It is reasonable to believe in Jesus – Matthew 8-12
Introduction
A. Jesus began his career in Matthew 4 with his baptism and temptations in the wilderness.
B. He introduced his teachings and the demands of repentance necessary to participate in the Kingdom of God in chapters 5-7.
C. In Matthew 8-12, Jesus demonstrates several good reasons for believing in the Gospel, and at the same time we begin to see the reasons why many Jews rejected Jesus and his teachings.
I. Matthew 8-9 Jesus demonstrated His Identity By Miracles and Signs.
A. Matthew 8:5-13 demonstrated his authority.
B. Matthew 8:23-34 demonstrated His enormous divine power.
C. Matthew 9:1-8 demonstrated his authority to forgive sins.
D. Matthew 9:9-13 demonstrated his mercy and compassion.
E. Matthew 9:18-26 demonstrated his power over death.
F. Matthew 9:27-31 demonstrated his power over the darkness of the blind.
G. Matthew 9:32-34 demonstrated his power over the unclean spirits.
H. However, many of the listeners hardened their hearts, calling him "Prince of the Demons." Matthew 9:34
II. Matthew 10 Jesus demonstrated his power as king to give authority to his apostles.
A. Matthew 10:1-13 The Twelve Apostles demonstrated the same power and authority, fulfilling the prophecy of Joel 2:28-32: The Holy Spirit was poured out upon them.
B. However, Matthew 10:14, those who did not receive the apostles were unworthy of the Kingdom of God. They will be condemned more than those of Sodom.
C. Christ sent the Apostles as sheep among wolves, but God is the judge and will take care of them.
1. Persecution implies unbelief and rebellion on the part of the persecutors.
2. The Holy Spirit would speak for the disciples.
3. They had to remain faithful to the end, in spite of the slander and the insults, v. 22-25.
4. There must be No fear of those who slander, v26.
5. There must be No fear of death, v28.
6. They were obligated to confess Christ and not deny Him, V32-33.
7. Jesus came not to bring peace but a sword. You have to lose your life to find it, v34.
III. Matthew 11, the Behavior of the Unbelievers.
A. They did not listen to John the Baptist, Matthew 11:1-19
1. John’s disciples asked Jesus from prison, if he was the Christ.
2. Jesus gave them several signs: the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are resurrected, and the poor receive the good news...
A. The blind are like the ignorant who do not know what they are doing, but they hear Jesus and understand.
B. The lame are like those who cannot walk in the ways of the Lord, but Jesus puts them on the right path.
C. The lepers are like unclean men for the sins they commit, but Jesus teaches them the new life. They're born again.
D. The deaf are like the ones slow to hear and slow in understanding God's righteousness, but Jesus heals his ears and he hears with understanding.
E. The dead are like everyone dead in sin whom Jesus raises to walk in newness of life. (John 5:24, Romans 6:3-4) They receive eternal life.
F. The poor are the humble who follow Christ and become the Kingdom of God. Matthew 5:3.
3. John was the greatest of all men, yet he was rejected.
A. They rejected him because they thought like the children.
B. Matthew 11:16 “But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates, 17 “‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ 19 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!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.”
B. God will severely judge the cities of the unbelievers who saw the signs of Jesus and did not repent. Three times he mentioned the "miracles that have been done in you."
C. Jesus praised the Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth, "for you have hidden these things from the wise and the understanding and revealed them to little children."
1. Jesus invites them, “who labor and are heavy laden” to come to him who offers rest.
2. Matthew 11:28-30 The rest that Jesus offers is another yoke and burden. It's easier and lighter. You have to learn from Jesus to receive that yoke.
IV. Matthew 12, the unbelievers They formed a theological reason to reject the message and their messenger.
A. Matthew 12:1-8 Jesus allowed the apostles to pluck heads of grain to eat on the Sabbath day.
1. The Pharisees said to him, "Behold your disciples do what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath day."
2. Jesus gave them two examples to explain why the disciples were innocent.
A. The example of David, Matthew 12:3-4
B. The current example of priests in the temple who desecrated the Sabbath and were without guilt. Matthew 12:5-8
C. Jesus condemned the Pharisees for condemning the innocent, v7. The Pharisees did not know what Hosea 6:6 means, “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.”
B. Matthew 12:9-14 Jesus healed the man who had a withered hand.
1. He did it on the Sabbath. The evil-hearted were looking for an excuse to accuse Jesus of desecrating the Sabbath. Based on an invalid assumption, they ignored divine authority.
2. Jesus answered by reminding them of what they themselves would do, if one of their sheep should fall in a pit on a Sabbath day. They would defile the day by rescuing it. "Well, how much better is a man than a sheep? Therefore, it is lawful to do good on Sabbath days." (12:12)
--However, when Jesus healed a man by divine power, the power of the One who made the law of Moses, the Pharisees took counsel against Jesus to destroy him. The basis of the counsel was that the good Jesus did on the Sabbath was sin.
In this way they justified themselves, when faced with their sin, the sin of denying the son of God and His divine counsel.
