The Generation Gap in Matthew 11

Today I want to comment on Mathew 11:16-30. In this passage Jesus laments a generation gap in Israel.

As a child of the 1960’s I am well aware of what a generation gap is  . . .  The term was first popularized, if not coined during that decade. It is a truth that generational differences due exist. Some sociologists and societal observers have even categorized generations and they have described their characteristics. The fact that few of these scholars agree on any of these parameters does not give lie to the fact that generational differences do exist and that they provide both entertainment and aggravation in equal measures.

In our focal passage for today, Jesus, however, is not talking about a gap between His generation and the next, but about a gap between Himself and His own generation. Let’s consider this ironic situation.

A Petulant Generation:

Matthew 11:16-19 shows that Jesus was dealing with a petulant generation:

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. "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.”

This passage reminds me of a young man who had a habit of wanting to debate others when confronted with a difference of opinion. He was a good debater, but sometimes he irritated people with his persistence. One day, during a discussion, a friend told him, “You just like to argue!” The young man replied, “No I don’t.” His friend quickly retorted, “See what I mean!”

Do you see what happened there? If the young man said nothing, then he agreed that he was argumentative. If he resisted that charge, he was proving his friend right by his actions. Either way, the young man could not win. Jesus was in that exact situation. It didn’t matter what He did, someone was going to criticize Him. This was a common situation the Old Testament prophets faced, and it is a common situation that Christian leaders have faced since the founding of the church. Dr. Rick Lance, the Executive Director/Treasurer of the Alabama Baptist Convention once articulated the best advice I have ever heard about dealing with this kind of criticism, “Remember who your constituency is.” We serve God, and He is our ultimate constituency. If the world criticizes us for following the provisions of God’s Word and being led by the Spirit, and the Scriptures, that should not surprise us, for “Friendship with the world is enmity with God,” as James 4:4 teaches us and Jesus Himself said, “You will be hated by everyone because of my name . . . “ (Matthew 10:22a) While we should not try to irritate the people of our own generation unnecessarily, if we follow Jesus we should expect criticism. After all, Jesus was criticized, and far worse than we’ll ever be! An Unrepentant Generation: As Jesus continued to teach the disciples, He called out several cities for their failure to repent. Jesus had done numerous miracles in these places, but they had not repented of their sin. This is what He said about their unrepentant ways: “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.” The reason that the generation that Jesus dealt with was petulant is that they were unrepentant. To repent is to decide to make a 180 degree turn in your way of life; it is to realize you are on the wrong path, and then decide to turn around and reverse your course. The people of His generation had not repented, and so they rejected Jesus and the salvation He offered them. It is important to note that merely deciding to change your course is not enough. People are frail, weak, and limited. As Jesus said, our spirit may be willing, but our flesh is weak. Once we have repented, we still need the salvation, regeneration, and sanctification offered to us by God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The first step, however, is to repent.

Jesus had done many signs and wonders, yet the people of His generation did not repent. His judgment on them was severe and it should have been a terrifying spectacle. It literally should put the fear of God into anyone who reads it today, yet our generation is really no different than the one to whom Jesus preached. The path to destruction truly is broad and the paths of righteousness are narrow! A Blind Generation: Jesus went on in verses 25-27 to describe His generation as blind: 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, 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.” One old preacher said that, “Before you can get a person saved, you have to get them lost.” What he meant by that was that before someone repents, they must realize that they are going in the wrong direction. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said that it was easy for people to see others’ faults while still being blind to their own. He also called the Jewish religious leaders of the day “blind guides” because they were leading their people astray. These leaders could not see the truth, but even so they were determined to take a destructive path and they insisted that the people follow them. In truth, God has revealed the paths of righteousness to humanity. Consider this passage from the Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man in Luke 16. From Hell, the rich man asks, “Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.“ Abraham replied, “They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.” “No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.” He said to him, “If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.”

Also, consider what Paul taught us in Romans 1:20, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” The sad part about the blindness on the part of Jesus’s generation was that it was self-inflicted. People in His day refused to see the truth which was being displayed right before their eyes. Equally sadly, the same thing is true today. God has not changed. The way He reveals Himself to people has not changed. Sadly, the willful blindness of people to His truth has not changed either. In the midst of this grim forecast, the Good News does shine through, however. A Relieved Generation: For those who do repent, however, relief is at hand. Jesus said in verses 28-30, “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.” A former colleague of mine had a saying, “You can’t hide money.” Despite the stiff-necked generation with which he dealt, despite their blindness and their rejection of truth, the love of Jesus and the blessings of God still came out as Jesus taught His disciples. For those who see the truth of their sinful and rebellious lives, and then bow their knee to the Sovereign Lord of the Universe, tremendous blessing awaits! Jesus gives them rest and relieves the burden that comes from living a sinful, rebellious life. Jesus is the hero who can snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, and He offered that wonderful outcome to the petulant, unrepentant, and blind generation in which He lived. And guess what? Jesus offers that same blessing to the petulant, unrepentant, and blind generation in which we live today. People have not changed, and, praise God, neither has the offer from Jesus to save us from our sin and bless our lives with the grace, peace, and mercy from Heaven that we all need, whether we realize it or not! Conclusion:

As the saying goes, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Generations come and go, but the basic need of humans, the need to be forgiven of our sins and restored to fellowship with God, remains. If Jesus was incarnate among this generation today, He would have the same perspective on it as He did on the 1st Century generation, and that attitude is best described in Romans 5:8: “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” In short, the generation gap between people and God is closed by the Cross. Praise God for His love for us! Every blessing, Dr. Otis Corbitt