Why Did Jesus Come? - Part B

The Bible is the one miracle you can hold in your hand. You want to know what God has to say?

Open your Bible and you'll find out. What he has to say to you today is what he had to say back then, and how you apply that to your life. Have you ever thought carefully about what it is that's in your hands when you hold the Bible?

Today on Connect with Skip Heitzel. Skip shares a powerful message about the miracle that's in your hands when you open God's Word. But first we want to tell you about a resource that will equip you to give evidence for your faith in Jesus. Josh McDowell has written books that rank among the best-selling Christian works of all time. Now, with his son Sean, Josh has released Evidence for Jesus. God gave us our mind and our heart to work in unity.

To what? To glorify him. The Bible, I call it fact, fiction, or fallacy. I want to answer two questions about the Bible. This is what I struggle with as a non-believer. One, is what we have written down the same as what was written down 2,000 years ago, or has it been changed?

Second, was what was written down true? In Evidence for Jesus, Josh and Sean McDowell have adapted and updated the Evidence for Jesus section from their classic apologetics book, Evidence that Demands a Verdict, into a concise, readable, and accessible resource for those seeking answers about Jesus. This powerful new resource is our thanks for your gift of $50 or more to support the broadcast ministry of Connect with Skip Heitzel.

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So text connect to 74759 today. Okay, let's go to Matthew 12 today as Skip concludes his message, Why Did Jesus Come? And he said to the man, stretch out your hand.

And he stretched it out and it was restored as whole as the other. Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against him how they might destroy him. But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew from there. And great multitudes followed him and he healed them all. Yet he warned them not to make him known that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet saying, Behold, my servant, whom I have chosen, my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased, I will put my spirit upon him, and he will declare justice to the Gentiles. He will not quarrel nor cry out, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets.

A bruised reed he will not break, and smoking flax he will not quench, till he sends forth justice to victory. And in his name, Gentiles will trust. So we're seeing that there is a resistance that is building against Jesus, a rejection that is mounting. The religious people especially are looking at him and now they want to destroy him.

And here's why. When Jesus came on the scene and they thought he might be their Messiah, they were disappointed. Jesus must have been a terrible disappointment to them.

Because they had it in their mind that when their Messiah comes, he will deliver them from the Roman oppression and set Israel up as top of the kingdom and establish his earthly kingdom. It's wonderful that he's healing people. But he did not come and meet their expectations.

So they're against him. But Jesus, not wanting to make a big deal out of it, is a low-key Messiah at this point. He just sort of backs out, doesn't say anything, withdraws, and tells people, Keep it quiet when I heal you. Don't tell people.

That'd be very hard to do, by the way. If you've had a lifelong disease and suddenly you're cured and somebody says, Don't tell anybody, it's a miracle if somebody doesn't. But because he didn't meet their expectations and they're trying to trap him, that gives us the context for this. See, they expected the Messiah to keep their rigid interpretation of the law. The Messiah, they said, will be the servant of the law. Matthew says, No.

According to Isaiah, the Messiah will be the servant of the Lord. He's there to please the Father and fulfill the agenda of the Father, not the expectation of people. You know, when Jesus woke up every morning, there was one dominating thought in his mind.

You know what it was? Pleasing the Father. Pleasing the Father. He was on a mission.

There was an exact timetable, and he was there to redeem the world from sin. He knew it. And so he said in John chapter 8, verse 29, I always do those things that please him. Don't you wish you could say that? I wish I could.

I can't say that. But Jesus could. I always do those things that please him. In fact, he said in John 4, My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. So he came to serve the Father. But he also came to serve his followers.

We know that from looking at the ministry of Christ. He washed their feet. He taught them truth. He fed them food. He multiplied food. But even the apostles themselves had expectations that Jesus did not fulfill.

Now I want you to hear this. Jesus wants to serve you as well. He came to serve you. That doesn't mean he'll give you everything you want. He'll give you everything you need.

