The point of the answer sent by our Lord to John is usually thought to be the proof he was giving of his Divine
power; he was opening the eyes of the blind; he was making the lame walk; he was cleansing the lepers; he was unstopping the ears of the deaf; he was raising the dead. Must he not, then, be the Messiah? Nicodemus properly argued, "Rabbi, we know that thou art a Teacher come from God, for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him." And yet it may be that this was not our Lord's precise point. Indeed, John knew all about these miracles, and it was because he could not make up his mind about them that he sent the inquiry. It may be that our Lord fixed the attention of the messengers on the
kinds of persons for whom he was working, and the
character of the work he was doing for them. And we can see that just
this would be the most suggestive and helpful answer for John. It would show him that Jesus was Messiah in a
spiritual sense. "It might seem, at first sight, as if the thing that would make fitting impression on John was the display of Divine
power in these miracles of healing and restoration. It would seem as if John would be bound to argue that he must be Divine who could do such mighty works. But that is only the surface-teaching of the miracles. The prominent thing in our Lord's response is his pointing out
who it is gets the benefit of his work; it is as if he had said, "See all you can, but be sure to notice and to tell John this - it is the
blind who are being blessed; it is the
lame, it is the
lepers, it is the
deaf, who are being blessed; it is the
poor who are being savingly blessed." It is as if the Lord had said, "Be sure and point out to John the
character of my work; that will be an all-sufficient answer to his question." Jesus worked for those who were
sufferers because of
sin. He came to be "God saving men from their sins." Jesus did not touch national disabilities, social struggles, class weaknesses, or political contentions; these things formed no sphere for him. Where sin had been, there he went. Where sin was, there he came. What sin had done, that he strove to remedy. So the suffering made for him a sphere. The ignorant, the poor, the perishing, were ready for his gospel. - R.T.
And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in Me.
I. THOSE PREJUDICES AND OBJECTIONS WHICH THE WORLD HAD AGAINST THE SAVIOUR AND HIS RELIGION AT THEIR FIRST APPEARANCE; also to inquire into those which men at this day insist upon; and to show the unreasonableness of them.
1. That Christianity was a great innovation, and contrary to the received institutions of the world.
2. They objected against the plainness and simplicity of the doctrine.
3. That it wanted demonstration.
4. That the low and suffering condition of our Saviour was unsuitable to one that pretended to be the Son of God.
II. To consider THE PREJUDICES AND OBJECTIONS WHICH MEN AT THIS DAY INSIST UPON AGAINST OUR SAVIOUR AND HIS RELIGION.
1. Some that relate to the incarnation of our Saviour.
2. To the time of His appearance. Why did He not come sooner?
3. That we have not now sufficient evidence of the truth of Christianity.
4. That the terms of it seem very hard, and to lay too great restraints upon human nature.
5. That it is apt to despoil men, and to break the vigour and courage of their minds.
6. The divisions and factions that are among Christians.
7. The wicked lives of the greatest part of the professors of Christianity.
III. HOW HAPPY A THING IT IS TO ESCAPE THE COMMON PREJUDICES MEN ARE APT TO ENTERTAIN AGAINST RELIGION — "Blessed is he," etc. This will appear if we consider —
1. That prejudice does many times sway and bias men against the plainest truths.
2. Prejudice will bias men in matters of the greatest concernment, in things that concern the honour of God and the good of others and our own welfare.
3. The consequences of men's prejudices in these things prove many times fatal and destructive.
4. There are few in comparison who have the happiness to escape and overcome the. common prejudices which men are apt to entertain against religion.
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I. WHAT ARE THE OFFENCES WHICH ARE GENERALLY TAKEN AT THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST?
1. The poverty and meanness in which our Saviour appeared was the earliest objection to the gospel. This prejudice arises from a false conception of the power and majesty of God, as if the success of His purposes depended upon the visible fitness of the instruments He made choice of; or as if the majesty of God wants the little supports of outward pomp as that of man does. But would the advantages with respect to men have been greater had Christ appeared in greater splendour? The majesty of God must be veiled to be seen by the human eye. But did not Christ give sight to the blind, and triumph over death? Do princes and greatest men perform such works? Do these not manifest Divine power?
2. The next offence is that men do not find the wisdom they seek after in the gospel.(1) But this objection must rise to our creation, with God for not making us wiser than we are.(2) This objection does not affect the practice of religion.(3) That the gospel has given us the greatest evidence for the certainty of those things that can be desired.
