← Back to sermon library

They turn in your Bibles to Matthew 
chapter 11. As we continue our exposition 
of Matthew's gospel, we're in chapter 11. This morning, we're 
going to take up verses 16 to 24. Depending on how time goes, 
it might just be 16 to 19. But you remember the context. 
The Lord Jesus in chapter 10 has transferred or rather delegated 
his authority to the disciples, the 12 whom he has appointed, 
he sends them out for gospel ministry, but he does not cease 
his activity. Chapter 11 verse 1 is a transitional 
and summary statement. It came to pass when Jesus finished 
commanding his 12 disciples that he departed from there to teach 
and to preach in their cities. And what we find in chapters 
11 and 12 are varying responses to the Lord Christ. The emphasis 
seems to be on rising opposition, however. That culminates or is 
expressed in chapter 12, verse 14, then the Pharisees went out 
and plotted against him how they might destroy him. So we see 
that thrust, that emphasis beginning to come far more into the forefront 
in the gospel record. And here specifically in chapter 
11, There are several instances concerning John the Baptist. 
Remember verses 2 to 6, John sends two of his disciples to 
ask Jesus, are you the coming one or do we look for another? 
After Jesus makes his response to them and sends them back to 
the Baptist, he then gives his assessment of John the Baptist 
in verses 7 to 15. And his assessment involves several 
things. He highlights the blessing of 
the New Covenant era. was a great man. But he who is 
least in the kingdom of heaven exceeds John. He's not speaking 
in terms of accomplishment. He's not speaking in terms of 
ability. He's speaking in terms of covenant. 
Remember Hebrews 7 and 8. The emphasis lies on the better 
covenant, which is founded on better promises and affords a 
better hope. So that's what Jesus is doing 
here with reference to his assessment of John the Baptist. And here 
In verses 16 to 19 he begins to indict Israel in their unbelief 
for having rejected John's testimony and Jesus' testimony. And then 
there's a vivid illustration or expression of this in verses 
20 to 24, the unresponsive towns in Galilee where Jesus had done 
his mighty work. So that's a bit of an overview 
of the section. I just want to begin reading 
in verse 2 of chapter 11. And when John had heard in prison 
about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and 
said to him, Are you the coming one, or do we look for another? 
Jesus answered and said to them, Go and tell John the things which 
you hear and see. The blind see and the lame walk, 
the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised 
up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed 
is he who is not offended because of me. As they departed, Jesus 
began to say to the multitudes concerning John, What did you 
go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what did you go out to see? 
A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed, those who wear soft clothing 
are in kings' houses. But what did you go out to see? 
A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than 
a prophet, for this is he of whom it is written, Behold, I 
send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way 
before you. Assuredly, I say to you, among 
those born of women, there has not risen one greater than John 
the Baptist. But he who is least in the kingdom 
of heaven is greater than he. And from the days of John the 
Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence. The 
violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the 
law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to receive 
it, he is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let 
him hear. But to what shall I liken this 
generation? It is like children sitting in 
the marketplaces and calling to their companions and saying, 
we played the flute for you and you did not dance. We mourned 
to you and you did not lament. For John came neither eating 
nor drinking, and they say, he has a demon. The son of man came 
eating and drinking, and they say, look, a glutton and a wine-bibber, 
a friend of tax collectors and sinners. Wisdom is justified 
by her children. Then he began to rebuke the cities 
in which 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 which 
were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would 
have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say to you, 
it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of 
judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, who are exalted 
to heaven, will be brought down to Hades, For if the mighty works 
which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have 
remained until this day. But I say to you that it will 
be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment 
than for you. At that time Jesus answered and 
said, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you 
have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have 
revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed 
good in your sight. All things have been delivered 
to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, 
nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to 
whom the Son wills 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. Amen. Let us pray. Our Father, 
we thank you for your word. We pray again for the ministry 
of your spirit. We pray that you would guide 
us and direct us and lead us into all truth. We pray that 
you would forgive us afresh in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ 
as we acknowledge the darkening influence of sin upon our minds 
and hearts. We pray that you would throw 
those things away and that you would cause us to receive with 
gladness and with joy the word of truth. We ask this in the 
name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Just as we've read this, 
as we noticed a couple of weeks ago, John was not doubting who 
Jesus was in terms of being the Messiah. John, rather, was struggling 
with the messianic agenda. John understood that when Messiah 
would come, there would be an overwhelming judgment, an influence 
of his wrath upon his enemies. And John is sitting in a prison 
cell because of a sermon that he preached against Herod, on 
the seventh commandment. It is not lawful for you to have 
