WEBVTT 00:00:08.320 --> 00:00:18.640 We're going to look at specifically verses 16 through 19 this morning, but I want to ramp up to that with an overview of the whole chapter. 00:00:18.800 --> 00:00:23.199 I'm going to start reading Matthew chapter 11, verse 1. 00:00:24.640 --> 00:00:32.240 Matthew 11, verse 1, the Word of God says, When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities. 00:00:32.560 --> 00:00:37.520 So that phrase, teach and preach, is going to cover all that we're doing in these next 18 verses. 00:00:37.759 --> 00:00:47.759 When John had heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another? 00:00:48.159 --> 00:00:51.520 And Jesus answered them, Go and tell John what you see hear and see. 00:00:51.679 --> 00:00:58.159 The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the good news preached to them. 00:00:58.479 --> 00:01:01.520 Blessed is the one who's not offended by me. 00:01:02.719 --> 00:01:03.920 Pause here. 00:01:04.560 --> 00:01:09.439 I'm coaching soccer right now and pretends my team is warming up. 00:01:09.599 --> 00:01:10.719 This is a real story. 00:01:10.879 --> 00:01:18.400 My team is warming up, and somebody comes up to me and asks me, Hey, are you guys any good this year? 00:01:20.799 --> 00:01:23.280 How am I supposed to answer that question? 00:01:23.599 --> 00:01:28.400 And a lot of it depends on the person who's asking me that question. 00:01:28.560 --> 00:01:32.400 Now, in this scenario, that person could fall into one of three categories. 00:01:32.560 --> 00:01:38.239 That person could be a player on the other team, in which case the answer is, oh, we're terrible. 00:01:39.200 --> 00:01:42.319 The person could be a fan, a parent. 00:01:42.799 --> 00:01:45.599 In which case the answer would be, your son's amazing. 00:01:47.280 --> 00:01:54.719 The person could be somebody who works at the car dealership that is next to our soccer field who's out on their cigarette break walking around the fields. 00:01:54.959 --> 00:02:00.000 You know, they're interested in soccer and they want to know if he should drag his brake out a little bit and watch some of the game. 00:02:00.319 --> 00:02:02.799 That's going to be a different answer altogether. 00:02:03.120 --> 00:02:05.280 Have you seen high school soccer before? 00:02:07.359 --> 00:02:20.800 What you're seeing here in Matthew 11 to guide our reading through this chapter is a question that is asked a few times, and Jesus answers it in three different ways depending on who's asking. 00:02:21.039 --> 00:02:25.199 The question boils down to this Are you the Messiah? 00:02:25.360 --> 00:02:26.879 Are you Jesus the Messiah? 00:02:27.039 --> 00:02:29.120 That's John's question in verse 3. 00:02:29.280 --> 00:02:30.639 Are you the one who is to come? 00:02:30.879 --> 00:02:34.000 That's the crowd's question that we're going to look at next. 00:02:34.319 --> 00:02:37.199 Are you the one that Elijah prophesied, which is the Messiah? 00:02:37.360 --> 00:02:39.599 And that is going to be the scribes and Pharisees' question. 00:02:39.759 --> 00:02:41.199 Are you the Son of Man? 00:02:41.680 --> 00:02:43.599 It's the same question. 00:02:44.080 --> 00:02:48.800 And as we go through this, I want you to notice the three kinds of people that are asking it. 00:02:48.960 --> 00:02:52.319 The first kind of person asking it is the doubting believer. 00:02:52.560 --> 00:02:56.000 The first category of person who asks the question, are you the Messiah? 00:02:56.159 --> 00:02:57.840 is the doubting believer. 00:02:58.400 --> 00:03:03.280 Now, notice how Jesus responded to the doubting believer who asked. 00:03:03.520 --> 00:03:05.599 Because John's not lacking information here. 00:03:05.759 --> 00:03:11.280 John has heard the voice from heaven that he's the that Christ is the Messiah, that he's the Son of God. 00:03:11.439 --> 00:03:13.199 He saw the Holy Spirit descend upon him. 00:03:13.360 --> 00:03:14.719 John's related to Jesus. 00:03:14.800 --> 00:03:16.000 They know who each other are. 00:03:16.159 --> 00:03:17.599 It's not a lack of information. 00:03:17.840 --> 00:03:21.360 John's doubt is coming from unmet expectations. 00:03:21.599 --> 00:03:23.120 John's facing martyrdom. 00:03:23.280 --> 00:03:27.120 He's in prison, about to die, and he is just asking. 00:03:27.199 --> 00:03:28.879 Like I want to be really sure. 00:03:29.120 --> 00:03:39.120 Because I thought you were going to overthrow the Roman government and start the kingdom of God on earth, and now I'm in jail, about to be killed by the Roman governor. 00:03:39.439 --> 00:03:40.479 So I have questions. 00:03:40.639 --> 00:03:44.960 That's unmet expectations, but they're from a heart of a true believer. 