The Life of Christ in the Synoptic Gospels
JUDGMENT AND MERCY
The Life of Christ in the Synoptic Gospels
JUDGMENT AND MERCY
Lesson Plan:
1. Danger Warnings – First Motive (vs 20-24)
2. Dangers of Delay – Second Motive (vs 25-27)
3. The Attractive Power of Christ and His Gospel – Third Motive (vs 28-30)
Lesson Setting:
Time: It is uncertain whether these words were spoken early in A.D. 29 after the return of the
Twelve from the tour to which they were sent in our last lesson; or in December A.D. 29 after the
return of the Seventy at the beginning of the Perean ministry in November.
Places: Chorazin, Capernaum, Bethsaida, Tyre, Sidon, Sodom
Research Thoughts: The cities and towns named. The ‘woes’ of love. Why more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for these? How could the Gospel be more easily revealed to children and the unlearned than to the wise and prudent? Why is Christ’s yoke easy? The two kinds of rest; how does Christ give them?
Motives That Urge and Attract to the Kingdom of Heaven and Its Savior King: Distinguish between those motives which move a person (not a Christian) to become a Christian, including those presented in verses 20-24 and the motives influencing the Christian in living the Christ-like life. Most persons, even the best, are imperfect, composite characters, like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde or John-Jack in the story, needing both classes of motives in their development. And as they grow better, they are influenced more and more by the higher motives and less and less by the lower, till at last, “perfect love casteth out fear.” As a ship driven both by a force without, i.e., the wind on the sails; and by a force within, the motor power; may use both at first, but when the motor power drives the vessel as fast as the wind then the sails have no influence, though the winds continue to blow. Laws are like fences by the road side. They are meant to keep trespassers out of the forbidden fields, and to show all persons the right road. To the good man they are not restraints but guides. The honest man is not honest because there are courts and prisons, but because he wants to be honest and law-abiding.
Scripture Reading: Matthew 11:20-24
1. Danger Warnings – First Motive
Jesus had come to the end or nearly to the end of His work in Galilee, and made one final effort to save His nation. Looking around upon the three cities "wherein most of his mighty works were done, He began to upbraid them" (v 20). Not abuse, or scold, but rebuke, blame, including both pitying His grief and indignation. It was necessary to strike hard in order to make an impression, like blasting rocks. "Because they repented not." Whatever they thought of Jesus as a prophet, they knew they were not living right, according to the Old Testament, much less according to the principles Jesus taught, enforced by His mighty works endorsing Him as a teacher sent from God. They knew that they ought to repent.
v 21 ... "Woe unto thee." Not a wishing of woe to them, but a statement of the fact that woe must come to them if they kept on doing as they had done. "Chorazin." The site of this city is uncertain except it was near to Capernaum. "Bethsaida," ‘House of Fish,’ center of the fishing for practically all Northern Galilee. It is situated a short distance north of the Sea of Galilee, east of the Jordan, on the slope of the hill above the malarious plain. Bethsaida was the native place of three of the apostles, i.e., Peter, Andrew and Philip. These towns were near to ...
v 23 ... "Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven" in privilege, light, and opportunity. Capernaum was the home of Jesus in Galilee, the center of His operations, of His teaching and miracles, and example and personal power, all the heavenly influence which radiated from Him. These other towns knew not only what Jesus did and taught in them, but also what took place in Capernaum.
