Chapter BY Chapter

Matthew 11 – Do You Have The Greatness?

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When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities.

Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”  And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.  And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

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As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?  What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings' houses.  What then did you go out to see? A prophet?  Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.  This is he of whom it is written,

 

“‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face,

    who will prepare your way before you.’

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Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.  From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force.  For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

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“But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates,

“‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;

    we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’

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For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’  The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.”

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Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent.  “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.  But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you.  And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.  But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.”

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At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.  All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.  Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

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In the last chapter, Jesus gave his disciples instructions for a mission that was soon to follow, a mission to take the gospel to all the cities and towns of the Jews in Israel.  Now, here in verse 1, Jesus finished instructing his disciples and moves on to teach and preach in these cities.  Now, one of the first things that happens is that the disciples of John the Baptist come and ask him a question.

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Verses 2-6,

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Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”  And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.  And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

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Now, according to Matthew 3:17, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”  Surely, John heard the voice from heaven.  In John 1:32-34, John testifies:

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“And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.  I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’  And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”

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John is so sure of who Jesus is at his baptism, why is he now asking, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” 

Is John having doubts about Jesus? 

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It is possible that John is having doubts.  What about John’s disciples?  Were they to continue following John and not Jesus?

 

Is it possible that John was uncertain if Jesus was the one he baptized?

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         Jesus was John’s cousin.  It would be hard for him to not know this.

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Is it possible that John expected Jesus to be received differently?

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Jesus was not very well received by the Pharisees and Sadducees, but John had condemned them too.

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Did John ask this because he expected Jesus to act with Judgment on the corrupt establishment? 

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         John did say that Jesus would baptize with fire.

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Is it also possible that John sends his disciples to Jesus because he wants them to hear the answer? 

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Ever since John Baptizes Jesus, he was encouraging this.  In John 1:35-37, two of John’s followers follow Jesus because of what John says.

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The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”  The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.”

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One of those disciples was Andrew, the brother of Peter. 

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In John 3:30, John tells his disciples that Jesus must increase, and he must decrease.

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This is just before he is put in prison.  Now John is in prison and his disciples are reporting to him what Jesus is doing.  John sends his disciples to ask Jesus if he is the one to come or should they look for another.  The answer Jesus gives is to list the things that he is doing:

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The blind receive their sight.

The lame walk,

Lepers are cleansed.

The deaf hear.

The dead are raised up.

The poor have the good news preached to them.

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This was basically a quote from Isaiah 35:5-6,

“Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,

    and the ears of the deaf unstopped;

then shall the lame man leap like a deer,

    and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.”

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The account of this in Luke 7 adds that Jesus performed all these types of miracles on the very hour that John’s disciples asked him this question.

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To paraphrase Jesus’ answer, we might say that he said, “As you can see, I am doing all the things that was prophesied that the Messiah would do.  You already know the answer.”

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To put this in Millennial Vernacular, it would be, “DUH!!!??? YEAH!!!!!!”

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John’s disciples would have reported the answer Jesus gave and John would have confirmed to them, “Yes, it was prophesied that the Messiah would do these things.”

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So, the most likely reason that John asked this question was for the sake of his disciples – so they would follow Jesus.

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What did Jesus think of John the Baptist?  Let’s find out in verses 7-15,

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“As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?  What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings' houses.  What then did you go out to see? A prophet?  Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.  This is he of whom it is written,

 

“‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face,

    who will prepare your way before you.’

​

“Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.  From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force.  For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

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Now, in John 1:21, John the Baptist says he is not Elijah the prophet, but here in Matthew 11:14, Jesus says that John the Baptist is Elijah.  Is this a contradiction?

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There are 2 relevant passages here. 

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Malachi 4:5-6,

 

“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.  And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”

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This is the passage that mentions that Elijah will come again.

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And Isaiah 40:3,

 

“A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”

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Both Jesus and John say that John is the voice in the wilderness preparing the way of the Lord. 

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Only Jesus says that John is Elijah, but notice how he says it, “he is Elijah who is to come.”

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John is Elijah who is to come.  This connotes something in the future.  I wanted to check the Greek on this and the words here are “mellOn erchesthai.”  MellOn means “future,” and erchesthai means “it is coming.”  So, “Elijah who is to come” is an accurate statement.  Jesus is not saying that he came as Elijah as some people interpret this verse. 

