Hi and welcome to our
the Books of the Book series.
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We're exploring
the Gospel of Matthew.
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It's a wonderful
journey we've been on so far,
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so glad that you could join us.
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This is gonna be a great time
together with our lead teacher,
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Dr. Ranko Stefanovic
from Andrews University.
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Ranko, we've been
exploring this wonderful book--
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what have you been feeling
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as you've been getting
into this gospel again?
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What's happening in your heart
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as you're studying God's word
as we're sharing it together?
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Is God working in your life--?
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Oh, yeah, more and more
that appreciation for Jesus
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who He was and
who is still today,
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it's really
increasing in my life.
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We keep re-meeting ourselves.
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My love for Him-- Wonderful.
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Yeah, it is increasing.
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Let's pray together
that God will give us
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the same
experience in this program
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as we study together.
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Lord, we ask that
you'll open our hearts.
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We have so many
distractions, so many burdens,
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and we ask that they
can all be set aside.
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May Your spirit
come in and give us peace
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that we may
focus only upon Jesus.
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In Your name we
pray. Amen. Amen.
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Now, Ranko, we've been moving
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through the Gospel of Matthew,
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remind us what we just covered?
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We were talking
about the disciples
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being sent out by Jesus.
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Is that relevant? How is
that relevant for us today?
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Actually chapters 10, 11
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are transitory in
the Gospel of Matthew.
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So far, Jesus
was doing preaching,
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teaching, and healing.
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The disciples were
just spectators, okay.
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They were, they were watching.
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Now they're the
active participants.
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Now Jesus sends
them in chapter 10,
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to go and to do the same
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by following to the
footsteps of the Messiah.
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There is
something interesting is,
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as Jesus sends his
disciples in chapter 10,
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there is one point, one detail
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that is very
intriguing to biblical--
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to the Bible students is
when you read the same account
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in the Gospel of Luke,
the disciples come back.
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They're so happy they
share the joy with Jesus.
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But in Gospel of Matthew,
the disciples never come back.
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Of course, they came back,
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but Matthew never
reports that. Why?
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There is a theological
purpose here to tell us
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the disciples are
never supposed to come back.
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They're supposed to
continue the work of Jesus
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until the very, very end
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when Jesus will come
again to take them to himself.
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And they'll
continue in this gospel
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to be co-labors with Jesus.
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Now you said until the
end, now does that mean
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that He has the same
need and purpose today?
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Actually, in very nice book
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I'd like to
encourage the viewers
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to take that book and to read.
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It's a fantastic book. I had it.
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It's the "Ministry of Healing."
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They talk us about the ministry
of Jesus down to the earth
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and what we're as Christians
today we're supposed to do.
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And there is one text,
on page 143, I read it,
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it says "The world needs today
what it needed 1900 years ago."
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The book was written,
we can say 2000 years ago.
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"Christ's method alone will give
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true success in
reaching the people.
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Jesus mingled with
them, desired their good,
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showed sympathy for
them, ministered their needs,
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won their confidence,
and bade them, Follow Me."
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And they followed Him.
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So the world needs
the same thing. Yeah.
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And how did Jesus do
it? What was His method?
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Mingling with
people-- Mingling with people--
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It's important lesson for us,
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because sometimes
it's natural for us
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to pull apart away
from the sinful world.
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We need to
separate sin in our lives,
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but not separate
from other people.
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Exactly. Exactly. Okay.
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Now we move into
Matthew Chapter 11.
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What's ahead for us?
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Actually, we have
a lot to say here.
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Unfortunately, we
cannot cover all the text.
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We've the
beginning of chapter 11,
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showing us about John Baptist.
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And poor John the Baptist,
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we met him in this
gospel back in chapter 3.
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Powerful preacher--
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Powerful preacher,
everyone is responding,
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but that's not
where his life is now.
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Yeah. He's in prison.
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Actually, he's
there in the prison
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and evidently he
is waiting for death.
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To be killed.
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It must've been such a
discouraging experience.
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What is John do about this?
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He sends two of
his disciples to Jesus
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and they've a question.
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What's the question?
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You know, he's
there in the prison.
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Jesus is not reacting
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and then he sends
the message to Jesus.
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Keep in mind he was
the one to prepare people
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for the coming of the Messiah.
