Matthew 11:25-12:21 – The Difficult Road, Part 2

After Jesus first warned his disciples about the horrific judgment coming upon those who would reject the kingdom he said, “I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves” (Matt. 10:16). And when Jesus spoke a second time about that same impending judgment he again addressed his disciples and said,

25 At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; 26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.

Matthew 11:25-26

The world is full of smart people. Many read books, blogs, or listen to podcasts from the smartest of the smart. Some of them even go to college, grad school, or pursue doctorates as they climb the ladder of worldly wisdom. I even went to college and have a couple of graduate degrees, and yet, when it comes to worldly wisdom I feel like a child reaching for the lowest rung while higher up the ladder stand the really smart people discussing Hawking, Einstein, Rembrandt, Hegel, and Freud. And yet, even while I am still crawling on my knees and looking up, I realize those really smart people at the top of the ladder are discussing and studying fiction.

You see, the sheep know something the wolves don’t. The sheep know there is an eternal God who has revealed himself through prophets and through his Son. The sheep know humanity could never, in a million years, have come up with the idea of a God who reaches down into the cesspool and offers to lift us out of the pit. The sheep know that the simple message of the Gospel obliterates the wisdom of this world. And the sheep also know that salvation only comes to those who humble themselves, bow their knee, and admit their failings. Humility, guilt, shame, and brokenness are the stepping stones leading to eternally joyous salvation, but they are stepping stones the wolves will never accept.

But Jesus doesn’t expect the sheep or the wolves to find these stones on their own. Jesus called his disciples out of the midst of wolves — changed them from wolves to sheep — and told them to do something the world has always been unwilling to do: accept God’s revelation as truth. Wolves think they can find wisdom on their own; they’ve always thought this way. It started back in the garden just before Eve took a bite of the forbidden fruit. We are told, “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate” (Gen. 3:6). Most of us usually only notice the words, “she took of its fruit and ate,” but in Eve’s description of the trees is where we find the root problems.

When Moses wrote of God’s creation he said, “the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food” (Gen. 2:9). Notice that God described the trees as beautiful and functional, but Eve describes the trees, as functional, then beautiful, then as a source of wisdom. There is quite a bit that could be said about how humanity has continued to see creation as existing to serve us, but the major point here is that Eve saw creation as the source of wisdom: Eve desired to be the author of her own wisdom and thus began our long history of rejecting God’s wisdom. Wolves care more about how creation can serve them than how creation can point them back to God, the only source of wisdom. But the sheep are humble enough to follow the shepherd and wait on him for wisdom. But Jesus doesn’t want the sheep to think they are inherently better than the wolves, so he adds,

27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

Matthew 11:27

The sheep are only sheep because Jesus chose to whom he would reveal himself, otherwise, they would be wolves. There is nothing about the wolf that sways God’s decision, God chooses those whom he will. And, just like that, we have run headlong into one of the hottest of hot potatoes of the Christian belief: election. I kinda like just talking about the disciples preaching the message of the kingdom, but since this hot potato is here, we need to address it. And a good way to address it is to jump to a passage written by Paul where he describes the wolves as “vessels of wrath prepared for destruction” (Rom. 8:22).

I know it is easy to jump to the commonly accepted conclusion that God made some people for the sole purpose of going to hell, but I think if we look at the context of this passage we might see that isn’t really what Jesus means here. Remember, Jesus just got done saying that the world’s wise guys, the wolves, don’t understand God’s message. And these wolves, the wise guys, thereby reject the message and will be judged in a way that makes Sodom and Gomorrah’s judgment seem tame. Doesn’t this seem like the chicken-and-the-egg question? What comes first? Does Jesus choose only some people to whom he will reveal the Father, and the others he casts away? Or does Jesus reveal the Father to those wolves who are humble enough to become sheep and receive the message while the others, the wolves who want things their own way, are unable to become sheep because they won’t receive Jesus’s revelation of the Father?

