July 2, 2019 -- Matthew 11:20-21 -- Cursed or Blessed where do you stand?

Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.”

Matthew 11:20-21 ESV

Strange words. Difficult to understand. Jesus was denouncing Jewish towns where He’d performed His miracles. Chorazin and Bethsaida were villages that along with the whole of the Jewish people were supposed to be awaiting the Messiah, the Anointed One, of God to appear. Yet, when by miracles and His powerful preaching He showed Himself to be that very long-awaited and anticipated Messiah, they did not accept Him!

Tyre and Sidon were Gentile towns. They were not expecting a Messiah, certainly not in the sense that a faithful Jewish man or woman would be awaiting Him. Yet, as we read on in Matthew there are some Gentiles, non-Jewish people, who hear of the miracles and believe! (See Matthew 15:21ff where a woman from the district of Tyre and Sidon approaches Jesus on behalf of her daughter for healing!)

We are far removed from the days when Jesus walked the earth. How can we be sure of Who He Is?

First and foremost: Jesus rose from the dead. More than 500 people witnessed this (I Corinthians 15:1ff). If His resurrection where a lie, the Romans or the Jewish leaders who hated Jesus would just need to produce His body and all such stories would end. They couldn’t. He arose victorious—Hallelujah!

Second, the Bible bears witness to Jesus. It remains the top selling book of all time. Why? Because it is true. John 20:31: “these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

Third—the Spirit of God bears witness to the fact that Jesus is fully the Son of God and the Son of Man. Jesus is 100% God and 100% human. Only God could bear the punishment of the Father’s just anger poured out against sin and only a human being—one with flesh and blood and a soul like Adam, our representative in the Garden of Eden who fell into sin—could be our representative bearing the punishment for the sin of all humanity. I Corinthians 2:10ff shows us the work of the Spirit—the Spirit of God reveals the deep things of God. Those who are materialists, people who have chosen not to accept there is any power like God’s power will—no matter how much evidence there is piled up in front of them—refuse to believe.

Friends, though we are far from the times when Jesus walked on the earth, we have advantages they do not! We have the Bible. We have the testimony of the Holy Spirit. We know the resurrection is true. God cannot lie. What He has promised He has given and all who believe in Him are not under the woes, the condemnation, which Jesus pronounced on unbelievers. All who believe in Jesus Christ will, by the Spirit of God, feed on the Word and grow in understanding and faith. It begins with “God, I believe.” And as we believe the fruit of this is joy-filled obedience. For there is no god, no authority, no blessing to be found anywhere else than in Jesus Who brings us as beloved sons and daughters into the presence of God the Great and Glorious.

Jesus, thank You for revealing Yourself to us—down through the ages and centuries! Thank You for the beautiful testimony of Who You Are, given in the Bible and preserved by the Spirit. I think of the words of the hymn writer, Horatio Spafford: “My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious though, my sin not in part but the whole is nailed to the cross and I bear it no, praise the Lord, praise the Lord, oh my soul!” In view of the vast mercy You have shown in forgiving my, forgiving our, sins—let us all then walk in obedience to You. Strengthen us for such obedience. Bring us into fellowship with other believers who also find great joy in You. For our friends and family members who do not yet know You and are therefore under the curse of woe for their rebellion, Jesus, bring them to Yourself in love. Let the words of my lips and the testimony of my life be used to bring many to the glorious knowledge of Who You Are. Amen.