The Bible Recap - Day 285 (Matthew 11) - Year 4

Episode Date: October 12, 2022

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Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for the Bible recap. After Jesus appoints the Twelve Apostles, they start going around to their hometowns preaching. While they're going from town to town, JTB seems to be having an internal struggle. He has seen the Spirit descend on Jesus like a dove. He has heard the voice of the Father affirm Jesus as his son. But then Jesus went away into the wilderness and JTB got thrown into prison.

Their paves barely crossed, and now JTB keeps hearing about how Jesus is doing all these miracles for everyone. Surely if Jesus is the Messiah, he'll actually come and do some miracles to get him out of prison, right? Maybe that's not what JTB is thinking. Maybe he just needs to be reminded that his life hasn't been wasted because his entire

life has been about pointing to the Messiah. We don't know what JTB was thinking. All we know is that he sends messengers to ask Jesus to confirm or deny that he is the Messiah. Personally, I don't think this is doubt. I just think this is despair. Jesus sends a message back, telling the messengers to let JTB know they've seen Jesus do the things Isaiah said the Messiah would do when he comes. He quotes prophecies JTB probably would have known by heart, but he leaves off a part of the prophecy that almost certainly caught JTB's attention. The part where the prisoners get set free. I cannot imagine how it felt to be

on the receiving end of this message. Yes, I'm the Messiah, Isaiah prophesied about, and the one you pointed toward it has all been fulfilled, but you will die in prison. Jesus ends by saying, blessed is the one who is not offended by me. And while this certainly has wider implications, I think it may have also had very personal implications for JTB2, as if it's almost an acknowledgement from Jesus that he's delivering hard news to him. wider implications, I think it may have also had very personal implications for JTB2, as if it's almost an acknowledgement from Jesus that he's delivering hard news to him. As they go on their way, Jesus praises JTB to his disciples. He says JTB is the fulfillment of Malachad's prophecy about becoming of Elijah.

But just to clarify, Jesus is not saying JTB is a reincarnation of Elijah. He's pointing out that Elijah was the archetype, and JTB has followed suit. Jesus goes on to call him the greatest man who has ever lived, but then he says something interesting. He says, everyone in the kingdom is greater than JTB. So does that mean JTB is not in the kingdom? What's Jesus talking about? He seems to be pointing to a future kingdom, one that has already been inaugurated, but that hasn't been fulfilled. Sometimes he talks about the kingdom in the present tense, and sometimes he talks about it in the future tense.

It's not uncommon to read the words of Jesus and think, so is it NOW or is it COMING? And the answer is, yes. Theologians refer to this as the ALREADY BUT NOT YET. The tension is intentional and hopeful, and it applies to us personally. For instance, we live in this tension when we think about how God has declared us righteous and views us as righteous, even though we're still sinners

and he still sees our sin. Kingdom realities may not be fulfilled until the future, but Christ calls us to be presently living in and mindful of them. That's how we live out kingdom values instead of earthly values. We'll link to a short article about this in the show notes in case you want to read more. Jesus says his present generation doesn't have a taste for the kingdom. Nothing satisfies them.

They'll find something to condemn regardless because they don't want to submit to the deity of Christ, but his fruit speaks for itself. Then Jesus starts listing off cities that have seen him do miracles that still refuse to believe he is the Messiah. Jesus performed 90% of his miracles in his hometown of Capernaum, which is one of the ones listed here. They saw the most, but believed the least. And it just goes to prove what we saw all through the Old Testament.

God's biggest acts and miracles don't necessarily change hearts. Only soft hearts can submit to the evidence. Hard hearts resist it. By the way, these three cities he pronounces woe to? None of them exist anymore, despite being in prime locations. They're all ruins and relics. Then, in contrast to the cities that rejected him,

Jesus thanks his father for the soft hearts of those who've accepted him. Those who consider themselves wise have missed it, but those who are humble and needy have received it. Jesus thanks the father for pouring out grace for them to hear the truth. The Niko is on to say that the father has handed things over to him and that he will reveal himself and the father to whomever he chooses. He sends out an invitation to the weary and burdened, and it seems this message is especially for those who are weiried in an attempt to live up to the weary and burdened, and it seems this message is especially for those who are

weiried in an attempt to live up to the law, either God's law or the additional rules the Pharisees added onto it. Jesus references the Pharisees' laws later in Matthew 23. He says, they tie up heavy burdens hard to bear and lay them on people's shoulders, and that's exactly what the yoke here is a reference to. If you are with us in the Old Testament, you remember the yoke from Jeremiah 27 on day 226. But for those of you who are new, here is a bit of info that might be helpful. A yoke is a long piece of wood that goes on the backs of two animals,

then a strap or another piece of wood goes around their necks. It's attached to a plow, which the animals pull when they walk. In case you've never seen a yoke, we'll link to an image in the show notes. Here, Jesus is saying that the yoke of the Law and the Yoke of the Pharisees is crushing, but His Yoke is easy and His burden is light. And this is where I saw my God shot today.

I try to imagine Him saying these words and I can hear it so many different ways. Come to me, all who labor in our heavy laden and I will give you rest. Come to me, all who labor in our heavy laden and I will give you rest. Come to me, all who labor in our heavy laden and I will give you rest. Come to me, all who labor in our heavy laden and I will give you rest. Come to me, all who labor in our heavy laden and I will give you rest. But my favorite way to imagine it is with the emphasis on the point. Come to me, all who labor in our heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Come to me, come to me, I will give you rest.

I will give you rest. Are you starting to see it and feel it since you've been coming to him? I hope it's more evident every day. He's where the rest is, and he's where the joy is. You know how I love talking about the Bible? Well, I love it even more when I can talk about the Bible in the places where it happened. That's why I launched Israelux tours where I take a small group of people to the Holy Land to study the Bible on site.

I lead these trips a few times each year and I'd love for you to join me. You'll see some of the places we've been reading about, you'll float in the Dead Sea, and you'll eat some of the best food in the world. If you want to find out more about our trips, visit the BibleRecap.com and click on the Israel link. You can also check our link in today's show notes.