1And 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 first verse in chapter 11 follows and is linked to Jesus’ sending out of the twelve disciples in chapter 10.
2Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, 3And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?
The imprisonment of John the Baptist was recorded in Matthew 4:12. By the time of chapter 11, John had been in prison for some time. John sent two of his disciples to ask Jesus, “Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?” Psalm 118:26 speaks of the Messiah as the coming One when it says, Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD. The prophet Malachi also spoke of the Messiah as the coming One when He wrote, ...the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts (Malachi 3:1). John the Baptist sent two of his disciples to go and ask Jesus whether or not He was that coming One, the Messiah.
Why did John wonder? Matthew says in verse 2 that John heard in the prison the works of Christ. John is the person who saw the Holy Spirit descend from heaven like a dove and remain on Jesus at His baptism. John gave witness that Jesus was the Son of God. John also said concerning Jesus, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world (John 1:29-34). So how could John still ask at this point?
John knew that the coming One spoken of in Psalm 118 would save Israel and bring prosperity to His people (Psalm 118:25). John knew that the messenger of the covenant spoken of by Malachi would purify Israel and would bring blessing to the righteous and judgment to the wicked (Malachi 3:2-3,18). John knew that the Messiah would deliver God’s people from injustice.
But John was in a Roman prison, and Jesus had not come to get him out. In fact, John would later be put to death by the governing figure of the region, Herod. The way that John asked his question is meaningful. He said, “Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?” John sent his disciples to ask Jesus whether He was the Messiah or not. That means that John was prepared to accept Jesus’ word. John had not stopped believing. He just needed assurance from Jesus Himself. And in Jesus’ answer, He gave John the assurance that he needed.
4Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: 5the 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. 6And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.
When Jesus answered John’s question, He did more than just say, “Yes, I am the coming One.” He gave John proof.
Isaiah the prophet described what the coming Messiah would do. Isaiah said:
Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead (Isaiah 26:19).
And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness. The meek also shall increase their joy in the LORD, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. (Isaiah 29:18-19).
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing…. (Isaiah 35:5-6)
And, in Isaiah 61:1, the Messiah speaks:
The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek….
Jesus told John’s disciples to go and tell him that they saw happening the very things that Isaiah had prophesied: Jesus was making the blind to see and the lame to walk, was cleansing lepers, was making the deaf to hear and was bringing people who were dead back to life. Also, Jesus was bringing good news to the poor – that in His kingdom they would no longer suffer injustice. In His kingdom they would be given place according to their righteousness, not according to their material wealth. And Jesus encouraged John to be strong in faith when He said, “blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.” Isaiah had prophesied, And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken (Isaiah 8:14-15).
And so it is today. To every person, Jesus is either a sanctuary or a rock of offense. To those who recognize Him as the Savior, He is a refuge. To those who reject Him as the Savior, He is a rock of offense over which they stumble and fall and face God’s judgment.
7And 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? 8But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. 9But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. 10For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.
As John’s two disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about him. Probably the two disciples heard what Jesus said and told John when they got back to the prison where he was. Jesus told the crowds clearly who John the Baptist was. But in so doing, He also told the crowds clearly who He Himself was.
First, Jesus asked the crowds around Him two rhetorical questions. Jesus was telling why John did what he did. John the Baptist was not in the wilderness to be part of the scenery in the desert. Rather, his presence in the desert made clear that John did not belong to the self-pampering life of the kingdoms of this world. John was in the desert for a purpose – to prepare the way for the arrival of the Messiah by calling Israel to repentance.
Jesus then referred to the words of the prophet Malachi in Malachi 3:1:
Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.
In this verse, Yahweh, the LORD of hosts is speaking. He speaks of two different messengers. Yahweh states that He will send His messenger and that this messenger will prepare the way before Yahweh Himself. That messenger is John the Baptist. Then, in the following clause, Yahweh speaks of the coming of the Lord, the messenger of the covenant, to his temple. It is clear that the Lord (Hebrew: “האדון”) who will come is One with Yahweh (Hebrew: “יהוה”), the LORD of hosts, before Whom John the Baptist would prepare the way. The second Messenger spoken of in this verse is Jesus.
But when Jesus referred to this verse, He said, “For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.” Jesus changed the wording in “before me” to “before thy face” and in “prepare the way before me” to “prepare thy way before thee.” That is, Jesus both explained that John the Baptist was sent to prepare the way before Yahweh and also clearly stated that He Jesus was Yahweh, the LORD of hosts.
11Verily 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.
Luke 7:28 says Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist.... John the Baptist was the greatest of the Old Testament prophets. Why did Jesus say, “Among them that are born of women…”? He may have said that because the Greek word for “messenger” that He used for John in the previous verse is the word normally translated “angel.” “Angels” are “messengers.” But John was a human messenger like the other Old Testament prophets.