00:03:45.599 --> 00:03:51.120 And Jesus, if you notice, answers them with compassionate teaching. 00:03:51.919 --> 00:03:54.159 He responds to John with compassion. 00:03:54.240 --> 00:03:56.400 We looked at this in depth a few weeks ago. 00:03:56.560 --> 00:03:58.080 He doesn't rebuke John. 00:03:59.280 --> 00:04:01.199 John did the right thing with his doubts. 00:04:01.280 --> 00:04:02.800 He brought his doubts to Jesus. 00:04:02.960 --> 00:04:09.120 It's very easy for us in our, you know, air-conditioned church right now to roll our eyes at John doubting and think of all that he knew. 00:04:09.199 --> 00:04:11.199 And come on, John, get it together, man. 00:04:11.360 --> 00:04:11.919 Hold it together. 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:13.039 Why are you doubting? 00:04:13.280 --> 00:04:16.319 But listen, he is in a jail. 00:04:16.480 --> 00:04:18.639 He is about to have his head chopped off. 00:04:18.879 --> 00:04:28.319 And he is looking at Jesus through the jail bars, so to speak, and with massive crowds raising the dead, doing all these wonders, and wondering, why isn't he getting me out of here if this is all true? 00:04:28.480 --> 00:04:30.879 So it really is an honest question of doubt. 00:04:31.120 --> 00:04:34.800 He goes to Jesus, Jesus answers him with compassionate teaching. 00:04:35.040 --> 00:04:41.439 In fact, Luke 7, which is a parallel account of this, and there's information in Matthew 11 that's not in Luke 7, and vice versa. 00:04:41.519 --> 00:04:43.680 So I'm kind of drawing it all together for you this morning. 00:04:43.839 --> 00:04:47.600 In Luke 7, it says that Jesus then taught for an hour. 00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:55.680 He spent the next hour after he gets this question from John teaching, so that the disciples of John can bring back Jesus' teaching to them. 00:04:55.839 --> 00:04:58.240 And Matthew 11 says something similar in verse 1 there. 00:04:58.399 --> 00:05:09.839 He went on from there teaching and preaching, but Luke narrows it and says, for the next hour he taught the disciples of John the Baptist about the nature of the kingdom and all the healing and that Jesus was doing so that John would be encouraged. 00:05:10.079 --> 00:05:15.519 So when Jesus is met by a doubting believer, he doesn't respond with rebuke. 00:05:15.680 --> 00:05:18.560 He responds with compassion and kindness. 00:05:27.839 --> 00:05:33.120 As the disciples went away, Jesus began to see the crowds, speak to the crowds concerning John. 00:05:33.519 --> 00:05:34.720 And he has questions for them. 00:05:34.800 --> 00:05:36.319 What did you go in the wilderness to see? 00:05:36.480 --> 00:05:38.319 A reed shaken by the winds? 00:05:38.560 --> 00:05:40.000 What did you go out to see? 00:05:40.240 --> 00:05:42.399 A man dressed in soft clothing? 00:05:42.639 --> 00:05:45.600 Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in king's houses. 00:05:45.839 --> 00:05:47.120 What did you go out to see? 00:05:47.360 --> 00:05:48.240 A prophet? 00:05:48.800 --> 00:05:50.800 Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 00:05:50.959 --> 00:05:52.560 And we looked at this passage last week. 00:05:52.639 --> 00:05:56.079 Remember, Jesus is really asking them to probe their hearts. 00:05:56.240 --> 00:06:00.879 Did they go all the way out to see John because they were impressed by cattail swing in the winds? 00:06:01.040 --> 00:06:02.879 Were they looking for John's fashion statement? 00:06:03.040 --> 00:06:07.839 Because you get better fashion statements in Tiberius in the king's palace than you would out in the wilderness. 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:13.279 So Jesus is really confronting them, really asking them to examine their hearts. 00:06:13.360 --> 00:06:15.439 And he is also teaching them from verse 1. 00:06:15.519 --> 00:06:16.639 He's continuing his teaching. 00:06:16.800 --> 00:06:19.519 In fact, he turns to Malachi 3 here in verse 10. 00:06:19.759 --> 00:06:25.680 This is he of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare the way for you. 00:06:25.920 --> 00:06:29.439 So he is now, he's going to expand on that in the next few verses. 00:06:29.600 --> 00:06:33.839 And of course, not everything he said in this encounter is recorded in Matthew and Luke. 00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:37.519 He obviously taught on Malachi 3 a lot longer than what's given here. 00:06:37.600 --> 00:06:39.759 We just get a couple verses on it. 00:06:40.079 --> 00:06:48.000 But the bottom line Jesus drives home is that Malachi speaks of Elijah who will prepare the way for the Savior. 00:06:48.319 --> 00:06:52.480 And so Jesus here is addressing the crowd, who's wondering, is John Elijah? 