your brother's wife. So John was not doubting who 
Jesus is, rather he was struggling with that agenda. And so Jesus 
sends these disciples back to instruct him. I think in the 
background is Isaiah the prophet, chapters 35 and 61, which told 
that the Messiah would come and do good and glorious things, 
but there would in fact be a judgment." So he's basically telling John, 
you need to understand that what you are witnessing is in fact 
the coming one. And then Jesus' assessment of 
John is absolutely glowing. What did you go out into the 
wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? Did 
you go out to see a yes man? Did you go out to see a man who 
doesn't stand fast with reference to the truth? Did you go out 
to see a man who is true today and false tomorrow? No, you went 
out to see a prophet. Did you go out to see a man clothed 
in soft garments? Did you go see a prissy effeminate 
man that doesn't hold fastest convictions? No, you went out 
to see a prophet. And I tell you, he's more than 
a prophet. And it's based on that reality that Jesus then 
highlights this fact that the era, the messianic era, has arrived. And it exceeds that that John 
had foretold. In fact, his statement in verse 
13, "...for all the prophets in the law prophesied..." Notice, 
"...until John." Why? Because what they prophesied 
terminates upon the Lord Jesus. He is the fulfillment. He is 
the one who brings in all the promises of God. They are yea 
and amen in Him. And then he makes this statement 
in verse 15, "...he who has ears to hear, let him hear." And then 
he turns to this indictment, verses 16 to 19. Matthew Henry 
says, having commended John, he condemns those who had him 
among them and did not profit by his ministry. So having commended 
John, he now condemns those who had his ministry among them, 
but didn't profit. They didn't listen. They rejected 
him, they refused him, and they refused the Lord Jesus Christ 
himself. So that's the context in which 
we find this expression in verses 16 to 19. We'll look at this 
under two considerations. First, the indictment of Israel's 
unbelief, verses 16 to 19, and then the condemnation of Israel's 
unbelief in verses 20 to 24. As I said, I don't want to push 
us too long, so if we don't have enough time, we'll pick up 20 
to 24, the Lord willing, next Sunday. But as we consider this 
indictment of Israel's unbelief, we have three considerations 
here. First, Jesus tells a parable. Jesus taught people in a way 
that they could understand. Jesus took real-life things, 
real-life issues, real-life circumstances and situations, and he took those 
and brought them to people as a means by which he would shine 
spiritual truth. A means by which he would illustrate 
certain truths concerning the kingdom of heaven. In fact, in 
chapter 13, all he will do there is teach kingdom parables. In 
fact, 11 and 12 serve as the background for those kingdom 
parables, the way men receive or the way men reject the kingdom 
of God as it's preached. But here he uses this parable 
of children playing in the marketplace. Notice in verse 16, "...but to 
what shall I liken this generation?" Now this is important because 
from this point on, Jesus will make several indictments concerning 
this generation, the people to whom He is speaking, the people 
that are living at the time He operates, the people that are 
rejecting Him, in mass, not everybody. There are babes who come by the 
grace of God to embrace the kingdom of God. Even in the cities of 
Galilee, there are Peter, there's Andrew, there's James, there 
are men along the way that embrace the gospel as it is offered. 
But by and large, these groups of cities in Galilee oppose Him 
and reject Him. And so Jesus speaks condemningly 
of this generation. come up, as I said, several times 
more in Matthew's Gospel. And it's important for us to 
understand it speaks to the people that Jesus is speaking to very 
specifically. Notice, he says, it is like children 
sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their companions. 
Several different interpretations of this section. We've seen every 
sermon in chapter 11, there's several views on certain things, 
several views on verse 12, several views on the nature of John's 
doubt while he's sitting in the prison cell. But in this instance, 
I take it this way. The children sitting in the marketplaces 
and calling to their companions. I take this as Jesus and John 
speaking to Israel. Jesus and John speaking to this 
generation. Notice, he says, we played the 
flute for you and you did not dance. This would be a wedding 
game. At the wedding ceremony, there 
would be a flautist. I think that's the correct pronunciation. 
I think flutist shows my ignorance. So it was a flautist who would 
be breathing through that instrument, and the men would be the dancers 
at this particular event, at this wedding ceremony. We played 
the flute for you, and you didn't dance. Then this next game, I 
think it's probably going to trouble us as North Americans 
in the 21st century with our little brood sitting around us, 
but the children probably were playing funeral. I know that's 
not a game you'd recommend to your children. I want you to 
play funeral today. We don't like funerals. We like to stay 
as far away from them as we possibly can. But there was a lot more 
pop and show in a funeral in this particular era. The women 
would be the professional wailers or the mourners. And so what 
Jesus says is in these games, in the marketplace, we played 
the flute for you and you didn't dance. We mourned to you and 
you did not lament. We might say it this way in our 
day and age. We threw the ball to you and 
you didn't catch it. You didn't throw it back. We 
took the puck and we slapshotted it over to you, but you never 
sent it back to us. You are not interested in playing 
the games that we were calling you to play. Now, Jesus is not 
saying the Kingdom of God is a game. He is not suggesting 
that we treat it as a game. Rather, He is using a real-life 
illustration as a parable to shine the light upon Israel's 
unbelief. That's what you need to keep 
in your mind. So the children played the flute, 
Israel did not dance. The children mourned to you and 
you did not lament. Now a moment's reflection upon 
the context in Matthew should flesh out what's going on here. 