But that doesn't mean everything you want. He came to serve you. That doesn't mean he'll always make you comfortable. He'll heal you of every toe ache you have, or he'll find you a parking space in the mall during Christmas time. He tells us how he came to serve. This is what he said. The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.

Now hear this. Jesus Christ did not come to fulfill your expectation. Jesus Christ came to end your condemnation. That's how he serves us best, is by giving his life a ransom for many. It's what God sent him to do, and it's why he said he was so pleased with his Son. He came to serve.

There's a second reason he came. He came with a message. He came to speak. You'll notice in verse 18, the second part, quoting the prophet, I will put my spirit upon him, and look at this word, he will declare. He will declare justice to the Gentiles. That word declare, apangelo, means to proclaim, to tell, to preach, to teach.

What Isaiah is saying is when my servant comes, he will have a message of truth that people need to hear. Now Jesus did a lot of things. He walked on water. That was cool. He healed people who were sick. Awesome. He raised people who are dead.

Unheard of. He held little children in his arms to bless them. The parents love that, but he didn't come to just do some tricks and make people feel good, and I'm still amazed at how many people think Jesus came to just be a great example and to live a wonderful life and show us what it's like to live to our full potential. No, he came with a message. He wanted people to hear, and so he declared, he preached, he taught. In Luke chapter 20, verse 1, he enters the temple. It says he taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel. He taught and he preached. Then he went into the synagogue, and we are told he taught them. Then he went out in the Sea of Galilee and sat in a boat, and people gathered around on the shore, and he taught them. He went to the temple again, and he taught them. The multitudes came to him on the mountain, and what do you think he did?

He taught them. That's exactly right. One of the most astonishing stories is when our Lord is in Capernaum living at Peter's house, and he comes to the house, and we are told, many gathered together so there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. That's a big party. That's a lot of people at your house. It's so many people that they're looking through the windows and spilling out into the courtyard, so many gathered together. There was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door, and listen to what he did. And he preached the word to them.

What? What do you do with a group full of people? Many are diseased. Many have maladies. There's a lot of needs in that group. What's the most important thing that Jesus thought he ought to do? Preach the word to them. Preach the word to them. Not heal them, but to preach to them. Why? Because hearing truth for your soul is more important than getting healing for your body. You can be living in perfect health and die without Christ, and you'll be hopeless for eternity.

What good is that? So he wanted to make sure while he has them, the first thing he does is he preaches the word to them. In the Gospels, Jesus is said to teach the word. That's what he used 36 times. He's one who teaches. He's called a teacher 47 times, and we know why. Our Lord Himself said, you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

That's why. You will know the truth, and it will be the truth that will set you free. Jesus came to speak God's truth to people in bondage to their own lies.

And there's a lot of those lies. It's why I believe in the exposition of Scripture. It's why when you come here, we're going to say, open your Bible too. It's why we're going to say, notice that word, and notice the context, is because we believe that the exposition of Scripture unleashes God's truth in your life. I've always been concerned, and more so as time goes on, that evangelical churches are moving away from the teaching, the expositional teaching, of Scripture. It seems that some preachers think that what they have to say is more important than what the Scripture already has said, and they live for that. And so what you do is you produce a congregation that is long on zeal, but short on facts.

It's very, very important that you do that. It's very, very shallow, and the prophet Hosea said, my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Jesus taught them truth. Jesus preached and proclaimed a message. The Bible is the one miracle you can hold in your hand. You want to know what God has to say? Open your Bible and you'll find out.

What He has to say to you today is what He had to say back then, you apply that to your life. But notice something else. He not only has a message, but it says that He will declare justice to who? What is that word? It says the Gentiles. Now, I get excited about this because I am one. I'm not a Jewish person. I'm not under the covenant of Israel. I'm not part of that whole old covenant Jewish thing that God has preserved throughout history. I am an outsider. If you and I, most of you are as well. If you and I lived in the New Testament, the closest we could come would be the court of the Gentiles. We couldn't go any further than that. We might hear about how cool it is in there, but we couldn't see for ourselves because we're not Jewish people.

