When Jesus Turned Up the Heat, Part 2

Most of the stories told in the Gospel according to Matthew are straightforward and clear. These snapshots from the first century provide a vivid picture of Jesus and the people He encountered.

The passage we're looking at today, however, bears a measure of complexity and mystery. Today on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindoll is teaching from Matthew chapter 11. Jesus was speaking to His disciples and a gathering of locals.

He sharply rebuked them, and in this lively exchange are warnings that apply to us today. Chuck titled today's message, when Jesus turned up the heat. A friend of mine sent me a wonderful quote on prayer this past week I want to pass along to you. It's a statement John Piper wrote that prayer should be used as a wartime walkie-talkie to call in air strikes, not a bell to ring the butler to come fluff a pillow.

That good? We call in air strikes because our times are chaotic, our nation is awash, our culture has lost its way, and even some who once embraced the truth have wandered from it. By the grace of God we're able to call in help for ourselves, for we are a little better given our old nature. May God help us in this day to be people of the truth in belief and behavior.

Let's pray. You are no butler, our Father, waiting for our command. You are the sovereign God of heaven, and we await your will. Guide us, we pray, in the way we should go. May we focus our attention on you and away from ourselves.

What a novel thought in this day in which we live. Deliver us, our Father, from this narcissistic constant attention to what we want and how we feel and what we desire or what we deserve and remind us that by your grace and by your grace alone we are able to live and move and have our being. Thank you for your watchcare over us, O God, how much we need it. We live in a land that has long since left the truth that you provide for us to live by. Even those who lead us are far astray, and some who once preached the truth now deny it and even live against it. Deliver us from an indifference or a pride and bring us to our knees as we call on you for help. Bring your person to the place of responsibility over our nation. You guide us, our Father, in these tenuous times and remind us that we are not our own.

We have been bought with a price. Make us ever grateful for the Savior who loved us and gave himself for us. Protect us, we pray, from those who would bring harm and those who would kill and destroy.

We don't deserve it, but we request it. Minister through your word today in a special way and use these hard sayings, bringing them to life so that we understand them, and more importantly, we obey them. Give us ears not only to hear, but wills to heed what you have declared.

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. We all were lost, but now we're found. We were blind, but now we see.

Speak to those today who were still blind. Remind all of us that we are recipients of your matchless grace, which allows us to call you our Father. In the matchless name of our Redeemer, our Lord Jesus Christ, we pray.

Everyone said, Amen. You're listening to Insight for Living. To study the book of Matthew with Chuck Swindoll, be sure to download his Searching the Scriptures studies by going to insightworld.org slash studies. And now the message from Chuck about when Jesus turned up the heat.

When I come to Matthew chapter 11, I don't think anyone would say it's simple. What's the subject that Jesus is dealing with? He's the Messiah and he's offered the kingdom of heaven to people who don't want it. It all began with John the Baptizer, you may recall, who came out of the wilderness as the forerunner of the Christ, of the Messiah, and he did his job well.

He stepped up, faithfully carried out his responsibilities, and then went a little too far with Herod Antipas, and as a result you may remember from our last time he was thrown in prison. And now Jesus on his own, having talked about how great John is, addresses further the subject that these people were rejecting. And as I read the verses before us, I get the feeling that Jesus takes off the gloves and turns up the heat.

He's put up with them for a while and now it's time for them to hear it straight from his mouth. They are responsible with the information he has been giving them and they must respond or they will never know the joy of what he has to offer them. He says in verse 12, from the time John the Baptizer began preaching until now, the kingdom of heaven, I believe it could be read, has suffered from violence by violent people.

It has not been well received, it has not been embraced. There are those who have viciously attacked the message and want nothing to do with it. Before John came, all the prophets and the law of Moses looked forward to this present time.

They had spoken of it, they had written about it, and now that we find ourselves in the here and now, you want nothing to do with it. And if you're willing to accept what I say, he is Elijah, meaning he speaks as one like unto Elijah, the one the prophets said would come, anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand. In other words, you will need to have the same kind of forceful devotion to follow the teaching that the majority of you in your own vicious and forceful way are rejecting the message and denying what I am offering. It's a deeply emotional and passionate word of warning. In fact, he says in so many ways, all who hear these words must heed them. He goes on, not only is there the vicious and violent attack on the message that he offers, please observe that there is sort of a game played, and he refers to them as that. Look at verse 16.

To what can I compare this generation? You're like children playing a game in the public square, complaining to their friends. We played wedding songs and you didn't dance.

We played funeral songs and you didn't mourn. I think it's a direct slam against John the baptizer who came out of the wilderness looking weird, sounding strange, but a message that cut like a hot knife through butter as he told him to repent, as he spoke of the one who was the Lamb of God taking away the sin of the world. Look at what they did next. They called him names.

