A Foolish Generation | Matthew 11:16-19

Introduction: It is not long after the Lord saves someone that they experience a great sadness that every believer eventually knows. It is the sadness of realizing that giving someone the truth doesn’t mean they will receive it. It is the sadness of realizing that people can hear the truth without ever really hearing it. They can be shown the truth without ever really seeing it. They hear it with their physical ears, but they have no appetite for it, because they do not have spiritual ears. They can see it with their eyes — you can show them the truth in the Bible — but they don’t have the spiritual eyes to see what you show them. This can be especially frustrating in family situations. This is someone you know well. This is someone you have spent years with. You know them and they know you. You have communicated about all sorts of things over a lifetime. But they will not hear you when you speak to them of salvation, of faith in Jesus Christ. Or they will not hear you when you speak to them about some specific sin situation that threatens to destroy. AND WHAT IS EVEN SADDER, IN MANY CASES, IS THAT IN THE DESIRE TO ESCAPE THE TRUTH THAT YOU SHARE, THEY MISCHARACTERIZE WHO YOU ARE. They slander you. They may even take something legitimately associated with you, but they so exaggerate it, that what they say is a lie. In their desire to escape the truth, they must find fault with the messenger. To save their own face, their own reputation, they are willing to destroy yours. THIS IS THE CONFLICT, THIS IS THE VIOLENCE, THAT THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN BRINGS. Tonight, we consider our Lord’s explanation for a foolish generation — for a group of people who wouldn’t listen. Four statements from our Lord that explain the generation that rejects the kingdom of heaven. • THE SERIOUSNESS OF HEARING TRUTH (vs.15) Where we begin is by noting the seriousness of listening. Just a quick search on the word “hear” in the Word of God will demonstrate how much emphasis our God has placed on the seriousness of listening to His Word. After our Lord described John, and the violence that has been on display since John arrived, and after He affirmed John as the Elijah who was to come, HE GIVES A COMMAND TO LISTEN. NAU Matthew 11:15 "He who has ears to hear, let him hear. NET Matthew 11:15 The one who has ears had better listen! God’s truth ALWAYS REQUIRES A RESPONSE. You are never without a response when you are confronted with truth. You will either give the response that the truth demands, or you will refuse it — and that is a response of its own. NO RESPONSE INDIFFERENCE IS A DISOBEDIENT RESPONSE. What our Lord says is more than an exhortation. It is a solemn WARNING. ESV Luke 8:18 Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away." It is a dangerous thing to willfully turn a deaf ear to the truth. ESV Proverbs 29:1 He who is often reproved, yet stiffens his neck, will suddenly be broken beyond healing. • THE STUBBORNNESS OF THOSE WHO WILL NOT HEAR TRUTH (vs.16-17) And then our Lord gives an illustration. He begins with a proverbial introduction, the kind of introduction that announces a matter of wisdom. “To what I shall compare this generation?” How can I illustrate the danger, and the foolishness, of what I’m witnessing in the people who are resisting the kingdom? • JESUS TAKES US TO THE MARKET PLACE A central gathering place in a town, in a city, where good are sold or traded. • JESUS TAKES US TO THE YOUNG ONES IN THAT MARKETPLACE The parents are engaged in business, or they are visiting, but the children take it as opportunity to meet with their friends and to play. • JESUS TAKES US TO THEIR FAVORITE GAMES As children are prone to do, they imitate adults. We have all seen it, as children play “house.” Or they pretend to dress up and go to work. Or they pretend to preach, or to lead in singing, or to baptize. My children used to do all three of those things. In this case, the children in the marketplace are playing wedding and funeral. If the children were playing wedding, someone would pretend to play the flute, and people would dance. If the children played funeral, someone would play the dirge, and people would mourn. • JESUS TAKES US TO THEIR STUBBORNNESS What is often on display when children get together is someone in the group who is stubbornly uncooperative. You cannot please them. If you say wedding, they say funeral. If you say funeral, they say wedding. They are unhappy, dissatisfied, regardless of what they are presented with. Why? Because the real issue is not the game, it’s their selfishness. In selfishness you meet with stubbornness.