We have to stay in the outer court. So He came to proclaim truth to not just the Jews, but to embrace the world. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. God said to the father of Judaism, Abram or Abraham, in you all the families of the earth will be blessed. And that includes your family because of Jesus Christ. Isn't it interesting that the first worshipers of Jesus were Gentiles?

The Magi. They came from hundreds of miles away to find Jesus and worship Him. The Jewish leaders couldn't even walk five miles to see if it was true, but the Gentiles worshiped Him. And isn't it also interesting that our Lord said to a Gentile centurion, a Roman soldier, a servant of Rome, you know I have not found as great a faith in all Israel as I find in you.

And isn't it interesting that the first person Jesus revealed that He was the Messiah to was a woman of Samaria in John chapter 4. So one of the most important things you need to know about Jesus Christ is that He has a message for you. He has truth He wants you to hear. He came to serve. He came to speak. Here's the third thing He came to do. He came to strengthen. Verse 19, He will not quarrel nor cry out nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets. A bruised reed He will not break and smoking flax He will not quench.

Now let's unpack some of these truths. In verse 19, you see the word quarrel? It means annoy. Harass or annoy. Ever meet an annoying person? One is coming to mind right now. You may be looking at them.

Who knows? I remember when I was a young believer, you know I was kind of getting my evangelism legs on and trying to share with people, but we had this acquaintance. I'd say a friend, but he was more of an acquaintance who his boldness was turned up to 11. And he was annoying. I mean he would get in your face and he would stand up in restaurants when we'd be eating and he'd stand up to pray, but he would make sure that the person on the other end of the restaurant was hearing him pray.

It was that loud. And we're all like going, oh man, we're just like so embarrassed. And then then he turned to us and goes, what are you ashamed of the Lord, brother? No, but you're annoying everybody right now.

I love it. Jesus didn't come to annoy people. And notice the words also in that verse or cry out. That means to shout or scream excitedly. It is used of a dog barking in ancient times. Do you have that neighbor who has those dogs? You may be the neighbor who has those dogs.

It was your dog last night that made all that noise. He will not quarrel, annoy. He will not shout or scream excitedly. In other words, the prophet is saying when the Messiah comes, he's not going to come to meet your expectations at some political rabble rouser.

Somebody who comes in and pushes himself on people or stirs up trouble. He will not berate people with the gospel. He will not scold people with the gospel. And you notice that Jesus always spoke with control, poise, dignity. Ecclesiastes 9 tells us the quiet words of a wise person are better than the shouts of the foolish.

Now verse 20 is the key. A bruised reed he will not break, smoking flax he will not quench. Did you know that in ancient times reeds, you know those things that grow by the river, they were used practically every day. They were used to make mats. You could lie on them at night or you could put them on your dirt floors of your house so you had carpeting, so to speak, a mat on it. It was used also for making a pen so you could write.

And it was also used, if it was the right shape, to make a little flute out of a reed, to make music. But after a while they become brittle and they break off. And when they break off, you throw them away. You discard them.

They're of no value at all. Then you'll notice what it says, a smoldering flax. You know what that is? That's a wick. You put a wick in an oil lamp and then it would burn and burn until pretty soon. There's no wick left. And when there's no wick, what happens?

It smolders, right? And when it does, you pick it up and you toss it out. This is referring to people who have broken lives, who feel worn out. The kind of people the world would say, you're not really valuable.

We'll discard you. The Romans did that. Even the Pharisees did that. They would count certain people as not being valuable. They would be discarded.

And society today has many people they regard as weak and helpless and sick and elderly, whether it's an unguarded child in a womb that can't fend for itself or an old person who, well, let's put that person out to pasture and get rid of that person. Not Jesus Christ. He won't break off that reed and toss it out. He'll make it sing again. He'll put music back in that person again. He'll strengthen that weak person that the world would discard.