Who was the mourner that Jesus is talking about? He's the Baptist. This man who ate locusts and 
wild honey. This man who lived out in the 
wilderness by the river and he was a voice crying in the wilderness. He was an austere man. He called 
men to repentance. He called men a brood of vipers. 
He mourned to you but you didn't lament. Well, who's the floutest 
in the illustration? It's the Lord Jesus. The Lord 
Jesus comes and he announces that self-same kingdom. He gives 
the self-same condition in terms of entrance, by God's grace being 
repentance. But nevertheless, the Lord Jesus 
goes about. He doesn't live out in the wilderness. 
He's not eating locusts and wild honey. He's not living an austere 
life. He is found among the rank and file of man. And dare we 
say it, he is found at feasts. at feasts where people gather 
together and enjoy themselves. How dare him! Calvin explains 
it this way. He says, leading an austere life, 
John thundered out repentance and severe reproof, and sung 
as it were a plaintive song, while the Lord endeavored by 
a cheerful and sprightly song to draw them more gently to the 
Father. They had the same agenda, they 
had the same mission, they had the same objective, they had 
the same end result and goal, is that the people to whom they 
preached repent and enter the kingdom of heaven. But Jesus 
says you're like these children in the marketplace. When the 
other children come and they play the flute, you don't answer. 
When the other children come and they mourn, you don't lament. You're not willing to participate. 
You don't want to enter into the kingdom of God. You would 
rather sit on the sidelines brooding. You'd rather sit on the sidelines 
whining. You'd rather sit on the sidelines 
grumbling. You'd rather sit there in your 
stubbornness. in your rebellion and in your 
unbelief. That's what Jesus is saying by 
using this simple illustration, this simple parable, it is designed 
to show the unbelieving nature of the mass of people at the 
time of His and the Baptist's ministry. This generation was 
stubborn and sinfully unresponsive to the Baptist, and to the Messiah 
and demonstrated the characteristics of an incorrigible son. Remember 
that word, incorrigible. Incorrigible means rebellious, 
unresponsive, and aggravatedly so. Incorrigible means, no, I 
am not going to do it. Incorrigible isn't your two-year-old 
who won't eat his peas. Incorrigible is your 20-year-old 
who is steeped in patterns and trajectories of ungodly, rebellious, 
lawless behavior. Israel at the time of the Messiah, 
at the time of the Baptist, again, not everybody, there are babes, 
according to verse 25, who have these things revealed to them 
and they enter into the kingdom of heaven. But in large part, 
they were the incorrigible son who rejected, who despised, and 
who refused to dance when the Messiah played the flute, or 
to mourn when the Baptist lamented." That's what he's saying here. 
They did not respond to either of these men accordingly. And 
interestingly enough, had they responded to the Baptist properly, 
they would have responded to the Lord Christ properly. Again, 
they're not speaking different messages, they're not speaking 
different things, they're not speaking in a different way, 
or they're not speaking about different objectives. They're 
speaking the same truth. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven 
is at hand. But their manner is a bit different. And that's what Jesus now explains. That's the explanation. We looked 
at the parable. Secondly, we look at the explanation. 
Notice in verse 18, 4. 4 is the reason why. 4. He's going to tell us what 
this parable means. Don't make a mistake. Don't think, 
wow, this is so bizarre, it's so odd, it's so strange. No, 
it's a perfect location for Jesus to upbraid those who are rejecting 
Him at this particular time. For John came neither eating 
nor drinking, and they say, He has a demon. You know what they said? He's 
nuts. He's a madman. He's out of his mind. Remember 
I said last week that for a man to stand out in the wilderness, 
clothed in camel's hair, eating locusts and wild honey, was no 
more natural in this context and environment than it would 
be in our day. Now, perhaps a little more natural, there would have 
been those who took the Nazirite vow and they would have looked 
a bit conspicuously different. But it was a strange mode of 
behavior for this man. So notice what Jesus says. John 
came neither eating nor drinking, and they say he has a demon. He's out of his mind. We're not 
going to listen to him. We're going to reject him. We're 
going to refuse him. We're going to harden our hearts 
against him. We will be the incorrigible son toward him. We are not going 
to respond. We are not going to give ear. 
When he says, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, 
we'll just write him off as a madman. We'll write him off as a demon-possessed 
man. They rejected him outright because 
he didn't meet with their expectations. He didn't usher in the message 
that they themselves wanted to hear. And they marginalized him. 
They probably spoke of him in the towns. They probably said, 
have you gone out to see that man? Yeah, he is filled with 
demons. Look at him, he's living out 
there eating locusts and wild honey. Notice the second section. The Son of Man came eating and 
drinking and they say, look, a glutton and a wine-bibber, 
a friend of tax collectors and sinners. Now I think the basic 
observation is this. You can't make unbelievers happy. 
Unfortunately, you can't make a lot of believers happy, but 
He preaches too heady. He doesn't preach heady enough. 
