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The Prophesy Fulfilled Doubts About the King – Chapter 11 The Downtrodden, Deaf, Dumb, Blind & the Heavyladen

The Prophesy Fulfilled Doubts About the King – Chapter 11 The Downtrodden, Deaf, Dumb, Blind & the Heavyladen

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Page 2: The Prophesy Fulfilled Doubts About the King – Chapter 11 The Downtrodden, Deaf, Dumb, Blind & the Heavyladen

EVER DOUBT GOD, JESUS, THE HOLY SPIRT & THE WORD…when you can’t see the “angels for the clouds”?

Ever been “lost in the forest” of doubt, pain, grief, tribulation and depression when all you can see are your problems?

Even place your faith in God and then feel He’s forgotten about you?

Ever think the Bible is just a book of fables and fairy tales?

Page 3: The Prophesy Fulfilled Doubts About the King – Chapter 11 The Downtrodden, Deaf, Dumb, Blind & the Heavyladen

EVER DOUBT GOD, JESUS, THE HOLY SPIRT & THE WORD…when you can’t see the “angels for the clouds”?

Have “storm clouds”

enveloped you in doubt,

discouragement and dismay?

Page 4: The Prophesy Fulfilled Doubts About the King – Chapter 11 The Downtrodden, Deaf, Dumb, Blind & the Heavyladen

John The Baptist Sends Messengers to Jesus Matt. 11:1-3

“After Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee. When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”.”

Is John the Baptizer having second thoughts? Have “seeds of doubt” been planted in his “mind” and his “heart”? "Why should I be

treated like this?“

“I thought he was the One to usher in God’s kingdom”

“Where is God?”

Seeds of doubt…common to us all!

Page 5: The Prophesy Fulfilled Doubts About the King – Chapter 11 The Downtrodden, Deaf, Dumb, Blind & the Heavyladen

JESUS RESPONDS TO JOHN’S FOLLOWERSMatt. 11:4-6

Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see:  The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”

And blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied) is he who takes no offense at Me and finds no cause for stumbling in or through Me and is not hindered from seeing the Truth. (Amplified Bible)

How does Jesus respond? What does he refer to?

Jesus says that his miracles and message about the kingdom or reign of God are

proof enough for John and his disciples to recognize as the fulfillment of Isaiah's

prophecy foretelling the signs and wonders which the Messiah would perform  (Isaiah

35).  Jesus did not scold or criticize John for his wavering faith and doubts, but instead sent the encouraging message, the message of truth and hope! The message of healing and life!

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Let’s Step Back in History…Listen to the ProphetIsaiah 353 Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way;

4 say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.”

5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped.

6 Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.

7 The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs. In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.

8 And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness; it will be for those who walk on that Way. The unclean will not journey on it; wicked fools will not go about on it.

9 No lion will be there, nor any ravenous beast; they will not be found there. But only the redeemed will walk there,

10 and those the Lord has rescued will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

Page 7: The Prophesy Fulfilled Doubts About the King – Chapter 11 The Downtrodden, Deaf, Dumb, Blind & the Heavyladen

JESUS ADDRESSES THE CROWDMatt. 11:7-10

Jesus supports John, his mission and his message…to cast out any doubt in those who had been listening to John and preparing their hearts.

More than a prophet…he alone was the forerunner who announced the coming and presence of the Messiah. In doing so, he fulfilled Malachi 3:1

“As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind? If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces. Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written: “‘I will send my messenger ahead of you,    who will prepare your way before you .”

Page 9: The Prophesy Fulfilled Doubts About the King – Chapter 11 The Downtrodden, Deaf, Dumb, Blind & the Heavyladen

THE “GREATER” AND THE “LEAST”Matt. 11:11-15

“Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence, and violent people have been raiding it. For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

Again, Jesus set’s John apart and calls him “greatest” among those born of a woman…but then say the “least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he.”

What is Jesus saying?

John will not see the arrest, judgment, beating, crucifixion and hear of the resurrection of Jesus. But those who do…especially those who do not see, but believe, will be “greater than John”.

Page 10: The Prophesy Fulfilled Doubts About the King – Chapter 11 The Downtrodden, Deaf, Dumb, Blind & the Heavyladen

What Does Jesus Tell “Doubting” Thomas?

“Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen me and yet have believed.” John 20:29.As great as John was during

Jesus’ day, his position as forerunner was inferior to that of the “least person in the kingdom of heaven” because that person, that sinner, that “separated one” would have seen, understood, believed in the risen Christ and experienced the “undeserved” and “unmerited” power of forgiveness, full restoration to God, the defeat of death, and eternal life via the finished work of Christ on the cross and through the resurrection – events that John would not see.

Page 11: The Prophesy Fulfilled Doubts About the King – Chapter 11 The Downtrodden, Deaf, Dumb, Blind & the Heavyladen

John the Baptist = Elijah

What are the parallels between John and Elijah?

• They both called God’s people to repent

• They both challenged the leaders of the day

• They both witnessed the power of God descent from Heaven

• They both were pursued by God’s enemies

• They both doubted and wondered if God had other plans

• They were both encouraged by God to stand firm in their faith and “listen” to God’s still voice.

• God still had work for them…to proclaim God and serve Him.

Page 12: The Prophesy Fulfilled Doubts About the King – Chapter 11 The Downtrodden, Deaf, Dumb, Blind & the Heavyladen

THIS GENERATION…Matt. 11:16-19

Jesus quotes Aesop!

““To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others:“‘We played the pipe for you,    and you did not dance;we sang a dirge,    and you did not mourn.’For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is proved right by her deeds.”

Aesop was an Ancient Greek

fabulist or story teller credited with a

number of fables now collectively

known as Aesop's Fables.

Born: 620 BC, Amorium, Turkey

Died: 564 BC

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THIS GENERATION…FOOLISH, FICKEL, & FLAWEDMatt. 11:16-19Jesus finds fault with the people for criticizing both Him and John the Baptist. The people criticized John because he was too reclusive; they criticized Jesus because He was not reclusive enough. In this way, they were childish. Essentially, because they did not get their "way", they criticized.

God’s servants did not live up to the peoples’ expectations, so the people rejected God! Nothing could please them.Two demon possessed men - “exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way”…Jesus cast out the demons and heals, and makes the way safe to travel…but now they people want Jesus to leave!

Then the disciples of John came to Him saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?”

Blind are healed, mute are given speech…should be celebrated, but the Pharisees accuse Jesus of being a demon, being of the house of Beelzebub.

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WOE TO THE UNREPENTANT CITIESMatt. 11:20-24

“Then Jesus began to denounce the towns in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For 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.  But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.  And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades. For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day.  But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”

Chorazin - was a village in northern Galilee, two and a half miles from Capernaum on a hill above the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee.

Bethsaida - an ancient city on the north side of the Sea of Galilee, birthplace of Andrew, Peter and Philip.

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WOE TO THE UNREPENTANT CITIESMatt. 11:20-24

Tyre - the capital of Phoenicia (modern Lebanon) was also the capital of Canaanite culture and religion. Canaanite culture and religion had completely saturated Israel, thus bringing upon Israel Ezekiel's repeated pronouncements of God's wrath. God promised the city a swift end under the armies of Nebuchadnezzar.

Sidon - a city near Tyre, would be destroyed also. As a Canaanite city it had been a partner with Tyre in its corruption. About 870 B.C., Ahab married Jezebel, the daughter of the Phoenician king, bringing Baal worship to Israel's court. Ezekiel 28:1 characterizes the king of Tyre as the ultimate example of pride.

Page 16: The Prophesy Fulfilled Doubts About the King – Chapter 11 The Downtrodden, Deaf, Dumb, Blind & the Heavyladen

WOE TO THE UNREPENTANT CITIESMatt. 11:20-24

Sodom – received God’s judgment (along with Gomorrah); situated on the Jordan River plain in the southern region of the land of Canaan.

Lot flees with his family from Sodom, but his wife looks back and get’s turned into a statue of salt.

Page 17: The Prophesy Fulfilled Doubts About the King – Chapter 11 The Downtrodden, Deaf, Dumb, Blind & the Heavyladen

JESUS GIVES TRUE RESTMatt. 11:25-30

“At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned (the clever), and revealed them to little children.  Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do. “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, 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.”

Who are the “clever, wise, learned”?Contrast them to “the children”.

And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matt 18:3

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Who knows the Father…to whom the Son chooses to reveal…“All things have been entrusted and delivered to Me by My Father; and no one fully knows and accurately understands the Son except the Father, and no one fully knows and accurately understands the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son deliberately wills (intentionally) to make Him known.” (Amplified Bible)

How do we “fully know” and “accurately understand” God, the Father?

Does Jesus decide who “gets to know” God?• Mission Impossible - chronicles the missions of a team of secret government agents known as the Impossible Missions Force (IMF). “Your mission Jim, should you decide to accept it… This tape will self-destruct in five seconds. Good luck, Jim."

• The A Team - is an American action-adventure television series about a fictional group of ex–United States Army Special Forces personnel

• The Dirty Dozen – a 1967 film in which an Army Major is assigned an unusual and top-secret pre-invasion mission: take a small unit of soldiers convicted of felonies and turn them into a commando squad to be sent on a special mission, an airborne infiltration and assault on a chateau near Rennes in Brittany.

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God’s “Dirty Dozen”…

•Are you up for the mission?•Are you ready to follow?•Are you willing to die?•Are you willing to obey?•Will you trust your commander?•Will you be loyal to the cause?

Then I will intentionally reveal to you the details, the plan, the reason, the purpose…and you can be on the “team”. And I will train you and equip you, lead you and support you!

• Jesus calls…will you respond?• Jesus invites….will you join

me?• Jesus offers…will you accept?• Jesus will not force you?•You have a choice?•You have free will?

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JESUS GIVES TRUE RESTMatt. 11:25-30

 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, 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.”

What is a yoke and what is it’s purpose?

Why is Jesus’ yoke easy and his burden is light?