Historical Record (Matthew 11:1-12:50)
Table of Contents Overview
Focus of Matthew 11-12
- These chapters are historical records detailing the “prevailing negative response” in Israel.
- This negative response was directed at:
- The gospel of the kingdom.
- The person of Jesus of Nazareth as the Christ.
- The manifest signs of the kingdom confirming His testimony.
- It demonstrates the fulfillment of the latter half of Isaiah 53:4 – “yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten of God and rejected.”
Lesson 20
- Intensification of Testimony and Signs
- The Role of Counter Doctrine
- Pharisaical Misunderstanding of Prophecy
- Offense Taken in Jesus
- Jesus’ Reproof of the Multitudes
- “Wisdom is justified of her children”
Lesson 21
- The Lord directly confronts the widespread rejection of His ministry, linking it to Old Testament prophecy and foreshadowing divine judgment on unrepentant cities.
- Fulfillment of Proverbs Chapter 1
- Jesus Begins to Upbraid Cities
- Pronouncement of the “Fifth Installment” Curse
- Identification of Specific Cities
Lesson 22
- The deepening division in Israel and the Lord’s strategic shift in His ministry as He prepares to directly confront the apostate religious leadership
- Lord’s Reproof and Prevailing Negative Response
- Intensification of Testimony and Coming Judgment
- Pivotal Juncture and Shifting Gears
- Fulfillment of Isaiah 28 & 29: Hiding and Revealing
- The Son as the Sole Depository of Truth
- Invitation to Rest and Yoke
- Beginning of Frontal Assault on the Vain Religious System
Lesson 23
- The critical turning point in Matthew 11, setting the stage for the Lord’s actions and teachings in chapter 12 by emphasizing the nation’s rejection and God’s sovereign response to it.
- Review of Matthew 11:25-27
- Prevailing Negative Response and Reproof
- Pronouncements of the Curse Significance of “At that time” (Matthew 11:25)
- Hiding from the Wise and Prudent, Revealing to Babes
Lesson 24
- The active commencement of the Lord’s direct confrontation and exposure of the corrupt religious leadership, serving as a crucial educational moment for His disciples.
- Continuation of the “Frontal Assault”
- Significance of “At that time”
- Purpose of the Frontal Assault , against the “vain religious system, its leadership and its doctrine.
- Exposure of Leaders as “Satan’s Own Men”
- Warning and Admonition to them and to any others who would persist in that system and would continue to dig in their heals in opposition to him
Matthew Chapter 12
The incidents recorded in Matthew chapter 12 are presented “in view of what chapter 11 ended with.”
Lesson 25
- Fulfillment of Isaiah 28 & 29:the Father has now “hid these self professed wise ones and these self prudent ones” (the religious leaders)
- The Lord as the Sole Repository of Truth
- Beginning of the “strong offensive on the “vain religious system”
- Counter Doctrines and Satan’s Agenda
Lesson 26
- The Lord’s Frontal Assault (cont’d.)
- This assault on the vain system is for the disciples’ education
Lesson 27
- The division the Lord is making within the nation of Israel.
- He moves beyond just calling them a “generation of vipers” (a doctrinal indictment ) to an “evil & adulterous generation (actions & relationship); Prov 30
- The Lord’s strong words at this time have two main goals:
- for disciples edification
- an extension of mercy
- A tale of two generations:
- wicked generation &
- His generations
Lesson 28
- Finishes the historical proof of Israel’s rejection and then, following the book’s divine structure, pivots to the private doctrinal lesson the apostles now need as a result of that rejection.
- Final issue: A new family defined, the remnant
- The “Cadence” shifts from “History” to “Doctrine”
- Introduces the “Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven”