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Nov. 1,2007; The Series - Jesus, Unique & Unequaled Teacher

Focus Text: Matthew 21.45

Perceptions can be wrong; sometimes they are directly opposite the facts; sometimes they are accurate. In the case of the chief priests and Pharisees, their perception about one matter was dead on. “Now when the chief priests and Pharisees heard His [Jesus’] parables, they perceived that He was speaking of them.” (Matthew 21.45).

Actually the word “perceived” in the focus text is not as strong as it could be; the underlying Greek word is used 223 times in the New Testament and in 196 of those instances the word is translated “know”. In other words, after Jesus spoke as He did, the chief priests and Pharisees knew that He was speaking of them! The point in this is to show that Jesus literally designed these parables to point out serious spiritual flaws in these religious leaders. Rather than speak in vague generalities, He determined their primary issues and then He proceeded to purposefully shine the spotlight of truth directly on those issues. Some might see Him as unkind and unloving, but such could not be farther from the truth. Jesus did the most loving thing that He could have done under the circumstances; to have avoided their errors would indeed have been unkind and unloving, but to point them out was just the opposite!

God’s spokesmen have always spoken that way. The prophets of the Old Testament spoke bluntly and to the point when they spoke to their erring Hebrew brothers. Isaiah proclaimed, “Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, And your fingers with iniquity; Your lips have spoken lies, Your tongue has muttered perversity.” (Isaiah 59.1-3). In a similar vein, Jeremiah preached, “The harvest is past, The summer is ended, And we are not saved! For the hurt of the daughter of my people I am hurt. I am mourning; Astonishment has taken hold of me. Is there no balm in Gilead, Is there no physician there? Why then is there no recovery For the health of the daughter of my people?” (Jeremiah 8.20-22). There was no ambivalence in their voices; they needed to be heard and their audiences needed to hear them!

Likewise when God’s prophets went to nations and peoples that were not descendents of Abraham, they spoke without ambiguity. When Jonah preached to the great city of Nineveh, his message was simple; “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” (Jonah 3.4). Why did Jonah preach that way? Because he was obeying God! “Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, ‘Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.’” (Jonah 3.1-2).

Preachers have an obligation to speak “the truth in love” (see Ephesians 4.15). Love is the attitude of the speaker and truth is the substance of his speech. Love without needed truth is not love at all! Weak-kneed and anemic preaching may tickle the ears of the hearers (2 Timothy 4.3), but it cannot save! And what good is preaching that cannot save? It only serves to condemn the preacher who does it, and it denies the hearers of what they need to hear. If we follow Jesus’ example, we will speak to the real needs of the people; not their “felt needs!”

Questions:

1. How did the chief priest and Pharisees determine that Jesus was “preaching to them”?

2. Do you think this was intentional on Jesus’ part? Why would He have spoken so bluntly to them? Did He love them? Why didn’t He show it – or maybe He did! What do you think?

3. How blunt were Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Jonah? Were they an exception or was this style of preaching the norm among God’s prophets?

4. Who is offended and/or hurt when we fail to preach candidly with a view toward the real needs of our hearers?

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