A Messiah Who Elicits A Response
Text: Matt. 11:20-24
Introduction
1. Illustration: In the movie The Untouchables, Eliot Ness, played by Kevin Costner, is frustrated because he cannot bring down Al Capone. So he asks for a street wise Irish beat cop, played by Sean Connery, for his help. The Irish cop agrees under one condition. He said always be ready to answer the question "What are you prepared to do?" He told Ness, "If he sends one of your to the hospital, send one of his to the morgue!" Later in the movie, the Irish cop is shot by one of Capone’s men and Ness finds him barely alive and in a pool of his own blood. With his dying breath, he grabs Ness by the tie and says, "What are you prepared to do?"
2. Today we need to answer the question, "What are we prepared to do?" We have seen a sovereign move of God, and God wants to know "What are you prepared to do?"
3. Proposition: A sovereign move of God elicits a response from us.
a. A demonstration of God’s power should produce change
b. A lack of change will bring God’s judgment
4. Read Matt. 11:20-24
Transition: Experiencing the power of God carries with great responsibility.
I. A Demonstration of God’s Power Should Produce Change (20-22).
A. Because They Hadn’t Repented
1. The sad reality is that we do not always respond to God’s kindness as we should.
2. After spending a great deal of his public ministry in Galilee, Luke tells us, "Then Jesus began to denounce the towns where he had done so many of his miracles, because they hadn’t repented of their sins and turned to God."
a. "Then" indicates that Jesus considered his ministry in Galilee to be over.
b. Here we see Jesus shows his displeasure that they miracles he performed there didn’t illicit a greater response.
c. Divine grace had fallen powerfully on this area, but the more God’s power is demonstrated the responsibility is required in response to that power (Horton, 221).
d. The verb "to denounce", is a strong verb, conveying indignation along with either insults or justifiable reproach (Carson, Expositor’s Bible Commentary, The, Pradis CD-ROM).
e. Luke 12:48 (NLT)
But someone who does not know, and then does something wrong, will be punished only lightly. When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required.
3. He addresses their lack of response by saying, “What sorrow awaits you, Korazin and Bethsaida!"
a. This term is traditionally been translated "woe."
b. This is not a curse as much as it is an expression of sadness due to divine judgment.
c. He was saddened because of their lack of response to the miracles he had performed there.
d. He knew that because of what they had seen and heard they would be held responsible and would have to answer for their lack of response.
4. He tells them, "For if the miracles I did in you had been done in wicked Tyre and Sidon, their people would have repented of their sins long ago, clothing themselves in burlap and throwing ashes on their heads to show their remorse."
a. Tyre and Sidon were non-Jewish ports on the Mediterranean coast.
b. In the OT they were frequently objects of divine wrath because they were so immoral.
c. Jesus said if they had seen what those in Korazin and Bethsaida has witnessed they would have repented a long time ago.
d. Repent: to change one’s manner of life, with the implication of turning toward God - ’to change one’s ways, to turn to God, to repent (Louw and Nidda, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Symantic Domains).
e. In this Scripture, repentance is a turning away from sin and turning toward God.
f. It is a change of mind, a forsaking of sin. It is putting sin out of one’s thoughts and behavior.
g. It is resolving never to think or do a thing again (Practical Word Studies in The New Testament).
h. Burlap and ashes were common signs of mourning and repentance.
i. The mourning garment resembled a sack made from goat’s hair that was worn next to the naked body.
j. Ash was sprinkled over the head, or it might be sat upon (Horton, 221).
k. This is how the wicked people of Tyre and Sidon would have responded had they experienced the power of God at work.
l. However, Korazin and Bethsaida would be judged more severely because they had more opportunity to repent of their sins and didn’t.
5. Jesus tells them, "I tell you, Tyre and Sidon will be better off on judgment day than you."
a. To Galilean Jews, Tyre and Sidon epitomized pagan, Gentile corruption and worthlessness.
b. Both cities were typical seaports, noted for their immorality and godlessness (even by pagan standards).
c. The city’s violence, profanity, pride, injustice, greed, and immorality were so excessive that the Lord destroyed it (MacArthur New Testament Commentary, Matthew 8-15).
d. Probably most inhabitants of Korazin and Bethsaida had personally witnessed Jesus’ miracles, and everyone else knew about His mighty works from the reports of friends and relatives.
e. But the number who responded in faith was small!
f. This is a dangerous state of being.
g. Hebrews 10:26 (NLT)
Dear friends, if we deliberately continue sinning after we have received knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice that will cover these sins.
B. How to Respond
1. Illustration: “Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship).
2. A move of God should produce a move to God!
a. Proverbs 8:13 (NIV)
To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.
b. It ought to produce in us a change of behavior.
c. It ought to produce in us a change of thought.
d. It ought to produce in us a change of attitude.
e. It ought to produce in us a change of priorities.
f. If it doesn’t there is something seriously wrong.
3. A move of God should produce a hunger for God.
a. Psalms 63:1 (NLT)
O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water.
b. It ought to produce in us a hunger for prayer.
c. It ought to produce in us a hunger for the word.
d. It ought to produce in us a hunger for worship.
e. It ought to produce in us a hunger for holiness.
f. If it doesn’t may God have mercy on us!
