January 21, 2024
Matthew 11:12–24

Title: The Battles Lines Of The Kingdom

Outline:
1 John, a kingdom messenger.
2 Delivery variety of the kingdom message.
3 The emphasized judgment of those towns who rejected the message.

ATMOSPHERE

Thus far Jesus has “encountered hostility only briefly” but Matthew continues to document the growing hostility from those around Him. Jesus also begins to rebuke denounce entire Galilean cities for their unbelief. Yet, through the condemnation, “Matthew interrupts the hostilities and denunciations to include Jesus’ appeals to the crowds to become true disciples (11:25-30; 12:46-50).” So "we are reminded that there is still opportunities for the hearers to repent of their unbelief and respond to the kingdom message. (Blomberg, 183)

12 From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. 13 For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, 14 and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. 15 He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

• Verse 12 is a famous verse for interpretation difficulties here. It mostly comes from the phrase “take it.” The interpretive questions are, “Who takes it by force? People of faith or the enemies of the kingdom?”
• Four interpretation ideas here:
• #1 The passage speaks to the violence being directed toward the subjects of the kingdom. (cr. France, 195)
  • Those against the kingdom don’t do violence to “take the kingdom” per se. They do violence to destroy the kingdom.
  • This fits the best with the immediate context; i.e. John being locked up in prison underneath a death sentence.
• #2 The the latter half of the verse speaks to the kingdom subjects taking hold of the kingdom discipleship in a “spiritually violent” way.
  • This interpretation leaves the text with more of an unclear meaning (i.e., What does the violence look like to take hold of the kingdom?), but it leans towards the positive. Regarding discipleship—which has been the context—may look something like what Denney said: that the “Kingdom of heaven is not for the well-meaning but for the desperate,” that no one drifts into the Kingdom, that the Kingdom only opens its doors to those who are prepared to make as great an effort to get into it as men do when they storm a city.” (Barclay)
  • Constable didn’t agree with this interpretation when he said, “This seems to introduce a foreign element into Jesus’ teaching on discipleship.” To which I would reply: “Not so fast; if we are to carry our crosses, isn’t that an epitome of violence?”
  • He also wrote, “Entrance into the messianic kingdom depends on faith in Jesus as the Messiah.” To which I would say, In the context of discipleship it would fit that it takes great effort to remain a disciple in the Matthew 10 context. John the Baptist being an example. One should not mix entrance into the kingdom with the context of Matthew 10.
• #3 Perhaps both. Jesus has a few of these seemingly double meaning passages in His recorded words in the accounts of the gospel.
• #4 is similar to #1 but is keys in on the first part of verse 12 more for the answer: 12 "From the days of John the Baptist until now …"
  • To this point, we haven’t read about too much violence directed towards the kingdom per se as of yet; although John’s martyrdom is right around the corner. But there is much recorded violence towards the prophets of God throughout the OT. Think of Jeremiah.
  • Barclay added a pretty interesting point that I had never consistered: “The very form of that expression seems to look back over a considerable time. It indeed sounds much more like a comment of Matthew than a saying of Jesus. It sounds as if Matthew was saying: “From the days of John, who was thrown into prison, right down to our own times the Kingdom of heaven has suffered violence and persecution at the hands of violent men.” (Barclay; Emphasis added)
• Conclusion: "It may well be that this saying of Jesus was originally at one and the same time a warning of violence to come and a challenge to produce a devotion which would be even stronger than the violence.” (Barclay)

Again verse 13 "For all the Prophets and Law prophesied until John,"

• The old order of prophets were now gone or going. The new ones—the Disciples—were being prepared.
• Verse 14 "and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come."
• What does this mean?
• To this day, in Judaism, there is an evolving symbol of hope and redemption that takes place in many a Passover meal. In some homes still, "Jews set an extra cup of wine on the dinner table and open the door for the … prophet Elijah, hoping he will enter. Because “Elijah’s return is said to mark the Messiah’s earthly arrival.” ¹
• Therefore, if John be the Elijah who was expected then Jesus must be the Messiah.
• Verse 15 "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
• A common expression of Jesus used in the not only in the accounts of the gospel but also in Revelation. >>
• Listen, heard, change. COMMENT

APPLICATION

• The kingdom of God has many enemies, many violent enemies. As you look at Jesus’ ministry He draws a distinction: One is either with Him or against.
• As lost people, we stood in rebellion before we were in Christ.
  • Paul wrote, >>
  • Colossians 1:21, “And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds.”
  • Romans 5:10, “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.”
• Indifferent people are in spiritual actuality enemies of God.
• All kingdom participation matters, Mark 9:40-41, “For the one who is not against us is for us. For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward.”