Illustration: In Isaiah’s Song of the Vineyard (ch. 5), the Lord, after showing how much He had done to help it to bring forth good fruit, says, ‘And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? Wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?’
v 21 ... "If the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon," two luxurious and corrupt heathen cities from which Ahab’s wife Jezebel had come, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth, a coarse bagging of goat’s hair, for carrying grain, coal, vegetables, and sometimes made into a rough coat to express sorrow and remorse. And ashes thrown upon the head and face to express intense humiliation and grief.
v 22 ... "It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment," because they had sinned against less light; they were less willful and determined sinners. They would not escape the penalty, but the punishment would be less severe.
v 23 ... "If the mighty works ... had been done in Sodom," destroyed by a rain of fire and brimstone because of its desperate wickedness.
v 23 ... "It would have remained unto this day." Lot’s life, and his ‘vexing his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds,’ could not cause that there should be ten righteous men in the city which would have saved it. But if the mighty works of Jesus had been wrought there, enough would have become righteous to have prevented its destruction. (a) Why was not more done for Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom? It cannot be fully answered by us. It is one of the mysteries that still confront us, as it has all the ages before us. We cannot solve the mystery. (b) Up to this time, Jesus had dwelt chiefly on the higher motives in attracting men to the kingdom of heaven. He appealed to the best in men. He did mighty works of love and healing. He proved His mission. He presented the rewards of well-doing. He presented great and precious promises. He made goodness attractive. He called to courage, service, and self-denial. (c) But there came a time when for those who resisted all these influences, it was necessary for Him to point out the “woes” toward which they were hastening. In this world, as men are, there is no nation can exist, no family can be well trained, no school perfectly managed without a consciousness and use of the penalty for breaking the laws. To save the cities where He had been preaching, Jesus warned them of their danger. If they kept on in the way they were going they faced only ruin. God’s laws are perfect. Whoever breaks and defies those laws must eat the fruit of his own doings. God by word and action, by His Spirit and His dealings with men seeks with all His infinite love to persuade men to take the only possible way of safety. To the house of Israel through His prophet saith the Lord God, “Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin. “Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye” (Ezek. 18:30-32). And again: “Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?” (Ezek. 33:11). So Christ’s words to Jerusalem, in Matthew 23:37.
Illustration: When Cyrus the Great desired to enlist the Persian warriors to join in his plans, he assembled the army on a certain day and place, and provided each with an axe. He marched them into the forest, making them toil all day cutting down trees, with coarse food and little rest. The next day he brought them to a great banquet, with abundant meat and rich wines in profusion, and bade them feast and be merry. They enjoyed it all the more after the hard fare of the previous day. At evening Cyrus called them together, asking them which service they liked best. Then he said, “If you follow me, you will enjoy ease, abundance, and luxury. If you refuse, you must toil on in privations and hardships as you do now.” So, at God’s command, Joshua used a similar object lesson for the children of Israel at Mounts Ebal and Gerizim (Deut. 28:1-68; Josh. 8:33, 34).
Scripture Reading: Matthew 11:25-27
2. Dangers of Delay – Second Motive
v 25 ... "I thank thee, O Father," Jesus adds, calling attention to the fact that the Father has all wisdom, love and knowledge, "Lord of heaven and earth."
v 25 ... "Hast hid these things from the wise and prudent," those who rely on the intellect and reason alone; who were so interwoven with the customs, the forms, the worldly interests, the social forces around them that it was hard for them to break away from them; whose minds were fixed, whose opinions settled; and who were not open to the truths that are perceived by the heart, by love, by faith. They were so fixed in their false ideas of the Son, and misinterpretations of Scripture, that the truth could not enter their minds.
v 25 ... "And hast revealed them unto babes," those who have the childlike spirit, whose hearts and ways have not been hardened nor crusted over with false reasoning and worldliness.
v 27 ... "All things are delivered unto me of my Father." That is, He was speaking God’s own truth, acting in God’s way. The Son knew the Father as no one else could know Him. The Son therefore was revealing the truths of God. Neglecting God’s Word in youth is one of the most dangerous of all things.