00:06:52.720 --> 00:06:54.399 In other words, is Jesus the Savior? 00:06:54.480 --> 00:06:58.240 It's not so much a question about John as it is about Jesus. 00:06:58.879 --> 00:07:02.160 And look at how Jesus responds to the curious crowd. 00:07:02.319 --> 00:07:04.959 He responds with confrontative teaching. 00:07:05.040 --> 00:07:06.399 He confronts them. 00:07:07.680 --> 00:07:09.360 He gets in their grill. 00:07:10.480 --> 00:07:13.600 He asks them a little bit of sarcastic questions, doesn't he? 00:07:14.079 --> 00:07:16.319 Did you go out to see the reed in the wind? 00:07:17.600 --> 00:07:20.000 Were you impressed with his camel hair? 00:07:20.399 --> 00:07:25.199 I mean, he is confronting them. 00:07:25.920 --> 00:07:30.959 He wants them to articulate what it was that drew them out there. 00:07:31.360 --> 00:07:32.560 Even present day. 00:07:32.720 --> 00:07:37.680 What brought them out to see Jesus now that John's in jail, the crowd is just shifted over to Jesus. 00:07:37.920 --> 00:07:38.560 Why? 00:07:40.959 --> 00:07:42.639 Some of the people, it's the miracles. 00:07:42.800 --> 00:07:44.319 For most of the people, it's the food. 00:07:44.399 --> 00:07:49.600 Remember, we know later on, and this is from Mark as well, that there were thousands of people with Jesus at this point. 00:07:49.680 --> 00:07:53.040 There were massive crowds following him around, and Jesus was feeding them. 00:07:53.199 --> 00:07:56.959 And in John chapter 6, when Jesus stopped feeding them, remember what happened to the crowd? 00:07:57.120 --> 00:07:58.560 They all went home. 00:07:59.199 --> 00:08:01.439 So they were out there for the food. 00:08:03.120 --> 00:08:05.199 The food is not on the drop-down menu here. 00:08:05.279 --> 00:08:11.759 Here, the drop-down menu is, you know, the reeds or the clothes or the prophet. 00:08:12.079 --> 00:08:18.879 But the truth is they were there for the food, and Jesus confronts them about that and asks them to figure out what they're doing with their lives. 00:08:19.519 --> 00:08:21.519 Stop going through the emotions. 00:08:22.319 --> 00:08:27.279 The third category of person we find now is the obstinate unbeliever. 00:08:27.680 --> 00:08:29.279 The obstinate unbeliever. 00:08:29.360 --> 00:08:32.159 And this is where we pick up the story in verse 16. 00:08:32.399 --> 00:08:35.279 What shall I compare this generation? 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:39.600 Now in Luke 7, Luke narrows this. 00:08:39.679 --> 00:08:40.480 Jesus says the same thing. 00:08:54.000 --> 00:08:56.240 And out there, John wouldn't baptize them. 00:08:56.320 --> 00:08:57.759 Remember, John said, Get out of here. 00:08:57.840 --> 00:09:00.720 Who told you to flee the wrath to come, you brood of vipers? 00:09:00.879 --> 00:09:03.440 And he threw the Pharisees out on their ear. 00:09:04.159 --> 00:09:05.600 Now they are back. 00:09:06.080 --> 00:09:11.360 And in Luke 7, what drew them out to this crowd was Jesus' teaching. 00:09:11.440 --> 00:09:17.360 He was out there for an hour teaching and doing miracles and raising the dead and healing the blind and all of that. 00:09:17.519 --> 00:09:20.399 And the Pharisees and scribes came back out. 00:09:20.559 --> 00:09:24.639 And they're there when Jesus is asking them, What did you go out to see? 00:09:24.799 --> 00:09:26.240 What did you go out to see? 00:09:26.399 --> 00:09:27.519 What did you go out to see? 00:09:27.600 --> 00:09:33.519 And now he narrows in on them and says, What am I supposed to do with you, Lot? 00:09:34.720 --> 00:09:36.879 What am I going to compare you to? 00:09:37.360 --> 00:09:43.360 Now, before he read his answer here, you really have to appreciate the difference between doubt and unbelief. 00:09:43.679 --> 00:09:44.960 They're not the same thing. 00:09:45.120 --> 00:09:51.279 The believer, John, who doubts at the beginning of this chapter, is not the same as the Pharisee who is questioning Jesus. 00:09:51.679 --> 00:09:54.639 Doubt is hopeful, unbelief is hopeless. 00:09:54.960 --> 00:09:57.919 Doubt is seeking, unbelief is hiding. 00:09:58.639 --> 00:10:03.679 Doubt is looking for assurance, unbelief refuses to believe the evidence in front of it. 00:10:04.080 --> 00:10:09.440 Doubt is trying to cling to the truth, and unbelief is giving excuses to reject the truth. 00:10:10.559 --> 00:10:12.799 They're categorically different. 00:10:13.200 --> 00:10:16.000 And you see that in the way Jesus responds to them. 00:10:16.080 --> 00:10:18.879 Remember, with doubt, Jesus responded with tenderness. 00:10:20.559 --> 00:10:21.840 With unbelief, look what he says. 00:10:21.919 --> 00:10:24.159 What am I going to compare you guys to? 00:10:25.039 --> 00:10:25.679 I know. 00:10:27.039 --> 00:10:35.919 You're like children sitting in the marketplaces calling to their playmates, we played the flute for you and you didn't dance. 