Matthew 11:1 And it came to pass, when Jesus had made
an end of commanding his twelve disciples, he departed thence to teach and to
preach in their cities.
This is a transitional
verse. The word “commanding” (Gr.
diatassoon-diatasswn) speaks of individual instruction.
Matthew 11:2-3
2 Now when John had heard
in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples,
3 And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or
do we look for another?
When
John had heard about the great things Jesus was doing, he sent two of his
disciples to verify the miracles.
When they found Jesus, they
asked “Are the One he that has been foretold, or should we look for another?
Did the questioning reflect a
lack of faith?
God does not require blind
faith. He wants us to be fully persuaded
in heart and mind. Several times in his writings, Paul tells us that we are not
to be ignorant.
Matthew 11:4-5
4 Jesus answered and said
unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see:
5 The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk,
the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the
poor have the gospel preached to them.
Jesus responded by telling
John’s disciples go back to John and tell him with the truth about the works
Jesus was doing. They had seen them, and
could give first-person eyewitness testimony.
Matthew 11:6 And blessed is
he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.
“Offended” (Gr.
skandalisthee-skandalisqh) is taken by some to indicate a rebuke of John. Such is inaccurate. John was not
“offended.” That is proved in the next
few verses.
Verse 6 is a warning for
us. The concept in this verse is a fall
to ruin. The teaching of salvation by
works is a stumbling or fall to ruin.
We are not saved by physical
birth, by works, or by baptism.
Eph 2:8-9
8 For by grace are ye saved
through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man
should boast.
Those who try to become
followers of Christ by way of good works have fallen from grace!
Gal 5:4
Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the
law; ye are fallen from grace.
If we depend on works, grace
has “no effect!”
Matthew 11:7-14
7 And as they departed,
Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into
the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind?
8 But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in
soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses.
9 But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I
say unto you, and more than a prophet.
10 For this is he, of whom
it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare
thy way before thee.
11 Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of
women there hath not risen a greater than John the baptist: notwithstanding he
that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
12 And from the days of John the baptist until now the
kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.
13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until
John.
14 And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was
for to come.
As
John’s disciples departed, Jesus began to tell the crowd things concerning
John. He began with rhetorical
questions.
“What
did you go into the wilderness to see?”
“Was it
just the reeds along the
Again,
Jesus asked a rhetorical question.
“Did you
go to see a man dressed in fine clothes?
You know that men who wear such clothing are found in kings' houses.”
John is
often pictured by those that are biblically ignorant as wearing animal
skins. John wore a camel hair cloak. He is
pictured has having uncombed hair. That
too is conjecture.
Jesus
continued, “Or, did you come to see a prophet?”
Then,
Jesus told them, “You came to see a prophet, but you saw much more.”
Jesus explained, John was the
one about whom it was written, “Behold, I send my messenger to prepare the way
for You [The Messiah].”
Jesus told the crowd that no
normal man had been born who was greater that John the baptist. However, that being so, the least in the
That seems contradictory, but
John operated under the Old Testament law and works-bound legalism. The
You may wonder how John
qualified as prophet. He did not
prophesy, did he? Yes he did!
Concerning Jesus, John
prophesied, “One who is mightier than I is coming, the latchet of whose shoes I
am not worthy to stoop down and unloose” (Mark 1:7).
Again, concerning Jesus, John
prophesied, “Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world”
(John 1:29).
John was indeed a prophet for
His day and ours.
Jesus told the crowd that the
kingdom of heaven had been ruled by the ungodly. That is also true of our day.
The ungodly high jacked the
Roman Church and destroyed it through the teaching of works and prayer to a
dead Mary. RC leaders attempted to
destroy the teaching of grace by killing the Waldenses, the reformers, and others.
Today the spirit of domination
controls much of the Church by bullying methods. Those who have non-orthodox
beliefs are considered odd and undesirable, even if the orthodox traditions
have no basis in biblical fact. Some who are preachers of a gospel do not
accept the gospel of Jesus Christ, but instead they teach a perverted salvation
by works gospel. Those teachers are
controlled by a spirit that demands that they run over and beat down all who
oppose their perversions.
Verse 13 does not say that
prophecy ended with John. Prophecy that
came by Law stopped with John. Prophecy
that comes through grace is still evident.
The New Testament recognizes Prophets within the Church (Eph. 4:11-12).
There is another way that
verse 13 may be interpreted. Matthew
11:13 is further explained in…
Luke 16:16
The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the
While God’s Laws, as further
explained by Christ, continue, Moses traditional law now offers us
nothing. We do not follow Moses law to
get to Christ. We come to Christ through
grace. And, in coming to Christ by grace
we establish God’s Law (Romans 3:31).
Gal 3:24-25
24 Wherefore the law was our
schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
The letter of the law no
longer has value to Christians saved by grace.
2 Cor 3:6
Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter,
but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
We come to life in Christ
because of the Spirit---and not the letter of the Law. Even the letter of God’s
Law does not bring salvation.
The Ten were not meant to
bring us into right relationship with God.
They were meant to bring right relationship with other human
beings. However, life is found only in
Christ by the Spirit of grace.
