Matthew 11:1-6 – Don’t Walk Away – Bible study

Matt 11:1-6 Dont Walk Away Luke 7:21 And in that same hour he cured many of their infirmities and plagues, and of evil spirits; and unto many that were blind he gave sight. Would you note the word in verse 6 "offended." The word means tripped, caused to stumble, by extension enticed to sin, to apostasy, or to Gods displeasure. The very word insinuates that the person was near God at one time, but something happened that caused them to walk away, to trip, to stumble. Consider that Jesus was not addressing this statement to a lost person here. The conversation centered around John the Baptist. John was not an unbeliever. John was not a God-doubter. John was not a spiritual by-stander. In fact, Jesus made it clear that John was the exact opposite. 1. \#9\ John was a prophet of Godand more. 2. \#10\ John was a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. 3. \#11\ John was among the greatest men ever born of women and that was because of his faith and service to God. Yet, being in prison for so long and waiting for Jesus to do something to manifest Himself as God and King had caused some doubt on Johns part. Jesus warned John not to become offended. So when Jesus spoke about being offended, the remark was not directed to the non-believer but the believer. However, and this statement may shock some of you, not every believer is a Christian. I do not mean to say this was so of John, but it is true of some. I spoke to a man this weeka good man by most peoples standardsabout salvation and in doing so, I was attempting to help him see where he stood before the Lord. This man attended a "church" growing up; he was raised around prayer, around Bible reading, with Bible teaching. When I asked him of his relationship to Jesus, his answer was, "I believe in God. I believe in Jesus." I responded, that is good, but salvation is not just about believing. It is also about surrendering to Jesus. Before I could get anything else out of my mouth, he jumped in. "Now, I am not surrendered to Jesus. No. I am not surrendered to Him." And to prove it, he gave me an example of some of the things he was doing. Then he said, "But Im not going to lie to you, I am not going to surrender to Him. Im" doing this "and Im not going to stop." That response told me what I needed to know. He is a believer, but he is not a Christian and at this point, he is not interested in becoming a Christian. Why? Because he wants to sin. He would rather have sin than Jesus. Many people are like this man. They stand in the Valley of Decision, or maybe its the Valley of Indecision. Although they believe in Jesus, something has offended them and they have walked away from Jesusmaybe forever. Lets consider Jesus statement this morning. I. How can one be "offended" at Jesus? A. Those of us who know Jesus wonder at that thought. Jesus is all that is Good, Holy, Right, and Just. How could anyone be offended at that? B. Lets consider some possibilities and lets start at John the Baptists prospective. 1. Jesus delay has offended some. a. I can see how Jesus delaying might offend John. (1) John was stuck in jail waiting on Jesus to assume the throne. (2) In fact, he died in jail, being beheaded for his preaching. (3) That could have easily been remedied by Jesus demonstrating who the true King of Israel and the whole planet was! b. In fact, Jesus delaying could and did offended many who knew about Jesus. (1) The nation of Israel had been promised a King since at least the days of Isaiah and one could argue that they had looked for one since the days of Numbers and Deuteronomy. (a) In fact, Jesus refusal to step forward and prove Himself to be their Messiah was one of the things that frustrated them the most. (b) Jesus delaying had a part in frustrating the Jewish leaders. John 10:24 Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. (2) Then again, Israel had waited for a long time to be the blessing that God had promised them to one day be. Ge 12:3 and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. (a) That promise was made to Abraham and it had yet to be fulfilled, around 2,000 years! (b) Now Jesus was here, but He was delaying, not assuming the throne, not establishing His kingdom, not setting Israel free. (3) I am not so sure that Judas was not offended by Jesus delay. (a) For 3 to 3 1/2 years, Judas followed Jesus, expecting that at some point, He would manifest Himself. (b) Then, it appeared to happen. Jesus made His entry into Jerusalem all of the city came out, throwing their coats and palm branches on the ground for Him to walk upon and shouting, "God save us!" (c) And what did Jesus do? He walked into the temple and left, going back to Bethany. (d) Judas might have figured that if Jesus was not going to take the throne on that day, He never would. (e) Judas tripped, stumbled, on that day. He was offended. c. Some today have been offended at Jesus delaying. (1) They went to church and expected God to manifest Himself to them in some way or another. (a) Most wanted Him to give them something. (b) Maybe some wanted a healing or a help of some kind. (c) Some might have wanted their estimate of justice. (2) They thought they were being patient when they gave God a time limit to prove Himself and He did not. (3) So they were offended and went away. d. In one way or another, we are all waiting on Jesus. (1) We all have prayers we are waiting on Jesus to answer. (2) We all have people we want to see saved. (3) We are all waiting on Jesus to return. e. Some have indeed been offended by Jesus delay. 