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Now he sends message to Jesus,
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"Are You the one
who was supposed to come
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or are we supposed to
wait for somebody else?"
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Ranko, it's the same question
by the way the reader has
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and that we have,
is Jesus the one--
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Is He the one? Yeah. All right.
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So how does Jesus
respond to the question?
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Jesus does not argue.
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Jesus does not try to present
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all the evidences
about His Messiah.
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He just told to
those messengers,
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"Look around, what do
you see around yourself?"
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May I read that Matthew 11:5,
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"The blind see, the lame walk,
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the lepers are
cleansed, the deaf hear,
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the dead are raised up,
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and the poor have the
gospel preached to them,
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and blessed is he who is
not offended because of me."
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Glenn, I grew up in
an atheistic society.
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When people always talk to us
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and asking evidences
for existence of God, etc.,
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and I learned
something from these cases.
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Let's leave the evidence.
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The evidence is
that God provide to us.
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We're not able to defend God.
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God provided so many
things to defend himself.
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We simply have to point
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the eyes of the
people to those evidences.
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And evidently John accepted
it and he died in peace.
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Now, Ranko,
that's an important point
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because not
always does following God
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lead to prosperity and success.
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No. No. John's life
is a great lesson for us.
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That some of God's
saints are gonna suffer.
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Yeah and I would like to
tell something to the viewers.
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To be discouraged in this
life, it's human, it's normal,
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and so many times
we're discouraged,
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we're oppressed, and
our spirit is put down.
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We wonder, you know, if he sin--
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have sinned against God.
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Just keep in mind
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even one of the
greatest prophets in history,
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Jesus called John the Baptist,
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the greatest
prophet ever born by woman.
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Actually, he could be
discouraged, that's a human.
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But praise God that we
have a loving Father in heaven,
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who understands our needs.
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That's why Jesus became flesh.
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He took our human nature
in order to understand us.
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That's our
hope. That's our hope.
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The compassionate savior
gives John what he needs to know
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and that's the
evidence of who Jesus is.
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Yes, yes. All right,
we see His compassion
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as we go through
this 11th chapter,
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especially as we get toward
the end of the chapter, Ranko.
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Yes. We come to this
quotation that we often hear.
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You know, it's often refer to--
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Maybe we could read a little bit
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from the end of chapter 11.
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I'll start with verse 25.
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At that time,
Jesus answered and said,
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"I thank you, Father,
Lord of heaven and earth,
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that you have hidden
these things from the wise
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and the prudent and
revealed them to babes.
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Even so, Father, for it
seemed good in your sight.
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All things have been
delivered to me by my Father
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and no one knows the
Son except his Father."
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What a wonderful communication
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we see between the two of them.
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"And then nor does anyone
know the Father except the Son."
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Great
Christological statement there,
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"And the one to whom the
Son wills to reveal Him."
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Now the statement--
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Can you stop here at
this point? All right.
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Actually, this text is
the conclusion of this chapter
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and there are many texts
that are very similar to that.
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Usually, we do
not make connection
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between these two texts.
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I would like-- Please allow me,
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I would like you
can read also verse 12
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in connection with this.
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Okay, verse 12. Yes.
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And now--"And from the days
of John the Baptist until now,
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the Kingdom of
Heaven suffers violence
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and the violent
take it by force.
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So violent people one day
will be in the Kingdom of God.
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See Jesus is
using here a metaphor.
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Prior to John the Baptist,
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God's people were
confined to one nation.
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You were born in that nation.
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You have to
bear witness to those
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who are
non-Israelites, who responds.
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But for the time
of John the Baptist,
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as the gospel is being preached,
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there's a position.
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It's not easy to be Christian.
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It's not easy to be
the follower of Jesus.
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Only people, you see by force
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people who are
struggling, who are fighting
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before God for the gospel,
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for the
salvation, only those people
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who are really
making that great effort,
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the desire of that
gospel will hold their heart,
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the gospel is available
to them and they deserve it.
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So there is
something in this life,
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there is somebody
who thrive to prevent us
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from the Gospel of Christ.
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But we've all
power given to us by God,
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we've to struggle, we've
to fight for that gospel.
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And there's a bit
of melancholy sadness
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that is coming
through as Jesus is seeing
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the response of the
people He is trying to reach.
