Exposition of the gospel of Matthew (Matthew 11:25-27)

(Sabbath Rules)

Questions to be answered in this study

1. What makes some want to come to Jesus while others seem to have no desire to come to Him?
2. What are the two types of repentance?
3. What is the ultimate reason as to why Israel rejected Jesus when there was so much proof that He was the Messiah?
4. Jesus prayed, “I praise you Father for hiding these things from the wise and intelligent….” What were the things hidden?
5. What is the only way we can ever discover the truth of God?
6.  Spiritual insight is essential in every aspect of our lives, so, how are we to receive it?
7.  Can we ever fully know God in this life? If not why?
8. Think about it: What is the most precious thing you have in this world?
9. What is the greatest blessing that we can take away from this study today?
10. When we realize what the most precious thing we have, how should it affect us?

Introduction

So far in this section of our study, we have attempted to answer why Jesus had to be crucified and why Israel rejected Jesus when there was so much proof that He was the Messiah? We discussed why the Pharisees and other religious leaders turn against Jesus.

Anyone who knows anything about the Bible knows why Jesus was crucified. However, it is more difficult to understand why Israel rejected Jesus or why the crowds who followed Jesus turned against Him after seeing all the wonderful works He performed. Why did the religious leaders consider Jesus a threat? In Chapters 11 and 12, Matthew spends some time to inform us on the two fundamental reasons for the rejection of Jesus, which is still applicable today. We learned in the previous study that the first reason was because of their hard hearts.

In the time of Jesus, the Jewish culture was proliferated with the false teachings of the Pharisees. Pharisaic Judaism was devoted to a system of rules, rituals, and Jewish identity, which were not a part of the Bible but became their guide for living apart from the Bible; therefore, they were hardened to the truth Jesus taught. When Jesus, the Messiah, came teaching and preaching the gospel, they could not give up their old ways to embrace the truth. They were not willing to repent and turn to Christ. Therefore, Matthew, in chapter 11 and verse 20, denounced those cities which refused to acknowledge the miracles and works Jesus did. Jesus preached repentance, which is more than just regretting sin or feeling sorry over it; it changes the way one thinks and charts a new spiritual course in life. Therefore, the second reason Israel rejected Jesus’s was their unwillingness to repent and follow Him despite all Jesus had done before their very eyes. We need to go a bit further and determine more of why Israel would not repent. Jesus said to them that had other cultures uninformed concerning Him would have repented under the same circumstances; so, why was Israel not willing to repent? We witness the same today when some willingly turn to Jesus and others will not. So, the question is, why is that true? What makes some want to come to Jesus while others seem to have no desire to come to Him?

Paul gives us the answer to those questions in 2 Corinthians 7:9-10 (KJV): “Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. 10For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.” Paul explains the difference between two types of repentance: the first is of the world, a feeling of grief over the consequences of sin. The second kind is godly sorrow, which comes from God and is true repentance. So, we can conclude that God gives the invitation of salvation and impresses a person to feel genuine sorrow for their sins. That is what brings a person to Jesus for salvation. We don’t just one day, on our own, decide to follow Jesus; there is far more involved; it involves God. So, to answer the question as to why Israel ultimately rejected Jesus when there was so much proof that He was the Messiah, was because of the sovereignty of God. God had a plan, and He used Israel’s hardness of heart to bring it about. His plan was already authenticated way back hundreds of years before in the book of Isaiah. God would have His Son come to earth and die on a cross to redeem man from sin. That leads us to the next passage of Scripture concerning the sovereignty of God:

Matthew 11:25-27, “At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, LORD of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. 26Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight. 27All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.”

After Jesus condemns the people for their failure to repent, “At that time,” Matthew says, Jesus is praying and thanking the Heavenly Father that His sovereign will be done. The Jews had all the information they needed to accept Jesus as their Messiah but did not. They were spiritually blind therefore, would receive their due justice. On the other hand, the sovereignty of God was at work because it was God’s plan for Jesus to go to the cross, suffer and die for the sins of man. Jesus was not taken by surprise; He knew that this was His primary purpose from the foundation of the world. Jesus recognized it was the Father’s will that the crowd remained unrepentant. God did not cause them to be that way. He allowed it that His will be done; this is what Jesus declares in verse 14: “I praise you Father for hiding these things from the wise and intelligent….” What were the things hidden? God hid the truth from some while revealing it to others because of the attitude of their hardened hearts. Jesus uses the words the truth was hidden from the wise and intelligent, meaning the religious leaders who influenced the crowd to reject Jesus. Even though they were best qualified to know the truth, their minds were blinded. That explains why some of today’s most educated and influential people are spiritually blind to the truth.