Jesus said that John the Baptist, the greatest of the Old Testament prophets, was not as great as even the least person who is in the kingdom of heaven. What did Jesus mean?
First, this verse makes clear that at that time John was not himself in the kingdom of heaven because the kingdom of heaven had not yet come. After Jesus’ death and resurrection, He said, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Matthew 28:18). The word He used for “power” means “authority.” The Messiah King Jesus received that absolute authority in His humanity after His death and resurrection.
Paul wrote to the believers in Colossae,
Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins…. (Colossians 1:12-14).
Christ’s kingdom, the kingdom of heaven, does now exist. It is a spiritual kingdom now, but it will be a physical kingdom also when He returns.
Jesus’ death was necessary for the establishment of the kingdom of heaven. Paul said in Romans 5:21 that sin reigned in death (Greek: “εβασιλευσεν η αμαρτια εν τω θανατω”). When Adam sinned, Adam and his posterity were plunged into spiritual death. Sin began to reign over Adam and his descendants. The personal reigning agent of sin is Satan. Jesus’ death for the sins of Adam and Adam’s descendents destroyed the grounds for Satan’s usurped reign over the people of the earth. Whenever anyone comes to Christ by faith, they are translated at that moment out of the authority of darkness and into the spiritual kingdom of Christ.
Jesus’ words tell us a lot about greatness, too. He said that anyone who is in the kingdom of heaven is greater than anyone who is not. This tells us that greatness comes from nearness to Jesus the King. John the Baptist was the greatest of the Old Testament prophets because He was the messenger who announced the coming kingdom. He was the Old Testament prophet that was in closest relation to the King.
12And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.
The message of the nearness of the kingdom of heaven began to be proclaimed to Israel starting with the days of John the Baptist. Jesus said that from that time forward the kingdom “suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.” The context seems to make clear that Jesus was speaking firstly of the imprisonment of John the Baptist. The verb translated “take it by force” (Greek: “αρπαζουσιν”) means to “snatch” (note usage in Matthew 13:19). Jesus said that violent men were seeking to seize the coming kingdom for themselves. That is Satan’s desire (see also Matthew 21:38). Satan wants to take for himself the throne that rightly belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ.
13For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.
Both the prophets and the prophetic message contained in the Mosaic Law foretold and anticipated the coming of the kingdom of heaven. But John’s message was the final word in that stream of prophecy. John was the last and greatest of the Old Testament prophets.
14And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come. 15He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
“Elias” is the Greek form of the name of the Old Testament prophet Elijah. The book of Malachi in the Old Testament closes with these words:
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. (Malachi 4:5-6)
The Jews in Jesus’ day rightly expected Elijah to reappear on the scene in Israel before the coming of the kingdom of heaven. Jesus said, “if ye will receive it, this is Elias….” He meant that in some sense John the Baptist was fulfilling Malachi’s prophecy about the reappearance of Elijah.
Did Jesus mean that John the Baptist was actually the same person as Elijah? No, in fact, priests and Levites from Jerusalem asked John directly, “Art thou Elias?” John said, “I am not” (John 1:21).
But before John was born an angel spoke to his father Zacharias. The angel told Zacharias:
…many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. (Luke 1:16-17).
John the Baptist was not the same person as Elijah the prophet. But John came in the spirit and power of Elijah. John announced that the kingdom of heaven was near. The kingdom was being offered to Israel in the Person of the King who had come, the Lord Jesus. But God knew that this offer of the kingdom to Israel would only reveal the hardness of the heart of the nation. That hardness of heart affirmed the necessity of the atoning work of Jesus’ death. The nation would not receive the King at that time. John the Baptist functioned in the role of Elijah for an offer that God knew would be refused. In the future, before Jesus’ return, Elijah himself will reappear on the scene in Israel. He may be one of the two witnesses described in chapter 11 of the book of Revelation. Jesus will establish the physical kingdom of heaven at His second coming and will not allow any opposition.
16But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows, 17and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented. 18For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil. 19The 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.
Jesus’ contemporaries in Israel were fickle. Instead of looking for truth, they saw themselves as stage directors and Jesus and John the Baptist as actors to do their bidding. John the Baptist ate locusts and wild honey (Matthew 3:4). The Jewish leaders said that he had a demon, but the plainness of John’s diet was in harmony with his ministry of calling Israel to repentance. We know that some of the tax collectors and harlots responded in faith to John’s message (Matthew 21:32). Probably one of them was Matthew, the author of this book.
