“The Parable’s Of Jesus Christ”
(The Day That Changed Everything)
Matthew 13:11

INTRODUCTION

• One busy day near the 2^nd year of Jesus public ministry, He come upon some hostile Pharisees and Jesus’ style of teaching changed. The Day That Changed Everything.
• He stopped teaching where people could plainly understand him.
• He stopped using some of the Old Testament prophetic texts.
• From that point on till His death, He spoke in parables.
• This was the judgment of God on the religious elite of Israel.

 

I. The Pharisees and the Sabbath

  A) The Pharisees made it a “Horrible Day”

• The Pharisees did not like Jesus for the simple fact that Jesus was becoming popular and many of their members were following Jesus rather than the church.
• So, they had to find fault with Him, and discredit His teachings.
• One area was the Laws concerning the Sabbath.
• The Pharisees made it almost impossible to keep every one of their rigorous Laws of the Sabbath therefore creating what Jesus pointed out in Matthew 23:4…For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
• The Sabbath (a Holy Day) became a “Horrible Day.”
• The Sabbath was established by God to be a “delight”. Isaiah 58:13…If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: 14) Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
• Look at that folks… I always thought of Hebrews 10:25…Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.  
• That is true too! But this verse in Isaiah means so much more as to the reason why we don’t forsake the assembling of ourselves together!

• Again… God’s Divine judgment is based upon “the heart.”
• Isaiah said that the LORD (God) had spoken it….
• If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, – meaning… stop planning your day.
• “…from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; – meaning… doing what pleases the flesh on a day that is set aside as Holy (The Sabbath, Sunday for us).
• “and call the sabbath a delight, -meaning… a happy, joyful gathering of “..the holy of the LORD,”
• “…honourable; and shalt honour him,” meaning… This is the kind of service it is to be, the kind of worship it is to be… “Honorable, that which brings the honor to him not yourself.”
• Now then Isaiah clarifies that with … “.. not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: meaning… not doing the things that you normally do, or fining something else to do rather than go to His house, and get this… We are to speak His words not our words. What does that mean? Our conversation should be about Him, about the ministry, about the church, it’s future, it’s goals and present position. It’s about HIM! Not US!
• And when you do this….14) Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; meaning THEN God knows that you truly “delight yourself in the LORD.”
• With every Law, when obedience is performed, there comes a reward. And that is given in the remainder of verse 14b) “… and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
• What does He mean…

1. cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth – God will see to it that we enjoy the best that this world has to offer.
2. feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: God will see to it that we are given the heritage of Jacob(Israel). What is their heritage? A new land, a new blessing.

B) The New Testament Sabbath

• Turn now into the book of Hebrews 4.
• The book of Hebrews was really written for the Christians. The followers of Christ.
• You will find scattered throughout the book of Hebrews warnings to the unbelievers. The unbelievers were those that were into Judaism, left Judaism to start following Christ but never committed to Him.
• They were in great danger because of their own sin, the pressure of the socialists and religious leaders and followers of Judaism because they left the sect.

• In other words… They could not commit to anything.
• There are many people today in this very same predicament.
• They want to serve God but they want to hang on to their sin and their former lifestyle. This is UNBELIEF.
• There were Jews (According to Heb. 3:7-19) that could not enter into the promised land of Canaan because of their unbelief. Their lack of being able to make a decision for God.
• Unbelief is associated with unrest. Belief is associated with rest.
• When you look at the dictionary you will find the meanings of rest as follows…

1. To cease from action or motion. You stop doing what you are doing. The action and the motion is over. It means to stop from labor or exertion. Now applying that to God’s rest it means no more self‑ No more trying to please God by your feeble, fleshly works. And the moment you enter into God’s rest works cease as a way to please God. Our works do not please Him anyway because you can’t do enough works to be perfect.
2. Some people can’t rest mentally because they’re always worried by everything. Every little thing bothers them and their brain is constantly filled with paranoid activity. To rest means to be free from whatever hassles you, from whatever disturbs you or creates worries in your mind. It means, in this sense, to be quiet, to be still, to be peaceful, be free from guilt. To enter God’s rest simply means to be at peace with God. It means to possess the perfect peace that God gives. It means to be free from guilt. It means no need to worry about sin because sin is forgiven and we’re at rest all of a sudden, no more anxiety, no more pressure, no more guilt:
3. To lie down, to be settled or to be fixed. No more making sure this gets done, and no more shifting around. God’s rest is the kind of rest where a man is positionally established in Christ. No more running from philosophy to philosophy, no more being blown about by every wind of doctrine, no more following my deaf friends to their church. I am established, I am unmovable. I am at rest.
4. To remain confident, to put your trust in something. In other words, you are And to enter God’s rest logically means to enjoy security, no more fear you have absolute trust and absolute confidence in God’s care and charge of your life.
5. To lean on. To enter into God’s rest means that for the rest of your life and eternally you can lean (rest) on God knowing He will catch you when you fall.