TRANSITION: John, a kingdom messenger >> Delivery variety of the kingdom message.

This generation, by and large, was not listening to Jesus. Verse 16 “But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates, 17 “‘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.”

Jesus had directed His rebukes toward the religious leaders earlier, but now He is expanding His criticism to those who have heard the message and yet had not responded to it.

• The “But” in verse 16 starts a contrast: between those that have accepted that John was anticipated Elijah and Jesus was the anticipated Messiah and those that rejected them both.
• Implied is that by this point in Jesus ministry, with miracle after miracle being done, people should have made up their minds favorable towards Jesus, but the tally of the people is not good.
• Jesus describes the varied messages that were presented also as He uses metaphors to describe the variety of delivery.
• Verse 16 But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates, 17 “‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’
• Notice the “we.” Same team, same ministry as I have pointed out before. So we note that Jesus was just as much part of the funeral song as the dancing song.
• Jesus applies His illustrations to His listening crowd. Verse 18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’
• John’s behavior of abstinence and asceticism didn’t cause kingdom message acceptance.
• 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!’
• Jesus’ behavior of going to parties and preaching to the least in society didn’t cause kingdom message acceptance.
• One message with stark, varied presentations. The charge: you didn’t like either.
• “One group said to the other: “Come on and let’s play at weddings,” and the others said, “We don’t feel like being happy today.” Then the first group said, “All right; come on and let’s play at funerals,” and the others said, “We don’t feel like being sad today.” … No matter what was offered, they found a fault in it.” (Barclay)
• Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.”
• Deeds done in wisdom will be proven justified.
• Both presentations were wise and valid.
• The variety was offered, yet the response was consistent.

APPLICATION

• The world continues to receive both presentations. “Turn or burn!” preachers and witnesses are at work getting their messages out. And “God loves and has a plan for your life” preachers and witnesses are still presenting today as well.
• Both presentations are still rejected by the masses to this day.
• “If people are determined to make no response they will remain stubbornly unresponsive no matter what invitation is made to them.” (Barclay)
• You and i are to continue to harold the message in the varied ways we lean to.

TRANSITION: Delivery variety of the kingdom message. >> The emphasized judgment of those towns who rejected the message.

20 Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. 21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 23 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 24 But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.”

• “Chorazin was probably a town an hour’s journey north of Capernaum; Bethsaida was a fishing village on the west bank of Jordan, just as the river entered the northern end of the lake." (Barclay)
• Clearly some of the most miraculous things Jesus did happened in these towns, and yet we have no account of them whatever. There is, however, no record in the gospel accounts of the work that Jesus did in them. This passage reminds us of "how little we know of Jesus; it shows us—and we must always remember it—that in the gospels we have only the barest selection of Jesus’ works. … The things we do not know about Jesus far outnumber the things we do know.” (Barclay)
• Jesus expected a return on the knowledge and wisdom He taught and the miracles He performed.
• The words Jesus spoke here in verses 20-24 are very terrible in scope; but this is Jesus’ last resort to them. He presents a massage of shock and awe. >>
• It’s as Gibson said, "Love and mercy have been His theme from day to day; and it is only because these are obstinately rejected that wrath and judgment must now find a voice.”
• These cities were guilty of sinning with knowledge. The more the towns knew and saw directly the more guilty they became with their rejection of Messiah.
• We see so many examples of this in the gospel accounts. >>
• It’s important to realize that this greater guilt is based on the sin of indifference.
• As Barclay said, "These cities did not attack Jesus Christ; they did not drive him from their gates; they did not seek to crucify him; they simply disregarded him. … Many a man’s defence is: ‘But I never did anything.’ That defence may be in fact his condemnation.” (Barclay; British spelling retained.)

APPLICATION

• While we cannot apply this last passage directly to our lives, we can and should understand some principles from this passages that relate to God’s people.
• There are different levels of accountability based on what we know.
• To whom much is given, much is required.

