Matthew 11
October 20, 2014


I have read this passage more times than I can count, and it all seems very familiar.  John the Baptist is still baptizing people, and Jesus is teaching in another place nearby.   What a wonderful time to have been alive!  To be able to hear both John and Jesus speaking would really be something.   Of course, there messages were very different.   John spoke of repentance and the need to grieve because of our sin.   Jesus spoke of celebrating and being free from sin.   John is the day before we're saved, and Jesus is the day of our salvation.
That helps me make sense of the passage about "children playing in the square"  which honestly, I generally read past quickly.     The children in the square complain because the other kids didn't react the way they were supposed to.   If we sing you a happy song, you should dance.  If you don't, then we are confused.
The people should have mourned with John the Baptist, and celebrated with Jesus.  Instead, they criticized John for his austerity and Jesus for his lavishness.    The Jewish leaders were confused.  They didn't expect to hear a message of repentance, because in their pride they believed themselves to be perfect.   When a proud person hears the call to repent, they assume it's for someone else.   When the speaker points specifically to you (as John did) then you either humble yourself or you discount the speaker.   In this case, the Jewish leaders are proud, and they defame John.   They have to, or they must repent.     Since John points to Jesus, and Jesus supports and affirms John's message they cannot celebrate with Christ....because they have rejected John.    So they now must defame Jesus as well.    It's a web of lies and deceit that is all started by pride.

The identity of Christ, and the person-hood of God is revealed to the humble.   In Jerusalem, there is a large church known as the church of the nativity.  It is believed to be built over the place where Jesus was born.  The door to the church was framed to be very large, and then blocked in so that you must bow to enter the building.   The thought is "only the humble may enter here".     I seem to remember bowing to enter the Garden tomb as well.  

This message is in code, and only the humble discern the real meaning.  To the proud, it makes little sense, and the parts that can be pieced together seem only to form a historical account of a man who made bold claims.

John's message was to help us understand that we are carrying a heavy burden, one that will cripple us, and cause us to never arrive at our destination.   That would be a cruel message indeed, if it weren't for Jesus announcing loudly "come to me all you who are weary and heavy burdened, and I will give you rest."    The messages of both John and Jesus were perfectly timed to lead the interested person into repentance and new life.

PR