• REST means… rest in getting to your own land (Place, where you want to be), rest from slavery (Hooked on sin, bad habits), rest from guilt, and rest from being pressured.
• After you look at Isaiah’s description of “Rest on The Sabbath,” now look at the Hebrews reference to it in Hebrews 4,
• 1) Let us therefore fear, meaning… The word “therefore” is referring to the previous verses talking about Israel giving up their rest in God because of their “unbelief.” When you don’t believe God, then there is no rest for your soul. Fear is for the unbeliever. If you do not believe in God, you had better be afraid. Why? Because you will never be at rest. Never! For the Christian II Timothy 1:7…For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. This is eternal security my friend. Never fear.
• Now back in Hebrews 4:1“…lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. Meaning…the unbelievers better fear, or the promise (of rest) will not be available to you.
• 2) For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: meaning unto the Jew the gospel of Jesus Christ was prophesied but applies also to the Gentile nation.
• “…but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. Meaning… many did not accept the Sabbath as Holy. When it was preached to them, they did not accept it as the truth.
• 3) For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest:
• “MY REST” This is God’s rest given to us which is peace, confidence of salvation, His strength and assurance of a heavenly home.
• “3b)… although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4) For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.
• The writer here in Hebrews expounding on the word “rest” including God as an example to rest on the seventh day.
• Verse 4 sets up verse 10.
• 10) For he that is entered into his (God’s ) rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
• To enter into “God’s rest”, or as the writer says here “his rest,” means to stop trying to make things happen, stop trying working to please others.
• Did God need a rest? NO! He did it to set an example for us, just as Christ did not need to be baptized as He was God in the flesh. It was to set an example.
• 11) Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

• Furthermore, I might add that “The Sabbath” could be considered a celebration of the Lord’s finished work and our rest in Him.

C) Israel’s continuance to defile the Sabbath

• Throughout the history of Israel, they continued to defile (ruin) the Sabbath.
• The business owners stayed open (as they do today) for monetary gain, and the rest of the Israelites did as they pleased ignoring God’s command.
• In Nehemiah 13:15-22 describes to us Nehemiah’s struggle to get God’s people to honor the Sabbath.
• Then you can look at Jeremiah 17:21-27 and see where Jeremiah begged the citizens of Jerusalem to rest on the Sabbath. They refused to obey. Then God told Jeremiah that He would destroy the city if they did not repent of defiling the Sabbath.
• Once again they get straightened out, start serving on the Sabbath as they should. Honoring God and etc. but then it begins to change for the worst.

 

II. Jesus’ Argument With The Religious Leaders

  A) The Pharisaical enforcement squad

• Now we look into Matthew 12:1, 2…At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat. 2) But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day.
• Now this is how strictly sad the Laws of the Sabbath had become.
• Apparently, the rules must have stated that the plucking of anything was considered to be “gleaning,” therefore working.
• So, the squad confronts Jesus and His disciples with their unlawful conduct on the Sabbath.
• Jesus replies with simple reminders of their ignorance to the Law in verses 3-8…

1. Verse 3…But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him; 4) How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests? (Story of david found in I Samuel 21:4-6)
2. Verse 5…Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless? (How the priest’s work on the Sabbath to do their duties for the congregation and is considered without blame from God.)

• WHY are we discussing the Pharisees and their disputes with Christ about the Sabbath? What does it have to do with the Parables?
• AGAIN… I feel it necessary to show you the condition of the Pharisees heart as to WHY Jesus spoke in parables.
• The heart of the Pharisees is still the heart of many religious leaders today.
• Jesus was trying to show the people that it is all about the heart, not the work.
• Showing their disputes with Christ only solidifies the fact of “their unbelief.”
• And Jesus said that he spoke in parables to confuse the unbelievers.
• This is also warnings to us NOT to act like the Pharisees.
• Realize that the fact of “unbelief” is not just unbelief in God or in Jesus Christ. When a person fails to follow the commandments of God or Christ, THAT is unbelief also.
• As we have said many times, Satan believes in God. Satan chooses to do the opposite of what God’ commands, ignores God’s advice, He is self centered, arrogant, prideful, and all that. He is the exact opposite of what God expects of His creation.

 

III. Healing And Deliverance

  A) Jesus removes a demonic spirit

• Matthew 12:22-27… This is straw that broke the camel’s back. This action of the Pharisees heart (Seeking to destroy Him) is what changed Jesus style of preaching.
• Note verse 22…Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb:
• This man here was the epitome of Mark 2:17… “They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick:”
• This man’s very soul was sick, and dying. He needed a physician. The Great Physician I might add.
• He was so possessed by the Devil that he had no spiritual or physical eyesight, he had no spiritual or physical utterance.
• No physician or doctor was able to cure this man’s issue or problem. He was what one might say… without hope, cureless, a walking dead man.
• Then you read the rest of that verse 22… “…and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw.” Jesus heals the man very easily.
• Here’s what we need to note. IMPORTANT: Matthew gave ONE verse to discuss this big miracle of Jesus in casting out a demon.