3. The last offence is that the gospel contains mysterious truths.(1) This objection does not reach the gospel use of the word, nor can affect the mysteries contained in the gospel.(2) That the use of the word, which is liable to this objection, does not in any way belong to the gospel; nor are there any such mysteries in the gospel as may justify the complaint made against them.
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I. THERE ARE SOME WHO ARE SO OFFENDED IN CHRIST THAT THEY NEVER, TRUST HIM AT ALL OR ACCEPT HIM AS THEIR SAVIOUR.
1. Some in His own day were offended with Him because of the humbleness of His appearance. They said, "He is the sun of a carpenter."
2. There are others who reject Him because of the fewness of His followers.
3. Some are offended with Christ because of the grandeur of His claims. He claims to be God.
4. Some are offended with our Lord because of His atonement.
5. Some are offended because of the graciousness of the gospel. They prefer works.
6. Some are offended because of the holiness of His precepts. They like liberty to sin.
II. THERE ARE SOME WHO JOIN THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST WHO AFTER A TIME ARE OFFENDED.
1. Because the novelty wears off.
2. Because they thought that they were always going to be happy.
3. Because they have met an opposition they did not expect from their enemies.
4. Because they began to find that religion entailed more self-denial than they had reckoned upon.
5. Because of the hard speeches of those who ought to have encouraged them.
6. Because of the ill conduct of professors.
7. Through trials of providence.
III. THERE ARE SOME WHO ARE NOT OFFENDED IN CHRIST, AND THEY ARE DECLARED TO BE BLESSED.
1. Apart from anything else it is a blessed thing to have grace enough given you to hold fast to Christ under all circumstances.
2. Then you shall find a blessedness growing out of your fidelity,
3. But what blessedness awaits you.
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I. WHO ARE THE PERSONS THAT ARE OFFENDED AT CHRIST?
1. Those who discredit the authenticity of His Word.
2. Who deny the Divinity of His Person.
3. Who reject the efficacy of His atonement.
4. Wide despise the influences of His Spirit.
5. Who backslide from the profession of His name.
II. THE THINGS AT WHICH THEY ARE OFFENDED.
1. The meanness of His birth.
2. The sufferings of His life.
3. The simplicity of His doctrines,
4. The poverty of His followers.
5. The ignominy of His death.
III. THE BLESSEDNESS OF THOSE WHO ARE NOT OFFENDED AT CHRIST.
1. Divine peace (Psalm 119.).
2. Divine comforts (Psalm 89:16).
3. Divine care (1 Peter 5:7).
4. Divine honours (1 Samuel 2:30).
5. Eternal reward,
6. To be offended at Christ displays the greatest ignorance.
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I. WITH REGARD TO THOSE THINGS WHICH RENDER THE REDEEMER AN OFFENCE TO THE WORLD.
1. The mysterious constitution of His nature.
2. The humbling tendency of the doctrines.
3. The exclusive character of His religion.
II. THE BLESSEDNESS OF THOSE WHO ARE NOT OFFENDED IN THE SAVIOUR. HOW is it that some embrace the Saviour, and others are offended at Him? The reception of Him is the result of Divine illumination.
III. THE BEST MEANS OF ATTAINING THIS BLESSEDNESS.
1. Earnest Prayer.
2. Seek God in His Word.
3. A holy life.
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ity: —
1. The objections grounded on the nature of the religion, and what it has effected.
2. On the controversies about it.
3. On the conduct of its professors.
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The fact that our Lord directed His reply to John himself, for his personal satisfaction. John knew that Jesus was Messiah, but he did not know that His kingdom was to be a spiritual, not a temporal one. Two objections were taken against Christ of old. Jews pretended that His condition of life was too low and mean for what their prophets had taught them to expect; and the Gentiles objected to His doctrine, as not displaying enough of what they called wisdom. He should have come as a philosopher, or as a temporal king. But He did come, unassisted by human power, or dignity, or wisdom, and thus He was —
I. Enabled to be the pattern of all virtue.
II. The spread of His kingdom in so short a time, the more fully displays the hand of God.
III. His miracles acquire a greater degree of evidence, and —
IV. What He taught is now not liable to be charged with those suspicions, which royalty and conquest would justly have raised.