Even the first of the Ten is
just a statement of fact!
Exod 20:1-3
1 And God spake all these words, saying,
2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out
of the house of bondage.
3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
It was not until Christ that
we learned of love.
Mark 12:29-31
29 And Jesus answered him,
The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one
Lord:
30 And thou shalt love the
Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind,
and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
31 And the second is like,
namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other
commandment greater than these.
The first commandment as
quoted by Christ is not the first commandment as written in Exodus.
He did not follow the letter.
Christ was led by the Spirit!
Due to Jesus’ scourging,
crucifixion and resurrection, the Spirit brings us saving grace.
Eph 2:8-9
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is
the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Grace---not works of the Law
(or the law) is at the heart of salvation.
It is by grace that the
Isa 28:18
And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell
shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall
be trodden down by it.
The covenant with death as
expressed in the Ten has been “disannulled” due to grace.
Heb 8:13 In
that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which
decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.
At the resurrection of
Christ, the power of the Ten began to “vanish away” (Gr. aphanismou-afanismou).
The Old Covenant of death has
been replaced by the New Covenant of life in Christ Jesus!
David is described a man
after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22). And
yet he could not follow the Ten!
Instead, he lived in individual grace.
The Church today lives in a state of grace that is corporate in that it
applies to all who trust in Christ---and I might add that it is ours both
individually and corporately.
Grace does not cause us the
live socially perfect lives! Instead, it
causes us to run to run to Christ whenever we fail to properly respond to God’s
love as expressed through Christ Jesus.
As Jesus said in verse 13,
the times of the Law and the Prophets (the Old Testament) ended with John the
baptist.
The New Testament was
established in and through Christ Jesus!
Then in Matthew 11:14,
Jesus told His followers, “If you desire to learn it, this is Elijah, who was
to come.” Some look for Elijah to come
again. Jesus said that he already came!
And yet many are still awaiting Elijah to precede Christ’s return.
Matthew 11:15 He that hath
ears to hear, let him hear.
This is a most important
concept. All godly works operate on a
single principle. We hear from God
and respond appropriately! That
is the great secret of living for Christ!
If you have ears to
hear---respond appropriately!
Matthew 11:16-17
16 But whereunto shall I
liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and
calling unto their fellows,
17 And saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not
danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented.
Jesus
said, “To what shall I compare this generation? It is like unto children
sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows, saying, ‘We have played
for you, and you have not danced, we have mourned for you, and you have not
expressed grief.’”
Some
folks do not respond to God’s loving concern.
Matthew 11:18-19
18 For John came neither
eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil.
19 The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they
say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners.
But wisdom is justified of her children.
“John
came to Israel neither eating nor drinking, and still the doubters said, ‘He is
demon possessed,’ but the Son of Man
came eating and drinking, and the religious leaders called Him a glutton, and a
drunk, a friend of publicans and sinners, Wisdom is known to be righteous by
her children.”
When you
serve God, men may say all sorts of things against you.
Matthew 11:20-25
20 Then began he to upbraid
the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented
not:
21 Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee,
22 But I say unto you, It
shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for
you.
23 And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven,
shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in
thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.
24 But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable
for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.
25 At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee,
O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the
wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.
At that
point, Jesus began to chide the Israelites, among whom most of His miracles
were done, but they did not as a nation repent.
Woe (Gr.
ouia) is a cry of grief.
Chorazin
was a town in Galilee.
Bethsaida
was a fishing village along the Sea of Galilee.
Christ
Jesus said that if the power demonstrated in those towns had been done in other
cities, they would have turned from their sins.
Consequently, other cites will be treated with more compassion in the
Judgment.
Capernaum
was the town in which Christ chose to reside, and yet the people of that city,
having seen the wonders He did, were not fully convinced. It was to their shame!
Matt 13:57
And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not
without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house.
Instead of complaining to the
Father about His lack of followers, Christ thanked Him.
Matthew 11:26-27
26 Even so, Father: for so
it seemed good in thy sight.
27 All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and
no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father,
save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.
We must
understand that when we follow Christ, we follow Christ! The Father determines what is in our best
interest. Contrary to some “name it and
claim it,” “blab it and grab it” teachers, sometimes, being financially set in this
life is not in our best interest.
If you
had to make a choice, would you rather be financially set, or spiritually set?
Growth
is accomplished through struggle. Acorns
struggle to become trees. We have been
called to struggle in our proclamation of the gospel.
Do you
believe verse 27? All things have been
delivered (Gr. paredothee-paredoqh),
given into the hands of Christ Jesus. Understanding has been given to those He
has chosen.
If you
do not now understand His authority it is because you have not now been chosen to understand!
Matthew 11:28-30
28 Come unto me, all ye
that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am
meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Christ
issues a general invitation to all who are encumbered by sin. Take His yoke, work in concert with
Jesus. Learn and experience His loving
mercy.
Christ
shows compassion to all who call upon Him!
In Him you shall find rest from the burdens of sin. His yoke is easy!
His burden is light!