someone else. Jesus doesn’t give a direct answer, but he tells these disciples to go back to John and report to him all the miracles they have seen Jesus do—how he made the lame to walk again and caused the blind to see; healed lepers, open the ears of the deaf. Raised the dead, proclaimed good news to the poor.

Basically, Jesus says, “If you want to know if I’m the one, look at what I’m doing. Compare it to what the prophets said the Messiah would do. For example, Isaiah 35:5-6 says that when the Messiah comes,

5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,

and the ears of the deaf unstopped;

6 then shall the lame man leap like a deer,

and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.

Did you know that there is not a single instance in the Old Testament of anyone being healed of blindness? The only person in the Bible that ever opened the eyes of the blind was Jesus.

Jesus knew John knew the Scriptures. And he knew if John compared the works of Jesus to what the Torah said the Messiah would do, he would have his answer.

How will people know we are Jesus’ disciples today? It is by what we do. We touched on this last week. The evidence of our follow-ship will never be about knowledge. It will only ever be proven by our actions. Jesus says this himself in Matthew 11: wisdom is proven by her actions.

Jesus went on to condemn three cities: Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum. You can see them on the map on the screen—all three on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee. Today, people call this the “Evangelical Triangle” because about 75% - 80% of Jesus’ teaching and miracles happened within this area. Jesus tells these cities that if the miracles they had seen had been done in the pagan cities of Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom, those people would have repented. But to the people that lived in this triangle, it was just business as usual.

So I have to stop here and ask if we deserve the same condemnation today? They don’t call our region of the country the Evangelical Triangle. They call it the Bible belt. There are churches on every corner. Most of you grew up in church. Sadly, for most of you, that’s all there is to your testimony. “Are you a Christian?” “Yes.” “How do you know?” “Well, I grew up in church.”

I think if Jesus were preaching today, he might say to those of us in the Bible Belt, “Woe to you Little Rock. Woe to you, Dallas. Woe to you Charlotte.

Woe to you, Prattville.

If the miracles that were done in you had been done in Baghdad, or Beijing, or Tehran, or Portland Oregon or Las Vegas or San Francisco, or New York, they would have repented in sackcloth and ashes long ago.

These are tough words to hear. But they get to the heart of what following Jesus is really about. It’s about bearing fruit, not just being fed. It’s about repentance, not attendance. We aren’t going to be ushered into heaven with open arms simply because we are in the buckle of the Bible Belt.