THE KINGS COURIERS (Matthew 10)

THE KINGS COURIERS (Matthew 10)

H. A. IRONSIDE

AS our Lord continued His gracious ministry it became increasingly evident that by far the great majority of Israel, the leaders and the people generally, were in no mood to receive His message and to acknowledge Him as the Anointed One sent by God to deliver them from their bondage, not only to the Roman authority but to sin and Satan.There were those, chiefly among the poor and the outwardly sinful and degraded, who received the message eagerly and found life and healing. But the proud, self-righteous religionists, who did not feel their need of God’s grace, spurned the message and the Messenger, even blasphemously declaring that the Lord Himself was an agent of Beelzebub, the prince of the demons. 

  MATTHEW 11:2 - John was in prison at this time because of his faithfulness in reproving Herod for his wickedness in taking as his paramour Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. John’s day of popularity was over. As he languished in the gloomy fortress of Machaerus (if tradition be correct) he may have wondered if in some way he had misunderstood the testimony regarding Jesus. Or it may have been to reassure some of his troubled disciples, that he sent two of them to Jesus to inquire whether He was indeed the One “that should come” or whether, like John himself, He was but the herald of Another. 

  It is so easy to hear with the outward ear but fail to receive the truth in the heart. 

MATTHEW 11:20-22 - “They repented not.” The very cities which had been most privileged by hearing His word and beholding His works of power, refused to change their careless attitude, and so continued in their sins.

“Chorazin … Bethsaida.” These cities were situated near the northern end of the Sea of Galilee, the one a little to the west, and the other on the shore. Chorazin is today an almost unidentifiable ruin; Bethsaida is a very poor little village.

“More tolerable for Tyre and Sidon.” These were Phoenician cities, noted for their wickedness, and destroyed centuries before. But their people are still awaiting the day of judgment. Note that there will be degrees of punishment according to the measure of light received and rejected.

  MATTHEW 11:23-24 - “Exalted unto heaven, … brought down to hell (hades).” In privilege, Capernaum was blessed above all other cities of Galilee, for the Lord chose it as “His own city” and in it wrought more mighty works than in any other place. In this sense it was indeed exalted. But it was condemned to utter ruin, because it knew not the time of its visitation.

“More tolerable for … Sodom.” Sodom had become a synonym for the vilest and most unnatural sin. But the people of Capernaum were guiltier, because they had much greater light and far more privileges, yet they persisted in their sins. 

   MATTHEW 11:25-30 - The Two Rests. The rest that the Lord Jesus gives freely to all who come to Him is rest of conscience in regard to the sin question. The distressed soul, burdened with a sense of guilt, comes to Him and finds peace when he trusts Him as the great Sin-Bearer. The second rest is rest of heart. Adverse circumstances may rise up to alarm and fill the heart with fear and anxiety, but he who takes Christ’s yoke and learns of Him is able to be calm in the midst of the storm. He finds perfect rest as he trusts all to Him who sitteth over the waterfloods and is Lord of all the elements. These two rests are the same as the two aspects of peace presented in the Epistles. Rest of conscience is the equivalent of that peace with God which is the portion of all who are justified by faith (Rom. 5:1). Rest of soul is the same as that peace of God which passeth all understanding (Phil. 4:6, 7), and is enjoyed by all who learn to commit everything to the Lord.