He's too intellectual. He's not intellectual enough. 
He's too emotional. He's not emotional enough. He's 
too loud. He's not loud enough. We're like 
children sitting in the marketplaces. The floutest comes and we don't 
want to dance. The mourner comes, we don't want 
to lament. Give me exactly what I want. It's terrible, isn't 
it? We're so selfish. Oh, he said 
this, and it offended my delicate sensitivities. You can't make 
people happy. You young men studying for gospel 
ministry, keep this in your mind. You preach thunder with the Baptist, 
they'll call you demon-possessed. You preach the celebratory nature 
of the kingdom of heaven, they'll say you're a winebibber and a 
glutton. You can't win for losing. There's a lot going on, though, 
however, in what this response entails. Jesus says, the Son 
of Man came eating and drinking. He was not an austere man. He 
didn't live out in the wilderness. He didn't live at the river. 
He didn't eat locusts and wild honey. In fact, in Matthew's 
Gospel, in Matthew chapter 9, after the calling and conversion 
of Matthew, Matthew calls a celebratory feast for his friends. Why is 
that? Because Matthew wants them to 
hear the Messiah. He wants them to hear the Savior. He wants 
them to hear the Christ. So Jesus is at this feast with 
them. And what happens? The Pharisees 
standing outside ask this question. Why do the disciples of John 
fast, but your master eats with tax collectors and sinners? You 
see, that's what's built into Jesus' response here. The Son 
of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, look, a glutton 
and a wine-bibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners. We 
learn several things in this section that I want to slow down 
a little bit and consider. First of all, the Lord Jesus 
did not live like John in the wilderness and have a diet of 
locusts and honey. He was found among people and 
He even attended feasts. And as a result of this, they 
concluded He's a wine-bibber and a glutton. How do you make 
that conclusion? Brethren, do you jump to conclusions 
like that? This brother's a little bit different. 
He must be mad. This brother's a little different. 
He must be a glutton and a wine-bibber. Just stop. 1 Corinthians 13 necessitates 
you don't do that. It doesn't think evil. It doesn't 
imagine or automatically conclude that some difference on the part 
of a brother is bad. That's what these guys are doing 
to them. Gil says it this way. We may 
learn from hence that no sort of preachers and preaching will 
please some men, that the best of gospel ministers may be reproached 
as libertines. Jesus, he's a winebibber, a glutton 
and a winebibber. He's a libertine. He's an antinomian. He's licentious. He gluts himself. He drinks liquor. He drinks liquor. How dare him? He's bad. We want 
nothing to do with him. He's evil. or madman. That Baptist standing out there 
in the wilderness, he's nuts, he's out of his mind, he's crazy. 
Gill says that they will sooner or later be justified and cleared 
from all such aspersions. We need to understand, wisdom 
is justified by her children. That's the point in verse 19. What Jesus does, what Jesus preaches, 
what John did, what John preached will be vindicated. They're not 
mad. They're not gluttonous men. They're not libertines. They're 
not sinfully austere. A second observation that we 
ought to make on this section. The Son of Man came eating and 
drinking, and they say, look, a glutton and a winebibber. Notice 
the last clause, a friend of tax collectors and sinners. The very thing they complained 
about was a declaration of the truth of the gospel. I wonder 
if the gospel writers laughed every time they wrote something 
like this. And I don't mean laughed in a weird sort of way. They 
got a smile on their face, because when the scribes and the Pharisees 
complained, this man receives sinners and eats with them. Exactly! That's the point! We're sinners! And in order to eat with God, 
there needs to be bloodshed. In order to eat with God, there 
needs to be a righteousness imputed. In order to eat with God, we 
must be forgiven. We must be counted as righteous. 
The very complaint that they proffer is the very essence and 
sum and substance of the Christian message. The gospel is not accept 
Jesus into your heart. The gospel is that God is accepting 
through Jesus wretched, hellbound, damnable sinners through the 
work of his dearly beloved Son. You see, Jesus comes, he doesn't 
lead this austere life, and they say, he's a friend of tax collectors 
and sinners. Go back for just a moment, I 
already alluded to it, but let's pull it apart a little bit, back 
in chapter 9. Chapter 9 at verse 9. As Jesus 
passed on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at 
the tax office. And he said to him, follow me. 
So he arose and followed him. Now it happened as Jesus sat 
at the table in the house that behold, many tax collectors and 
sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. And when 
the Pharisees saw it, they said to his disciples, why does your 
teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners? Why does he do this? What's the matter with him? What's 
his problem? Doesn't he know the defilement 
that will come? You see, for us, when we mix with the wrong 
sort, defilement does come, because we're not that holy. But for 
Jesus, when he mixes with tax collectors and sinners, purity 
spreads. Do you see their consternation? 