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And I think everyone who
tries to share the gospel
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you sense when
people aren't responding,
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it's a sad thing
and he describes these,
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"We played the flute for
you and you didn't dance.
00:09:48.54\00:09:51.47
We mourned to you,
you wouldn't lament."
00:09:51.48\00:09:53.39
Whatever He tries to
do, there is a resistance.
00:09:53.40\00:09:56.13
There is a
sadness that will increase
00:09:56.14\00:09:58.19
as we move towards the cross,
00:09:58.20\00:09:59.55
as His heart begins
to break over His people.
00:09:59.56\00:10:02.78
And then Jesus
makes the conclusion is,
00:10:02.79\00:10:06.09
that gospel
unfortunately so many times
00:10:06.10\00:10:08.48
is not accepted by the
wisest people in this world.
00:10:08.49\00:10:11.31
People who are
so much intelligent
00:10:11.32\00:10:13.27
usually they see the
gospel as foolishness.
00:10:13.28\00:10:16.08
When we read the
writings of Apostle Paul,
00:10:16.09\00:10:18.33
First Corinthians
Chapter 1, he says,
00:10:18.34\00:10:21.34
"The wise people
they look for wisdom,
00:10:21.35\00:10:23.60
some other
people look for science,
00:10:23.61\00:10:25.93
but the cross of Christ
is actually the power of God,
00:10:25.94\00:10:29.21
that changes human lives."
00:10:29.22\00:10:31.11
And actually Jesus
made very, very clear
00:10:31.12\00:10:34.24
that the gospel is
given to those who accepted.
00:10:34.25\00:10:36.77
Not because what they have
intelligent that they possess?
00:10:36.78\00:10:41.24
It's really their willingness
00:10:41.25\00:10:43.27
to respond to
the gospel message.
00:10:43.28\00:10:45.46
And He gives us wonderful
invitation that we see,
00:10:45.47\00:10:49.31
we often hear, Ranko
verses 28 and 29 quoted and--
00:10:49.32\00:10:55.15
And 30. And 30, yes.
00:10:55.16\00:10:57.01
And there is certainly
a wonderful comfort here.
00:10:57.02\00:11:00.69
But could you take
us a little deeper,
00:11:00.70\00:11:02.48
may I read the text
first and then help us
00:11:02.49\00:11:05.36
understand what it means?
00:11:05.37\00:11:06.53
"Come to Me, all you who
labor and are heavy laden,
00:11:06.54\00:11:09.08
and I will give you rest."
00:11:09.09\00:11:10.37
One of the most
beautiful promises in scripture.
00:11:10.38\00:11:13.18
"Take My yoke upon
you and learn from Me,
00:11:13.19\00:11:16.01
for I'm gentle
and lowly in heart,
00:11:16.02\00:11:18.41
and you will find
rest for your souls.
00:11:18.42\00:11:20.60
For My yoke is easy
and My burden is light."
00:11:20.61\00:11:23.78
We should notice a few things,
00:11:23.79\00:11:24.93
there are few words
that are keywords here.
00:11:24.94\00:11:27.81
Glenn, can I--I
cannot read this text,
00:11:27.82\00:11:30.50
but to--but want to
mention something is,
00:11:30.51\00:11:32.53
what was Jesus occupation
00:11:32.54\00:11:34.99
during His first
30 years of His life?
00:11:35.00\00:11:38.49
He's a
carpenter. He's a carpenter.
00:11:38.50\00:11:40.43
Carpentry was not
what carpenter is today.
00:11:40.44\00:11:43.42
People doing all
kind of work, man.
00:11:43.43\00:11:45.25
You know, there were
artists making even--
00:11:45.26\00:11:48.25
making even bridges,
building houses, construction.
00:11:48.26\00:11:51.55
But if you are in Galilee,
00:11:51.56\00:11:53.74
they are living among farmers.
00:11:53.75\00:11:56.35
One of part of your business
is to make yokes for oxes.
00:11:56.36\00:12:01.58
So evidently, Jesus
actually made many yokes.
00:12:01.59\00:12:05.63
So He is using something from
His personal experience here
00:12:05.64\00:12:09.83
to address the
needs of the people.