To be honest, the answers to those questions are above my pay grade. But when I read the next words Jesus speaks I find my focus shifts to the important issue. Jesus says,

28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Matthew 11:28-30

Regardless of the chicken or the egg, Jesus seems to emphasize our choice. Any wolf who wants to be relieved from its burdens can come to him, learn from him, and become sheep. And, in the context of Jesus’s previous words, this is a call for the wolves to give up their Eve-like longings and become sheep by accepting God’s wisdom. But this transformation can’t occur unless they are humble, gentle, and lowly, for that is the nature of true wisdom, it is the nature of the Father, and it is the only way wolves become sheep.

There is a Greek myth about Sisyphus who was condemned by the gods to roll a stone up a hill that would, just before reaching the top, roll back down to the bottom. Sisyphus would then go to the bottom and push the stone back up to the top where it would once again roll back to the bottom. Sisyphus was condemned to eternal work, never once getting the stone to fully rest at the top of the hill. And like Sisyphus, the wolves never rest because they think they can fabricate their own wisdom and create their own path of salvation; but the stone of human works and worldly wisdom is doomed to forever rolling back down the hill. If only the wolves were humble enough to accept Jesus’s yoke, they would be freed of this eternal task. But humility is not part of the wolf’s lifestyle.

But Jesus does not call his sheep to be a constant thorn in the wolf’s side. Jesus tells his disciples to be harmless doves, always preaching the message of the kingdom to any wolf who will listen; any wolf who will stop rolling their rock up the hill. But Jesus knows some wolves are addicted to their Sisyphean work. It is these wolves Matthew writes about when he tells of a time Jesus and his disciples were walking through a field.

Matthew 12:1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.”

Matthew 12:1-2

No one really expects wolves to come from their own household, but they do. Evil might come from the distant horizon, but the more important evil is found in the wolves biting at our shins. These first wolves introduced by Matthew were the Jewish leaders, and it is about these that Jesus warned the disciples when he said, “Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues” (Matt. 10:17). These wolves were unable and unwilling to see the author of the law standing right before their eyes in the person of Jesus. And so they questioned Jesus about an apparent transgression of the Sabbath law. Matthew tells us Jesus’s responded by saying,

3 He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests?

Matthew 12:3-4

Jesus chose to bring up an obscure event from the life of David. Jesus, knowing the scriptures inside and out, redirected the Pharisees’ question to the real topic and addressed the purpose of the law and how, in the time of David’s need, the Sabbath law was set aside. But Jesus didn’t stop there. He brought up priestly duties when he said,

5 Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless?

Matthew 12:5

Priests worked on the Sabbath, and not just the priests of ancient Israel, but the priests of Jesus’s time also worked on the Sabbath. Jesus brought this up to show that the bigger problem was when the wolves followed the letter of the law while ignoring the spirit of the law. The Pharisees were skilled at nitpicking others, but not so good at allowing the law to transform themselves. The law is supposed to help us become free from sin, but the Pharisees used the law to enslave others. Jesus continued and said,

6 I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. 7 And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

Matthew 12:6-8

The wolves, immersed in their worldly wisdom, were unable to see the Father’s wisdom. The Father tells us that mercy should be the result of seeing our own depravity through the lens of the law, not judgment. But the wolves can never understand this. For the wolves, the law empowers them to judge and castigate the law-breaker instead of training them to show the same mercy the Father has shown to the sheep. Offering mercy — forgiving others their debts as we also have been forgiven our debts — is the only proper response to the law.

But if we step back from these specific events for a moment we will see that something else Matthew is trying to tell us. If you remember, when Jesus instructed his disciples, he told them to not be anxious about what they would say when being questioned by the wolves because the Spirit would speak through them (Matt. 10:19-20). Now, with this episode placed where it is, Matthew seems to be showing us exactly how the Spirit speaks. Jesus did his part by knowing the scriptures inside and out, not just because he is God, but because he devoted himself to the scriptures and their study (Luke 2:41-52). Then Jesus, under the guidance of the Spirit, dipped into that vast well of knowledge so as to say what was necessary at the moment. Our anxiety would be greatly diminished, if not removed altogether, if we did our part by constantly immersing ourselves in the Word of God so that the Spirit can do his part by providing us with appropriate responses when necessary Just like the earlier chicken-or-the-egg question, there is work on both sides. We do our part — prayerfully studying the scriptures — and God does his part — helping his sheep respond to the wolves.