Why is he doing this? Who does he think he is? Doesn't 
he know this rabble? Doesn't he know this crowd? Doesn't 
he know these people? When Jesus heard that, he said 
to them, he gives them a three-part response. Again, he tells a proverb, 
those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who 
are sick. See, I think he says this because even Pharisees would 
get that. He says this because even people 
like you and I get that. We don't go to the hospital when 
we're fine, we go to the hospital when we snap an arm. We go to 
the hospital when we contract a disease. We go to the hospital 
when we're bleeding out of our eyes. But if none of those things 
are happening, we have no need of a physician. What's Jesus' 
point? Who else should I go to? Where 
does the doctor go? Does he go to the health club? Does he go to the spa? Is he 
going to be around people that are fit and trim and 0% body 
fat? That wouldn't be too fit. You've 
got to have some body fat or you'll die. He doesn't go there. He goes where the sick are. Jesus 
tells a proverb. Then he tells a prophet. But 
go and learn what this means. I desire mercy and not sacrifice. You've missed the point of the 
prophets. And this one is really good that 
Jesus gives, not that the others aren't. But this phrase, go and 
learn, is probably a phrase that these Pharisees spoke on many 
occasions. When the Pharisees were asked a particular question 
on casuistry, or how do we live as Jews, or how do we do such 
and such, go and learn what it says. Go and learn what it means. So many times these men in their 
official duties as the pharisaic order of the preachers and teachers 
of Israel. They would have been asked questions 
and they would have sent the pupil back to the scripture and 
said, you need to go and you need to learn what this means. 
For Jesus to do this to these rabbis. Wow. I bet they were 
offended. Who does he think he is? We know 
the prophet Hosea. We know 6.6. We know what he's 
talking about. Interesting, in Hosea's day, 
they didn't know. They were being upgraded for 
the very thing. You have your cultic obedience in place. You're 
doing the ritual. But it's, I desire obedience, 
or I desire mercy, not sacrifice. It's saying that he doesn't want 
sacrifice at all. It's an idiom. Don't bring your 
sacrifice without mercy. Don't bring your sacrifice to 
the altar when you're wretched to your wife or to your son or 
to your husband or your daughter, your friend in the church. Don't 
think to bring that up before the Lord God Almighty and say, 
Lord, I'm worshiping you and I'm presenting you this sacrifice 
when your heart is filthy because you've not shown mercy along 
the way. You need to go and learn what this means. He tells him 
a proverb about the physician, he tells him the prophet, Hosea, 
and he tells him the purpose for his mission. Look at what 
he says. For I did not come to call the 
righteous, but sinners to repentance. That's why Jesus came. The Son 
of Man comes eating and drinking. And you indict him thus. You 
say he's a glutton, he's a winebibber, he's a friend of tax collectors 
and sinners. Jesus says, that's why I came. 
That is the purpose. That is my point. That is my 
objective. That is my goal. If you are here 
this morning, you need to learn that if you've not come to Christ. 
Christ's purpose in coming to this world was to save sinners, 
not to call the righteous, not those who think they're something, 
not those who are stubborn, not those who are incorrigible, not 
those who have set themselves against the living God, but sinners 
is come to call. Now notice, Just jot down for 
a moment, just so you can see this imagery played out. Verse 
14, then the disciples of John came to him saying, why do we 
and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast? 
So even the disciples of John are seeing this difference. They're 
seeing this disparity. They're saying, you know, John 
the Baptist and we, we fast a lot. But Jesus, you go around and 
you do all these things, and you're at a feast, and you're 
with these tax collectors and sinners. I don't think the question 
from the disciples of John comes with the venom that it does with 
reference to the Pharisees, but nevertheless they're baffled 
by this. And look at what Jesus says in verse 15. Can the friends 
of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? 
It's unthinkable. It's unconscionable. This is 
not something that should entertain your thoughts. That at the wedding 
reception, everybody there is mourning. Everybody there is 
lamenting. I've said it before. If that's 
what your reception looks like, you should have not got married. 
