Open your Bibles with me, if you will, please, to Matthew chapter 11. You may remember from last week that we are aiming, finally, at the last verses, the very last verses of the chapter, where I’ll be trying to answer the question that someone has asked and that was assigned to me, and that is: what is a disciple? And to answer that question from the last verses of the chapter, I wanted to work our way through the entire chapter first.
Last Sunday, we looked at the first section where we took up the question of the greatness of John the Baptist, the greater greatness of those, even the least in the kingdom of heaven, and all of that turning, of course, on the greatness of Jesus himself. Today we’ll try to look at verses 12 through 26. I’ll begin reading with verse 12.
“From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to their playmates, ‘We played the flute for you and you did not dance. We sang a dirge and you did not mourn.’ John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He is a demon.’ A 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.
Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. ‘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. But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 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. But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.'”
At that time, Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding, and have revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my father, and no one knows the son except the father, and no one knows the father except the son, and anyone to whom the son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Let’s bow together for prayer. Our Father, we’re grateful for this marvelous and rich portion of your word. We pray that you will help us this morning as we try to explore the depths of it, that you will give us understanding, give us a heart to receive, to believe, and to rejoice in all that we learn here about our great God. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
For all of the centuries of the church, it has been the believer’s responsibility to proclaim the saving message of the Lord Jesus Christ as we have opportunity, and then to prayerfully wait and watch and see the response. We know that every time we bear witness of Christ that we’re throwing down a line that demands response. It demands that our hearers take sides. And it’s something that is very serious, and we recognize that each time eternity is at stake.
And it’s often puzzling to us why people will reject the message. And it’s often puzzling to us also why it’s rejected with such violence and with such antipathy. We understand the message. We see the glory of Christ. We understand something of his beauty. We see the gravity of our sins. We see the freeness of the offer, the greatness of the offer. We’ve gone running to Jesus for salvation. And it often puzzles us why people on the other side, hearing the message, respond as they do with indifference, sometimes with violence. They seem to see in Jesus not something of beauty and glory, but something of a threat, something of an offense. And it puzzles us.
And yet we find that there are others at other times who do respond in faith. They see what we see. It’s all too obvious. And they come running to Christ and they are saved. Well, all of that is nothing new. And in fact, it was the experience of Jesus himself when he presented himself to Israel and proclaimed the good news in the power of the Spirit. The gospel was not sweeping up into itself everyone who heard, and the gospel of the kingdom was not sweeping away all those who opposed. Some were responding in faith, others were violently opposing, and yet Jesus said, “The kingdom of God has come.”
And that, I think, gives us something of the atmosphere of verse 12, which is a really very enigmatic statement. Lots of discussion as to how exactly to understand it, and even the discussion is reflected in some differences of Bible translations. What I have in my version: “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force.” That’s essentially the reading of the ESV and the NAS and the King James Version. If you have a New International Version, it reads, “The Kingdom of Heaven has been subjected to violence and violent people have been raiding it.”
Well, without getting into the technicalities of it all, there’s a play on words going on here in the original with this idea of violence. And it’s essentially, I think, what it’s saying here is that the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing. The kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing and violent men are trying to plunder it. The kingdom of heaven since the days of John the Baptist has been forcefully advancing and violent men have been trying to plunder it.
It views, when it says, “from the days of John the Baptist until now,” it’s viewing the days of John the Baptist as the days of the inauguration of the kingdom of God. We’ve talked about that a lot here. You understand that the kingdom of God has come. It was promised for ages in the Old Testament. Century after century the prophets promised that God’s kingdom would break into history and take over the whole world. And when we come to the New Testament we find that the kingdom of God has come in the arrival of Jesus, but only in its inaugurated form. It will come in its consummated form in the eschaton when Jesus returns again. But for now the kingdom of God is here, but only in its inaugurated form. And here he points to the time of John the Baptist when it first came.
And he says, since that time the kingdom of God has been advancing with force, while at the same time violent men have been trying to plunder it. There’s been some discussion here too. Who are the violent men being talked about? Is it the Pharisees? Is it Herod? Is it the Jews in general? I don’t know any way to specify it. I think rather that it’s speaking in general terms that there’s been opposition to it from all sides. And so the kingdom of God since the days of John the Baptist has been forcefully advancing, but violent men have been trying to plunder it. Although it has arrived, it has not yet swept away all opposition. It’s only inaugurated and it’s advancing, but it’s advancing only through opposition.
And that, you remember, was precisely what confused John the Baptist in the earlier part of the chapter. Here he had announced the king. He had announced the kingdom. He’s expecting the good guys to win, the bad guys to lose. And here he’s sitting in prison and wondering now, is Jesus the king or not? And in fact, this idea of violent opposition to the kingdom is exactly the character of Israel’s response to Jesus, culminating as it did in the cross.
And so in this passage, verses 16 and following, Jesus denounces the people of this generation. They had rejected John the Baptist, the greatest of all the prophets who had come. And now they’re rejecting Jesus himself. And so Jesus begins to denounce them and he does it first of all in verses 16 and following with this interesting little parable about children playing wedding or playing funeral. And when you play wedding, you play the flute and you expect your playmates to dance. And here, “We played the flute for you and you weren’t dancing.” Or, “Let’s play funerals. We play a dirge. And you’re not mourning. Come on, cooperate.”
And Jesus says, that’s what this generation is like. John the Baptist came, austere as he was. And they say, “He’s not happy enough. He’s too serious. He didn’t dance.” And they reject him. And Jesus comes, and he goes to these banquets where he’s invited by sinners. They say, “He’s a party animal.” And so they don’t dance; they reject both John the Baptist and Jesus for opposite reasons, and you begin to suspect that the problem is not the messenger.
And Jesus begins to denounce them for it. This generation didn’t want John the Baptist’s message of repentance, it doesn’t want Jesus’ message of the gospel, and they reject both for opposite reasons. But, verse 19, “wisdom is justified by her deeds.” That is, the behavior of wisdom speaks for itself, and it also is the same for John the Baptist and for Jesus.
A Damning Indictment Against the People of Jesus’ Generation
And so, verses 20 through 24, we have this damning indictment against the people of Jesus’ generation. “Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done because they did not repent.” Most of his mighty works, that is his miracles, were done in this area—this area of Galilee. Most of his mighty works were done there. They were miracles, as Jesus mentioned back in verses 5 and 6 with regard to his answer to John the Baptist’s disciples. His miracles are his messianic credentials. You remember he cited from Isaiah chapter 35: the lame walk, the deaf hear, the poor have the good news preached to them, lepers are cleansed, the dead are raised. All of these are his messianic credentials, if you can just see it. And so Jesus says, “Blessed is the one who’s not offended because of me,” verse six. And all this had been done in Galilee, verse 20, and yet they did not repent. For all that they’d seen, for all the privilege they’d had, they still did not repent.
And so that leaves them, verses 21 and following, with deep culpability; you cannot plead ignorance. Verse 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 in ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 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. But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.”
Now the striking thing here is the way Jesus contrasts these nice, quaint, Galilean towns with other cities that are notorious for their wickedness. They were known for their wickedness, often in great measure, like Sodom. And yet, they didn’t have the degree of privilege that these towns had. And so in verse 21, he speaks of Tyre and Sidon. That’s these two large Phoenician cities on the Mediterranean. It’s not far away from them. Often they were denounced by Old Testament prophets in the Old Testament for their Baal worship. He says, if they had had your privilege, they’d have repented in sackcloth. That’s usually a material made from camel’s hair. It was chafing on the skin. It would be put on as a sign of mourning and repentance. Ashes were added to it as a sign of deepest repentance. They’d have repented in sackcloth and ashes long ago, and they would have repented with the deepest sincerity if they had had the privilege that you have had.
Verse 22: because of that, you are going to be in for a great surprise in the day of judgment. You will be worse off in the day of judgment than wicked Tyre and Sidon. Why? Because of the degree of privilege you have had. You’ve heard me preach, you’ve seen my miracles, and yet you did not repent. Verse 23: the same with regard to Sodom, of course, notorious for its blatant sinfulness and immorality. And he says, if Sodom had had the privilege that you have had, it would still be here. But verse 24: in the day of judgment, you will be in for an awful surprise. You will have it worse off in judgment than Sodom itself.
Important Theological Points
Now, before we move on in the passage, let’s stop and let’s make some observations of what we’ve just seen. Some important theological points that need to be noticed in order to move on.
Number one, what I’ve already mentioned: in the day of judgment, punishment will be assigned in degrees according to the light and opportunity received. In the day of judgment, punishment will be assigned in degrees according to the amount of light and opportunity received. Well, that lies just on the face of it. That’s the whole point. You can’t read that without thinking, what about the United States of America? We are in the midst of a massive, almost universal, it seems, revolt against everything in our Christian heritage. And for all the gospel that America has had, and all of the exposure in virtually every corner to the gospel of Christ, and for all of its heritage of righteousness—at least in its pulpits, and for a long time, at least in the common consensus, even if it was rebelled against—now we are in full-out revolt against it. And for all of the privilege we have had, you have to wonder, how will it fare in the day of judgment? Number one, in the day of judgment, punishment will be assigned in degrees according to the light and opportunities received.
Number two, and this again is just on the face of the passage: God has what we might call contingent knowledge. “If the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented.” God has what we call contingent knowledge. He knows what would have been under other circumstances. In any circumstance, God knows what the circumstances attending that would be. He has, in other words, absolute omniscience. He knows that because of whatever factors involved, Tyre and Sidon would not have rejected the message. Neither would have Sodom.
Now, here he says—follow the thinking—woes on Chorazin and Bethsaida, because Tyre and Sidon, if given the same opportunity, would have repented. Woe to Capernaum, because if given the same opportunity, Sodom would have repented. Now that raises an intriguing question. And it’s really going to flavor what else we have to say for the rest of our time this morning. If Tyre and Sidon would have repented under those kinds of circumstances, and if God knows that, why didn’t God give them that opportunity? If God knows that, given the opportunity that Capernaum has had, Sodom would have repented, why didn’t God give Sodom that opportunity? And why in turn did he give it to Capernaum, who rejected it? If God knows all of these things, why did he do it the way he did it?
Now you might answer, well, back in the days of Tyre and Sidon that we’re referring to, and back in the days of Sodom that we are referring to, Messiah hadn’t come yet. But they did have prophets, several of whom could even perform miracles, and they all spoke for God. They all had privilege, just not this degree of it. And after you think about it, you have to conclude that for whatever reasons, God saw fit not to give Tyre and Sidon the same privilege, and God saw fit not to give Sodom the same privilege, even though he knew that if they had had that privilege, they would have repented.
And that leads us then to our third observation that we just have to conclude from this, and that is that God does not owe saving revelation to anyone. You see how that’s in the text? God does not owe saving revelation to anyone. We cannot now fault God for not revealing things to Tyre and Sidon. We can’t fault God for not revealing this to Sodom. He withheld it. Jesus says that in the next verse. He withheld it from Tyre and Sidon, and he withheld it from Sodom, and he was just in doing so.
That’s verses 25 and 26. “At that time, Jesus declared, ‘I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and have revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for such was your good pleasure.'” Now he addresses God as Father here. That sets us up for the grand claim of his unshared sonship that we will see next week in verse 27. But he also addresses him as Lord of heaven and earth. That sets us up for the strong statement of divine sovereignty that we have in these verses. As Creator, he is the Lord. He’s the sovereign over all of the universe, and he’s free, therefore, to conceal or to reveal as he pleases.
That these things—you have concealed or hidden these things—that these things, that is the significance of Jesus’ miracles as his messianic credentials. Jesus’ miracles, when he performed them, people ought to have seen in that: He’s the promised Messiah. He’s the one in whom we should trust. He’s the king. They should have seen that. That’s what they spoke of. But, Jesus says in verse 25, God has hidden these things from the wise and understanding. He withheld illumination. They looked at the miracles that he performed, and watching him do the miracles, they didn’t see who Jesus really was. And behind their blindness, Jesus says, was the Lord of heaven and earth working out his own purpose.
I said he’s revealed it to the wise and understanding. The idea there is not, obviously, that he reveals it to the most educated people or to the least educated. He hasn’t hidden it from the most educated and revealed it to the least educated. That’s not the point. But the wise and understanding from whom he’s hidden these things, that’s the people who have got it all figured out. You remember we saw that back with this little parable of the wedding and the funeral? They’re wise. “We’ve got this figured out. Now, John the Baptist, he’s wrong because, well, because he didn’t play. And Jesus, he’s wrong because, well, he played.” And they’ve got it all figured out. And Jesus says God has hidden it from the wise and the understanding.
But he said he’s revealed it to little children. The Greek term here, “very little children,” infants is the idea. If there is any mark of an infant, any characteristic true of all infants, it’s the idea of helplessness. And remember Jesus says this later in Matthew chapter 18, “Unless you come as a little child, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.” To enter the kingdom of heaven, you can’t come strutting. You cannot come saying that you’ve got something to contribute. You can’t come saying you’ve got something God needs, or that you can help in the process. To enter the kingdom of heaven, you have to come like a little baby—helpless—to receive everything that’s necessary.
And Jesus says, you’ve withheld this from the wise, the people who have got it all figured out; you’ve revealed it to babies. The point, though, in all of this, then, is that in both belief and in unbelief, God remains the one who both conceals and reveals saving revelation. Verse 26 reaffirms that: “Yes, Father, for such was your good pleasure.” In other words, these determinations belong to God alone.
So we have God sovereign in both cases. In both cases, He’s dealing with sinners. But in the one, He acts in grace and reveals the gospel, reveals the beauty of Christ, and they are saved. In the other case, He withholds that saving revelation and he leaves them to their own choices. These are, in systematic theology, called the doctrines of preterition and reprobation. You’ve probably—many of you—have never heard sermons on reprobation and preterition. But here it is in the text. God’s sovereign decree to save certain people for himself in grace, and to pass by others, leaving them to their own choices, and so to their own destruction.
Just for definition’s sake, those of you who are interested in it, the doctrine of preterition refers to God’s passing by of sinners. So it’s the flip side of election. In election, he chooses those whom he will save. The flip side of that is there are others he just passes by—the doctrine of preterition. The doctrine of reprobation is not the flip side of election; it’s the opposite of election. In reprobation, it is God’s positive determination to condemn those whom he has passed by. And we have that stated exactly here in verses 25 and 26. Let’s read it again.
“I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and have revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for such was your good pleasure.”
Now there are other passages, and I think I will take just a minute to point to a couple of them. There are other biblical expressions of the same doctrine, and I think since we come across this so infrequently, we should take time to look at a couple of them at least. I don’t have time to work through Romans chapter 9, but think with me through Romans chapter 9 what you remember of that, some of the outstanding statements of God’s sovereignty in this regard. “Jacob have I loved, and Esau have I hated.” I mean, all kinds of ways to try to wiggle around that. The one I was taught in seminary was, well, “hate” doesn’t really mean hate; hate means to love less. It’s overstatement. Okay. What difference does that make to Esau? “Jacob have I loved, Esau have I loved less.”
We have it more in Romans 9 with Pharaoh. “For this cause I’ve raised you up that I may show my power in you.” We have it more in Romans 9, you remember, with that grand illustration from the prophets of the potter and the clay. Doesn’t the potter have rights over the clay to make with that clay whatever he wants? He can take that same lump of clay and he can make a beautiful vase. Or he can take that lump of clay and he can make an ashtray. And do you think the ashtray has the right to complain and say, “I wanted to be a vase”? Well, it’s silly. And what if God then, he says, takes this lump of fallen humanity and with some of them determines to show off his mercy and his grace and save some who didn’t deserve it, and with others leave them to their choices so that they’ll be condemned? Who’s to say anything against God for doing what is just?
We find it again. Let’s look at one. Let’s look at 1 Peter 2 and verse 8. Just quickly notice those who do not believe. 1 Peter 2:8: “They stumble because they disobey the word as they were destined to do.” There it is. Turn over a few pages to Jude verse 4. Jude verse four: “For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality” and so on. “Long ago, designated for this condemnation.” If you’re taking notes and you want, write down Revelation chapter 17 verse 8 for another one that’s similar.
But there we have this doctrine plainly stated that God is sovereign both in election and in passing over. He looks at this rebellious humanity and in some cases he acts in grace. In other cases he acts in justice. And in both cases, he is sovereign in his determinations. He’s free.
The basis—back to Matthew 11—the basis or the ground of God’s determination, notice it, verse 26: “Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.” Or I prefer the—I think the other translations are better here that get more to the point. I think we get more explicit: “Such was your good pleasure.” Or the NIV: “This is what you were pleased to do.” The New American Standard here reads: “Because thus it was well-pleasing in your sight.” Or the old King James: “So it seemed good in your sight.”
So God was sovereign in these determinations. Those who were chosen were not chosen because they were good. And those who were passed over were not passed over because they were evil. They’re all evil. Those who were chosen were not chosen because they were better. And those who were passed over were not passed over because they were worse. Those who were chosen, those who were passed over—it’s not because God looked ahead and saw them being better, worse, doing this or that—but it was well-pleasing in his sight. Now presupposed in all of this, of course, is sin and ill-desert. They’re all deserving of judgment. They’re all deserving of condemnation. It’s just that God in mercy chooses some to save, and in other cases, he lets them go to their own choices. So the basis of the ground of this decision, he says, is God’s own good pleasure. We might say it another way: the purpose or the motive of God in all of this is closely related to that, and that is to glorify himself both in his mercy and in his justice. That’s Romans chapter 9.
Practical or Devotional Use
Okay, we’ve tried to plow through this and some of the deeper things of God here, but why is it important for us to know this? Why is this here for us? Is there any practical or devotional use to all of this?
Well, what I want you to notice—big time, verse 25—is that this, what’s called often a horrible doctrine, is for Jesus an occasion for praise. You see that in verse 25? “I thank you,” or some of the other translations, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth.” The word here literally means “to confess.” I acknowledge it, to acknowledge the propriety and the excellency of God’s ways. So the idea of praise. “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because,” notice, “because you have withheld these things from the wise and understanding and you’ve revealed them to babes.”
For Jesus, this was an occasion for praise. This exercise of divine sovereignty, when Jesus reviews it in his mind, is not frightening, it’s not offensive; it is an occasion for praise. He praises God both for concealing and for revealing. And in fact, he finds delight in considering it. In essence, what Jesus is saying here in verse 25 is: “Father, what pleases you, pleases me.”
Now isn’t that instructive for us? And I think it’s a fascinating thing and a very important thing to observe that Jesus, on the one hand, can denounce the cities, fault them, because they have rejected him. And in fact, we can go further. We can say that Jesus pities, pleads with the city. You remember that with Jerusalem? “How often would I have gathered you together, but you wouldn’t do it?” And he looks on the cities with compassion. They’re like sheep without a shepherd.
So on the one hand, Jesus denounces and faults the cities and has compassion for them in their rejection of him. And on the other hand, at the very same time, Jesus takes complete confidence in the fact that through it all, the Lord of heaven and earth is carrying out his own good purpose. None of this is pulled over unexpectedly on God. And so he praises God for both concealing and revealing. And God who sovereignly both conceals and reveals—those who rejected Him, they were responsible for their unbelief. They should have believed. They heard Him. They saw the miracles. They should have believed. And yet, in their rejection of Jesus, God the Lord of heaven and earth was carrying out his own good purpose.
Don’t you think our witness ought to be driven by the same convictions? When we proclaim Christ to our friends and family, others, they are obliged to believe. They’ll be held accountable for it. They are obliged to believe. And yet, in every case, both of rejection and reception, we may be confident that God is working out his own good purpose. And so, as with Jesus, so it ought to be with us: an occasion for confident praise.
And I’ve told you this before, I’ve said it before, I think it’s been a while. But this kind of thing ought to shape—it ought to shape—our prayer and praise and devotion. If you are safe in Christ today, understand it is because, ultimately, only because God has favored you in a way that he has withheld from others. That’s what it says. If God had left you to yourself, you’d have gotten what you deserve. But because, to use Jesus’ words, because it seemed good to God, here we are.
Now, this is a marvelous exercise of worship to trace our salvation back to its origin. Why are you saved? Well, you say, well, I’m saved because I believe the gospel. That’s right. That’s exactly right. Exactly right. Let’s push it a little more. Why did you believe the gospel? Are you less affected by sin and depravity than the next guy who rejected the gospel? Are you smarter? Why did you believe? Well, I have to conclude, I believe because God chose me. Okay, why are you saved? I’m saved because I believe the gospel. Why did you believe? I believe because God chose me. Let’s push it further. Why did God choose you? The answer verse 26 gives: because he was pleased to.
Now let’s push it one more. Why were you saved? I’m saved because I believe the gospel. Why did you believe? I believe because God chose me. Why were you chosen? I was chosen because God was pleased to choose me. Why was God pleased to choose you? There the door of revelation is closed. There we learn to bow. Here’s a God who sovereignly shows mercy. And for some reason, known only to him, he has opened my heart to see the glory of Christ. And there we learn the importance of that great Reformation slogan, not just Gloria Deo (glory to God), but Soli Deo Gloria—glory to God alone. And that’s Jesus’ point. What pleases you, Father, pleases me. And I rejoice in it. Amen.
Let’s pray. Our Father, these are profound truths that we’ve been entertaining in our minds, and yet they enlarge not only our minds, but our hearts. We’re grateful for those who brought us the gospel. We’re grateful that you brought us to believe, opened our hearts. We’re thankful that you’ve chosen us in eternity past. We’re grateful that you were pleased to do so. Father, we cannot ever grasp why—why us? And yet our hearts leap with a sense of joy because of the privilege of it. Encourage, we pray, the hearts of your people today in these grand truths about your sovereign grace. We pray in Jesus’ name, amen.