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I. It is not to be expected that a religion, though truly Divine, should be entirely exempt from everything of difficulty, or liable to no manner of objection.
II. Not a few of the offences taken at religion, at that of Jesus in particular, may, they do in fact, arise entirely from men themselves, rather than from any real occasion that religion gives for them.
III. Many of the particular occasions of offence taken at the Saviour had been themselves actually predicted.
IV. No objections brought against Christianity should be considered alone; they, and the evidence it produces in its favour, should be considered together. The chief objections are —
(1)The needlessness of any supernatural revelation;(2)the want of universality in Christianity;(3)the weakness of the evidence produced in its favour;(4)the difficulties found in some of the peculiar and sublime doctrines of the gospel;(5)the disagreements among those who profess the gospel;(6)the stress which Christianity lays upon faith;(7)the difficulties of its precepts;(8)the inconsistencies of professors.()
John, in prison, hears of the great progress of the kingdom he has heralded, and cannot understand why he is left unaided, seemingly unpitied, to perish. Not for want of power, surely; the hand that healed the sick could open the prison. If for want of will, can this be the real King? Why does the axe not smite the overshadowing tree of wickedness; why does the fan not winnow the evil from the good? So he sends his message of remonstrance and indignation. To this Christ gives a twofold answer. He bids John's disciples tell their master of His works and of His word, of His miracles and of His teaching.I. MIRACLES, i.e., not merely things to wonder at, but signs that the supernatural kingdom of righteousness wrought by a power, a will, a voice outside of and acting on nature; telling us that this order of nature may yet be completely changed for a higher and better, in which it shall be as unnatural for man to suffer, sorrow, and die, as it is now natural. But the exercise of this power was limited. Only some of the sick were healed and dead raised. To assure us that eventually all shall be, we need, besides the evidence of Christ's works, the declaration of His —
II. WORD — "to the poor the gospel is preached." Why is this significant? Because poverty is only another word for human imperfection and weakness. The life of humanity on earth is a life of struggle with nature. In proportion as man subdues the earth, progress, civilization, and wealth increase. But all are not equally fitted for this struggle; hence, while the strong frame, keen intellect, resolute will, conquer circumstances, the weak suffer and hunger. But in the kingdom of heaven there is a gospel for the poor. God has another world, in which to redress the inequalities of this, where the poor shall hunger and thirst no more, and where God shall wipe away the tears from all eyes. This gospel for the poor is no myth or mirage begotten of the fevered thirst of man's soul. Deeprooted in historic fact lie the reasons of this promise. The city of God that is to come down from heaven has had its foundation-stone laid already upon earth. The gospel for the poor is the gospel of the resurrection. He who preaches it, stands beside an open grave. Moreover, the glory to come is linked with present suffering as its result and fruit. The law of the heavenly kingdom requires that the sin which hinders our happiness should be burnt out by sorrow, and that we should bear the chastening cross in this life. While the rich man is told that if he would walk heavenward he must be ready to part with riches and become poor at Christ's bidding, the poor man is comforted with the knowledge that weariness, sorrow, toil, suffering, and disappointment, if taken up as a cross, if lifted as a burden the Saviour has appointed, will bear rich fruit in heaven. Thus, out of suffering comes joy; out of sorrow, eternal peace; and so the trials of the poor man in this world are made his spiritual wealth in the world to come.
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Mr. Dodd, having preached against the profanation of the Sabbath, which much prevailed in his parish, and especially among the more wealthy inhabitants, the servant of a nobleman, who was one of them, came to him and said, "Sir, you have offended my lord to-day." Mr. Dodd replied, "I should not have offended your lord, except he had been conscious to himself that he had first offended my Lord; and if your lord will offend my Lord, let him be offended."I. WHAT IT IS TO BE OFFENDED IN CHRIST.1. It supposes some offer and revelation made to us, that grace is brought home to us and salvation offered to us.
2. It implieth such an offence that either they are kept off from Christ, or else drawn away from Him.
II. UPON WHAT OCCASIONS MEN WERE OFFENDED IN CHRIST.
1. They were displeased with His Person.
2. They were offended at His doctrine.
3. The great stumbling-block of all was His sufferings.
III. WAS IT NOT PROPER TO THAT AGE ONLY? There is danger still: —
1. Because, though the name of Christ be had in honour, yet the stricter profession of godliness is under reproach.
2. It may happen that the stricter sort of Christians are the poorer, and so may be despised of men.
3. Though men be not distasted against Christianity as a whole, yet in part, at some of its ways.
4. There is no man but if he run up his refusal of Christ to its proper principle he will find it to be some dislike, either from the inward constitution of his own mind, or the external state of religion in the world.What is likely to offend since Christ's exaltation into heaven?