00:10:36.159 --> 00:10:38.639 We sang a dirge for you and you didn't mourn. 00:10:39.600 --> 00:10:41.759 We played you a happy song. 00:10:42.080 --> 00:10:44.960 We played you a sad song and you didn't like it. 00:10:47.200 --> 00:10:50.559 You know, in Israel you had just a couple social events that the family would go to. 00:10:50.720 --> 00:10:55.440 You had the market where the moms would bring the kids to the marketplace, not unlike today. 00:10:56.399 --> 00:11:01.200 You know, they didn't have the Bob strollers, but they had the camels and then with the strollers in the back. 00:11:02.799 --> 00:11:05.679 Maybe not, but the kids would be drugged to the marketplace. 00:11:06.000 --> 00:11:08.720 And what do the kids do there when moms at the the market? 00:11:08.799 --> 00:11:12.240 And the market would often be on Fridays before Sabbath. 00:11:12.399 --> 00:11:17.919 The family would get together for Sabbath and they're drugged to the marketplace for the food, and the kids are playing. 00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:18.960 And what are they playing? 00:11:19.039 --> 00:11:21.759 Well, the other big social events in Israel were weddings and funerals. 00:11:21.840 --> 00:11:23.759 That's kind of what they they had there. 00:11:24.639 --> 00:11:26.960 And so that's what they're reenacting. 00:11:27.279 --> 00:11:29.679 And you think, what kind of kids play funerals? 00:11:29.840 --> 00:11:32.320 I have seen this with my own eyes. 00:11:32.639 --> 00:11:38.000 In Central Africa, I have seen kids gathered together in Chad playing funeral. 00:11:38.480 --> 00:11:40.720 And you think, why would what's wrong? 00:11:40.960 --> 00:11:44.320 Well, it actually could be kind of fun, and this is why. 00:11:44.639 --> 00:11:49.440 They gather rounds, and somebody, some kid is the body, and they roll them up in a rug and they carry him around. 00:11:49.600 --> 00:12:00.320 But the other kids are like the professional mourners and wailers, and they are shrieking and yelling and shrieking, and it's it's it's weird. 00:12:02.320 --> 00:12:04.799 But you could see why some kids would like it. 00:12:05.360 --> 00:12:09.360 You think, man, can you go play Nintendo Switch or something? 00:12:09.759 --> 00:12:11.600 No, they're playing funeral right now. 00:12:11.840 --> 00:12:18.240 You could also see why they might not be into playing funeral and instead play wedding, which would be categorically different. 00:12:18.399 --> 00:12:21.840 It's fun and happy, and American kids play wedding too. 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:24.559 We had friends over at our house one night. 00:12:24.639 --> 00:12:38.559 Uh they were a three-girl, one-boy family, and we are a three-girl family, and the kids are all downstairs, and the parents are upstairs, and then one of the kids comes upstairs to us and says, We're playing wedding downstairs, and we have a question. 00:12:38.799 --> 00:12:40.159 There's only one boy. 00:12:40.320 --> 00:12:42.639 Should he be the pastor or the groom? 00:12:46.720 --> 00:12:55.360 And me and the other dad look at each other like, can't she play Nintendo Switch or something? 00:12:57.519 --> 00:13:00.080 So I guess some things transcend culture. 00:13:01.840 --> 00:13:07.919 In Israel, they're playing wedding or funeral, but there are some kids that won't play either. 00:13:08.240 --> 00:13:10.399 Again, another real example from my house. 00:13:10.639 --> 00:13:14.879 Kid comes over and asks to play with my daughters, and my daughters say, What do you want to play? 00:13:15.039 --> 00:13:17.679 And he says, Well, let's go, let's go play house. 00:13:18.240 --> 00:13:22.799 And my my daughters are like, no, you know, too girly. 00:13:23.759 --> 00:13:26.879 And so the kids like, all right, let's go to the creek and catch fish. 00:13:27.440 --> 00:13:31.679 And my kids are like, it's too dirty. 00:13:33.919 --> 00:13:37.360 I'm beginning to deduce you just don't want to play. 00:13:37.679 --> 00:13:39.279 Like you're just being obstinate. 00:13:39.360 --> 00:13:43.039 If it was somebody else's kids acting like that, I would say you're being a spoiled brat. 00:13:43.200 --> 00:13:46.399 But I would never say that about my kids are just princesses. 00:13:47.120 --> 00:13:50.080 Your kids are brats, my kids are refined. 00:13:52.559 --> 00:13:57.600 So Jesus is using that as his illustration here. 00:13:58.240 --> 00:14:00.480 It doesn't have to be a kid illustration. 00:14:00.639 --> 00:14:07.759 I listened to a podcast this week, and uh for you this might be a stretch, but for me, I'm studying Matthew 11 when I listened to this podcast. 