C. Matthew 12:15-21. The Prophet Matthew presents Jesus, Who healed all those that were following Him, but quietly without complaining about the unbelief of the Pharisees. Thus, He fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah 42:1-4.
D. Matthew 12:22-37 The effort of the Pharisees descended even lower. They called Jesus the Servant of Beelzebub, Prince of Demons. According to their theology, God could not support Jesus because he did not keep their traditions, but obviously God gave authority to Jesus to do miracles, signs, and wonders that even Satan could not do.
1. Matthew 9:34; 10:25 They had already used this defamation, an insulting accusation.
2. Jesus now answers them with several arguments.
A. Satan and his demons are a kingdom, and Beelzebub would be the king. “Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. 26 And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?” So, Satan is cunning, is he not? Is his kingdom already destroyed? Of course not.
B. The "children of the Pharisees" will be the disciples of Jesus, to whom Jesus gave authority over the demons to cast them out. Matthew 10. If Jesus had His power from Beelzebub, “¿By whom do your children cast them out? Wherefore, they shall be your judges.”
C. Now Jesus warns them. Matthew 12:28-32
-- “But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”
-- “Or how can someone enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house.” The goods of Satan are the sinners who serve according to the will of the evil one. The demon-possessed are the ones that Jesus removes from Satan. He binds him by diminishing his power and success in ruling men.
-- “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.” The unbelievers were working against Jesus, in favor of the enemy. They were involved in scattering the sheep of God. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, called his sheep to save them. John 10. The Pharisees were thieves and robbers. They were “hired-hands” who did not love the sheep of God.
-- “the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.” (Matthew 12:31-35) “You brood of vipers!” v. 34. (Mateo 3:7; 23:33) The tree is known by its fruit.
-- “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, 37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” (V36-37) Every word that justifies disobedience is idle. It prevents repentance. It hinders the authority and lordship of the Lord Jesus. Many false doctrines in modern times do precisely the same thing. "Faith Alone," "Grace alone" (i.e., without obedience, "works"). All of corruption of the Lord's Supper, the work of the church, the Lord’s Day contribution, the role of women in the church....
D. “Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” Matthew 12:38-42
1. Matthew 8-11 tells us of innumerable signs. Only God could have performed so many signs.
2. Matthew 12:39-40. Jesus answers, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” Three days in the heart of the Earth, refers to death on the cross and the resurrection of Jesus.
a. Matthew 12:41. The men of Nineveh, “will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.” Jesus was obviously greater than Jonah. Jesus was the Messiah, the Christ, whom the prophets foresaw for 1500 years. The signs that Jesus performed and His message was greater. However, the Jews of the first century didn't listen to him. Therefore the unbelieving Jews were inferior to the Assyrians of Nineveh, and they were unclean gentiles!
b. 12:42. The Queen of the South “will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.” The Queen was also another unclean Gentile, yet she traveled from afar to hear the wise words of King Solomon. Jesus was wiser and his words more precious than Solomon's. Again, Jesus announces that the Jews were more foolish and blind than that queen of the distant nation, an unclean nation. These Jews were more unclean than the Gentiles for not believing and appreciating Jesus.
E. The unclean spirit that comes out of a man, but then returns. Matthew 12:43-45
1. When Jesus cast out unclean spirits, they begged him not to cast them into the abyss, from which they could not escape and return. Luke 8:26-31. The time of activity of those spirits was limited by God.
2. Here, Jesus refers mostly to the work he did through his teachings, which the Jews resisted. Jesus cast out Satan's influence for the good or well-being of the Jews, but when they did not repent, their houses were filthy, their lives were like dwellings that invited the return of the unclean spirit, with the filthy sinful living, and all kinds of darkness.
--Nothing has changed today. When one despises the laws of King Jesus and the counsel that the New Testament offers, morality and character descend to the dark places of filthy living. Life changes from bad to worse.
3. “Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation.” The history of the Jews, according to the record of Josephus, descended to barbarity, murder, and filth until the war with the Romans that ended the disorder and rebellion in the year 70 AD.
F. The family of Christ Jesus. Matthew 12:46-50
1. When the mother and the brothers of Jesus wanted to talk to him, it gave Him the opportunity to ask: Who is my mother, and who are my brethren?
2. The family of Jesus is composed of those who do the will of God. They are the ones who appreciate and value the words of the Son of God who teach the will of the Heavenly Father.
--John 7:5 “For not even his brothers believed in him.”
--The bonds we form in the church of our Lord become more like family than those of the physical family.
--Jesus warns us, (Matthew 10:37) "He who loves father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me, the one who loves son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of Me;...”
-- God said to Eli, “Why then do you scorn my sacrifices and my offerings that I commanded for my dwelling, and honor your sons above me…” Eli's mistake was that he did not love God more than his children. That's how he lost everything. (1 Samuel 2:29-36)
Conclusion – it is reasonable to believe in Jesus. Therefore, we are responsible if we ignore your teachings and advice. God will judge us by ignoring his son.