If everybody's whining and crying at your wedding reception, not 
joyous tears, but a dirge Man, we should have rethought this 
whole approach. Can the friends of the bridegroom 
mourn when he's with them? No. But the days will come when the 
bridegroom will be taken away. Jesus foreshadows his death in 
this section in chapter 9. He will be taken away with violence, 
with malice, with aggression, and with so much hatred and opposition 
when they cry out, away with him, away with him, crucify him. You see, Matthew never wants 
us to forget the purpose that Jesus came was to be delivered 
up by the Father as a sacrifice for forgiveness and for righteousness 
for the elect of God. Now, go back to chapter 11. We've 
got two more observations on this verse or this section. The 
Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, look, a glutton 
and a wine-bibber. And just to satisfy your curiosity, 
we probably won't go to 24. Food would all be burned and 
some of the ladies would be upset. Some of them. All of them, probably. Notice. We've seen with reference 
to this response to Christ, he didn't live like John, so they 
wrote him off as a libertine. The very thing they complained 
about was a declaration of the truth of the gospel. Thirdly, 
the very thing they complained about was what they themselves 
desperately needed. This is terrible. Stubbornness, 
sinfulness, rebellion, hardening one's heart in the sight of gospel 
preaching does never end well. These men needed a friend for 
sinners. These men needed redemption through 
blood. These men needed precisely what 
it was that Christ came to bring. Remember, they probably had this 
idea of political Messiah. We see a bit of this in John 
6, when Jesus feeds the multitudes. He wants to leave from them because 
he perceives that they're going to try to take him by force and 
make him a king. In highlighting that, I mentioned 
the current modern application. If a president gave phones to 
people, of course, or not a president, but somebody, gave phones to 
people, or gave money to people, or gave things to people, we 
want him as our leader! Right? Jesus perceived that. They had a political aspiration 
for their Messiah. Give us food, give us bread, 
and subjugate the Roman Empire. Bring them under our feet. The very thing that they complained 
about most was what they themselves desperately needed, but rejected. Verse 25 in chapter 11. He tells 
us, you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent. The 
very thing these men needed, that Jesus could provide, was 
hidden from their eyes. And before you start to look 
at that verse and impugn on the sovereignty of God, or begin 
to speak ill of the sovereignty of God, remember that God is 
dealing with sinners. He owes no man the revelation 
of his grace. For God to hide the eyes or to 
blind the eyes of the wise and prudent, it isn't unfair. It's justice. He doesn't owe men. Men are not acceptable. Men do not want those 
things. God, hiding it from their eyes, 
is simply an act of His justice. So notice the fourth observation 
with reference to verse 19. The nature of their accusation 
was very, very, very, should I say it one more time, very 
serious. I'm going to ask you to think 
a little bit right now. I'm presupposing you've been thinking along the 
way, but I need you to think in terms of a connection here. 
Remember I highlighted the fact that the generation to whom Jesus 
is speaking, this generation that doesn't dance when the flute 
is played, this generation that doesn't lament when the morning 
comes, is incorrigible. Kids, if I asked you what that 
word meant, would you be able to repeat it? I took the time 
to define it. Tried to flesh it out a little 
bit. It means hard, it means obstinate, it means stubborn, 
in a sinful way. We are going to refuse what the 
Baptist and what the Messiah has to say. You know what's intriguing 
about this passage? They are saying this about Jesus. They are saying He's the incorrigible 
Son. They are saying that he is the 
apostate. They are saying that he is the 
defector from the law of God, that he is the rebel, that he 
is the stubborn son. You ask, how is it that you could 
suggest such a thing? Well, the context certainly fleshes 
this out. but a text in the Old Testament, 
specifically Deuteronomy chapter 21, that deals with the incorrigible 
son. I will read it for you. Verses 
18 to 21. If a man has a stubborn and rebellious 
son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of 
his mother, and who, when they have chastened him, will not 
heed them, then his father and his mother shall take hold of 
him and bring him out to the elders of his city, to the gate 
of his city. Now, just to dispel any myths, 
any misrepresentations, or any wrong caricatures, this is not 
a two-year-old. This isn't your little boy that's 
shooting peas off of his spoon. This is an adult, rebellious, 
incorrigible son whom his parents have suffered long with. They 
have chastened him. They have spent prayer on him. 
They have fasted, probably. They have exhorted. They have 
given him every ounce of love, every ounce of encouragement, 
but he is a hardened criminal at this point. So they deliver 
him up to the elders of the city so that he may be stoned to death. What is it that they say about 
him? This son of ours is a glutton and a drunkard. I think that Matthew wants us 
to get, in Matthew chapter 11, that the nation in the rebellion 
is treating Jesus this way. You say, well, how do you know 
that's the case? The following verses in Deuteronomy 
21 deal with that statement or are that statement about cursed 
is the man who is hanged on a tree. Who uses that in the New Testament 
and applies it to the Lord Christ? Paul, Galatians 3.13. He became 
a curse for us to redeem those who were under the curse. For 
it is written, cursed is he who is hanged on a tree. I think 
the connection is there. I think the theology is certainly 
present. And I think the context bears 
it out, that what these guys, these men, these women are doing, 
when they don't dance for the floutest, and they don't mourn 
when the lament comes, is that they are suggesting, they are 
actually accusing, they have the gall to say that it's Jesus 
Christ who is the incorrigible Son, when it's them That's the 
incorrigible son. When it's them that is gluttonous, 
when it's them that are drunkards, when it's them that have refused, 
and when it's them that ought to be delivered to the elders 
of the city and stoned to death. This is a very serious situation 
that Jesus Christ is facing in his earthly ministry. It's not 
just a preacher. who preaches the gospel and people 
go home and say, who does he think he is? These people were 
beginning to make an association that this Lord Jesus Christ was 
