1

Be a person who can dance and beat your heart!

2

"'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.'

(Matthew 11:17)

3

There was a man who cried out for repentance in the wilderness of Judea.
This man's name is John. To distinguish him from other John of the same name in the Bible,
he is called John the Baptist.

4

John the Baptist gave up his comfortable life and lived in the wilderness to preach the gospel.
He was dressed in camel's fur and ate locusts and locusts, and devoted himself to preaching the gospel.
When John saw that Herod, who was king at the time, was doing something wrong before God, he pointed out his sins, but he was unfairly put into prison.

5

John waited in prison believing that Jesus, the Messiah, would judge the wicked and save the righteous on the Day of Judgment.
However, as time passed, that did not happen. John began to doubt whether Jesus was the real Messiah.

6

John waited in prison believing that Jesus, the Messiah, would judge the wicked and save the righteous on the Day of Judgment. However, as time passed, that did not happen.
John began to doubt whether Jesus was the real Messiah.

7

Jesus answered John's question and answered that question.
“Go and tell John what you have seen and heard. Say that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the gospel preached.
Blessed is he who doesn't doubt me: "Jesus said that the things he did were proof that he was the Messiah, and he told them not to doubt, but to have faith.

8

After John's disciples left, Jesus spoke about what the Old Testament prophesied about John.
“It is written about this man in the Bible.”
“Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you. He will prepare your way.”
It was the prophet Malachi who prophesied this prophecy that Jesus is speaking now.
Jesus said that John was the very person prophesied by the prophet Malachi in the Old Testament.

9

The prophet Malachi prophesied about a person who would come before the Messiah.
[“See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. (Malachi 4:5)]
Jesus said that the Elijah mentioned in this prophecy was John.
Jesus confirmed that John was the one who came to prepare the way for the Messiah.

10

God had already sent John ahead of the long-awaited Messiah, but people refused to listen to him. They also refused to listen to the words of Jesus, the Messiah.
They didn't respond properly to what God was doing.

11

The Jews thought they were good at serving God. They did not respond properly to the sign God sent. They did not properly recognize John, the Elijah sent before the Messiah.
Also, they did not recognize Jesus, the Messiah, even though they were in front of them.

12

Jesus gave examples of what the Jews were doing at weddings and funerals at that time and told them how wrong they were. When the people gathered at the wedding hear the sound of the flute player, they dance to the sound of the flute and bless the bride and groom.

13

People who attend funerals also have actions to do there. When women make sad cries at a funeral, those present beat their breasts to the sound of their cries, comforting those who have been mourned.

14

After seeing this, the children divide into teams and play imitation weddings and funerals.
The two teams make promises to each other and play.
When one team blows the flute, the other team must dance to the flute. If the other team makes a sad cry, the opposing children will have to pretend to be sad by beating their chest.

15

However, if the children of the opposing team do not dance to the sound of the flute even if they blow the flute, or if the children of the opposing team do not beat their chests and weep to the sound of crying even if they make a sad cry, this game cannot proceed any more.
This is because the game is meaningful if they keep the promise they made to each other.

16

Jesus said that the actions of the Jews were like children who did not keep their promises.
They beat their hearts and did not repent when John, whom God had sent, came and preached his words. Even when Jesus, the Messiah, preached the gospel of the kingdom, they were not happy.
Rather, they hated John and Jesus, whom God had sent in promise, and said evil things.

17

We must not become like these wicked Jews. God has allowed us to believe in Jesus and become saved children of God. A child of God is a person who has made a promise to God to live according to the word of promise written by God in the Bible.
We should be the ones who dance when the musician plays the flute and beat the heart when they hear sad songs. God has written down all how we should act in the Bible, the word of His promise, we must become people of faith who can dance and beat our hearts according to God's Word.

(This is the sample conclusion provided by CTM. Please feel free to change the conclusion to best suit the listeners of your sermon.)