1. The many calamities which attend the profession of religion.
2. They may take offence at Christ's doctrine, at the purity, self-denial, the simplicity, the mysteriousness of it.
IV. THE KINDS OF THIS SIN OF BEING OFFENDED IN CHRIST.
1. There is an offence with contempt, and an offence with discouragement.
2. There is an offence of ignorance, and an offence of malice and opposition.
3. There is a total, and there is a partial, offence.
V. How is IT TRUE THAT THOSE THAT ESCAPE THIS SIN ARE IN THE READY WAY TO SALVATION?
1. He that is not offended but evangelized, hath the power and virtue of the gospel stamped upon his heart.
2. The esteem produceth uniform obedience.
3. We are better fortified against temptations to apostasy — errors, scandals, and persecutions.
VI. MAKE USE OF THIS CAUTION. Take heed of being offended in Christ.
1. Who are in danger of it.
2. The heinousness of it.
(1)It is unreasonable.(2).Natural.(3)Dangerous.3. What shall we do to avoid it?
(1)Get a clear understanding;(2)a mortified heart;(3)a fervent love.()
People
Elias, Elijah, Jesus, JohnPlaces
Bethsaida, Capernaum, Chorazin, Galilee, Sidon, Sodom, TyreTopics
Account, Blessed, Blessing, Cause, Claims, Doubts, Fall, Falling, Finds, Happy, Occasion, Offended, Offense, Sin, Stumble, Stumbled, Stumbling, TakesOutline
1. John sends his disciples to Jesus.
7. Jesus' testimony concerning John.
16. The perverse judgment of the people concerning the Son.
20. Jesus upbraids Korazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum;
25. and praising his Father's wisdom in revealing the Gospel to the simple,
28. he calls to him those who are weary and burdened.
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Matthew 11:6 5874 happiness
Matthew 11:2-6
5098 John the Baptist
8105 assurance, basis of
Matthew 11:3-6
8837 unbelief, and life of faith
Matthew 11:4-6
2333 Christ, attitude to OT
8724 doubt, dealing with
Matthew 11:5-6
5162 lameness
Library
The Friend of Publicans and Sinners
'The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children,'--MATT. xi. 19. Jesus very seldom took notice of His enemies' slanders. 'When He was reviled He reviled not again.' If ever He did, it was for the sake of those whom it harmed to distort His beauty. Thus, here He speaks, without the slightest trace of irritation, of the capricious inconsistency of condemning Himself and John …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy ScriptureSodom, Capernaum, Manchester
'Then began He to upbraid the cities wherein most of His mighty works were done, because they repented not.' --MATT. xi. 20. These words, and the woes which they introduce, are found in another connection in Luke's Gospel. He attaches them to his report of the mission of the seventy disciples. Matthew here introduces them in an order which seems not to depend upon time, but upon identity of subject. It is his method in his Gospel to group together similar events, as we have it exemplified, for instance, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture
Christ's Strange Thanksgiving
'I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.' --MATT. xi. 25. When Jesus was about to cure one dumb man, He lifted up His eyes to heaven and sighed. Sorrow filled His soul in the act of working deliverance. The thought of the depth of the miseries He had come to heal, and of the ocean of them which He was then diminishing but by one poor drop, saddened Him. When Jesus thought of the woes that had …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture
John's Doubts of Jesus, and Jesus' Praise of John
'Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, 3. And said unto Him, Art Thou He that should come, or do we look for another? 4. Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: 5. The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. 6. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in Me. 7. …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture
The Rest Giver
'Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.'--MATT. xi. 28, 29. One does not know whether tenderness or majesty is predominant in these wonderful words. A divine penetration into man's true condition, and a divine pity, are expressed in them. Jesus looks with clearsighted compassion into the inmost history of all hearts, and sees the toil and the …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture
Rest for the Weary
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. W hich shall we admire most -- the majesty, or the grace, conspicuous in this invitation? How soon would the greatest earthly monarch be impoverished, and his treasures utterly exhausted, if all, that are poor and miserable, had encouragement to apply freely to him, with a promise of relief, fully answerable to their wants and wishes! But the riches of Christ are unsearchable and inexhaustible. If millions and millions …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1
Messiah's Easy Yoke
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. T hough the influence of education and example, may dispose us to acknowledge the Gospel to be a revelation from God; it can only be rightly understood, or duly prized, by those persons who feel themselves in the circumstances of distress, which it is designed to relieve. No Israelite would think of fleeing to a city of refuge (Joshua 20:2. …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1
The Yoke of Christ.
"Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls; for My yoke is easy, and My burden is light."--Matt. xi. 29, 30. These words, which are brought before us in the Gospel of to-day's festival[1], are also found in the address made to us upon Ash Wednesday, in which we are told that if we "return unto Him who is the merciful Receiver of all true penitent sinners, if we will take His easy yoke and light burden upon us, to follow Him …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VII
On the Words of the Gospel, Matt. xi. 2, "Now when John Heard in the Prison the Works of the Christ, He Sent by his Disciples,
1. The lesson of the Holy Gospel has set before us a question touching John the Baptist. May the Lord assist me to resolve it to you, as He hath resolved it to us. John was commended, as ye have heard, by the testimony of Christ, and in such terms commended, as that there had not risen a greater among those who were born of women. But a greater than he had been born of a Virgin. How much greater? Let the herald himself declare, how great the difference is between himself and his Judge, whose herald …
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament
On the Words of the Gospel, Matt. xi. 25, "I Thank Thee, O Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth, that Thou Didst Hide These Things From
1. When the Holy Gospel was being read, we heard that the Lord Jesus exulted in Spirit, and said, "I confess to Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for that Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes." [2252] Thus much to begin [2253] with, we find before we pass on further, if we consider the words of the Lord with due attention, with diligence, and above all with piety, that we ought not invariably to understand when we read of "confession" in …
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament
Again on the Words of the Gospel, Matt. xi. 25, "I Thank Thee, O Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth," Etc.
1. We have heard the Son of God saying, "I confess to Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth." What doth he confess to Him? Wherein doth he praise Him? "Because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes." [2288] Who are the "wise and prudent"? Who the "babes"? What hath He hid from the wise and prudent, and revealed unto babes? By the "wise and prudent," He signifieth those of whom St. Paul speaks; "Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the …
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament
Again on the Words of the Gospel, Matt. xi. 28, "Come unto Me, all Ye that Labour and are Heavy Laden, and I Will Give You
1. It seems strange to some, Brethren, when they hear the Lord say, "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you. Take my yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." [2323] And they consider that they who have fearlessly bowed their necks to this yoke, and have with much submission taken this burden upon their shoulders, are tossed about and exercised by so great …
Saint Augustine—sermons on selected lessons of the new testament
The Sinner's Friend
"Savior of sinners they proclaim, Sinners of whom the chief I am." What the invidious Jews said in bitter spleen, has been turned by the Holy Spirit to the most gracious account. Where they poured out vials of hate, odours of sacred incense arise. Troubled consciences have found a sweet balm in the very sound. Jesus, "the friend of publicans and sinners," has proved himself friendly to them, and they have become friends with him; so completely has he justified the very name which his enemies gave …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 10: 1864
Rest, Rest
We will, this morning, if we can, conduct you into the inner chambers of out text, place its words under the microscope, and peer into the recesses of each sentence. We only wish our microscope were of a greater magnifying power, and our ability to expound the text more complete; for there are mines of instruction here. Superficially read, this royal promise has cheered and encouraged tens of thousands, but there is a wealth in it which the diligent digger and miner shall alone discover. Its shallows …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 17: 1871
Holy violence
"But," says one, "do you wish us to understand, that if a man is to be saved he must use violence and vehement earnestness in order to obtain salvation?" I do, most assuredly; that is the doctrine of the text. "But," says one, "I thought it was all the work of God." So it is, from first to last. But when God has begun the work in the soul, the constant effect of God's work in us is to set us working; and where God's Spirit is really striving with us, we shall begin to strive too. This is just a test …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 5: 1859
The Meek and Lowly One