00:14:07.840 --> 00:14:10.159 It was a business podcast that one of you sent me. 00:14:10.240 --> 00:14:20.639 Uh, and it was an interview with Starlink, Starlink Internet Company, their lead attorney, and it was kind of a hostile interviewer, and he asked, you know, why are you guys always in legal trouble? 00:14:21.440 --> 00:14:24.159 And he said, Well, he I've been with Starlink for three years. 00:14:24.320 --> 00:14:35.120 The first year I said we were uh sued by the government because we were charging so much less than the other companies that we were accused of unfair business practices. 00:14:35.759 --> 00:14:42.559 So last year we were charging the same as all the other companies to do what we do, and we were accused of collusion with them. 00:14:43.200 --> 00:14:51.440 So this year we're charging more, and the government just notified us they're gonna bring a lawsuit that we are making a monopoly because of how much we charge. 00:14:51.759 --> 00:14:53.440 Like you can't win. 00:14:55.840 --> 00:15:01.679 That's the logic here in Luke 7 and Matthew 11. 00:15:02.399 --> 00:15:05.600 We can't play with you because you're too sad. 00:15:05.759 --> 00:15:08.240 We can't play with you because you're too happy. 00:15:08.639 --> 00:15:10.000 Notice what Jesus says. 00:15:10.159 --> 00:15:15.600 The Son of Man, or sorry, he says verse 18, John came neither eating nor drinking. 00:15:16.159 --> 00:15:18.879 And they say, He's got a demon. 00:15:19.360 --> 00:15:22.240 When it says not eating or drinking, it doesn't mean he didn't eat or drink anything. 00:15:22.320 --> 00:15:24.399 It means he didn't eat and drink like a normal person. 00:15:24.639 --> 00:15:28.080 Remember, he ate locust and honey and he drank water. 00:15:28.320 --> 00:15:30.720 And they look at him and they say, He's got a demon. 00:15:30.960 --> 00:15:33.600 They don't really care about the locust and honey. 00:15:33.759 --> 00:15:37.759 They care that he called them a brood of vipers and told them to get out of there. 00:15:38.000 --> 00:15:40.799 And it's like, oh, that's clear evidence of demonic activity. 00:15:40.960 --> 00:15:45.840 Rejecting the Pharisees and the attorneys as their authority, the scribes and the attorneys, rejecting them. 00:15:46.000 --> 00:15:47.440 The guy's got a demon. 00:15:48.960 --> 00:15:51.600 So now they go to Jesus and it says, the Son of Man. 00:15:51.759 --> 00:15:54.799 Notice Jesus' statement, he's identifying himself as the Son of Man. 00:15:54.879 --> 00:15:57.600 That's a messianic title from the book of Daniel. 00:15:57.759 --> 00:16:02.000 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they said, Look at him, a glutton and a drunkard. 00:16:03.200 --> 00:16:08.960 Again, that doesn't mean that Jesus was a glutton or that he was a drunkard any more than it means John had a demon. 00:16:09.039 --> 00:16:11.279 The two, the accusations aren't true. 00:16:11.600 --> 00:16:18.080 What is true is that John ate locusts and honey and drank water, and what is true is that Jesus ate hummus and drank wine. 00:16:18.559 --> 00:16:21.279 That doesn't make him a drunkard or a glutton. 00:16:21.440 --> 00:16:23.279 That's their logic, though. 00:16:24.559 --> 00:16:34.720 Now, to make this point to the Pharisees, Jesus could have easily used the analogy of the Starlink attorney. 00:16:35.679 --> 00:16:40.480 Or whatever, that's, you know, antiquated. 00:16:41.200 --> 00:16:44.720 He could have used an example from the law of his day. 00:16:44.879 --> 00:16:50.000 I'm sure the attorneys of his day could invent any reason to prosecute anybody they want. 00:16:50.159 --> 00:16:55.519 Jesus would have had a lot of examples at hand, but he didn't use the example of the attorney. 00:16:55.840 --> 00:16:59.600 He used the example of the child, even though it's the same point. 00:16:59.840 --> 00:17:00.240 Why? 00:17:00.480 --> 00:17:16.559 Because the example of the attorney would have elevated the scribes and the Pharisees and granted that they're refined and in the nuances of the law, whereas Jesus cuts through all that and says, not that you're like the hypocritical attorney, which again he would have had examples for that, but no, you're like the spoiled brats. 00:17:17.359 --> 00:17:26.880 You think you're so smart, you think you're so refined, you think you're so intellectually superior to everybody around you, and that's why you won't follow Jesus. 00:17:27.039 --> 00:17:31.359 No, your logic doesn't hold up, it doesn't pass the playground test. 00:17:32.400 --> 00:17:35.119 Kids on the playground would see through you. 00:17:36.079 --> 00:17:38.400 You don't actually have objections. 00:17:40.640 --> 00:17:44.559 Now, note in this that John and Jesus did have different styles. 