Matthew 11:1-19--Messengers from John the Baptist

​Matthew 11:1-19 English Standard Version (ESV)
LISTEN:  www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/esv/Matt.11.1-Matt.11.19
Messengers from John the Baptist
11:1 When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities.
2 Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples 3 and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” 4 And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 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. 6 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
7 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? 8 What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. 9 What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 This is he of whom it is written,
“‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face,
    who will prepare your way before you.’
11 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. 12 From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. 13 For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, 14 and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. 15 He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
16 “But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates,
17 “‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
    we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’
18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ 19 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.”

---

Matthew starts with an important reminder that everything that just happened in Chapter 10 was spoken only to the Twelve and was not said to the crowds at large.  We have several moments in the gospels where we see inside the conversations that Jesus had with the apostles or a select group of apostles that were closest to Him, so we cannot always infer that everyone knew everything that Jesus said.  This lead to some of the people who knew the Old Testament Scriptures to have some legitimate questions about who Jesus was and why He was there.  In this passage we see some of the disciples of John the Baptist (he is something like a 2nd cousin to Jesus) were sent to ask if Jesus was the promised Messiah or if they should be looking for another.

It is interesting that Jesus didn't directly say "yes" or "no," but He instead referred back to prophecy about the coming Messiah and the things that He would do when He came and then told John's disciples to go back and report to John all the things that they had seen and that this prophecy was being fulfilled in their midst by Jesus--so the implication is that Jesus claimed to be the Christ (Messiah).

Jesus then uses this opportunity and to answer the question in another way.  He asks the crowd why they went out to visit John the Baptist and listen to this men dressed in camel's hair skins and who ate locusts and wild honey and who wouldn't drink wine or any kind of alcohol and seemed to some to be a little crazy.  Why?  Because they realized John was the harbinger that was foretold to prepare the way for the coming Messiah.  Then Jesus stops short of saying, "I am the one that John was supposed to make the way for," but He makes a statement of "He who has ears to hear, let Him hear."  In other words, He left it for God to give the understanding to the people of what He was saying and knew that some would have the truth revealed to them while others would not.

Jesus then rebukes the crowd for some of them who understood and did not respond Remember what we learned earlier in the epistles earlier in our studies that faith without works is like a tree without fruit--and we'll see this exact condemnation by Jesus several times in the gospels, especially when He walks up to the fruitless fig tree towards the end of His earthly ministry and curses it for not being ready for Him and not having produced any fruit--this was a symbol of the nation of Israel who looked to be alive and healthy but didn't have anything to show where it mattered most--responding to God in the flesh and accepting Him as Messiah and being ready to repent from their sins and accept the work that Jesus was about to perform on the cross.  This is not to say that all Jews were curses, but that those who were unbelieving and saw everything that Jesus had said and done--those who should have known the answer the question that the disciples of John posed because they had seen this prophecy fulfilled and they had no response to it--Jesus said that kind of "tree" might as well look as dead on the outside as it is on the inside.

We have the benefit of being on this side of the cross (on this side of those historical events) and being able to have the gospels and entire New Testament, yet how many people have the same question that John's disciples had.  Was Jesus the One or should we expect another?  This question being unanswered is what is going to lead to so many being deceived by the Antichrist when he comes, because all those that have been waiting for Christ or looking for another kind of Christ will be deceived and deluded into believing his message and miracles--and not just from him but from his false prophet--as both will receive power from Satan (who has no authority other than that which God has allowed him to have) to deceive and delude those who are lost during the time of the Tribulation--we'll read about this when we study the book of the Revelation soon..

Remember to always be looking for the second coming of Christ and to always be ready for it to happen at any time, but to be busy about the work you are supposed to be doing during that time.