The Lamb of God, is also the G.O.A.T.

Matthew 11:7-30 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

As these men were going away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? ⁸ But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ palaces!⁹   But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and one who is more than a prophet. ¹⁰ This is the one about whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You, Who will prepare Your way before You.’

¹¹ Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. ¹² From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force. ¹³ For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John. ¹⁴ And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come. ¹⁵ He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

¹⁶ “But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market places, who call out to the other children, ¹⁷ and say, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’ ¹⁸ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon!’ ¹⁹ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”

²⁰ Then He began to denounce the cities in which most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent. ²¹ “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. ²² Nevertheless I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. ²³ And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day. ²⁴ Nevertheless I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you.”

²⁵ At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. ²⁶ Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. ²⁷ All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.

²⁸ “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

In today’s text Jesus says:  Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. In Matthew 6:31-33 Jesus says:  Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.   Earlier, in Matthew 6:1, Jesus says:  Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.  So we also should not worry about or strive for the approval or recognition of people, but rather of God.  We need to determine what is important to us. Do we want to be known as great among those born of this world or do we want to be great in the kingdom of heaven?  It seems like a no brainer to me. Not many will achieve greatness in the eyes of people, but even the least in the kingdom is greater than those who are esteemed on earth. In Matthew 17:20 Jesus says:  Truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.  What seems better, to be limited by our own abilities or that by faith, nothing would be impossible?

There is another aspect to our being great in the kingdom of heaven. It of course requires that we believe; it requires that our faith is in Christ. At the end of today’s text, Jesus says:  Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.  When we work and strive in our own strength, we become weary. When we not only have faith in Jesus, but are actually yoked to Him, working with Him, nothing is impossible. In fact what is impossible for people becomes easy with Jesus, because He does the work. In John 14:12-14 Jesus says: Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.  In John 15:4-6 Jesus says:  Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.  So not only can we not accomplish anything of eternal value apart from Jesus, but we ourselves, if we do not abide in Him, will be cast out of the kingdom. In Matthew 7:21-23 Jesus says:  Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.  Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’     We cannot practice lawlessness and abide in and be yoked to Jesus. Even what we do in His name will not be known by Him or in the kingdom if we continue in sin.

That brings us to another part of today’s text. Jesus says: Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. Nevertheless I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you.  And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day. Nevertheless I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you.   To abide in and be yoked to Jesus we must repent. Whether we as individuals, or our cities or nations, we must repent or our sin will be judged. We need to change the way we think and the way we act. God is a righteous and just God. He will judge the sin of the present and the future in the same way He judged the sin of the past. Jesus, along with being the abiding power in our lives, is also the way out of the judgment against sin. Jesus says:  I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants.  Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight.  All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.  Amen.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ, the lamb of God - the G.O.A.T.  precious Holy Spirit; I praise You that I am among the infants, those born to the kingdom of heaven, to whom You have revealed Yourself, Your truth, and Your power. I thank You that through the abiding and indwelling Holy Spirit I can be yoked to and abide in You. I thank You that nothing is impossible for You and that with You I can share in the impossible. I can bring the greatness of heaven to earth in Your name.   Amen.