Sunday, May 15, 2011 am
THE LIFE OF JESUS (19)
Dealing With His Enemies - 1
We are in the midst of a study dealing with
some of the people Jesus interacted with during His ministry.
We have noted that He was a servant, that He trained the twelve
and last week we noted that even with His popularity wherever He went He
engaged many one on one.
Today we will continue our study by noticing how Jesus dealt with His
enemies.
It goes without saying that Jesus affected
everyone He came in contact with (and still does).
But not everyone responds the same.
Some followed Him faithfully and became His disciples, while
others casually dismissed Him.
Still others were threatened by Him or outright rejected Him and
what He stood for and became His enemies.
Today I want to talk a little about His enemies.
a.
Enemies at His birth – Herod
sought to have Him killed. But God took care of them
b.
Satan Himself was his enemy –
Jesus resisted him throughout His life.
c.
Judas Iscariot – an internal
enemy. By being disloyal,
whether he intended to an enemy or not, he was (at least on that
occasion).
d. Other “enemies” mentioned in scripture that indirectly affected Jesus included
i. Death (1 Cor. 15:25-26) – an enemy of time for man to respond. This was true while Jesus was upon this earth, though on more than one occasion He conquered death.
ii.
Man, when he follows His carnal mind – Rom. 8:7, 5:8-10.
NOTE: Much of the problems Jesus had, even with His own
disciples, was their carnal behavior.
IF such was true with His disciples who wanted to follow Him,
what of His real enemies whose carnality completely shut out hope in
Jesus?
e.
During His ministry – The
Jewish leaders and others who shortly after Jesus established who He was
and His purpose sought to stop Him, eventually to the point of
destroying Him. In our
lesson we will focus on this group of enemies.
II.
Matthew’s Account of the Enemies of Jesus
a.
Jesus had many encounters
with His enemies, especially the Jewish leaders known as the Sanhedrin,
the Pharisees and Sadducees and the scribes.
As His preaching and teaching progressed, the conflict became
more intense. While we
cannot cover every incident in this lesson, I would like to take a few
moments and go through the book of Matthew and notice some of the
occasions where Jesus encountered or addressed His enemies.
From this we can learn many things Jesus did that will help us in
dealing with our enemies.
b. Some events in the life of Jesus.
i.
It actually began before Jesus began preaching – John the Baptist in
Matt. 3:1-12 prepared the
way for Jesus baptizing “for the remission of sins.”
(Lk. 3:3)
He preached, “Repent, for the
Kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matt. 3:2).
When he encountered the Pharisees and Sadducees He called them a “brood
of vipers” and challenged them to bear fruits worthy of repentance.
Their character was already known and it would be the greatest
source of resistance we have recorded in the life of Jesus.
ii. Matt. 9:1-9 - records Jesus healing a paralytic, but He also uses the occasion to forgive the man’s sins and demonstrate, though His works (miracles) that He was “the Son of Man” sent from God. The scribes who were present said, “This man blasphemes!” at the statement without even considering the possibility of it being the truth.
iii. Matt. 9:9-13 - Jesus calls Matthew to follow Him. Matthew invites his friends (they were “tax-collectors and sinners”) to his home for a great feast (probably to introduce them to Jesus). The response of the scribes and Pharisees was that He ate with sinners. They looked for and emphasized the worst possible conclusion to an event. Never mind why Jesus was there – they WERE sinners and need “the Great Physician” (Matt. 9:12-13) and mercy.
iv.
Matt. 9:32-34
– Jesus casts out the demon that made a man mute.
While the multitudes marvel, because a great wonder has been
done, the Pharisees said, “He casts out demons by the ruler of the
demons.”
At this time Jesus doesn’t respond at all.
Sometimes that is the best course of action.
Bear in mind, this was still fairly early in His ministry.
v.
Matt. 12:1-8 –
Jesus with His disciples were plucking and eating heads of grain on the
Sabbath. The Pharisees who
had imposed restrictions on the law greater the law itself criticized
them.
NOTE: Often enemies are a law unto themselves – they become enemies of
the truth and those practicing the truth because it sets aside and
exposes their own man-made laws.
This can include both binding and loosing what God actually says
(today many dismiss the details of the law and call those who demand
authority “legalistic”).
Jesus, with scripture defended what He was doing.
On this occasion, He also said, “But if you had known what this
means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice’, you would not have condemned
the guiltless.” (Matt. 12:7) I simply ask, in dealing with others, do we
consider mercy enough?
vi.
Matt. 12:9-14
– on the same Sabbath, Jesus enters the synagogue.