00:17:45.119 --> 00:17:47.039 Certainly they had different styles. 00:17:47.599 --> 00:17:51.759 But they had the same substance, they had the same message, and the Pharisees saw that. 00:17:51.920 --> 00:17:54.559 They rejected John because John rejected them. 00:17:54.720 --> 00:17:57.839 They're rejecting Jesus because Jesus rejects them. 00:17:58.400 --> 00:18:00.160 They don't want to give their lives to the Lord. 00:18:00.240 --> 00:18:01.680 They're too educated for that. 00:18:01.839 --> 00:18:03.200 They're too refined for that. 00:18:03.359 --> 00:18:05.119 They're too socially aware. 00:18:05.279 --> 00:18:11.039 They're connected with the politics of the day, and they want the kingdom to come, and Jesus isn't going to bring it. 00:18:12.240 --> 00:18:18.960 They don't want the Roman system in the temple to alter right now because their authority and power and money is in the temple. 00:18:19.200 --> 00:18:27.119 So they are happy like they are, and they will look down their noses at anybody who is into the contrary of that, including John and Jesus. 00:18:27.279 --> 00:18:28.880 They reject them both. 00:18:32.799 --> 00:18:35.440 People use the same kind of excuses today. 00:18:36.400 --> 00:18:42.240 You invite a non-believer to church and they say, oh no, I could never be a Christian. 00:18:42.799 --> 00:18:44.480 Christians are too political. 00:18:45.839 --> 00:18:48.400 And then next week they say, oh no, I can never be a Christian. 00:18:48.559 --> 00:18:50.480 You guys don't care enough about the world. 00:18:52.640 --> 00:18:54.160 I could never be a Christian. 00:18:54.480 --> 00:18:57.680 I went to that church and you guys are way too intellectual. 00:18:58.160 --> 00:19:00.319 You know, Christianity is about relationships, yo. 00:19:01.839 --> 00:19:04.319 And they go to church the next week, oh, I can never go to church. 00:19:04.400 --> 00:19:06.400 You guys are way too blue-collar. 00:19:06.960 --> 00:19:09.119 I'm more of a sophisticated person. 00:19:10.960 --> 00:19:12.559 People come up with excuses. 00:19:13.519 --> 00:19:17.519 And they're so easily, you know, it's so easy to expose them. 00:19:17.680 --> 00:19:19.599 They're self-refuting oftentimes. 00:19:19.920 --> 00:19:22.720 Somebody says, I can never be a Christian because of the Crusades. 00:19:24.240 --> 00:19:28.559 Alright, let me spend 30 seconds with an overview of the Crusades. 00:19:28.640 --> 00:19:32.640 You'll understand by the third crusade, Christians are being martyred for not participating. 00:19:33.599 --> 00:19:35.680 So I guess you'll be baptized then, right? 00:19:36.640 --> 00:19:41.359 It's just excuses people come up with that aren't even true. 00:19:42.960 --> 00:19:48.720 Can you invite your co-worker to the first Baptist wilderness church? 00:19:50.240 --> 00:19:52.319 That's John's church, by the way. 00:19:52.799 --> 00:19:53.759 It's out in the wilderness. 00:19:53.839 --> 00:19:54.880 It's a fundamentalist church. 00:19:54.960 --> 00:19:56.319 They just have one piano. 00:19:58.400 --> 00:20:00.319 They don't even have a children's service there. 00:20:01.119 --> 00:20:04.240 They won't even baptize an infant out there at that church. 00:20:05.200 --> 00:20:07.759 They're like, oh no, I can't I can't go there. 00:20:07.920 --> 00:20:12.319 I can't go to the first Wilderness Baptist Church, uh, fundies. 00:20:13.680 --> 00:20:21.039 So next week you invite him to some church in the suburbs of Tiberias with a name like the Mount. 00:20:23.680 --> 00:20:25.440 They got cool music there. 00:20:25.759 --> 00:20:27.680 They don't even have a baptismal. 00:20:28.960 --> 00:20:30.559 And he says, no, I couldn't go there. 00:20:30.720 --> 00:20:32.240 The people there are too worldly. 00:20:34.000 --> 00:20:40.000 You start to deduce the person's problem isn't the music style at the church. 00:20:40.400 --> 00:20:44.880 The person's problem isn't the intellectual capacity of the average attender. 00:20:45.680 --> 00:20:47.759 The person doesn't like church. 00:20:48.079 --> 00:20:49.680 The person doesn't like Jesus. 00:20:49.759 --> 00:20:50.880 That's the problem. 00:20:53.119 --> 00:20:59.119 I used to do evangelism at UCLA with a guy named Ray Comfort, maybe many of you have heard of him. 00:20:59.200 --> 00:21:00.720 He's a very effective evangelist. 00:21:00.880 --> 00:21:05.279 He had a lot of evangelism tricks that he would do, but one of them was to have a banana with him. 00:21:05.839 --> 00:21:13.039 And he would take it out and he would tell people, I can prove to you the intelligent design of the universe that God designed the universe because of this banana. 00:21:13.200 --> 00:21:15.519 Look how sophisticated this banana is. 00:21:15.599 --> 00:21:17.759 It's packaged for shipping and transport. 