• Many people today would be all over this with the news media, newspaper editorials, and etc.
• Do you know why Matthew fails to make a big deal out of this big miracle story? Because the big story, the thing most important here is not what Christ did, but rather what was done to Christ to change his style of preaching. The day that changed everything.
• I believe that also the Pharisees had had it up to their ears with this Jesus fellow and as Mark 3:10 said…For he had healed many; insomuch that they pressed upon him for to touch him, as many as had plagues.  11) And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God.   
• The Pharisees didn’t have that kind of control over people, or even the power of God that people felt in their own lives that would cause them to bow down and worship.
• Oh my friend, it was quite the opposite. This infuriated the Pharisees.
• You see, Jesus’ healings and teachings were testimonial ALL over the country, to every nation, every kindred.
• Back in Matthew 12:23…And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David?
• They were amazed, awe struck over Jesus power Divinely given.

 B)The turning point

• Look at verse 24) But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.
• Everyone experienced and felt the power of God through Jesus except…the Pharisees. Blind they were. Spiritually blind.
• But Jesus was God in the flesh and Jesus saw what the others did not… their thoughts 25) And Jesus knew their thoughts,
• Jesus saw what they were thinking, He knew the intent of their heart. Proverbs 23:7…For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Pause right here…
• The heart of these Pharisees was “unbelief.” It was divided from the rest of God’s children and even divided from God because their heart was separated from God.
• Apart from God…we are nothing, we are thoughtless, we are ungrateful, we are prideful, we are arrogant, we are evil, we are pretentious, we are lost. 

 

IV. The Unpardonable Sin

  A) What is the unpardonable sin?

• Look at the words of Jesus now in Matthew 12, verse 25b “…and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:

• This is why you do not criticize other pastors, other children of God or anyone who lays claim to Christ. Let God be their judge. Criticism divides, and destroys.
• It is not our civic duty to run roughshod over everybody and make sure they are doing exactly as God says.
• We have talked about this before. But remember, at this time and at least several hundred years before there were many people laying claim to be the messiah, the deliverer, the chosen one. So in part the Pharisees discredited Jesus right off the bat.
• I mean, aren’t we the same way sometimes? Huh? Because someone isn’t faithful to God’s house we immediately say… “They can’t be saved, they don’t love God or they’d be in God’s house.” Who are we to judge others?
• Then you have those who say.. “Well I’m a “fruit” inspector, and they have no fruit of the spirit.” The truth of the matter is that many of us couldn’t even inspect the popcorn in a Cracker Jack box let alone someone’s spiritual life.
• What is the “Unpardonable sin?” Look at Matthew 12:24…But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.
• The worst sin by many people’s standards is murder, adultery, steeling, and etc. These are the sins, as well as all others, are those that are forgiven by God.
• The only sin that is not forgiven and considered unpardonable is mentioned in Matthew 12:32…And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.
• This is exactly what Christ was telling the Pharisees. Their sin was unpardonable.
• They had give credit to Satan for the power that God had given His Son through the Holy Spirit.
• Now back up in Matthew 12:26, 27…
• Jesus shows the Pharisees stupidity in their thinking. When Jesus said “And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?” What is saying is.. “You are calling me Satan, and I am casting out my own demons. And if Satan keeps casting out his own demons that he puts into people, is not his work done in vain? How can his kingdom grow?
• Then Jesus tells them “And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges” “And if you think I am casting out demons by the power of Satan then so do your children who are priests.
• All of Jesus miracles were done according to the will of the Father through the power of the Holy Spirit. (Luke 4:14, John 5:19, Acts 10:38.)

 

V. The Day Continues

  A) Jesus starts teaching in Parables

• In Matthew 13:1-3… this is the same day as in chapter 12, and then Jesus starts teaching in parables.
• We will learn more about this parable later in our study of the parables.

B) The day continues into the night

• Mark expounds on the day in Mark 4:35… And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. 36) And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships. 37) And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. 38) And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? 39) And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40) And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? 41) And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?
• This miracle surely changed the day for the disciples as well.
• The bickering and arguing of the religious leaders may have planted a little doubt in the minds of the disciples about the validity of Jesus calling and his being the Son of God.
• But when Jesus calms the storm with just his voice in the same manner as the world was created…. “What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” Totally awesome!
• This day was pivotal, this day was trying, this day was long, and this day was the day that changed everything.