Jesus and John who came before Him preached the same message to the people of Israel, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (3:2, 4:17). But instead of repenting and entering the kingdom of God, that generation in Israel rejected King Jesus, His forerunner John the Baptist, and His kingdom (Mat.11:11-19). That the rejection of Jesus was national in scope is confirmed in Matthew 11:20-24 where the Lord rebukes whole cities in Israel for not repenting. There were, however, some people in Israel who did repent and believe in Jesus. John the apostle put it this way in his gospel account, “He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:11-12).
The ones in Israel who repented and believed were those to whom God revealed the truth concerning His Son and His kingdom (11:25-26). This reminds us of the incident recorded later in the book of Matthew when Peter gave his great confession concerning Jesus, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” The response of Jesus is telling, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven” (see 16:16-17). In this passage, we see man’s responsibility to repent and believe, but also God’s sovereignty in revealing truth to those whom He chooses, and even hiding truth from others (Mat. 11:20-30). The passage ends with the gracious invitation of Jesus, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Have you come? Will you come? Come to Jesus today!
Jesus promised, “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out” (John 6:37).