Matthew 11: 16-19
This parable is related to John
the Baptist. The Bible says in Isaiah(40:3).『The voice of him that
crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the
desert a highway for our God.』 John the
Baptist is the voice of the crying man. The Bible, however, speaks of John the
Baptist in Malachi (3: 1).『 Behold, I will send my
messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the LORD, whom ye seek,
shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye
delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.』
The Israelites knew that Elijah
was coming before Christ came. Elijah is John the Baptist. Jesus said so. John
the Baptist who came to the world by Elijah's spirit and power speaks in
Matthew 3: 4『And the same John
had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his
meat was locusts and wild honey.』 At the time of King Ahab, Elijah was at war
spiritually with the Asherah prophets and the Baal prophets. Fire came down
from heaven and burned them all out. After Ahab's death, his son became king
and suddenly became sick. But this king asks his servants to ask foreign gods
about his illness. Elijah knew this and sent a man to reprove the king who did
not ask God.
So the king sent
Elijah to the palace, and all the servants who went to Elijah were dead. 50
people in the first and 50 people in the second died. When the king sent a
third official, God ordered Elijah to go to the palace. When the king asked his
servant what Elijah was, the Bible says in 2 Kings (1: 8).『 And they answered him, He was an
hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins. And he said, It
is Elijah the Tishbite.』
『he shall prepare the way before me』 What does this mean? It is John
the Baptist who is born of Elijah's spirit. So John the Baptist does it. The
Bible says in Luke (1:17).『 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of
Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient
to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.』Here
the Father is God. Child means Israel. Israel is against God. Thus, in order
for those who have left God to return to God, the man set up for the Lord (John
the Baptist) is prepared.
John the Baptist came and cried
out to the Israelites to repent. He said to produce the proper fruit of
repentance. The law and the prophets until John's time apply here. The point of
John the Baptist is that God's judgment is imminent, so repent, realize that
you are a sinner in the law, and find Christ. The proper fruit of repentance is
the discovery of Christ. This is "to turn the hearts of the fathers to the
children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just". This is to
prepare the way.
John the Baptist was born for this work. If
the Israelites keep the law well, they believe that they are righteous, but
they must had repented. In the law, realize that they are inseparable from sin
and turn to it. If they find Christ, they turn to Christ and cry. Then it
contains the message that Christ will come and give the way back to God.
The Bible says in Malachi (4: 5-6):『 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet
before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn
the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to
their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. 』 John
warned, "If Israel does not turn, the Lord (Jesus) will strike
Israel." However, Israel did not turn back. Jesus cursed the fig tree.
They are A.D. In 80, it was destroyed by Rome.
As mentioned in Matthew 11: 16-17『It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and
calling unto their fellows, And saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have
mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented.』 John the Baptist comes to the
world and says, "Repent," and he mourns. However, the Israelites do
not know why John the Baptist came to this world. Immediately after Jesus'
Mount of Transfiguration, the disciples asked him. The Bible says in Matthew
(17: 11-12).『 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall
first come, and restore all things. But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they
knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall
also the Son of man suffer of them. 』
John the Baptist came
to the world before Jesus and spoke the words to flatten the way (repent), but
the Pharisees and scribes who were in the position of the Jewish leaders did
not realize it.『 Likewise shall also the Son of man
suffer of them. 』 The Bible
Said Jesus, like John the Baptist, is not only treated by imitation, but he
also suffers. The Bible says in Isaiah (40: 3).『The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the
LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.』 Where do wilderness and desert
mean? The wilderness and desert of John the Baptist speaks of Israel, and this
is the voice of the world.
All who do not meet
Jesus Christ are people who live by themselves. They believe that they can
achieve righteousness by their own strength. God gave the law to the
Israelites, and God would bless them if they kept it, and God would judge if
they did not.
The Bible says that the law and
the prophets are until John. After the law is over, they can only be saved if
they meet Jesus. The big and dreadful day is the day when Jesus judges the law.
Jesus died about the law. So even those who are in Christ are dead to the law.
But for those who believe in the law, the coming of Jesus is a great and
dreadful day for them.
Instead of finding
Christ, they crucified and killed Christ. Although Jesus Christ came and died
on the cross for the repentant, even today, if the church still thinks legally,
it results in denial of what Jesus has accomplished. Trees that do not bear
fruit will be cut by an ax and thrown into the fire. The food that John the
Baptist (the last Law age) ate was grasshopper and lime. These foods, like
Psalm 119: 103, symbolize the words of repentance (quartz) and the judgment
against the ones in the law (locusts).
"The flute
child, the dance child, the sorrowful child, and the children who beat the
heart" About this, the flute represents the impending wedding feast. The
groom came to the bride's house to pick up the bride. So they drink wine
together. But the Israelites do not drink the cup of blood. John the Baptist
says that judgment is imminent; the people do not strike the heart. Judgment
will come upon those who do not enter into Jesus Christ. This means that not
only Israel but also the world. John the Baptist told the Israelites that the
Pharisees accused John to be a demon.
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