00:21:17.920 --> 00:21:22.400 It's color-coded so you know when it's ripe, and it's curved for the shape of your hand. 00:21:24.160 --> 00:21:27.039 God made the banana like this for us humans to enjoy. 00:21:27.279 --> 00:21:28.480 That's proof of a creator. 00:21:28.640 --> 00:21:34.799 And of course, the intellectual snobbery at UCLA would go, no, no, you're so dumb, you're so dumb. 00:21:34.960 --> 00:21:38.160 Those bananas were genetically engineered to be like that. 00:21:39.119 --> 00:21:42.079 They're genetically engineered to be that shape and that color. 00:21:42.160 --> 00:21:45.599 Like that took a lot of ingenuity to develop that. 00:21:46.640 --> 00:21:48.640 And he would laugh and say, aha. 00:21:49.599 --> 00:21:59.119 So you're saying if something is as complex as a banana, it must have been designed by somebody smarter than the banana. 00:22:02.160 --> 00:22:04.559 Are you smarter than a banana? 00:22:05.599 --> 00:22:07.839 Are you as complex as a banana? 00:22:09.039 --> 00:22:15.359 And of course, the whole evolution thing, it's not a real argument against Christianity. 00:22:15.519 --> 00:22:20.640 By the way, he would have a banana in one hand, he would have a backpack with him filled with Darwin's origin of species. 00:22:21.200 --> 00:22:25.920 And whenever we said, I can't I can't be a Christian because Christians are racist and all that. 00:22:26.079 --> 00:22:30.720 He would hand them Darwin's origin of species, which is one of the most racist books you could even imagine. 00:22:30.960 --> 00:22:32.960 And say, read this and come find me next week. 00:22:33.200 --> 00:22:34.720 Nobody ever tracked them down. 00:22:36.799 --> 00:22:39.440 It's just lies. 00:22:39.759 --> 00:22:43.599 It's just the kid who says, I can't play wedding with you because you're too happy. 00:22:43.759 --> 00:22:46.160 I can't play funeral with you with you're too sad. 00:22:46.319 --> 00:22:50.079 I can't submit my life to God because John doesn't eat meat. 00:22:50.240 --> 00:22:53.920 I can't submit my life to God because Jesus drinks wine. 00:22:55.839 --> 00:22:57.519 What's wrong with you? 00:22:58.319 --> 00:23:00.000 You're obstinate. 00:23:01.359 --> 00:23:03.440 You're stuck in your unbelief. 00:23:04.559 --> 00:23:08.960 By the way, that same logical fallacy, it is at play with Christians too, all the time. 00:23:09.279 --> 00:23:14.160 You know, I already mentioned the one where somebody says, oh, this is more of a Christian excuse than a non-believer excuse. 00:23:14.240 --> 00:23:16.720 Oh, that church is too focused on teaching. 00:23:16.880 --> 00:23:18.720 You know, Christianity is supposed to be a relationship. 00:23:18.799 --> 00:23:23.200 And then the other church, oh no, they're toophisticated enough. 00:23:23.359 --> 00:23:24.799 They have bad doctrine. 00:23:26.880 --> 00:23:29.039 I once went to a Nats game. 00:23:29.519 --> 00:23:32.799 Somebody on our way to the Nats game, he told me, Man, pray for me. 00:23:32.880 --> 00:23:34.799 I wish I had more evangelism encounters. 00:23:35.039 --> 00:23:36.559 I wish I was bolder at evangelism. 00:23:36.720 --> 00:23:37.359 He worked at the Pentagon. 00:23:37.519 --> 00:23:42.559 He's like, I wish I had took more advantage of opportunities I had with new people coming in and getting lunch with them and sharing the gospel with them. 00:23:42.640 --> 00:23:43.839 I just wish I was more bold. 00:23:44.000 --> 00:23:54.960 And then at the Nats game, we're like walking from where he parks to the stadium, and there's a dude out there with a bullhorn and a big sign that's like Jesus rose from the grave, Jesus is Lord, and preaching the gospel through the bullhorn. 00:23:55.039 --> 00:23:58.079 And my friend looks at me and goes, Man, that guy just nobody listens to him. 00:23:58.160 --> 00:23:59.119 That's too over the top. 00:23:59.200 --> 00:24:01.599 That guy is just, he's doing more harm than good. 00:24:04.480 --> 00:24:06.000 Wait a minute. 00:24:09.680 --> 00:24:11.519 We have the same logical fallacies. 00:24:11.599 --> 00:24:15.119 But anyway, let's go back from that stadium to Mount Arbell with Jesus here. 00:24:15.519 --> 00:24:22.880 And he says, 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. 00:24:23.200 --> 00:24:25.519 So that's the heart of the issue, isn't it? 00:24:25.680 --> 00:24:30.160 Earlier in Matthew, they had already confronted him back in Matthew chapter 9. 00:24:30.240 --> 00:24:34.160 They had already confronted him for spending time with sinners and tax collectors, saying, That's unclean. 00:24:34.240 --> 00:24:35.200 What are you doing with them? 00:24:35.359 --> 00:24:38.000 And Jesus, remember, he compared what he's doing to a wedding. 00:24:38.079 --> 00:24:40.799 They said, Why are you partying with sinners and tax collectors? 00:24:40.880 --> 00:24:46.400 And Jesus said, Because it's a wedding, and you don't mourn at the wedding when the bride is there. 00:24:48.319 --> 00:24:50.960 He borrows the wedding analogy again. 00:24:54.960 --> 00:25:00.000 Jesus says, the issue with you is you will not believe and you're inventing excuses. 00:25:00.160 --> 00:25:05.279 There is an important difference between being childlike and being childish, and you have to know the difference. 00:25:06.240 --> 00:25:12.000 Being childlike is saying, God is my father, Christ his son is my brother, I'm adopted in the family. 00:25:12.160 --> 00:25:16.480 I want my father to teach me, I submit my life to him, I want his word to guide me. 00:25:16.640 --> 00:25:18.799 I'm like a little child with an authority over me. 00:25:18.960 --> 00:25:20.480 Direct my life, Lord. 00:25:20.640 --> 00:25:21.920 That's childlike. 00:25:22.240 --> 00:25:28.000 Childish is saying, I can't be a Christian because blah. 00:25:31.039 --> 00:25:34.640 Unbelief is foolish and its end is disastrous. 00:25:35.599 --> 00:25:46.240 I may have shared this with you before, but before I was a Christian, I had a friend, a friend who eventually led me to the Lord, who was sharing the gospel with me, and I would give him all my objections to Christianity. 00:25:46.400 --> 00:25:48.400 Keep in mind I had not read the Bible at this point. 00:25:48.480 --> 00:25:50.799 I didn't have any actual objections to Christianity. 00:25:50.960 --> 00:25:55.119 They were objections in the category of like, what about evolution kind of objections. 00:25:55.279 --> 00:25:57.359 In fact, I remember two of them very specifically. 00:25:57.519 --> 00:26:03.200 I told him that there's a different creation account in Genesis 1 than there is in Genesis 2, so the Bible contradicts itself. 00:26:03.440 --> 00:26:04.720 I had heard that from somebody. 00:26:04.799 --> 00:26:10.960 I had never read Genesis 1 or Genesis 2, and I just repeated it to my friends who had never heard it either. 00:26:11.200 --> 00:26:14.000 And so he like, he says, okay, I'm gonna write down your objections. 00:26:14.079 --> 00:26:15.200 There's a little notebook he has. 00:26:15.279 --> 00:26:18.000 He's like, I'll ask my youth pastor and I'll get back to you. 00:26:18.319 --> 00:26:23.279 My other objection was the Bible says, don't kill, and yet you eat meat. 00:26:24.160 --> 00:26:25.440 Check mate. 00:26:28.319 --> 00:26:33.839 Keep in mind, at the time I was eating meat, so this is not like an objection from like the ethics of meat or anything. 00:26:33.920 --> 00:26:41.279 I was I probably asked the question with the chicken nugget in my mouth, which is not meat, so that doesn't really work, but whatever. 00:26:42.960 --> 00:26:54.960 When I eventually got saved, I came back to my friend and uh you know, told him I'm a Christian now, and he had his notebook with him, and he had written down answers in his notebook to my questions. 00:26:55.279 --> 00:26:58.400 Like over the last few months, he had written down answers for me. 00:26:59.119 --> 00:27:02.400 I told him I don't I don't even I don't even care. 00:27:02.880 --> 00:27:08.880 Like, don't thank you for doing that, but uh, they're not real objections, you know? 00:27:09.119 --> 00:27:14.000 Whether it's a period or semicolon in Genesis 2 is not what my faith hinges on. 00:27:15.519 --> 00:27:17.920 And that's true, that's what Jesus is running into. 00:27:18.160 --> 00:27:23.200 People that are stuck writing down all their questions but will never, never believe. 00:27:23.440 --> 00:27:29.359 And so he ends it at the end of verse 19 with wisdom, this is the ESV, is justified by her deeds. 00:27:29.519 --> 00:27:31.519 I love the New American Standard Translation of this. 00:27:31.680 --> 00:27:37.200 Wisdom is vindicated by her deeds, or Luke 7, wisdom is vindicated by her children. 00:27:37.440 --> 00:27:40.960 It's one Greek word, it means either justified or vindicated. 00:27:41.039 --> 00:27:44.720 We have two English words, but they mean the same thing in Greek, and you can understand why. 00:27:44.960 --> 00:27:49.680 Justified means to be declared guiltless, to be declared righteous. 00:27:50.400 --> 00:27:51.759 And we use that as a Christian word. 00:27:51.920 --> 00:27:53.839 You're justified all over the book of Romans. 00:27:54.000 --> 00:27:58.160 You're justified by God through faith, you're declared sinless and righteous by God through faith. 00:27:58.400 --> 00:28:02.400 The word also can mean that you are proved correct. 00:28:02.960 --> 00:28:05.599 You're vindicated, you're found not guilty in court. 00:28:05.759 --> 00:28:08.240