an apostate, was a blasphemer, was a deceiver. This is why when 
we get to the latter portions in the narrative in Matthew's 
gospel, what is one of the charges? He blasphemed. These men want 
blood. These men want him to die. The 
text specifies this in chapter 12, verse 14. Then the Pharisees 
went out and plotted against him how they might destroy him. One man, one commentator says, 
the description resembles that of the unruly son in Deuteronomy 
21-20. The language, the verbs, the 
words used in the Septuagint aren't exactly the same. The 
concept is conspicuous though. He says that the description 
resembles that of the unruly son in Deuteronomy 21 who is 
to be stoned, thus a proverbial expression for apostasy is being 
applied to Jesus. I submit that what we have in 
Matthew chapter 11, when the Lord Jesus indicts them, he is 
telling us that they are an incorrigible son. They are rebellious, they 
are reluctant, they are stubborn, they are settled in their sinfulness, 
but by way of their accusation to him, this is what they are 
impugning to his account. That he is the one that justly 
stands condemned under the law of God. And then notice finally, 
verse 19, at the very end, Jesus says this, but wisdom is justified 
by her children. Luke says justified by her deeds. I think the meaning is the same 
in each of these instances. The nation is stubborn and sinfully 
unresponsive. The nation rejects the dirge 
of John and the celebration of Jesus. The statement by Jesus 
highlights this fundamental truth. Wisdom does what is right. And wisdom will always be vindicated. Wisdom will always be justified 
by her deeds. In other words, you may not presently 
see it, in other words, you may not presently understand it, 
you may not presently appreciate the fact, but wisdom is right, 
it's from God, it is good, and it will always be vindicated 
by her deeds, by her children, by those which she produces. Applied to Jesus, the saying 
means that the deeds of Jesus, including the very ones criticized 
by the opponents, the doctrine that he preached, will ultimately 
be vindicated. He is not a glutton. He is not 
a winebibber. He is not rebellious. He is not 
incorrigible, but he alone is the obedient son. He alone does 
what no man could do. He alone submits to the Father. 
He alone always does what pleases the Father. He alone says, my 
meat is to do the will of my Father. He alone provides the 
obedience, the righteousness that sinners like you and I stand 
in need of. His whole life is an act of obedience 
to the Father. He never rebels. He never rejects. He never whines. He never grumbles. He never complains. He never 
does anything sinful and rebellious against God's holy law. This 
is one of the purposes for the Messiah. Yes, He came to die 
for our sins, but He came to live for a righteousness that 
avails with God. He came for pardon and forgiveness 
through His blood. He came for righteousness through 
his life. It is the Lord Christ in this 
account that is the obedient son according to the rest of 
scripture. It is this nation, this generation 
that rebels against him, that hardens their stubborn hearts, 
that resists his overtures of grace, and as a result, they 
are meet and fit for delivery up to the elders. Historically, 
this would be visited upon them in AD 70. When the Roman armies 
would circle their fair city and they would smash them. Eternally, 
it will be vetted or meted out on everybody who rejects the 
overtures of God's grace in the gospel record. The persistence 
of stubborn rebellion, I just don't feel it's particularly 
germane to what I'm saying now, but I think I need to repeat 
at least what Spurgeon says on this whole idea. of varying responses. We're going to bring this to 
a close. He says, thus it is at this hour. He's talking about 
the different responses to the Baptist and to the Messiah. Thus 
it is at this hour. One preacher who speaks with 
elegant diction is too flowery, and another who uses plain speech 
is vulgar. The instructive preacher is dull. 
The earnest preacher is far too excitable. There is no suiting 
some people. Even the great Lord of all finds 
wise arrangements met with discontent. As we conclude, the emphasis 
and the focus of our study this morning has been on the stubbornness 
of Israel. Just to rehearse or to recount, 
the refusal to listen to the greatest of the old covenant 
prophets, even John the Baptist. They rejected. They despised. They said he has a demon. Imagine that multitude that's 
hearing Jesus' words. Imagine those people who are 
rejecting the Baptist. Jesus speaks in glowing terms. And then he comes, and with a 
hammer blow, he says, but you have said that he's a demon-possessed 
man. There's a thou art the man moment 
for you. Secondly, Jesus comes preaching 
the kingdom. Jesus comes, not like John, but 
with the same message, announcing repentance, ushering in the blessed 
reality of God's rule and reign among men. They refuse that. You can appreciate one thing 
in the course of a study like this. You ought to appreciate 
the reform doctrine of total depravity or total inability. I'm not Jesus, and I'm not John 
the Baptist. It doesn't surprise me when men 
reject what I have to say. But when Jesus and John the Baptist 
stand before sinners and speak the truth of God, and sinners 
reject the truth of God, what do we say? Well, it was bad preaching? Bad oratory? Bad argument? Not cogent? Not logical? Not 
structured? Not flowery? Not excitable? No, 
no, no. We can't say that. We can say 
that men, in their hardness of heart, men in their sinfulness, 
men in their Romans 8 situation, where the carnal mind has enmity 
against God, refuse, reject, and despise even the preaching 
of our Lord Jesus Christ. The refusal to believe concerning 
the gospel of the kingdom of God most high. When Jesus begins 
to upbraid the cities in which he did most of his mighty works, 
what does it say? Because they did not repent. Jesus didn't go from city to 
city simply trying to make a name for himself. Jesus didn't go 
from city to city simply to dazzle the multitudes. The Charismatics 
and the Pentecostals that say that these sorts of signs and 
wonders and miracles are necessary in order to appeal to people 
and make them... No! It's to call men to repent! These 
signs and wonders are conducted alongside the preaching of the 
gospel so that sinners will repent. You see, God doesn't want to 
just heal your leg. He wants you to enter into the 
kingdom of heaven. We see that with the paralytic, 
which is easier to say to the paralytic. Your sins are forgiven, 
arise and take up your mat and walk. But that you may know that 
the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins, rise and take 
up your mat and walk. You see, we get all enamored. 
