BLESSED ARE THOSES WHO ARE NOT OFFENDED BECAUSE OF ME---MATTHEW 11 VS 2-6
2 And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he [a]sent two of his disciples 3 and said to Him, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?”
4 Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: 5 The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. 6 And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”
A young man dream was to go to college to become a doctor one day, he along with four other friends decided on a college they wanted to attend, he and his friends enjoyed the college life as any young person would, after his second term in school and he’s getting prepared for graduation they all made a pact that they would always stay in touch and remain friends. The years went by, and the young man became a doctor, and one night in a dream the Lord spoke to him and told him He was calling him into the ministry to preach the gospel, the young man couldn’t receive the dream, he’d worked so hard to become a doctor and his family depended on him to carry the family, so he confided in his friends who at first laughed at him “you can’t be serious” you would be a fool to waste all those years of education to become a preacher. His wife said if God has called you, He will provide for us. He had another dream that night that he was preparing a surgery case and as he began to cut open the patient for surgery, instead of opening a patient he opens a bible instead, he awakes and said OKAY Lord, I’ll do it, I’ll preach. Preparing to preach his first sermon, he invites all his friends to come support him. He prayed one last prayer before coming up, he looked and saw his family and friends sitting in the pews waiting to hear his first sermon. He preached out of Matthew 19 chapter where His disciples said Lord, we have left all to follow you, and all his friends one by one got up and left the building. He said blessed are those who’s not offended because of me.
And I want to submit to us this morning “Blessed is those who are not offended because of who Jesus is.
John who is a fore runner for the coming Messiah. He is the one who Isaiah 40 speaks of;
3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
“Prepare the way of the Lord;
Make straight [a]in the desert
A highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be exalted
And every mountain and hill brought low;
The crooked places shall be made [b]straight
And the rough places smooth;
5 The glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
And all flesh shall see it together;
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
John is the one who previously was baptizing in the Jordan River, when Jesus came to him to be baptized of John, John says I’m not worthy of baptizing you and it is you that should be baptizing me. And after baptism a dove is seen, and a voice is heard stating “This is my Beloved Son whom I am well pleased.
John tells his followers that he must decrease, and Jesus must increase. Behold the Lamb of God who takes upon Himself the sins of this world, follow Him now
Sometime later John is put in prison by Herod
The Bible indicates in Matthew 14 that John the Baptist was placed in prison by Herod Antipas because of John condemning Herod for having divorced his wife and then having married Herodias, the divorced wife of Herod Antipas' half-brother Philip.
John is now sitting in prison for a while, and he is wondering why Jesus haven’t come to his rescue. John now sends two of his followers to Jesus to ask Him a question. Are you the one, or should we look for another?
Sometimes we think when God calls us into the ministry that all will be well and if something is wrong we can just pray about it and God will take it away, after all didn’t the bible say if you have faith the size of a mustard seed you can move mountains, didn’t the bible say ask and it shall be given, seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be open, if you ask anything in my name it will be given to you.
I don’t know about you, but I can relate to John, I've been in situation where I just knew God would come thru, I knew He would make a way and I waited, and I waited and while I waited, I waited, but sometimes the answer doesn't come the way you think it should.
I remember in 2022 I was seeking the Lord about something that was so disturbing to my spirit, and I sought the Lord every day asking why and when are you going to fix it, I kept telling the Lord, like God I know you’re able to do this and more than I can even ask or think, and I got no answer, then I just kind of stopped asking, the problem was still there and one day the Lord just showed up and spoke to my spirit. He said He will never leave you nor forsake you, then He gave me my song in the night
But here John is in jail feeling abandon by the one who said He has come to set the captives free
The question John asks is are you the one or should we look for another? How many of you know we all get a little discouraged sometimes. Jeramiah got discouraged and said he didn’t want to preach anymore, Elijah got discouraged and wanted to die, David got discouraged and at times he had to encourage himself.