Verse 18, John didn't spend his time eating and drinking, so you gave him a name. He's a demoniac. No one dressed like that would be in his right mind.

No one sounding like that would be a mature adult. He's weird, must be a demon. He's demonized. All of those today who think of Jesus as meek and mild haven't really digested Matthew 11 12 to 26.

These are strong words. Because they would not heed his message, he told them the truth about what they faced and he isn't through. He hasn't finished. Beginning at verse 20, he begins to denounce towns that had seen a lot of him and watched him work and heard him teach and witnessed his miracles.

He names them for us. Look at what the verse says. Jesus began to denounce the towns where he had done so many of his miracles because they hadn't repented of their sins and turned to God. Woe to you, Corzine. Woe to you, Bethsaida. Woe to you, Capernaum. The words are repeated and they are anguishing words of sorrow, not anger.

He's heartbroken. This was the area where Jesus spent much of his time and performed many of his miracles. You know what's interesting? Nowhere else do we read anything significant or hardly the name Corzine and Bethsaida.

Only here. Now we read of Capernaum because that's sort of his home away from home. It's where Peter lived and his mother-in-law lived with him. It's where Jesus called the disciples along the shore, the northernmost part of the Sea of Galilee. It's where Jesus kept returning to after he had done ministry elsewhere. So we read of Capernaum but Bethsaida and Corzine are virtually unknown.

Why is that significant? Well, I'm reminded of the last verse in the Gospel of John. Many other things Jesus did and taught which are not contained in this book. If they were all recorded right down to the last detail, the world could not contain the books. So to put it bluntly, we know much less than we know more of what Jesus did and said than we wish we did. We really know very little, only what is revealed in the Gospels and mentioned from time to time in the letters.

Here's a classic case in point. Not a word is said of what he did in Corzine or the works he carried out in Bethsaida, but they knew because some of these people were from there. Why the words of sorrowful anguish? Because they didn't care. It's a statement regarding their indifference and their passivity. When I was a student in seminary, I remember one of our lecturers came and I forget his subject now, but I'll never forget one of his lines. He made the statement that to this day, I can remember the moment I heard it, passivity is an enemy. Another word for passivity would be indifference.

Business as usual. Kind of a, who cares? I read about a teacher who was teaching high school and there were always these two boys sitting up near the front who got there too late to get a backseat and they were bored and made it known to the teacher that they were bored and one day he just got his belly full of it, turned around to the chalkboard back in those days, and as the sparks flew from the chalk, he wrote A-P-A-T-H-Y and underlined these big six-inch letters. A-P-A-T-H-Y, that is your problem. One of the kids looked at the other, goes apathy. What does that mean? The other guy goes, who cares? That's baseda, that's corazine, that's the Bible Belt, and we're the buckle of it, right where we live.

Points east and points west and a little point toward the north and you're in the belt. Go to most any town and you'll find churches. Go to larger towns and you'll find hundreds of churches proclaiming, proclaiming, announcing, denouncing, declaring the truth, pleading for response, and it's business as usual. Who cares? Got it?

Let me go further. We who find ourselves in a church that believes in and constantly declares the truth, you hear more truth in one month than the average person will hear in his lifetime. You will hear the name of Jesus regularly when you are in this place of worship and so you should. He is our message. You'll hear of his cross, you'll hear of his resurrection, you'll hear of his substitutionary death, you'll hear of his soon coming, you'll hear of his plan for his kingdom, where he will come as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, literally set up his kingdom on this earth. You will hear that and hear that and hear that and hear that and hear that until if you're not careful, you start to yawn.

Like I've heard this before from somebody smarter than you are, are far more gifted. Take heed, men and women, in the Bible Belt. I warn you, I warn us, we who find ourselves in the core of evangelical conservatism need evangelism and the truth of God more than ever. I can guarantee you most of the people in your neighborhood have never once known a meaningful relationship with a living God. Many could not tell you in one sentence who is Jesus Christ.

When we were building this building, we sent a group of people with clipboards and we had them do that with great tact, asking a few questions. One of them at this mall here that had just been built, who to you is Jesus Christ? You have no idea how many responded. I don't know.

One even said to his buddy, is this a trick question? Who is Jesus? What can he mean to you in your life?

That's the point of this here. You who have conducted yourselves like children, petulant and spoiled, even when I've been among you, you've ignored it. How visible and how significant was Jesus' work among them?

Look at what he says. If the miracles I did in you, this is verse 21, if the miracles I did in you, that is in your city, had been done in wicked Tyre and Sidon, which epitomized pagan, gentile, corruption and a life of worthlessness, seacoast cities. If I'd done my work in Tyre and Sidon, as I've done it here, the people would have repented of their sins long ago, clothing themselves in burlap and throwing ashes on their head.

All a colloquialism for abject humility. I'll tell you Tyre and Sidon will be better off on Judgment Day than you, Corazene, Bethsaida and Capernaum. And you people of Capernaum, will you be honored in heaven? No, no.

So proud of your seacoast town, talking about the beautiful view you have of the sea, the lovely flowers you're growing, the hillside. No, you'll be no better off if the miracles I did for you had been done in wicked Sodom. He goes even further than Tyre and Sidon. It would still be here today, I tell you, even Sodom will be better off on Judgment Day than you. Here is the evangelical triangle who had seen more of the truth and heard more of the truth than Dallas, Fort Worth and San Antonio put together. Why, what a difference it would make. But you, here in the center, what are you doing about it? How have you responded? A couple of things stand out to me that I think are worth remembering, the kind of things we want to take home with us after a message like this.

Here's the first. It's easy for people to forget the responsibilities of privilege. The greater your privilege, the greater your responsibility. The greater the truth, the more the truth, the more it must make a difference in how you live. But when you are privileged, it is easy to take it all for granted. Let me let you in a little bit of my early life.

I was not raised in privileged environment. I remember when my mom and dad dropped to their knees at a previous place we were renting, and they were bringing before the Lord the opportunity to buy this house in East Houston. And they poured out their hearts to the Lord and asked him to guide them. After all, it would cost $5,995 to buy the home. And my dad struggled with whether they could afford it. Well, they worked out a way and we moved. We moved to East Houston. Nice little neighborhood, very pleasant place to live.

I didn't realize that we didn't have much. I thought everybody lived like we did on Quint Street there in East Houston. By the way, don't drive through there these days.

Let's have your windows rolled up, doors locked. Tough place. I didn't know it was tough.

I thought every school had stabbings, which went on regularly through the school year where I went to high school. But I wasn't privileged. But had I been, I wonder if I would have become the man I am today, by the grace of God. Chuck Swindoll is midway through his message, and I'll encourage you to stay with us because he'll close today's program with an important comment.

That's coming up in just a moment. You're listening to a study in Matthew chapter 11 about the intense moment when Jesus turned up the heat, and this is Insight for Living. To learn more about this ministry, please visit us online at insightworld.org.

When you're reading your Bible and you come across disconcerting passages like the one we heard today, it's imperative to understand the historical context in which it was written. And it's a good time to remind you about the Swindoll Study Bible, because it's a wonderful resource for cross-referencing difficult passages and gaining insight from a man who spent a lifetime digging into God's Word. With the Swindoll Study Bible open in your lap, you'll have access to decades of personal study and insight laid side by side with the Scriptures. And it's written, of course, in the approachable style you've come to expect from Chuck. To purchase a copy of the Swindoll Study Bible, go to insight.org slash offer. Or call us if you're listening in the U.S.

Dial 1-800-772-8888. In closing, we'd like to send out a resounding word of thanks to all those who support Insight for Living financially. Even during this challenging year of multiple distractions, our listening family has demonstrated their generous commitment to seeing this Bible teaching ministry move forward, and we're profoundly grateful.

Chuck? If you're in the business world, you likely have some idea what it means to close the books on a financial year. Well, at Insight for Living, our non-profit organization will close the financial year on June 30.

The day is coming soon. Fiscal year-end, we call it. Yes, it's an accounting term, a mile marker, an annual turning point for bookkeepers and accountants and ministries like ours. And Insight for Living is far more than any of those business terms.

We've set financial goals for June 30 that need to be met. That's the business part. But this is not a business.

You know this. It's a ministry. And so, when I hear the deadline on June 30, I think about people, men and women like you, folks who rely on us to dispense and declare the truth of God's Word day in and day out.

Sure, we run Insight for Living like an efficient business behind the scenes because we know that's prudent and that's wise. We have a wonderful staff to help us do that. But we have never lost sight of those we reach and the one we serve. So now, can I count on you to help us? Your generous donation today will not only care for the business side of this ministry but far more important. Your donation will help us reach more people with Insight for Living. Today's the day.

I'm counting on you. All right. Thank you, Chuck. And let me explain how you can respond today. Choose one of several ways to reach out to Insight for Living. The quickest and most convenient way to give is to follow the simple instructions at insight.org slash donate or use our convenient mobile app. You can also speak with someone about giving a donation by calling us directly. If you're listening in the U.S., dial 1-800-772-8888 or go online to insight.org. Tomorrow, Chuck Swindoll describes the surprising moment when Jesus turned up the heat. Listen Tuesday to Insight for Living. The preceding message, When Jesus Turned Up the Heat was copyrighted in 2016 and 2021 and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2021 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.