THE WICKED GENERATION
Text: Matthew 11:1 – 19, 25- 30
N. T. Wright once said that “… wicked people don’t like a message of judgment because they think the message is aimed at them, (and rightly so) while good people don’t like a message of mercy because they think (wrongly) that people get away with their wickedness”. (Nicholas Tom Wright. Matthew For Everyone. Part 1. Great Britain: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 2002, p. 127). Is this possibly what is going through the mind of John the Baptizer now that he has been arrested?
John the Baptizer did not sugar coat his preaching as he called a spade a spade. John the Baptizer blunt with everyone from the religious leaders, Herod and everyone calling them sinners in need of repentance. John the Baptizer wasted no time in telling Herod that it was wrong for him to have his brother Phillip’s wife saying that it was not lawful. John went to prison for being the prophet God called him to be and not the puppet that Herod wanted him to be.
While John was in prison he seemed to have doubts about their ministry. Was Jesus the Messiah? Is that what John’s concerns were? Jesus sent a message back to John to affirm that He was indeed the Messiah as He alludes to Isaiah 35:5-6 and 61:1-3, recorded in Luke 4:16-19): the healing of the sick, the deaf, the lame, the blind and the preaching of the good news to the poor. The wicked of every generation need the Savior who speaks the truth. They need to be yoked to the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ.
THE WICKED GENERATION
What makes this generation “wicked”? Jesus does not use the adverb wicked beside the word generation but Jesus certainly implies the idea by the laundry list of cities that He denounces after the fail to repent even they have seen His works. Jesus denounces Chorazin, Bethsaida, Tyre, Sidon, Capernaum concluding that it will be more tolerable for Sodom on judgment day in (Matthew 11:20 – 24).
Why is that scary? Failure to repent leaves the unrepentant guilty and deserving of judgment.
1) Blind Spots: Quote: One theologian (John Proctor) points out a problem that exists in every age: He calls that area a “blind spot” and describes it like this: ‘What you see is what you get’ is a slogan of our times. …. We decline to take notice of the things we observe because they could lead us to conclusions and commitments we would rather avoid”. (John Proctor. Daily Bible Commentary : Matthew. Peabody, Massachusetts, 2001, p. 94).
2) Blinders: What we see is not always what we get if Satan has success at putting blinders on those who might otherwise see the light of the Gospel and repent (2 Corinthians 4:4).
Do we suffer from blind spots? Analogy: Modern technology has evolved to put blind spot protection on cars. The sensors for these blind spots are designed to prevent cars from colliding with each other. The sensors redirect your course if you are too close to other cars on the sides or bring your car to a stop if you cannot slow down fast enough to avoid a collision. Satan uses the pride of the unrepentant to blind them to sin.
Illustration: The story is told of a pastor who had two wealthy but not godly men in his congregation. He was determined to preach the Gospel to reach them. One of the brothers died. While the funeral was being planned, the other brother was flaunting money for a new building program for the church. He swore the money was guaranteed if the preacher said he was a saint. Surprisingly, the preacher agreed. When it came time for the funeral the preacher said, “Ladies and gentlemen we are here to eulogize a very ungodly sinner. He was a very wicked man who was unfaithful to his wife, who was hot tempered. He abused his children, he was ruthless in business, and he was a pure hypocrite. But compared to his brother he was a saint.” (Tony Evans. Tony Evans’s Book Of Illustrations. Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2009, p. 334). Blind spots to sin are nothing to play with!
GRACE DODGERS
What in the world is a grace dodger? A grace dodger is someone who is too proud to admit that they need help because they cannot save themselves. They are unrepentant and proud. Wasn’t Satan cast out of heaven because of his pride that caused him to sin? Didn’t Satan have other fallen angels that got cast out with him?
Are we all who are saved, saved by God’s grace so that we could never boast (Ephesians 2:8)? Can we just repent like it’s a flu shot? Pelagian would have answered this question with a “yes” but apart from Jesus we cannot do anything more than a severed branch can do from a vine (John 15:5). We are given new life in and through Christ!
1) Pelagian heresy aka Pelagianism: In church history there is what was known as a Pelagian heresy. Pelagius was "... a fourth-century British ascetic and theologian ..." argued the point that if humanity has the capacity to take the first step on the right road, they also have the capacity to stay on course. … [which launched ideas that] … imply that humans … [could save themselves] because of that “first step”." (William H. Gentz. ed. The Dictionary Of Bible And Religion. Justo L. Gonzales. "Pelagisus/ Pelagianism." Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1986, p. 792). Although they might not call it Pelagianism, there are some today who live as if they could “save themselves” and are still enslaved by sin!
2) Salvation: There is no other person who can save us from sin (Acts 4:12). Only Jesus can save us!
Can anyone avoid the message and still receive grace?
1) They rejected John the Baptizer: The Jews had this notion that Elijah preceded the Messiah. Jesus makes the point that if the people would have received John, who was the last of the prophets, then they would have seen him as the forerunner to the Messiah whom they also rejected. John had not been reincarnated into Elijah but he was the epitome of Elijah---the representative of Elijah that Malachi had prophesied about in Malachi 4:5.
2) They rejected the Messiah---Jesus: To reject was to reject God who sent Jesus (John 5:24). Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life and there is no other way by which anyone can be saved except through Jesus Christ (John 14:6)!
3) The weight of Jesus’s message: The weight of Jesus’s message was greater (John 5:36) because as our Savior He has the only name by which men can be saved (Acts 4:12).
Jesus said, "'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.' (18) For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon.' (19) The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds."
YOKED AND SAVED
What did Jesus mean by yoked? It seems obvious that Jesus was talking about being saved by God’s grace through a relationship with the Savior---Jesus Christ.
1) Yokes: Yokes of the east were heavy and pressed on the necks of the animals who wore them so that they were unable to bend their necks. (James M. Freeman. Manners and Customs of the Bible. New Kensington, Pennsylvania: Whitaker House , 1996, p. 317).
2) Yoked with Jesus: To be yoked with Jesus is to have faith in a Savior who helps us and gives us strength that is made perfect in our weakness: “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9 KJV). That is why apart from Jesus we can do nothing because apart from Jesus we like a branch that is detached from a live sustain vine (John 15:5 paraphrased).
How does Jesus give rest? When Jesus spoke of a yoke the people knew exactly what He was talking about. The Pharisees were know to put heavy burdens on people (Matthew 23:4). We can never earn our righteousness. Paul tells us we have to be perfect to be able to be saved by keeping the law because the righteous live by faith (Galatians 3:10) . We can rest because Jesus gives assurance in our salvation and the peace that enables us to rest. That is why Christians can face adversity with confidence! It is as St. Augustine once said, “we are restless until we find our rest in God”. We are restless until we are redeemed and we find satisfaction when we allow God to reform us for His glory. The wayward and wicked will never find rest without God! In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
