R³ Devotional - Day 285
R³ Devotional - Day 285 - Matthew 11
By: Anderson Baptist Church
Matthew 11 starts off with a question from John the Baptist…Are you (Jesus) the one who is to come, or shall we look for another? Whoa, bold words there Ole’ Cousin John. If you have seen The Chosen, then you should remember that scene in Season 3, Episode 6, it was a good one. Two of John the Baptist’s disciples came up to Jesus and said they needed to speak to Him. Instead of pulling them aside and chatting quietly, Jesus introduces them to the crowd and implores them to say out loud, what they came to say. So, they asked the question burning in John’s mouth…Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another? Jesus’ response was so Jesus-like… Go and tell my cousin what you have seen. The blind regain sight, the deaf can hear, the lame can walk, the dead now live again, and the poor have the good news preached to them ← that one is my favorite!
“Behold I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.”
John the Baptist was sent to prepare the way for Jesus’ arrival; to get the Jews to repent and turn back to God (seems like that was all prophets did in the OT), to baptize them with water, and to tell others about the Messiah who was coming. Do you think John the Baptist knew just how significant he was going to be in the coming of the Messiah? Or how unresponsive that generation was going to be to the coming Messiah?
Jesus calls that generation, an unresponsive generation, stubborn rejection by this generation of both John’s and His own ministries… They claimed John was a demon because he neither ate nor drank, they called Jesus a glutton and a friend of sinners because He ate and drank.
Jesus then pronounces judgment on the Galilean cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, they WITNESSED the miracles and yet still failed to repent. insert face palm here The judgment for those cities will be more severe than the judgment in pagan cities like Tyre, Sidon, and yeah even Sodom (we KNOW what happened to Sodom), all because they didn’t repent.
He then winds down this chapter with a blessing of Thanksgiving and invitation to rest. I don’t know about you, but I find it very hard to actually rest. My mind will wander to things I haven’t gotten to, things on my to do list, chores that I know need to be done (but don’t actually want to do), and then guilt takes over so I will get up and start um not resting.
Real Life Principles:
Pray, stay in the word, REST, trust in God, and when doubt creeps in (hey even John had doubts), go to God with those doubts…ask for clarity in a situation.
Relevant Life Applications:
Seek truth over pleasing others. Jesus’s audience criticized both the hermit John the Baptist & the compassionate sociable Jesus…the lesson is to live to please God not please people and to seek His message rather than judging based on personal preferences.
Being Ready with Life Action Steps:
Are we perfect? Nope.
Are we going to get everything correct? Nope.
We can still repent and come back to God with humility, and He will forgive us. He loves us and always wants to be close to us. We are His Children, we are His Chosen, we are His Beloved Bride, we are His.
“Behold I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.”
John the Baptist was sent to prepare the way for Jesus’ arrival; to get the Jews to repent and turn back to God (seems like that was all prophets did in the OT), to baptize them with water, and to tell others about the Messiah who was coming. Do you think John the Baptist knew just how significant he was going to be in the coming of the Messiah? Or how unresponsive that generation was going to be to the coming Messiah?
Jesus calls that generation, an unresponsive generation, stubborn rejection by this generation of both John’s and His own ministries… They claimed John was a demon because he neither ate nor drank, they called Jesus a glutton and a friend of sinners because He ate and drank.
Jesus then pronounces judgment on the Galilean cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, they WITNESSED the miracles and yet still failed to repent. insert face palm here The judgment for those cities will be more severe than the judgment in pagan cities like Tyre, Sidon, and yeah even Sodom (we KNOW what happened to Sodom), all because they didn’t repent.
He then winds down this chapter with a blessing of Thanksgiving and invitation to rest. I don’t know about you, but I find it very hard to actually rest. My mind will wander to things I haven’t gotten to, things on my to do list, chores that I know need to be done (but don’t actually want to do), and then guilt takes over so I will get up and start um not resting.
Real Life Principles:
Pray, stay in the word, REST, trust in God, and when doubt creeps in (hey even John had doubts), go to God with those doubts…ask for clarity in a situation.
Relevant Life Applications:
Seek truth over pleasing others. Jesus’s audience criticized both the hermit John the Baptist & the compassionate sociable Jesus…the lesson is to live to please God not please people and to seek His message rather than judging based on personal preferences.
Being Ready with Life Action Steps:
Are we perfect? Nope.
Are we going to get everything correct? Nope.
We can still repent and come back to God with humility, and He will forgive us. He loves us and always wants to be close to us. We are His Children, we are His Chosen, we are His Beloved Bride, we are His.
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