Jesus said, I've come to bind up the brokenhearted. And He comes along when your flame is just about out. And He didn't go, He stokes it up. He gets it going. He won't put your fire out. He'll stoke your fire up. He won't discard your life. He'll deliver your life.

I love how Jesus described Himself. He said, come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden. 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. Jesus Christ will respond to your weakness with His meekness. He will come alongside of you. He'll pick you up. He'll give you His strength. He'll move you along.

That's the idea. He came to strengthen. And I've discovered something over the years. I've discovered that of all the reasons that people make decisions to follow Christ, more people than anyone else do it at a time of crisis, when they feel rejected, broken, cast out. Some people will come to Christ because they're intellectually satisfied with the answers that are provided, but very few. Some will do it because they're not satisfied and they have a hole in their soul and there's the promise of God to fix that and they'll come. But more than not, people who have been beat up by a bad relationship or a financial crisis or a disease, they're broken and they come.

It's a good time to come. Never underestimate the value of broken things to God. Broken pots in Judges 7 won a battle. Broken bread in Matthew 14 fed a multitude.

A broken flask in Mark 14 gave a beautiful scent to everyone who was in the house. The broken body of Jesus Christ brought salvation. Now you've got a broken heart.

You know what you do with that? You worship God with that. The sacrifices of God, the psalmist said, are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart you will not despise.

You come with that broken heart and you plop that down and watch how He will come alongside of you and strengthen you in your weakness. Well, that's why He came. He came to serve, to speak, and to strengthen, but there's a fourth.

He came to save. If you finish out verse 20, it says, till He sends forth justice to victory and in His name the Gentiles will trust. Look at that again.

Look at that again. Till He sends forth justice to victory and in His name Gentiles will trust. There's a translation called The Message by Eugene Peterson.

He renders it this way. Before you know it, His justice will triumph. The mere sound of His name will signal hope, even among far-off unbelievers.

I love that. Just the name, the sound of His name will signal hope. Just the name, the sound of His name, the name of Jesus, will signal hope to far-off unbelievers. And you might be someone who feels far off. He's after you.

He wants your life. And you get the victory by simple faith. The Gentiles will trust in His name. That's where the victory comes. For by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It's just a simple trust.

1 John 5, he says, and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith, even our faith. So you triumph by trusting. You place your trust in Jesus. You place your trust in Him. You don't say, well, one day I'm going to get really good and I'm going to get really cleaned up inside and when I feel really good about myself, then I'm going to come to church and give my life to Christ.

You got it all wrong. This is what makes Jesus different from all those religions. Religion says work your way, earn your way, sweat your way, make a pilgrimage to show God that you're serious. The gospel says trust your way to God. Just trust Him.

Just trust Him. Romans 10, if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. That's why He came. He came for you. He came for all.

That one solitary life can heal your one solitary life. The one who came to fulfill all of those prophecies can fill your heart. He came for you.

Question is, will you come to Him? Israel? Well, let's make that happen. Lenny and I are taking a tour group to Israel next summer in 2024. And I can't wait. We'll start in Tel Aviv, head north to Nazareth, the Sea of Galilee, and the Jordan River. We'll spend several days in Jerusalem and see the Garden of Gethsemane, the Upper Room, and so much more. And we'll wrap it all up with a swim in the Dead Sea. Now, I've been to Israel many times, like over 40. In fact, I can honestly say, though, that visiting the places where the Scriptures unfolded, where Jesus lived out His earthly ministry, it never gets old.

No, it doesn't. The incredible sightseeing will be punctuated by times of worship and teachings that you'll never forget. And Jeremy Camp and Adie Camp will be with us to lead worship, make plans to join us next summer in Israel. See the itinerary and book this Israel tour with Skip Heitzig and Jeremy Camp today at inspirationcruises.com slash C-A-B-Q. That's inspirationcruises.com slash C-A-B-Q. Come back tomorrow for an encouraging message from Skip about the perfect timing of God's plans. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never changing truth in ever changing times.