Alternate Plans
Bible Order: Gen 42–44
Chronological Order: Job 39–42
Only Jesus Reveals The Father
Here in chapter 11 of Matthew Jesus makes it clear who He is and who John the Baptist is. The Old Testament told of one who would come before the Messiah to prepare the way before Him.
Malachi 3:1 ESV
“Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.”
In fact, Malachi later says specifically who this messenger will be.
Malachi 4:5 ESV
“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.”
So Jesus is saying that John the Baptist is Elijah and He goes on to say, by claiming to be the “Son of Man”, that He is the Messiah. You know to this day, as Jews celebrate the Passover, they leave an empty place at the table and the door to their homes open in anticipation of Elijah’s return. They missed it. They missed the return of Elijah and they missed the return of the Lamb of God. Neither they nor we will miss the return of the Lion.
As Jesus continued He became rather explicit about who He is.
Matthew 11:27 ESV
“All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
Did you catch that? God has turned everything over to Jesus so that no one knows God unless Jesus reveals Him to them. Have you heard the nonsense about there being “many paths to God”? Jesus is throwing down the gauntlet; He doesn’t give you the luxury of lumping Him in with other paths. The only ones who really know God are those whom Jesus has called. You may wish to reject this notion but to do so you must reject Jesus. Jesus can’t be some great moral teacher if He is lying or crazy. He can’t be sent by God if He is wrong.
I did nothing to deserve Jesus revealing Himself to me. I would be condemned to an eternity separated from God if Jesus hadn’t drawn me to Him. It is through Him that I have been able to return to God in right relationship. If you are reading this post and you are not a Christian, if you haven’t submitted complete control of your life to Him there is some good news for you. He is calling you. He wants you to know God the Father. Will you listen? Will you respond?
Have a blessed day!
Your brother and servant in Christ,
Bill
Dying to self, living to serve!
Tagged as: Bible, Bible Study, Christ, Christian, Daily Bible reading, Elijah, God, Holy Spirit, Israel, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John the Baptist, Lord, Lord and Savior, Malachi, Matthew, Men's Bible Study, Messiah, Old Testament, Salvation, Savior, Scripture, Sin
Matthew 11
