Matthew 11:20-22……Working

Matthew 11:20-22……Working

11:20 Then Jesus began to denounce the cities in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent.21″Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you Bethsaida (These towns, would literally lay in ruins centuries later.) If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.  22 But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment  than for you. (For Complete Expository Get the Book)

Extended Sermons

“Teaches how nothing is hidden from God’s sight, not even the alternate paths our lives could have taken.” → Understanding that God knows the “alternate paths “ we could have taken (often referred to in theology as middle knowledge or Scientia Media) can offer profound personal peace and guidance. It eliminates the “What-if” regrets. We know longer have to torture ourselves with the fear that we permanently ruined our life with a past decision. If God foreknew that alternate path, It means He already factored our actual choice into His larger plan for our life. Not only that, but it also redefines failures . Even when a choice leads to a dead end, it isn’t a surprise to God. He knows exactly what we learned on that detour and how to use that specific experience to shape our character moving forward. It also deepens trust and guidance. When we pray for direction, we are consulting a guide who has already mapped out every possible path and timeline. Knowing this it allows us to move forward with confidence, that we cannot accidentally wander outside of His ability to redeem our path. Ultimately it means we don’t have to carry the burden of needing perfect foresight, because we are guided by someone who possesses it. God knows all possible outcomes from all possible situations. God knows everything. God knows what choices people in the past would have made if they had been in different circumstances. This is called “contingent knowledge.” God knows all the “what if’s.” So often we wonder, “What would have happened if this had occurred?” But God knows not just what we’ve been, but what we’ve could have been and what we should have been given the light we received. God sees not only the choices we made, but also the roads we feared, the opportunities we missed, and the lives we imagined might have been better. Where we see uncertainty, regret, or mystery, God sees the full picture with perfect clarity. His wisdom is not limited to what happened; it also reaches into what could have happened, assuring us that even our unanswered questions rest safely within His knowledge. This means divine knowledge is not confined to the visible course of history alone, but includes every possibility, every contingency, and every human decision that might have led elsewhere. God’s wisdom encompasses both reality and potentiality. For us, alternate outcomes provoke speculation; but for God, they are fully known without threatening His sovereignty or diminishing His presence in the life we are actually living.

“Teaches how indifference is more grievous to God than gross immorality and open sin”. ⇒ Unbelief and indifference is more scandalous to the Lord than even the most grievous sins! Indifference to Jesus as greater than the sin of adultery, greater than the sin of homosexuality. Greater than the sin of rape. Greater than the sin of murder, etc.

“Even today, there will come a time where there will be no more loopholes or plausible deniability. No one will be able to say “God I didn’t know”, Or “If I only had one more sign”, I would have repented and given my life over to you.” ⇒ No person will have the excuse of ignorance in saying “I just didn’t know.” Just saying I didn’t have enough information or data to act on it will not be a valid rebuttal. There’s general and natural revelation that God has given us through His creation.-(Rom. 1:19-20, Ps. 19:1) Then there’s special and divine revelation God has given us through Christ and His Word.  In fact He has given those of us in this age many more chances, many more opportunities, to hear God’s Word than most people who have lived on this planet have had………(To be Continued)

Additional Notes & Applications

Teaches how God gives all men ample opportunities and inducement to change their lives and come back to Him.

Teaches how Salvation is a precious gift that should never be treated contemptuously or in vain.

Displays Jesus’ love that we may change course before its too late.

Displays the humility of Jesus in not wanting attention or accolades for Himself, but in wanting people to get right with God.

Warns how supernatural experiences and encounters with God doesn’t mean anything if it’s not changing & transforming you.

Teaches since Jesus judges 100% fairly, we can trust that He will do the right thing .

Teaches how God knows our hearts and the motives behind our actions.

Teaches how our decisions matter because God knows what each one leads to — not just in the world we see, but in the world we don’t see.

Note: There’s a common mistaken notion that says if we can have enough of the miraculous then more and more people will believe in Jesus. There’s a belief in a lot of churches that think If God would just do miracles in our mists more people would get Saved. That if we could pray down miracles and just heal someone who is sick  or just do something amazing it would convince them to believe and come to Christ. But as we see from this passage miracles are no guarantee that people will respond to the Gospel in faith. In fact miracles can be faked. Satan can to miracles too. Not only that, but faith is not depended on the display of the miraculous. If you never see a miracle or a supernatural thing in your life are you going to allow it to shake your faith?

Note: Many use this verse to teach how there will be different degrees of punishment in hell based on how much light and revelation a person received. Those who receive the harder punishment will be those who were religious outwardly or those who showed a willful lack of response.

Note: We have no record in the Gospel’s of Jesus performing miracles in Chorazin or Bethsaida. There is no account of the work that Jesus did, and of the wonders he performed in these places, and yet they must have been amongst His greatest. Which goes to show how little we know of all of Jesus’ miracles, that in the Gospels we have only the barest selection of Jesus’ works. The things we do not know about Jesus far outnumber the things we do know. (cf. John 21:25)

Note: Interesting to note that these cities “Korazin” and “Bethsaida”  are nothing more than a pile of rocks and ruble today.

Korazin & Bethsaida