I. First, then, I am to consider THE FIRST QUALITY WHICH JESUS CHRIST CLAIMS. He declares that he is "MEEK." Christ is no egotist; he takes no praise to himself. If ever he utters a word in self-commendation, it is not with that object; it is with another design, namely that he may entice souls to come to him. Here, in order to exhibit this meekness, I shall have to speak of him in several ways. 1. First, Christ is meek, as opposed to the ferocity of spirit manifested by zealots and bigots. Take, …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 5: 1859
Powerful Persuasives
I HAVE preached to you, dear friends, several times from the words, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." There is such sweetness in the precept, such solace in the promise, that I could fain hope to preach from it many times more. But I have no intention just now to repeat what I have said in any former discourse, or to follow the same vein of thought that we have previously explored. This kindly and gracious invitation needs only to be held up in different …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 62: 1916
Sermon for the Sixth Sunday after Epiphany
(From the Gospel for St. Matthias'-day, 24th February) Of the proper marks of true humility. Matt. xi. 29.--"Learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart." CHRIST, our blessed Lord, the true master and teacher of all art and virtue, and a pattern of all perfection, when He came down from Heaven to instruct us poor ignorant men, did not see fit to make use of great subtleties, or mysterious and ingenious statements of truth; but in short, plain, simple words He delivered to us a maxim, and gave us …
Susannah Winkworth—The History and Life of the Reverend Doctor John Tauler
Sermon for the Third Sunday in Advent
(From the Gospel for the day) How that we must wholly come out from ourselves, that we may go into the wilderness and behold God. Matt. xi. 7.--"What went ye out into the wilderness for to see?" OUR Lord Jesus Christ said unto the Jews, "What went ye out into the wilderness for to see? A reed shaken with the wind?" In these words let us consider three things: First, the going out; secondly, the wilderness; thirdly, what we are to see there. First, let us consider the going out. This blessed going …
Susannah Winkworth—The History and Life of the Reverend Doctor John Tauler
Sixth Day. Thankfulness.
"I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth."--Matt. xi. 25. A thankful spirit pervaded the entire life of Jesus, and surrounded with a heavenly halo His otherwise darkened path. In moments we least expect to find it, this beauteous ray breaks through the gloom. In instituting the memorial of His death, He "gave thanks!" Even in crossing the Kedron to Gethsemane, "He sang an hymn!" We know in seasons of deep sorrow and trial that every thing wears a gloomy aspect. Dumb Nature herself to …
John R. Macduff—The Mind of Jesus
Fifth Day. Meekness.
"I am meek and lowly in heart."--Matt. xi. 29. There is often a beautiful blending of majesty and humility, magnanimity and lowliness, in great minds. The mightiest and holiest of all Beings that ever trod our world was the meekest of all. The Ancient of Days was as the "infant of days." He who had listened to nothing but angel-melodies from all eternity, found, while on earth, melody in the lispings of an infant's voice, or in an outcast's tears! No wonder an innocent lamb was His emblem, or …
John R. Macduff—The Mind of Jesus
"I Will Give You Rest. "
A COMMUNION ADDRESS AT MENTONE. "I will give you rest."--Matthew xi. 28. "I WILL GIVE YOU REST." WE have a thousand times considered these words as an encouragement to the labouring and the laden; and we may, therefore, have failed to read them as a promise to ourselves. But, beloved friends, we have come to Jesus, and therefore He stands engaged to fufil this priceless pledge to us. We may now enjoy the promise; for we have obeyed the precept. The faithful and true Witness, whose word is truth, …
Charles Hadden Spurgeon—Till He Come
A Devout Exhortation to the Holy Communion the Voice of Christ
Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you,(1) saith the Lord. The bread that I will give is My flesh which I give for the life of the world.(2) Take, eat: this is My Body, which is given for you; this do in remembrance of Me.(3) He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood dwelleth in Me and I in him. The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.(4) (1) Matthew xi. 28 (2) John vi. 51. (3) Matthew xxi. 26; Luke xxii. 19. (4) John vi. …
Thomas A Kempis—Imitation of Christ
The Baptist's Inquiry and Jesus' Discourse Suggested Thereby.
(Galilee.) ^A Matt. XI. 2-30; ^C Luke VII. 18-35. ^c 18 And the disciples of John told him of all these things. ^a 2 Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent by his disciples ^c 19 And John calling unto him two of his disciples sent them unto the Lord [John had been cast into prison about December, a.d. 27, and it was now after the Passover, possibly in May or June, a.d. 28. Herod Antipas had cast John into prison because John had reproved him for taking his brother's wife. …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel
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