4. A move of God should produce a heart for the lost.
a. Acts 4:31 (NLT)
After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness.
b. It ought to produce in us a sense of urgency.
c. It ought to produce in us a sense of God’s judgment.
d. It ought to produce in us a sense of compassion.
e. If it doesn’t our hearts have grown cold and we need a wake-up call!
Transition: So what happens if we don’t change?
II. A Lack of Change Will Bring God’s Judgment (23-24).
A. Better Off On the Day of Judgment
1. Jesus didn’t stop with Korazin and Bethsaida; he also comes down even harder on Capernaum.
2. He says, “And you people of Capernaum, will you be honored in heaven? No, you will go down to the place of the dead..."
a. Capernaum was located about 80 miles north of Jerusalem on the northwest shore on the Sea of Galilee.
b. In Jesus day it was a very prominent city that served as a toll city on a major caravan route.
c. However, more importantly it was the most privileged city on earth because it served as Jesus home base.
d. It was here that Jesus performed the majority of his miracles and did most of his teaching (Horton, 223).
e. It was there that He raised Jairus’s daughter from the dead and healed the nobleman’s son.
f. It was here that He healed the demoniac, Peter’s mother-in-law, the woman with the hemorrhage, the two blind men, the centurion’s servant, the dumb demoniac, and the paralytic who was lowered through the roof by his friends.
g. Yet those marvels had little impact on most citizens of Capernaum; and because of their indifference they would not be exalted to heaven as they thought they deserved but would rather descend to place of the dead (MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Matthew 8-15).
3. Jesus levels at Capernaum one of the greatest indictments in all of Scripture when he says, "For if the miracles I did for you had been done in wicked Sodom, it would still be here today."
a. Sodom was the consummately proverbial city of sin.
b. It is famous of course for being the city in the Old Testament that God destroyed for its decadence, perversion, and lust.
c. Yet Sodom too, had it been privileged with the revelation of Jesus’ miracles, would have been gripped by the reality of the gospel of the kingdom and would have repented (Wilkins, NIV Application Commentary, New Testament: Matthew, 420).
4. Jesus says of Capernaum, "I tell you, even Sodom will be better off on judgment day than you.”
a. With all of its sin, perversion and rebellion, Sodom would be better off on the Day of Judgment than Capernaum.
b. Because of their great privilege of being the home base of the Messiah their level of judgment would be more severe than that of Sodom.
c. This teaches us that sin not only affects individuals but also communities (Horton, 223).
5. Where do you think this leaves the United States?
a. After all of the blessings that God has poured out on our nation, and yet we have rejected Him in every way imaginable.
b. We have taken him out of our schools.
c. We have kicked him out of our government.
d. We have rejected his laws, his Word, and his guidance.
e. We are doing the same things as Sodom and Gomorrah and even worse things than they did.
f. If God does not judge American he will owe an apology to Sodom on the Day of Judgment.
6. How about us?
a. What will God do with us if we do not change after what we have seen and experienced?
b. Hebrews 2:2-3 (NLT)
2 For the message God delivered through angels has always stood firm, and every violation of the law and every act of disobedience was punished.
3 So what makes us think we can escape if we ignore this great salvation that was first announced by the Lord Jesus himself and then delivered to us by those who heard him speak?
c. God is calling us to repent, change the way we act and think.
d. He will hold us to a higher standard.
B. Call to Repentance
1. Illustration: "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" was one of the most famous sermons preached by Jonathan Edwards, a prominent Calvinist Congregational minister, in Enfield, Connecticut, in 1741. It is frequently used in American high school and college English courses as an example of Puritan literature. Edwards preached the sermon a number of times in his career. Interestingly, the first preaching in his home parish of Northampton, Massachusetts met with little reaction. It was his second presentation in Enfield, Massachusetts (now Enfield, Connecticut) that prompted the famous accounts of widespread weeping, swooning, crying out, and convulsions from members of the congregation.
2. God is calling his people to repentance.
a. 2 Chronicles 7:14 (NLT)
Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.
b. He is calling us to turn from our sins and turn toward Him.
c. He is calling to leave the things of this world behind us.
d. He is calling to raise our standards of morality, righteousness and holiness to a new level.
3. God is calling to leave our past and embrace our future.
a. Romans 6:1-2 (NLT)
1 Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace?
2 Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?
b. We cannot go back to the way we used to live.
c. We must consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to Christ.
d. We must live according to the Word and not the world.
4. God is calling to us to be set apart for Him.
a. 2 Corinthians 6:17 (NLT)
Therefore, come out from among unbelievers, and separate yourselves from them, says the Lord. Don’t touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you.
b. God is a jealous God and will not accept second place in our lives.
c. He will not accept our putting other gods before Him.
d. He is calling us to lay down our idols and serve Him the Living God.
Conclusion
1. God has done great things in our lives in the past several weeks, but if we do not change, if we do not repent, we are no better off than those in Korazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum.
2. The question I need to ask you this morning is what are you prepared to do?
3. Will you respond to the power of God or will you ignore Him and risk facing his judgment?
4. What are you prepared to do?