Matthew continues to emphasize this interaction in the next episode he provides.

9 He went on from there and entered their synagogue. 10 And a man was there with a withered hand. And they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might accuse him. 11 He said to them, “Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? 12 Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” 13 Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And the man stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other. 14 But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.

Matthew 12:9-14

Jesus pointed out an obvious fact and the wolves were incensed. And then when Jesus miraculously healed a man from a debilitating condition, the wolves had enough. They would rather do away with Jesus than let him do the Father’s work. The wolves, the Pharisees, had formed their understanding of God and nothing could change their mind.

I’d love to say that if we were in that synagogue on that day we would have sided with Jesus, but I’m not so sure that would be the case. We can, like the Pharisees, find comfort in our own interpretation of the Word of God. For some reason, we think our wisdom can shelter us from life’s storms better than God can. But our house is not built on an unchanging foundation. Certainly, God is our rock and our foundation, but he isn’t so easily tamed and he isn’t subject to the limits of my shallow mind.

Remember how the Israelites responded after hearing God speak from the mountain? They cried out and said, “you speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die” (Ex. 20:19). The presence of the Father was far beyond anything they could comprehend so they wanted a mediator and got one in the form of Moses. But the Pharisees, instead of listening to God’s actual words and mediating God’s words to the people, used their own wisdom and constructed their own version of who God really was. But their god was not at all like the Father, the Son, or the Spirit.

If the Pharisees had actually met God or cared to listen to God’s actual words, their response would have probably been much more like Job’s. He, after experiencing God in the whirlwind, said, “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5-6). Or, they may have, if you would like another example, been like St. Thomas Aquinas who, after having a deeply spiritual experience, put away all his writing utensils and said, “I cannot do any more. Everything I have written seems to me as straw in comparison with what I have seen.” Sheep kneel in the presence of God, but wolves bear their teeth and growl. Wolves — the Pharisees — care little for God; their concerns are with holding onto their own positions of privilege and imposing their worldly wisdom upon those under their control. After Jesus exposed the wolves, Matthew wrote,

15 Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. And many followed him, and he healed them all 16 and ordered them not to make him known. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah:
18  “Behold, my servant whom I have chosen,
my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased.
I will put my Spirit upon him,
and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.
19  He will not quarrel or cry aloud,
nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets;
20  a bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not quench,
until he brings justice to victory;
21  and in his name the Gentiles will hope.”

Matthew 12:15-21

Notice the shift in focus. When Jesus instructed his disciples he told them to, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt. 10:5-6). But now, with the Pharisees showing their unwillingness to listen to the words of God, Matthew declares that the Gentiles now will receive hope from God’s servant, Jesus. Jesus, just as he instructed his disciples earlier, went to the lost sheep of Israel, but after they rejected the gospel he shook the dust from his feet and moved on.

This is the moment in Matthew’s Gospel where a major shift appears in Jesus’s relationship with the Pharisees and the Jewish religious leaders. The Pharisees had shown their hardened hearts and as a result, God gave them over to their own way of thinking. But that isn’t the end of the story. God does not abandon humanity, rather God uses the hardened hearts of Israel as a tool to spread his hope to the Gentiles. The Pharisees — the wolves — became “vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy which he has prepared beforehand for glory” (Rom. 9:22-23). Jesus shakes the dust from his feet and uses the hardened Israelites as a tool for bringing God’s mercy to the Gentiles.

But let us not think this is an easy road. Jesus told the disciples that houses, families, and towns will reject the gospel, but now we see that even the leaders from the disciple’s own religious heritage have rejected Jesus. The disciples were not to seek for stability in the wisdom of this wolfish world, rather they were to become sheep and embrace humility, for that is the only path to true wisdom. Rather than concocting our own foundations, we sheep of Jesus must maintain our relationship to God and God’s word to withstand the wolves lining this difficult road. The wolves may inflict pain, but such pains are, as Paul will later write in II Corinthians 4:17, only light and momentary afflictions and nothing compared to the eternal weight of glory awaiting us at the end of this life’s difficult road.

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