When God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son on the alter, the bible doesn't say He question God why you are asking me to take a child you promised me, are you sure, take another look?
Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see, Bartemaeus is seeing and the lame man was dropped thru the roof on a mat, grabbed his bed and is walking; the ten lepers are cleansed and the deaf man is hearing; the widow of Nain son along with Jarius daughter is raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them.
Jesus didn’t say tell John I will be there between Monday and Sunday to talk to him or to deliver him out of there.
He said tell John the things you hear and see, you who are free, go tell a man in jail what you see and hear.
Jesus wanted to assure both John and his disciples that He was the Messiah. But He also reminded them that His power would be displayed mostly in humble acts of service, healing the sick, feeding the hunger and meeting individual needs, and not in spectacular displays of political deliverance. John no doubt thought like everyone else that Jesus would come in political power to deliver them from the Romans authority and powers.
But the Lord is saying I didn’t come to deliver you with horses and swords, i didn’t come to fight a physical battle, my battle is spiritual. I came to deliver you with a Cross and a Crown. I came to give my feet to the nails and my side to the spear, my back to the whip and my head to the crown of thorn, I came to give my life a ransom for many
We might phrase John’s question like this: “Jesus, why aren’t You doing more?” Why haven't you come to see me? I haven’t stepped outside my calling; I was called to prepare the way and I’ve done that. You told me to preach, and I’ve done that too. It's me, it’s me Lord in need of prayer
Anybody here ever told the Lord it’s me, it’s me, it’s me oh Lord standing in the need of prayer. I'm not coming for my mother, not my father, not my sister or my brother; but it’s me this time. It’s one thing to pray for someone else who’s going through, but it’s another thing when you turn the mirror and it’s you in need of an answer.
“Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them.
In other words, although you’re in jail the blind is seeing, the lamb is walking, the deaf can hear, the lepers are cleaned, and the good word of the gospel is preached to the poor, in other words the work is still going on. Somebody like John started out doing a work for the Lord. You don’t know how long you will be working for the Lord, but when my time is up, I’m glad to know that the work is still going on. I believe John’s testimony was may the work I’ve done speak for me, if you don’t ever see me at the Jordan River again baptizing remember I told you that you must repent, when the prisoners here in jail with me hear me preach for the last time, I’m glad the work is still going on. God is calling us to work a work while it still day, if God gave you a talent use it while it still day
John ran his race, and he ran it well, he may not have witness the miracle of the blind man seeing or the deaf man hearing, he didn’t see Lazarus raised from the dead, he wasn’t there for the five loaves and two fish miracle, he wasn’t there to see the demoniac man delivered, he wasn’t there to see Peter walk on the water, but now he has an answer that will carry him to his eternal resting place until the day the Lord returns
Then Jesus says something strange, he said “Blessed is he who is not offended because of Me:
Jesus is saying, “Blessed is the person who doesn’t get upset in how I run things!” You won’t understand my ways
Blessed is those who won’t give up on me because the healing didn’t come right away
Blessed is the person who don’t get upset with God when things don’t make sense!
Blessed is the person who understands that He is the potter, and we are the clay! When the wheel keeps turning and you keep cutting some things away from me, Blessed is he who is not offended because of me
When you're asked to put something on the altar that you want to hold unto, don’t be offended because of me
When you’re looking for peace and I came with a sword in your home that divided your home, Blessed is he who is not offended
when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say every evil thing against you because of Me. Blessed is he who is not offended because of me
When you’re not like everyone else and you won’t settle, and they throw you in the furnace of affliction call me Shadrach. Don’t get offended because of me
When the heat is turned up hotter than before call me Meshach
When the flames burn everything out of you not like God, call me Abednego, don’t get offended or stumble because of me
When I give you a thorn to keep you humble, and refuse to remove it, don’t get offended because of me
If you would just endure hardness as a good soldier, your reward is in heaven waiting on you! Don't get weary in well doing! Things may not always go the way you expect it to, the Lord says but don’t get offended because of me.