We're like babies following the shiny thing. Wow, that man rose 
up and walked. That man was forgiven of his 
sins and is going to heaven. That's what the people in the 
Galilee cities were like. Wow, look at the shiny thing. 
He's doing all this. He wants you to repent. Forsake your sin 
and enter the kingdom of God. And avoid the wrath and fury 
and anger of God. And the specific examples in 
Jesus' days, I've already alluded to in verses 20 to 24, God willing, 
we'll look up next week, are absolutely terrible. They have 
seen these things, they have witnessed His power, and Jesus 
says to them, it will be more tolerable for tyrant-sided in 
the day of judgment. These enemies of God and His 
people, these Baal worshipers, it'll be more tolerable for Sodom. perverts, homosexuals, bad men. It will be more tolerable for 
them in the day of judgment than those who have witnessed the 
deeds and the doctrine of Christ and have not repented. And dare I say it will be more 
tolerable for those in this new covenant setting in the Church 
of Jesus Christ in normative Christian preaching for those 
who hear the deeds and the doctrine of our Lord preached regularly. Preached Sunday morning and Sunday 
night regularly. Probably in most of your homes 
preached every night at the family altar. Could it be said that 
it will be more tolerable for those people of Tyre, those people 
of Sidon, those people of Babylon. I think there's an allusion here 
with reference to Capernaum with Babylon. It's going to be more 
tolerable for them on the day of judgment than for some of 
you right here that hear the deeds, they hear the doctrine, 
and like that incorrigible son, they say, no, I am not going 
to come. I am not going to believe. I 
am not going to repent. Now consider for a moment, your 
form of incorrigibility may look a little differently. You may 
not actually express the thought that John the Baptist has a demon. 
You probably won't be overheard saying, you know that Jesus, 
he's just a glutton and a drunkard. You probably have a bit of a 
more respectable form of incorrigibility. But remember, it's still incorrigibility. 
A stubborn refusal, a sinful rebellion, a rejection of God's 
offer of grace in the gospel account. Whether you call John 
a demon man, whether you call Jesus a drunkard, or whether 
you have a respectability and a flair about you that fits in 
in North American culture, the end result is the same. It will 
be more tolerable on that day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon 
and Sodom and Babylon than it is for you. You may not have 
missed, or you may have missed all the connections to Deuteronomy 
21. You may have missed that sort of bigger picture in terms 
of the biblical theology and what Israel is saying, but I 
don't want you to miss this. Jesus speaks very condemningly 
of men, of women, of boys, and girls who hear these truths and 
do not repent. That's what you need to understand 
this morning. The Bible is very clear that we have all sinned 
against God. The Bible is very clear there 
is none righteous and no not one. The Bible is very clear 
that we are liable, justly so, to the punishment and the wrath 
and the fury of God. The Bible tells us of Jesus, 
who came and lived in obedience to his father's law, who died 
as a sacrifice and a substitute on the cross, and who rose again. 
That Bible says all those who believe in him will have everlasting 
life. That's good news. That's great 
news. That's blessed news. That's wonderful 
news. That's the kind of news that 
we ought to dance for when that flautist plays. We ought to rejoice. God is in Christ, reconciling 
the world to himself. If you have not come, if you 
have not believed, if you have rejected and rebelled against 
the Savior, lay down your arms, repent, for the kingdom of God 
is at hand, and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will 
be saved. That is the best thing that you 
will hear all day long. Well, let us pray. Our Father 
in heaven, we thank you for your word. We thank you for the Lord 
Jesus. We thank you for his testimony, 
for his words, for his life, his ministry, his death, his 
resurrection. Paul says he was delivered up 
because of our offenses and he was raised for our justification. 
And this we greatly rejoice. And our desire is that other 
sinners, other people, other men, women, boys and girls would 
hear and would believe. They would know the joy of being 
found in him. We ask that you would just help 
us, God, not to be like this generation. Help us not to be 
so proud or arrogant or stubborn. Help us to receive the things 
that you would have for us and help us to be obedient and compliant, 
to be those who are responsive to our Heavenly Father. And we 
ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. We'll close with a brief 
time of meditation and then I'll come back up and we'll give thanks 
for the food that we have today.