Jesus went to dinner in Matthew’s home, and other tax collectors and known sinners were there, too. The scribes and Pharisees didn’t like that, and they accused Jesus of gluttony and drunkenness. It is true that gluttony and drunkenness are sin, but Jesus never sinned (Hebrews 4:15). He said that the reason he sat with tax collectors and sinners was that they were sick and He was the physician (Matthew 9:9-12; Mark 2:14-17). The problem was not with John the Baptist or with Jesus. The problem was with those criticizing them. The critics were sick but refused to acknowledge their own need for Him to be their Physician.
Jesus said that “wisdom is justified of her children.” The actions of Jesus and of John the Baptist were full of wisdom. The proof is in the fruit they bore. One of the “children” of their wise ministries is Matthew the tax collector, whom God used to write this account of Jesus’ life.
20Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not: 21Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you. 23And 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. 24But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.
Verse 20 contains a very grievous reality: the cities in which the greatest number of Christ’s miracles took place did not repent. He makes clear in these verses that their failure to respond in faith to the revelation they were given will follow them to the day of judgment and into eternity.
Jesus said that the judgment of the cities of Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom would be more bearable than the judgment of the cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum. Yet, Jesus’ words make clear that Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom did not repent either. Thus we understand that there will be degrees of punishment in hell. The greater the access to truth that an unrepentant sinner had, the more severe that person’s eternal punishment will be in hell.
Yet, the people of Capernaum, where Jesus lived after leaving Nazareth (Matthew 4:13), were proud. Jesus said they were “exalted unto heaven.” This expression is similar to that used in Isaiah 14:12-15 concerning Satan’s heart of self-exaltation to want to make himself like God. The people of Capernaum had tremendous opportunity, did not repent, and yet saw themselves as great.
Jesus spoke twice in these verses of the day of judgment. He made clear that there will be such a day for everyone. And He spoke with authority about how that judgment will be conducted, both on His own contemporaries and on peoples of history. He spoke with this authority because He will be the Judge (John 5:22).
25At 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. 26Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight. 27All 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.
Verse 25 begins with the words, “At that time Jesus answered and said….” We know from the context of Luke 10:21-22 that the time spoken of coincides with the return of seventy disciples that He sent out. Jesus thanked the Father that He the Father had seen fit to hide the truths about Jesus and the kingdom of heaven from people who thought themselves to be wise and had revealed these truths to people who were humble. His prayer reminds us of the words of Psalm 8:2: Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger. God has chosen to place His words in the mouths of “babes and sucklings” – that is, in the mouths of little men and women who recognize that they are little. God has chosen to hide spiritual truth from the proud.
In verse 25, Jesus spoke of “these things” that God hid from the proud. In contrast, Jesus said in verse 27 that all things were delivered unto Him of His Father. The Father made available to Jesus, the Son of God, in His incarnation, all truth concerning the kingdom of heaven.
Also, in verse 25, Jesus addressed God as “Father, Lord of heaven and earth.” In verse 27, Jesus called this One who is Lord of heaven and earth, “my Father.”
Jesus said, “…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.” The man Jesus is known about today in most parts of the world. But Jesus said that no one except the Father really knows who Jesus is. We understand from verse 25 that the Father reveals this knowledge about His Son to “babes,” to the humble of the earth. Jesus also said that no one rightly knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. In Jesus’ next words He will make clear who those people are to whom He wills to reveal the Father.
In verse 27, Jesus three times spoke of Himself as the Son of the One who is Lord of heaven and earth. Jesus is the unique Son of God. The parallel clauses used in that verse show that He knows the Father just as the Father knows Him. Jesus’ statement of His perfect knowledge of the Father is a clear statement of His Deity.
28Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Peter spoke of the Law of Moses as a yoke “which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear” (Acts 15:10). The Law was a heavy load for people to bear because all of Adam’s descendants are sinful; all of us fall short of the perfect standards in God’s Law. Jesus promised that He would give rest to anyone who came to Him. In another place, Peter said that Jesus bare our sins in his own body on the tree (I Peter 2:24). That’s how Jesus gives rest to those who come to Him.
Jesus said that no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. Verse 28 tells us that the Son wills to reveal the Father to anyone who perceives the vanity of trying to make themselves righteous by keeping the Law and who then comes to Him.
29Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
The yoke of the Mosaic Law was heavy and hard to bear. Jesus said that His yoke is easy and that His burden is light. Why is there a yoke in following Jesus? Jesus said that no one knows the Son except the Father and that the Father revealed the truths about Jesus and the kingdom of heaven to the humble. When the Father reveals to a person that Jesus is the eternal Son of God, the recognition of who Jesus is makes submission to Him an automatic issue. Those who come to Jesus as Savior from their sins are called to also submit to Him and to learn from Him. The One who is Lord of all described Himself as meek and lowly in heart. His desire is not to weigh us down again but to cause us to experience the fullness of life that comes from belonging and submission to Himself, the One who loves us most.
Note: All Scriptures are quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.