We need to understand that God didn’t cause them not to know; He did not reveal the truth to them, therefore, leaving them in their hard-hearted ignorance of the truth. The same is true today. We can never discover the truth without the assistance of God’s Holy Spirit. The Spiritual realm of God is not in range of the five senses or reasoning of man. That is why the simple and uneducated man may know the truth of God when the educated college professor may not. The key is if we seek the truth, we shall find it, and it will set us free. God reveals the truth to those who humbly seek it in faith. These religious leaders were arrogant and self-centered, so Jesus praised God the Father for withholding the truth from them.

In verse 25, Jesus acknowledges those who received God’s truth as “infants.” These were His disciples who by no means could be considered as scholars of the truth. They were still infants, the ordinary from the poor class, and in the case of Matthew, the tax collector, an outcast from Jewish society. It was by their weakness that Jesus made them strong because they were willing to submit to Him. The Apostle Paul put it this way in 1 Corinthians 1:21-29 (KJV): “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. 22For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: 23But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; 24But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. 25Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 26For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: 27But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 28And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: 29That no flesh should glory in his presence.”

According to Paul, no one can boast that they came to Christ by their wisdom. To the wise of the world, the preaching of the gospel is foolish. Jesus was falsely accused, falsely convicted, and crucified by the Romans nearly 2,000 years ago, and considered a criminal. Now man is asked to trust in Him for their salvation. That too many is foolish, although it is God’s secret for entering heaven. God designed His gospel not to appeal to the intellect but to the heart of man.

In most cases, it is the ordinary of the world who sees and accepts the truth of God while the so-called wise remain dumbfounded and lost. That does not mean that all the educated are excluded. Paul was educated, but he saw Jesus on the road to Damascus and received Him as his savior, and God used him to take the gospel to the gentiles and eventually to us today. God also used Paul to write nearly half of the books of the New Testament. Therefore, it is not a matter of intelligence; it is a matter of being willing to believe God and trust in His Son for salvation. However, it seems to be much easier for the simple.

So, now we have the answer as to “Why did Israel reject their Messiah?” Israel had an established religious system of rules and privileges that blinded their minds to the truth. Because of their hardened hearts, they rejected Jesus as their Messiah, and therefore the Heavenly Father left them in their ignorance. In their ignorance, they crucified the Lord, thus providing a way of salvation for those who believe.

Paul, quoting from the writings of Moses in Deuteronomy, shows that the Lord chose those who would have ears to hear the truth: “What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded. 8(According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day,” Romans 11:7-8 (KJV). That is why Jesus used the phrase “he who has ears to hear, let him hear.”He was addressing those whose hearts the Holy Spirit had prepared to receive the truth. Jesus made it clear that spiritual insight comes only from a revelation from God; that is true in every spiritual aspect of our lives, whether it is prayer, Bible study, or a person seeking salvation. By the Holy Spirit’s teaching, we learn about God and his program for our lives.

The Apostle Paul affirms this: “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. 13Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned,” 1 Corinthians 2:12-14 (KJV).

In verse 26, Jesus says, “Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight.” God was well pleased, or God approved, the infants in Christ receiving spiritual truth while the self-centered religious leaders remain ignorant of the truth. Jesus continues in verse 27: “All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.” We may try hard to understand the trinity or the God Head. Jesus says only He and God understand each other. Jesus is speaking of fully knowing God. We learn what God reveals to us about Himself. Our relationship with God is the greatest thing in the world and is the essence of our eternal life. How blessed we, the believers, are. God in His grace has chosen to bless believers with the knowledge of Himself, and that is a blessing we can take away from this study today. Most precious, we are saved and kept by His grace. Therefore, when we realize how blessed we are, we should be willing to commit ourselves fully to Him.