Privilege (Matthew 11 - P 28)

Read Matthew 11: 20 - 30, making your own observations.  What does God say to you in these ten verses?  After you have listened to Him through His word ... come back and I will share a few of my own observations with you.

Jesus' words are turning hard.  I think He knows His time is growing short.  I think He may be using "it's now or never" kind of language.  Did you wonder what in the world those towns in Galilee that Jesus calls out in these verses could possibly have done that put them in a WORSE place of judgment than Sodom - Tyre - Sidon?  Those very names conjure up images of evil, immorality, wickedness, and deserved destruction.  Can you imagine how His audience reacted when they heard Jesus put them UNDER Sodom - worse than SODOM?  What did these Galilean towns do?  Perhaps ...

From what Jesus says - there had been no repentance and Jesus Himself had been in their presence.  He walked there, talked there, taught there, performed miracles there ... and ........ nothing.  Jesus Himself ............. and nothing.  Have you ever had the thought, "If I just could have been there.  If I could have actually heard Jesus ... then I could believe."  Well, it seems that is no guarantee.  These were privileged towns.  Privilege has a peculiar way of blinding us.  It leads to

• pride
• self-righteousness
• arrogance

Privilege ... to pride ... to arrogance.  THAT, my friends, is a deadly path!  

Then Jesus blasts the wisdom of the world ... worldly intelligence ... and says that God has hidden things from them and handed that wisdom to infants!   Can you see the upper echelon of his audience recoiling?  After all, THEY are the ones with the degrees.  THEY are the ones the peons in the crowd admire and revere.  THEY are the important ones.  THEY wear the robes.  And that can be yet another path to pride.  I truly believe that education at all levels is a great privilege.  Aahh ... there's that word, privilege.  

Privilege ... to pride ... to self-importance ... to arrogance.  

Jesus then closes this discourse with some of the most beloved words in all of scripture.  I am intrigued this time to really notice the context in which they are said.  After the hard words of verses 20 - 27,  He calls out to the searching, honest, struggling hearts that are listening.  He calls out to those who may be wondering, "If those guys can't make it ... if those folks aren't 'doing it right' ... what chance do I have?"  

And He says ... just come to Me.  Tuck yourself under my arm.  It's not hard.  Trust me.  And that is where the path turns.  

Privilege ... to repentance ... to gratitude ... to thanksgiving ... to God.  

Which road are you on?