00:12:09.84\00:12:12.06
You know, when I was a boy,
00:12:12.07\00:12:14.45
I would go to
village visit farmers, etc.,
00:12:14.46\00:12:17.51
and I saw when they were trying
00:12:17.52\00:12:18.98
to buy a yoke for their oxes,
00:12:18.99\00:12:21.54
they were looking if
yoke was very heavy or light.
00:12:21.55\00:12:25.21
The lighter yoke
is more efficient is
00:12:25.22\00:12:28.59
for those oxes
to perform the job
00:12:28.60\00:12:30.98
that you want to
do, to do with them.
00:12:30.99\00:12:33.43
Actually, there is one scholar,
00:12:33.44\00:12:34.65
they said, can we
imagine Jesus there in Nazareth,
00:12:34.66\00:12:37.29
having his shop
and selling the yokes
00:12:37.30\00:12:40.68
and in the window of His shop,
00:12:40.69\00:12:42.48
He has--it says, "My
yokes are very light."
00:12:42.49\00:12:46.72
And we should
remember then that the yoke
00:12:46.73\00:12:49.66
has something to do with labor,
00:12:49.67\00:12:51.40
with effort, with work,
but this would resonated
00:12:51.41\00:12:54.58
among the Jewish people.
00:12:54.59\00:12:56.06
What was their
understanding of yoke?
00:12:56.07\00:12:57.80
Give us some
metaphor, what it is about?
00:12:57.81\00:12:59.17
Actually, what is
another word that is here
00:12:59.18\00:13:01.35
related to the word of yoke?
00:13:01.36\00:13:03.27
It's verse 28,
I'll give you rest.
00:13:03.28\00:13:07.67
Then let's go to verse 29.
00:13:07.68\00:13:10.08
"Take My yoke upon
you and learn from Me,
00:13:10.09\00:13:13.09
for I am gentle
and humble in heart,
00:13:13.10\00:13:15.38
and you will find
yoke and the rest."
00:13:15.39\00:13:19.08
If we go to the
Bible, the word the rest
00:13:19.09\00:13:21.82
is always related to something
00:13:21.83\00:13:23.71
and for the first
time that word is used
00:13:23.72\00:13:25.74
in Genesis Chapter 2.
00:13:25.75\00:13:28.50
In order to understanding
meaning of this word, yoke,
00:13:28.51\00:13:31.45
we really have first to go
00:13:31.46\00:13:33.70
to the Jewish
mindset of the time.
00:13:33.71\00:13:36.27
The Jewish writings indicates
00:13:36.28\00:13:38.06
that the Jews of
the time of Jesus,
00:13:38.07\00:13:40.22
they use the word yoke
00:13:40.23\00:13:43.09
for the
perseverance of the law of God.
00:13:43.10\00:13:45.60
When you observe the law of God,
00:13:45.61\00:13:47.33
you put your head into the yoke
00:13:47.34\00:13:49.72
of the Torah to perform
00:13:49.73\00:13:52.52
and to do all those
things there in the Torah.
00:13:52.53\00:13:55.92
By the way, this concept is used
00:13:55.93\00:13:59.26
in the New Testament
to explain the forsake
00:13:59.27\00:14:02.64
concept of the observance
of the law and very soon,
00:14:02.65\00:14:06.07
we will come to
that concept to explain--
00:14:06.08\00:14:08.04
So you're saying that
we've an instrument here,
00:14:08.05\00:14:11.76
there was a metaphor
00:14:11.77\00:14:12.76
for the Jewish
understanding how to live?
00:14:12.77\00:14:14.57
How to observe--As
the follower of God,
00:14:14.58\00:14:16.43
I should put myself into
the yoke of keeping the law.
00:14:16.44\00:14:20.13
Of keeping the law.
Well, is the law can be burned?
00:14:20.14\00:14:22.65
Is it troublesome and so forth?
00:14:22.66\00:14:24.31
Yes. We'll come to
that in a few moments.
00:14:24.32\00:14:27.52
All right. We're gonna
take a break right now.
00:14:27.53\00:14:29.62
I want to hear a little
bit more about that yoke.
00:14:29.63\00:14:31.31
I'm sure you do too.
00:14:31.32\00:14:32.31
We'll be right
back after a break.
00:14:32.32\00:14:33.90