In Matthew 11 John sends some disciples to Jesus bringing a message from prison. Are you the One or should we keep looking for someone else? No doubt John is questioning why Jesus has not delivered him from the grasp of the Romans. Jesus declares that John is the greatest of the Prophets and assures him that the Gospel is being preached to the poor and sited many miracles that would assure John that he is the One.
SHOW NOTES
Matthew 11 NLTJesus and John, the Baptist
11 When Jesus had finished giving these instructions to his twelve disciples, he went out to teach and preach in towns throughout the region.
2 John the Baptist, who was in prison, heard about all the things the Messiah was doing. So he sent his disciples to ask Jesus, 3 “Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?”
How can John the Baptist not believe Jesus is Messiah when he was divinely ordained to prepare the way for the Messiah and he saw the Spirit descend when he baptized Jesus? Languishing in prison can affect our thoughts and feelings. Jesus is the Messiah and his miracles demonstrate his divine power why does he not deliver his friend from Herod’s dungeon? Peter was delivered after Jesus’ ascension to heaven, so John’s desire was legitimate. Emotional disappointment because Jesus does not do what we expected him to do, can lead to doubt and disappointment.
4 Jesus told them, “Go back to John and tell him what you have heard and seen— 5 the blind see, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.” 6 And he added, “God blesses those who do not fall away because of me.”
The miracles are to give Jesus’ credibility to validate his teachings about God and salvation. The teachings are so counter-cultural that it required a massive paradigm shift in the hearers. It was an extremely difficult change for the hearers in Jesus’ day. Change is difficult for people. Kepler and Galileo taught that the earth rotated around the sun. It took hundreds of years for this understanding to change. Ignaz Semmelweis wanted his fellow physicians in Vienna to wash their hands between patients to reduce the mortality among birthing women. He was ridiculed and tormented. Eventually he died of a broken heart and mind because of the unnecessary suffering.
7 As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began talking about him to the crowds. “What kind of man did you go into the wilderness to see? Was he a weak reed, swayed by every breath of wind? 8 Or were you expecting to see a man dressed in expensive clothes? No, people with expensive clothes live in palaces. 9 Were you looking for a prophet? Yes, and he is more than a prophet. 10 John is the man to whom the Scriptures refer when they say, ‘Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, and he will prepare your way before you.’ 11 “I tell you the truth, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John the Baptist. Yet even the least person in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he is!
Jesus is establishing a hierarchy for the prophets. John the Baptist is at the top of the pyramid because he understood that animal sacrifices were not necessary for God’s forgiveness. John was half-way between the temple and Jesus since he still required repentance and baptism.
John never sent anyone to the temple to gain forgiveness and God’s favour. He was no friend of the Jewish economy based on the temple rituals for the appeasement of God. This is a major reason why the priests did not negotiate with Herod for John’s release. It is in the matter of forgiveness that John prepares the way for Jesus to grant sovereign forgiveness without John’s requirement of repentance and baptism.
12 And from the time John the Baptist began preaching until now, the Kingdom of Heaven has been forcefully advancing, and violent people are attacking it.
Great crowds flocked to John to be baptized. John was thought to be the Messiah by many, and John had to deny this possibility (John 1:19-34). The religious leaders wanted to capitalize on the enthusiasm surrounding John. When Jesus took over John’s role these same leaders also violently opposed him and eventually managed to persuade the Romans to execute Jesus.
13 For before John came, all the prophets and the law of Moses looked forward to this present time. 14 And if you are willing to accept what I say, he is Elijah, the one the prophets said would come. 15 Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!
The last prophet of the Old Testament cannon, Malachi, foretold the return of Elijah (4:5). Elijah was the great reformer of Israel with his confrontation of Baal on Mount Carmel. John the Baptist is also a great reformer of Israel. He replicates the work of Elijah and calls the nation to repentance and baptism. He in fact, classifies Jews as Gentiles who need to ceremonially washed (baptized) to become part of God’s people.
16 “To what can I compare this generation? It is like children playing a game in the public square. They complain to their friends, 17 ‘We played wedding songs, and you didn’t dance, so we played funeral songs, and you didn’t mourn.’ 18 For John didn’t spend his time eating and drinking, and you say, ‘He’s possessed by ademon.’ 19 The Son of Man, on the other hand, feasts and drinks, and you say, ‘He’s a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and other sinners!’ But wisdom is shown to be right by its results.”
“Á person convinced against their will is of the same opinion still.” Jesus has provided evidence enough to convince the Israelites that he was Messiah. Their hearts are, however, fixed on their false expectations of Messiah’s role as a delivering, military hero like King David. The Kingdom of Heaven as announced and described by Jesus held no appeal for them regardless of how many miracles Jesus accomplished.
Judgment for the Unbelievers
20 Then Jesus began to denounce the towns where he had done so many of his miracles, because they hadn’t repented of their sins and turned to God. 21 “What sorrow awaits you, Korazin and Bethsaida! For if the miracles I did in you had been done in wicked Tyre and Sidon, their people would have repented of their sins long ago, clothing themselves in burlap and throwing ashes on their heads to show their remorse. 22 I tell you, Tyre and Sidon will be better off on judgment day than you. 23 “And you people of Capernaum, will you be honored in heaven? No, you will go down to the place of the dead. For if the miracles I did for you had been done in wicked Sodom, it would still be here today. 24 I tell you, even Sodom will be better off on judgment day than you.”
Jesus is calling attention to the unbelief of his own people who rejected him (John 1:11). The Gentiles would have repented if he had gone to them. It broke Jesus’ heart to be confronted by this wall of hypocrisy that he could not push through. The chosen people rejected the One who chose them. He wanted them to be with him forever, but they refused his salvation. O strange delusion from the evil one.
Jesus’ Prayer of Thanksgiving
25 At that time Jesus prayed this prayer: “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike. 26 Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way!”
Jesus short, poignant prayer is his way of working through his disappointment. He will settle for the childlike, the humble, the marginalized when he had hoped for the leader’s acceptance of the Kingdom of Heaven.
27 “My Father has entrusted everything to me. No one truly knows the Son except the Father, and no one truly knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
The Old Testament prophets are indicted for not knowing Yahweh who loved and cared for all people over the past 4000 years of history. They perceived God as a mighty warrior who did as he pleased. He was a mighty fortress. More powerful than Pharaoh or the King of the north. While there are scattered glimpses of a God like Jesus, they are fixated on a power broking deity as described in the OT.
28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”
This is the real God that Jesus, the only eyewitness of this God (John 1:18), came to reveal. Yahweh, the Holy Spirit is revealed in this call by Jesus as compassionate, humble, gentle at heart and understanding of our faults and frailties. The qualities Jesus claims for himself and the godhead are illustrated in the way he treated all the people he encountered. These people included Pilate, his torturers, the thieves who accompanied him to the cross and his executioners.
December 2024
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