Scripture Reading: Matthew 11:28-30
3. The Attractive Power of Christ and His Gospel – Third Motive
v 28 ... "Come unto me." To come to Jesus is to seek from Him the things we need, instead of going elsewhere. It is to seek His friendship, to come to Him as a student comes to a teacher, that we may imbibe His principles, living His life. It is to come to His character, to His service, to be a loving subject of His kingdom. It is to trust ourselves to Him, in perfect love and obedience, to consecrate ourselves to Him and His cause.
v 28 ... "All ye that labour." The hard discouraging toil of the weary search for truth and for relief for a troubled conscience. Labor like that of Bunyan’s Pilgrim in his early and vain efforts to get rid of his burden of sin, till he came to the cross. Hard work, wrestling with difficulties and overcoming them, is not a burden but a joy. But toil in misery and defeat, toil to attain by ourselves the ideals we seek, toil in weakness and sickness, failure to break the bonds of sin, to wash away our guilt, without a Savior, this is endless torment and perpetual motion.
v 28 ... "And are heavy laden." The burdens are our sins, our bad habits, cares, sorrows, remorse for the past, fears for the future, anxieties, losses, sickness, disappointments, inability to find work, debts, business cares, and all the other things that make life a burden.
v 28 ... "And I will give you rest." There are two kinds of rest: (a) The rest that is given. (b) The rest that is found. Christ gives both, but in different ways. The one is what He does for us, the other what He does in us. A burden may be removed, or we may be given new strength and energy to bear it, so that it is no longer a burden, but a delight, and bearing it is an exercise adding to our vigor and joy. It is changed from toil to play, by a new motive, new purpose, new goal, coming to us when we love Christ, join in His work for men, and with Him are living to transform this world into the kingdom of heaven.
Illustration: The burden of wings – There is a myth about the birds, that when they were first created they had no wings: and the story is, that God made the wings, put them down before the birds, and said, ‘Now, come and take the burdens up and bear them.’ The birds had beautiful plumage and voices; they could sing and shine, but they could not soar; but they took up their wings with their beaks and laid them upon their shoulders, and at first they seemed to be a heavy load, and rather difficult to bear. But as they cheerfully and patiently bore them, folding them over their hearts, lo! the wings grew fast, and that which they once bore, now bore them. A bird’s wings, seemingly heavy, are, after all, the exact thing by which the creature soars the highest.
v 29 ... "Take my yoke upon you" if you would find rest. A yoke stands for service, and is an instrument for making service effective. It enables one to do a great deal more than he could do without the yoke. As citizens we must belong to some country, and bear the burdens of its duties and service. The service of Christ as our Savior and King, the service for His kingdom of heaven, is His yoke. Remember that a yoke means service with another. We serve as a fellow worker with Christ. To do this He says "Learn of me." Both from My precepts and My example. Become My disciple, go to My school and let Me teach you, not for just one lesson, but for all time. Do as I do, learn to be what I am.
v 29 ... "For I am meek and lowly in heart." (a) Humble, compassionate, long-suffering, even toward poor students, i.e., a blessed Teacher from whom to learn. (b) Showing in His heart and life the principles He teaches, which make His yoke easy. He is meek, mild, patient, not easily irritated, of kind temper. He is lowly, having true humility that exalts not self, but truth.
v 29 ... "And ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy," in contrast with the yoke of living a life of selfishness and sin. There are only two great moral kingdoms: (a) The Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Evil; (b) The Kingdom of love and the Kingdom of selfishness; (c) The Kingdom of Heaven (with its laws and principles on earth as well as in heaven) and the Kingdom of this world (with its motives and burdens). The word for easy means, pleasant, useful, good, easy as opposed to burdensome, gracious.
v 30 ... "And my burden is light." A life without burdens and yokes would be insipid and valueless, especially in this world of training for better things. But there is a vast difference in the burdens and their effects. The burden and yoke of pride, ambition, formalism, selfishness, of fashion, worldliness, sin and remorse, self-indulgence, sensuality, covetousness are always galling, bitter, oppressive, i.e., an Egyptian bondage, a crushing load. This yoke is borne with Satan, his company, and fruits. Christ’s burden and yoke bring rest. His service is a delight. It is a joy to work with Him and for Him. All the virtues are joyous and delightful, just in proportion to the degree in which we have them. Which will you choose? Whom will you serve?