2. Jesus meekness offended some. Matt 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. a. Again, I see how John the Baptist might have stumbled at this. (1) After all, One who could heal so many, surely He could put a few curses on people. (2) A little curse on King Herod, the man who had John in shackled, would certainly go a long way in showing him who the real Boss was. (3) But Jesus did nothing like that. Jesus came more as a Servant than a Savior, Soldier, or Sovereign. b. Other of the disciples were, at the least, put off by Jesus meekness. (1) \#Luke 9:54\ James and John, nicknamed the Sons of Thunder, thought Jesus should call fire down from heaven to destroy the Samaritans for the way they had treated them, but Jesus rebuked them. (2) When in \#Luke 22:36\, Peter heard Jesus say something about getting a sword, he must have thought Jesus was going to go militant. (a) By \#Luke 22:38\, he had found two. (b) And I dont think anyone more surprised than Peter when he pulled one of those swords to stop Jesus arrest and Jesus Himself stopped him, healed the man whom Peter had cut, and told him to put his sword away. \#Luke 22:50-51, Matt 26:52\. (3) It appears that even Jesus critics thought He was too passive. Hanging on the cross, they daunted Him, "If thou be the Son of God, come down off that cross!" c. And to this day, Jesus still walks in meekness. (1) How many of His children have been persecuted beaten, bullied, robbed, raped? How many have been martyred? (2) No doubt some thought, hoped, prayed, that Jesus would rise up on their behalf. (3) I am certain that Jesus meekness has offended many who for a time followed Him. d. And while I know many do not want to hear it, as persecutions arise in this line, some are going to want to literally fight for the cause of Jesus, and alas, the meekness of Jesus will offend them. 3. The sacrifices required has offended some. Mt 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. a. Again, I can see where John might have been offended by this. b. John had sacrificed a lot. (1) John had separated himself from the world in ways most of us would never think of doing. (a) Living in the wilderness (b) Wearing camel hair instead of cloth (c) Eating locust and honey (2) Then he had given himself to preaching. (a) There is a cost to be a preacher of the truth. (b) To tell people the truth about their sin? Not easy. i. That is why John was in jail. ii. He told the king that he was committing adultery. iii. And like it usually goes, as mad as it made the king, it made his woman even madder! She will ultimately demand that the king behead John the Baptist and he will. (c) And so there he sits in prison. Why? For preaching the truth. c. So God had asked a lot of John and John had given it; but not all do. d. Side note: Some think it is just easier for some to sacrifice for Jesus than it is for others. (1) The ones who think that are the ones who will not sacrifice. Thats how they justify it. "Its just easier for them." (2) If you think I am one and that it was just easy for me, you are wrong. (a) I had plans for my life just like you do. (b) I wanted to be an electrician, to one day have my own business, to have money, to have some things. (c) Kathy and I designed our own house before we even married. All she ever asked was that we have a nice yard and white picked fence. She has never had either. (d) I am not saying that to ask for pity. (e) Compared to what we have seen others sacrifice for Jesus, our sacrifice has been small. (f) I am saying it to help you understand. It is called "sacrifice" for a reason. (g) Its not the person that makes the sacrificing easy. It is the sacrificing that makes the person. d. And many are they who have walked away from Jesus because they were offended at what they would have to give up to follow Him. e. Let me tell you one thing that might make it easier for you to not be offended. Give it all up to Jesus to start with. Too many wrestle about giving up one thingand it is heart wrenching. Then, when they have given up that one thing, they find God dealing with them about giving up something else. Just give it all up for Jesus to start with and you wont have to deal be dealing with this offense every day. 4. Confusion has offended some. John 6:66 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. a. This isnt a near-the-cross Bible verse. We are only at John 6. b. Why are they going back? They have been offended at Jesus teaching. They did not understand it so they "walked no more with him." They walked away. c. This has been common in all generations. (1) What is really strange is that most people who walk away from Christ do not even take the time to read the Bible to see what it is about and what it really says. (2) I am amazed at how many people are offended at a Book they never read. 5. Shame has offended some. a. I am definitely NOT talking about John the Baptist now. b. But Jesus knew some would be shamed of Him. Mr 8:38 Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. c. A lot of people are walking away from Jesuseven as I speakbecause if they stand with Jesus, they will be thought of as religious or worse, a religious fanatic. d. How many lines have been drawn on Bible teachings? abortion, adultery, sex identification, creation just to name a few. II. What happens if one is offended by Jesus? A. There are many possible responses. 1. John the Baptist began to doubt if Jesus were really the Messiah! Matt 11:3 And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? a. Jesus did not rebuke John. He encouraged him. b. \#Matt 11:4-5\ He performed miracles and sent the messengers back to tell John what they had seen. c. Still, doubt arose in this great servant of God. 2. Peter ran and later denied Jesus. 3. Judas betrayed Jesus, selling Him for 30 pieces of silver. 4. In \#John 6:66\, the people just walked away from Jesus. 5. Some have become agnostics, atheists, worshipers of false gods, persecutors of the saved, and many others. B. One thing is for certain. Those who are offended stumble, trip, turn away from Jesus. 1. That is what the word "offended" means. 2. They walk away LOST. Not because they had salvation and lost it but because they were believers who never surrendered. 3. The day is here when every believer must decide whether they will surrender to Jesus or not. 4. Being offended and walking away, that is the wrong road. III. What happens to the one who is not offended? A. Jesus told us that in the verse. Matt 11:6 And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me. B. They are blessed. 1. Blessed means "Approved and rewarded by God." 2. John the Baptist was not offended so God approved him, then rewarded him for all eternity.