Matthew 11:6 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Matthew 11:6

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We must adjust to God and his standards and his ways, not he to ours. In the gospel Christ calls us to come to himself, to where he is. It is our understanding that is defective, our ways that are out of order, not his. Our thinking is so out of order that we are even unable to recognise that his ways are right and ours are wayward. This was at the essence of the confusion made by John and his disciples. They needed to make Christ the measure of what is upright, what is appropriate; he knows the measure of himself. He is the definition of what is right. John was troubled because of his ignorance of what Christ would be and what he would do. His expectation was not being fulfilled because false ideas had intruded into his thinking. He must allow the true Christ to correct him, and put out of his mind any aspects of an invented Christ that he had envisaged. ‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. ⁹ For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts’ (Isaiah 55:8-9). We are constantly learning and he is constantly teaching us. Our willingness to learn and to follow him, relies on our not taking offence at him. What is it to take offence, but to believe that we know better than he does, and to be unwilling to let go of false understanding of him? He is not ashamed of himself. He is not even ashamed of himself when he goes to the cross of Calvary and bears the shame of the punishment of our sin, and shame drives away all who will not submit to his understanding of what he is doing. He is not ashamed because he sees the deeper wisdom in the Father’s plan, and he is ready to boast in that wisdom. Though heavily disguised, and beyond the sight of the unbelieving, It is the power of God for the salvation of all that believe. In John’s case, and in the case of every true believer, God will correct defective knowledge, but many turn away from the Lord because they are ashamed and therefore offended. This may happen in so many different areas. The human mind is forever darting here and there. It happens when the gospel is preached and when men and women first hear of Christ. The devil is busily at work, fouling the ground ahead of Christ. He is sowing in the hearts of men all manner of prejudices which will encourage them to take offence at the gospel. These prejudices become so dear to them that they will not let go of them even to gain salvation, but God will not adjust his terms for the sake of human prejudices and compromise with them.But Christ says, ‘Blessed is he’ – singular, referring surely, first of all to John – ‘whosoever shall not be offended at me.’ Here is the path to blessedness: to receive all that Christ teaches, including what he does. The way he conducted himself on earth, the way he dealt with his adversaries, his simple lifestyle free from the trappings of wealth, his not opposing the Roman occupation and leaving Israel as an oppressed nation, his allowing himself to be taken in apparent weakness and put through a mock trial, his refusal to defend himself, his enduring the shame of the cross, his raising himself from the dead and ascending into heaven, his allowing this fallen world to go on in its present form till the last day – all these elements of his thinking are what we must not take offence at. The disciple does not take it on himself to instruct the master.

Application

If God is all powerful, why does he not save all? That is an idea in the minds of many which they are not ready to let go of. He does not save all, because the ultimate not good is not the salvation of man, but the glory of God, and God is glorified when both his mercy and his severity are glorified: his mercy in the salvation of the elect, and his severity in the damnation of the lost.

If God is good, why does he not make the world a better place? Why does he not bring all evil to an end? Certainly God will bring all evil to an end, but not before he has allowed evil to fully manifest itself, and not before he has used it to train up his people to righteousness, and not without following the plan of salvation which calls individual men and women to repentance and faith, and makes a clear distinction between those who love God and those who hate him, those who obey and those who transgress.

If God is merciful, why does he not end all suffering in the world? Blessed, supremely happy are you, if you are not offended. Why does he not bring happiness to all? Because we are against him and don’t deserve it. If God would make the world a happy place and ban murder, we would still say, ‘Get out of the way, and let me live as I like.’ We become so proud, so awful. God can only say, ‘You have rebelled against me. I must leave you to it, to demonstrate how weak you are.’ If there was no suffering, all would go to hell. If you see a world with suffering and not getting better, then that should not make us doubt, for that is exactly what the Bible says. The world says human beings are good and can solve all their problems. The Bible says we are members of a fallen human race which is under God’s curse.

Consider what happens when a well-known celebrity dies. People are at pains to tell us that they have gone to heaven. How can they say this? Because they are popular, even if that person did not love the Lord? Must we commend those whom the world commends, even though their whole lives show they had no time for God, no obedience to him, no understanding of his message? No, we must honour those whom the Lord honours, and not any others. Does it offend us if we hear we need new lives and must leave behind all our pride and our sin? These are the only terms on which God will deal with us. If you are offended by this, you cannot come to Christ.

A different form of shame is found among those who want to adapt Christian worship to styles found in the world. The world is ashamed of the simplicity of Christian worship, of its lack of any artistry that might commend it to the world. Should we make it look just a little bit like the music of the world, and then just a little bit more? No, God requires a clear wall to divide the two. Let believers not be ashamed of the way God has commanded them to approach him. Some preachers who for a while stand for the gospel, later bring in seeker friendly services and pop music, and ecumenical associations. All this is done because they are ashamed of Christ. Don’t follow those who love rich lifestyles. What Christ despises we should despise.

So many of these offences at Christ are rooted in a false way of thinking that ‘savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men’ (Matthew 16:23). We are scarcely even aware of it, but what has happened is that we feel a great sensitivity about man being dishonoured, but less sensitivity about God being dishonoured. This is all the wrong way round.

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Introduction

Matthew 11:6 Commentary and Bible Study