He seems a man with a withered hand.
He is asked by His enemies, “Is it lawful to heal on the
Sabbath?” They were seeking
to accuse Him.
NOTE this tactic of the enemy – they are looking for things to
criticize, and in some instances they seek to set a trap.
Jesus, DIDN’T fall into their trap.
Instead, being angry and grieved, He asked, “Is it lawful to do
good on the Sabbath?” Before
healing this man, Jesus justified His righteous conduct.
Then He healed him.
We are told in vs. 14, “Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against
Him, how they might destroy Him.”
NOTICE how as time progresses, so does the intensity of the accusations.
This will prompt an intensity in response as well.
vii.
Matt. 12:22-30
-
Jesus heals another demon possessed man and the crowds are amazed and
following Him. His enemies,
now more concerned, accuse Jesus of being evil.
They said the works He did were in the name of Beelzebub.
Jesus again replies (NOTE: The crowd is still there so He has to defend
Himself) this time with strong language – He notes that a kingdom
divided against itself will not stand.
He also exposes their hypocrisy by asking, “By whom do your sons
cast out demons?” (The answer being, they couldn’t)
This also leads to His treatise on the unpardonable sin which they were
probably guilty of – blaspheming the Holy Spirit.
There comes a time when you need to call your enemy your enemy!
Letting them know you are aware of what they are doing.
viii. Matt. 12:38-42 – after all this, the scribes and Pharisees ask for a sign. Jesus mentions that the only sign they would get was that of the prophet Jonah. He warns that because of their rejection, they would be judged and condemned (by Gentiles none the less). Even though He was dealing with hardened enemies, He still warned them – are we courageous enough to warn our enemies of their fate. In so doing, “they have no excuse” (Jn. 15:22, Rom. 1:20, etc.)
ix. Matt. 14:1-12 – records John the Baptist is beheaded by Herod. We need to take note of how our brethren are being treated and act accordingly (wise and harmless).
x. Matt. 15:1-20 – the scribes and Pharisees asked why His disciples transgressed the traditions of the elders. Jesus rebuked them for breaking God’s laws with their own traditions. As a result of what Jesus said, they were “offended”. Jesus proceeded to explain to His disciples the truth and to warn them against the conduct of His enemies. THERE comes a time when you have to begin exposing those who are evil to those who are not (Eph. 5:11)
xi. Matt.16:1-4 – they again seek a sign. Jesus again answers that they will receive no sign except the prophet Jonah. Sometimes we need to repeat ourselves, even with our enemies (especially when other are around).
xii. Matt. 19:1-10 – Jesus is tested by the Pharisees and questioned about divorce. Jesus answers sternly explaining how it is possible for one to be in an unscriptural marriage. He emphasizes a moral standard that is not popular, but it must still be respected. Again, note that His disciples are present with Him.
xiii. Matt. 21:1-11, Jesus enters the city triumphantly. This is the beginning of the week that will lead to His crucifixion. His encounter with His enemies will intensify
xiv. Matt. 21:12-17 – Jesus cleanses the temple. This is the second time He has done this. John 2 records the first time. Sometimes, dealing with your enemies requires action to enforce and defend what is right. Even if there are consequences. And with Jesus there were. Mark 11:18 says, “And the scribes and chief priests heard it and sought how they might destroy Him, because all the people were astonished at His teaching.”
xv.
Matt. 21:23-27
– His authority is questioned again (for the 3rd time in the
book of Matthew) – This time Jesus refuses to answer their question
because they revealed that they were not interested in the truth.
Bear in mind, they were now seeking to entrap Jesus so that they
could get rid of Him. Jesus
controlled the events as much as He could.
This is followed by several parables of rejection in which Jesus exposes
and warns of the fate of those who reject God.
xvi.
Matt. 22:15-40
– His enemies have now come together to find fault with Him.
One after the other, they seek to trap Him.
The Pharisees ask about taxes and Jesus says to pay taxes to whom
they are due (Matt. 22:15-22), the Sadducees ask a “trick question”
about the resurrection, but Jesus exposed their error (22:23-33), a
lawyer asks Him what is the first commandment, a legitimate question
which Jesus answers.
When answering your critics, THINK before you answer.
Seek an answer that will
NOT
lead you into their trap, unless that is
where you want to be.
xvii. Matt 23:1-36 – Jesus upbraids with the strongest language recorded their hypocrisy.
xviii. Matt. 26-27 – Jesus is betrayed, arrested, lied about, illegally tried and crucified. His enemies set out to destroy Him. Of course, we know they failed ultimately.
More on this in our next lesson