Notes

Notes from above may not be in numerical order above.

¹ Joseph Dorman. “Who was Elijah and Why Do Jews Open the Door for Him on Passover?” March 30, 2022, brandeis.edu.

Works Cited

Scripture quotations [unless otherwise noted] are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Click here to access the works cited web-page for this document, save those marked as “Notes” or “Other Works Cited”–if any. Most of these cited works correspond to the verses they are outlined with. In the case of general background information and references, one will find cited material with the Bible books the citations are associated with. ¶ Furthermore, there may be numbered notes that are URL linked; these are usually retained numbered notes from Thomas Constable’s, “Dr. Constable’s Expository (Bible Study) Notes.” These links are preserved “as is” at the time of this work’s formation and I usually include other citation information from Constable as well (e.g. authors’ names).

Other Works Cited

Note: All of the resources below were cited in at least one of the sermons in the Book of Matthew but not necessarily this one.

Augsburger, David. Dissident Discipleship. Brazos Press, 2006.

Barclay, William. Barclay’s Daily Study Bible. Westminster Press, 1955-1960. Sourced digitally from studylight.org/commentaries/eng/dsb.html.

Blomberg, Craig L. Matthew. New American Commentary, vol. 22, ed. David S. Dockery, et al., Broadman Press, 1992. May be sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/matthew0000blom

________. Preaching the Parables: From Responsible Interpretation to Powerful Proclamation. Baker Academic, 2004. Sourced from archive.org.
(https://archive.org/details/preachingparable0000blom/page/82/mode/1up)

Bruce, Alexander Balmain. The Training of the Twelve. Ed., A.C. Armstrong and Son, reprint 1984, Kregel Publications, 1971 edition.

Carson, D. A. “Matthew.” The Expositors Bible Commentary, Frank E. Gaebelein, Ed. et al., Zondervan, 1984.

_______. The Sermon on the Mount : an Evangelical of Matthew 5-7 Exposition. 1978, Baker Book House, fifth printing, 1989. Sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/sermononmounteva0000cars/page/54/mode/1up

_______. When Jesus confronts the world : an exposition of Matthew 8-10. Originally published by Inter-Varsity Press in 1988, Paternoster, 1995. Sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/whenjesusconfron0000cars/page/n3/mode/1up

Chambers, Oswald. My Utmost for His Highest. Our Daily Bread Publishing, web ver.

Davies, W. D. and Dale C. Allison, Jr. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel According to Saint Matthew. T. & T. Clark, 1988. Was sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/criticalexegetic0001davi/page/n7/mode/1up. Unavailable on Nov. 14, 2023.

Evans, Craig A. The Bible Knowledge Background Commentary: Matthew-Luke. Victor, 2003. Sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/bibleknowledgeba00crai/mode/1up

France, R. T. The Gospel According to Matthew. W. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1985.

_______. The Gospel of Matthew. W. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2007. Sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/gospelofmatthew0000fran/page/n6/mode/1up

Gibson, J. Monro. “St. Matthew.” Expositor’s Bible Commentary. Ed. William R. Nicoll. Sourced from Bible Portal. Click here for a list of the authors of the EBC.

Harrington, Daniel J . The Gospel of Matthew. Sacra Pagina Series, vol. 1, A Michael Glazier Book, Liturgical Press (publ.), 1991. Sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/gospelofmatthew0000harr/mode/1up

Hendriksen, William. New Testament Commentary: Exposition of the Gospel According to Luke. Baker Book House, 1984.

Phillips, John. Exploring the Gospels: John. Loizeaux Brothers, 1988.

Plumptre, E. H. “Matthew.” Commentary for English Readers, Charles John Ellicott, Compiler/Editor, Lord Bishop of Gloucester Cassell and Company, Limited, 1905. Sourced from BiblePortal.com. Click here for a list of the authors of the CER.

Robinson, Monte. The Way of Discipleship. Independently published, 2021. Web, aimdiscipleship.org/book.html, accessed Oct 2023.

Wiersbe, Warren. The Wiersbe Bible Commentary. 2 Volumes, David C. Cook, 2007.

Yancey, Philip. The Jesus I Never Knew. Zondervan, 1995.

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