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7 of the Most Amazing Things Jesus Ever Said

Never man spake like this man” (John 7:46).

Somewhere around the house I have an old book with the wonderful title of “657 of the Best Things Ever Said.” It would not surprise you to know most of them are silly.

As beauty is in the eye of the beholder, doubtless it’s true that the “best things ever said” is also arbitrary.

With one exception.

Literally hundreds of millions of people across this world agree with the judgement of those early Galileans that “no one ever spoke like Jesus.”

Our Lord spoke a solid one thousand mind boggling things never heard before on Planet Earth, all of them surprising and wonderful and memorable. And, let’s be honest, many who heard Jesus also found His words provocative, offensive and even blasphemous.

When Jesus stood to preach, no one was bored.

May I direct your attention to Matthew chapter 11, verses 21 through 30? These seven words from Him are as amazing as anything He said.

Matthew 11 is pure gold. A mother-lode for sure. This treasure trove deserves far more attention than it has usually received.

Confession: Working on this over the past week, I have repeatedly cried out in my heart, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is too high, I cannot attain to it” (Psalm 139:6).

True enough. I’m so out of my depth here. When we finish, we will have but touched the hem of His garment, this is so rich.

And yet, let’s give it a try anyway, while admitting that there is far more to any of this than our finite minds can comprehend. If the Lord’s people see through a glass darkly (I Corinthians 13:12), it’s no stretch to say that we write through a glass darkly too. In the words of Paul, “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!” (Romans 11:33).

Now, on to Matthew chapter 11, the last third.

1. “It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you” (referring to the hard-hearted citizens of Capernaum, and just before that, the unresponsive population of Chorazin and Bethsaida). (Matthew 11:21-24)

The Lord’s audience must have been outraged by this. The very idea, that wicked Sodom will fare better at the throne of judgment than they! But, there it is.

Some people are going to have it tougher at judgment than others in the same way that some will receive a greater Heavenly reward than others.

I would never have thought of that. We did not make it up. Jesus said it.

In I Corinthians 3:11-15, Paul spoke of Christians whose works are “wood, hay and stubble” rather than the more imperishable “gold, silver and precious stones.” Perhaps they never grew beyond carnality or were caught up in a cult and spread falsehood from door to door. Whatever the reason for their unworthy works, Paul says, “If any man’s work is burned up (in judgement when “it is to be revealed with fire”), he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire.” Clearly, there are degrees of reward in Heaven with some people entering glory, as we say, “by the skin of their teeth.”

My understanding of the principle that comes to play here is: What you did with what you had. Those given only slivers of light but who served God well are the champions of faith. Likewise, those who had it all and became hypocrites and deceivers and abusers are destined for the lowest regions of hell. The inimitable Leonard Ravenhill made this point in a book titled Sodom Had No Bible.

Heaven’s champions are those who served God consistently while enduring the greatest opposition, while carrying the heaviest burdens, while persevering to the end.

The implications of this are enormous.