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So, Jesus definitely means that the Elijah prophecy is in the future.  Jesus also says he is Elijah.  That is, that John the Baptist is the Elijah, who is to come in the future. 

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So, how can this be?  Elijah was taken up to heaven in a whirlwind with a chariot of fire.  John the Baptist was born in Jesus’ time, and died at the hands of Herod Archelaus.  Will John the Baptist be reincarnated into the Elijah of the future?  And what about Elijah that was taken up to heaven without dying, and still has a body? 

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First, we must ask if the Bible teaches reincarnation.  This passage seems to hint towards that idea.  We also see that the blind man in John 9:1-2 is spoken of as though he was possibly born blind because of his sin.  Of course, he could not have sinned before birth unless he lived a different life previous to that.  The disciples assume a belief in reincarnation here.

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However, Hebrews 9:27 says, “it is appointed for man to die once.”  You cannot reincarnate if you can only die once.  Yet, this does not negate the possibility of special reincarnation.  Just because something is appointed for men, does not mean that you cannot have a special exception. 

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The topic of reincarnation is never dealt with directly in the Bible.  So, there is no definitive doctrine about it. 

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There is another way that John the Baptist could be the future Elijah.  He could be the future Elijah in spirit, that is as a foreshadowing of the future Elijah. 

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There is another puzzling statement made here by Jesus, “Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”  If we try to make sense of this using Jesus’ statement that the first will be last and the last will be first, it just does not make any sense.  The way to understand what Jesus means is to use the simplest, most direct understanding in the context of the passage.  Jesus is extolling John the Baptist.  He is telling his disciples that John wasn’t a king in fine clothes, so why did people go out to see him?  Jesus reminds them that they went to see a prophet.  Then Jesus says that no one born of a woman has ever been greater that John the Baptist.  This is when we get to the key word.  The key word is “yet.”  Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.  So, what Jesus is saying is that as great as John the Baptist is right now, the least person in the kingdom of heaven, that is the least person in heaven right now, is greater than John the Baptist.  What a contrast heaven is to earth!  As soon as you get there, you are going to be greater than anyone has ever been on earth. 

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So, you’re gonna get the greatness!  And you’re gonna get the greatness!  And you’re gonna get the greatness!  Everyone is gonna get the greatness!  It’s gonna be even greater than an Oprah Winfrey show!

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Now, what about those that never entered the kingdom of heaven?  What about hose that don’t accept Jesus’ message?

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Read verses 16-24,

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“But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates,

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“‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;

    we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’

​

For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’  The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.”

​

Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent.  “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.  But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you.  And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.  But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.”

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What does Jesus mean by the comparison of the children?  What is Jesus comparing this to?

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Jesus is saying that the children are never satisfied.  He compares this to the criticisms that were given by the Pharisees.  Just like the children were not satisfied with a dance or a mourning, so too, the Pharisees were not satisfied with 2 opposite things.  John did not eat or drink, so they called him possessed by a demon.  Jesus ate and drank, and they called him a glutton and a drunkard and a friend of tax collectors and sinners.  So too, the Pharisees could not be satisfied with anything. 

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What did Jesus do next?

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He denounced the cities where he did his most mighty works.  Some of his disciples came from these cities, so why is he denouncing them?

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He is denouncing those that did not repent.  The Pharisees are such like those since they could only find a way to nit-pick about Jesus.  The tax collectors and sinners repented.  The Pharisees did not repent.  Not only did they have the message of Jesus, but they saw the mighty works that he did.  And they still did not repent! 

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Does Jesus continue to rant on and on about those that did not repent?  Let’s see in verses 25-30,

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“At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.  All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.  Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

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What does Jesus mean when he says, “You have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children?”

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Is it unwise to follow Jesus?

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What Jesus means here is that these things are hidden from those that think they are wise and understanding.

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Why does he say God has revealed them to little children?

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What Jesus means here is that he has revealed them to those that can have the faith of a little child. 

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What does Jesus mean when he says, “No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him?”

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One thing Jesus is doing here is proclaiming that he is the only way to God.  You can only get to God through the revelation of Jesus Christ. 

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Jesus then invites his listeners to come to him if they are laboring or heavy laden.  He will give us rest and his yoke is easy?

So what do you think?  Is the yoke of Jesus easy?  Has it been easy for you?

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Song: Come to me, all you who are weary: