What Jesus Refuses to Do Matthew 12:14-21
Then the Pharisees called a meeting and discussed plans for killing Jesus. 15 But Jesus knew what they were planning. He left that area, and many people followed him. He healed all the sick among them, 16 but he warned them not to say who he was. 17 This fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah concerning him: 18 "Look at my Servant, Whom I have chosen. He is my Beloved, And I am very pleased with him. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. 19 He will not fight or shout; He will not raise his voice in public. 20 He will not crush those who are weak or quench the smallest hope; he brings full justice with his final victory. 21 And his name will be the hope of all the world."
Did you know there is a place in the Alpine Mountains in Switzerland where you can throw a different piece of wood in different directions and they will end up in a different Sea? One direction will take it down the Danube River and into the Black sea. Thrown in another direction and it will float down the Rhine River into the North Sea. Still thrown another and it will land in the Rhone River and end in Mediterranean Sea. Three pieces of wood thrown from the same place but ending up in different Seas several miles apart. Their destination is determined by the way they were thrown. With our lives what will be tomorrow will be determined by the choices we make today. In the life of Jesus, we find this true also. As He made choices day by day, it developed the character he would become. He chose to do some things and refused to do others. I am glad that in the Gospels it tells of thing He did willingly. He willingly raised Lazarus from the dead. He willingly healed a man with a withered hand. He willingly stopped a funeral by raising a widow’s son. We want to key in on some things that the verses we read today tell us Jesus refuses to do.
1. Jesus refuses to be impatient with sinners.
Martin Luther said, “If I were God and the world had treated me as it has treated Him. I would have kicked the wretched thing to pieces long ago.”
This is one of the best explanations of why God allows pain and suffering that I have seen. It’s an explanation other people will understand. A man went to a barbershop to have his haircut and his beard trimmed. As the barber began to work, they began to have a good conversation. They talked about all kinds of things. When they eventually touched on the subject of God, the barber said: "I don’t believe that God exists." "Why do you say that?" asked the customer. "Well, you just have to go out in the street to realize that God doesn’t exist. Tell me, if God exists, would there be so many sick people? Would there be abandoned children? If God existed, there would be neither suffering nor pain. I can’t imagine a loving God who would allow all of these things." The customer thought for a moment, but didn’t respond because he didn’t want to start an argument! The barber finished his job and the customer left the shop. Just after he left the barbershop, he saw a man in the street with long, stringy, dirty hair and an untrimmed beard. He looked dirty and unkempt. The customer turned back and entered the barbershop again and he said to the barber: "You know what? Barbers do not exist." "How can you say that?" asked the surprised barber. "I am here, and I am a barber. And I just worked on you!" "No!" the customer exclaimed. "Barbers don’t exist because if they did, there would be no people with dirty long hair and untrimmed beards, like that man outside." "Ah, but barbers DO exist! What happens is people do not come to me." "Exactly!" affirmed the customer. "That’s the point! God, too, DOES exist! What happens, is, people don’t go to Him and do not look for Him. That’s why there’s so much pain and suffering in the world."
Joe Wright’s Prayer: An interesting prayer was given recently in Kansas at the opening session of their Senate in 2000. I think that this prayer reveals our hypocrisy as a nation. When Minister Joe Wright was asked to open the new session of the Kansas Senate with a prayer, everyone was expecting the usual generalities, but this is what they heard: "Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask Your forgiveness and to seek Your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, "Woe to those who call evil good," but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values.-We confess that we have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your word and call it "pluralism."-We have worshipped other gods and called it "multiculturalism."-We have endorsed perversion and called it "alternative lifestyle."-We have exploited the poor and called it "the lottery."-We have rewarded laziness and called it "welfare."-We have killed our unborn and called it "choice."-We have shot abortionists and called it "justifiable."-We have neglected to discipline our children and called it "building self-esteem."-We have abused power and called it "politics."-We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and called it "ambition."-We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it "enlightenment." Search us, Oh, God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent to direct us to the center of Your will, to open our hearts and ask it in the name of Your Son, the living Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen."
2. Jesus declines to dampen the spirits of those who are exhausted.
Jesus is the greatest Encourager that ever lived. He does not come to make us feel bad about ourselves. Some of His sayings were, “Be of good Cheer,” “Blessed are you,” “Peace. I leave with you,” “take heart! I have overcome the world," “Don’t be afraid.” Jesus did not come to strike us or crush us but to lift us up. He came to bless us, strengthen us give us hope, to lift our burdens and at times to carry us.
The Black Pebble
Many years ago in a small village, a farmer had the misfortune of owing a large sum of money to a village moneylender. The moneylender, who was an awful, mean man, fancied the farmer’s beautiful daughter. Since the farmer was unable to pay the debt, the money lender proposed a deal. He said he would forgo the farmer’s debt if he could marry his daughter. Both the farmer and his daughter were horrified by the proposal. So the cunning moneylender suggested that they let providence decide the matter. He told them that he would put a black pebble and a white pebble into an empty moneybag. Then the girl would have to pick one pebble from the bag. 1. If she picked the black pebble, she would become his wife and her father’s debt would be forgiven. 2. If she picked the white pebble she need not marry him and her father’s debt would still be forgiven. 3. But if she refused to pick a pebble, her father would be thrown into jail. They were standing on a pebble-strewn path in the farmer’s field. As they talked, the moneylender bent over to pick up two pebbles. As he picked them up, the sharp-eyed girl noticed that he had picked up two black pebbles and put them into the bag. He then told the girl to pick a pebble from the bag. Now, imagine that you were standing in the field. What would you have done if you were the girl? If you had to advise her, what would you have told her? Careful analysis would produce three possibilities: 1. The girl should refuse to take a pebble. 2. The girl should show that there were two black pebbles in the bag and expose the moneylender as a cheat. 3. The girl should pick a black pebble and sacrifice herself in order to save her father from his debt and imprisonment. What would you recommend to the Girl to do? Well, here is what she did . . . . The girl put her hand into the moneybag and drew out a pebble. Without looking at it, she fumbled and let it fall onto the pebble-strewn path where it immediately became lost among all the other pebbles. "Oh, how clumsy of me," she said. "But never mind, if you look into the bag for the one that is left, you will be able to tell which pebble I picked." Since the remaining pebble is black, it is reasonable to assume that she had picked the white one. And since the moneylender dared not admit his dishonesty, the girl changed what seemed an impossible situation into an extremely favorable one for herself and her father. Jesus takes what seems impossible to our way of thinking and makes it possible because He is God.
3. Jesus declines to enter where and when He is not invited.
Jesus is not and intruder and if you want Him you must invite Him to come in.
This is the longest OT quotation in Matthew’s Gospel. It summarizes the quiet ministry of the Lord’s servant, who will bring justice and hope to the nations.
Sometimes we think God is like Santa Claus; if we just sit and wait He will drop His blessings into our lap without any effort on our part. Sometimes to get what you want from God you have to get down into trenches, grab hold of His promises and resist the enemy’s advances in your life. Even when you are in the right area to succeed, unless you become proactive it may never be yours. Before Israel could inhabit the Promised Land, they had to fight the Canaanites, the Hittites, and other ’ites.’ So, you have to fight your ’ites,’ if you are going to enjoy your rights!
We are so used to thinking in terms of the ’sweet by-and-by’ that we have come to believe God’s blessings are reserved for Heaven. God did not tell the Israelites they would inherit the Promised Land after they died. But they had to fight for it! There were 31 kings and 7 nations that had to be conquered before they could move in and possess it. And they had to be dealt with one by one.
It is not enough to be strong in faith; you must be strong in fight! The enemy’s strongholds in your life must be pulled down. Your ’ites’ must be dealt with! God will give you the strategy and the weapons. He will even empower you, but you have to fight for your inheritance!
