John s Estimate of Jesus (11:2 6) Matthew 11:2 Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples John. Matthew earlier mentioned John s arrest by Herod. Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. (Matthew 4:12, ESV) Here is chapter 11 Matthew gives us details about John s doubt. Later Matthew will record John s death. For Herod had seized John and bound him and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip s wife, because John had been saying to him, It is not lawful for you to have her. And though he wanted to put him to death, he feared the people, because they held him to be a prophet. (Matthew 14:3 5, ESV) Apparently John had been in prison perhaps a long as a year during Jesus extensive Galilean ministry. The one to whom he had pointed, the one who would come in blessing and judgment (3:11 12), had brought healing to many but, it would seem, judgment to none not even to those who had immorally and unlawfully confined the Baptist in a cruel prison. 1 John has already recognized Jesus identity (3:14); now, in prison, he seems discouraged and doubting, but Matthew s biblically literate community might find this less startling than most modern readers. Pursued by Jezebel and finding that even the fire at Mount Carmel had not been sufficient to dislodge idolatry from the land, Elijah asked God to take his life (1 Kings 19:4). 2 John did experience a degree of discouragement but, then again, so did his namesake, Elijah. And so do we. heard in prison. If John did not hear of the deeds of Jesus until after he was imprisoned, then it would seem that John was arrested soon after his baptism of Jesus. For it was not that long after Jesus baptism that we begin to read of Jesus deeds (4:23-25). And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they 1 D. A. Carson (1984). Matthew. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor s Bible Commentary: Matthew, Mark, Luke (Vol. 8, p. 261). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House. 2 Craig S. Keener, The Gospel of Matthew: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2009), 334.
brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them. And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan. (Matthew 4:23 25, ESV) deeds 3. This section opens with John taking note of the deeds of Christ. It will end using the same word. 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 11:19, ESV) The use of deeds twice in this section probably identifies this material as an inclusio. We have a starting and ending point and all the material in between is related. John was not out and about in Israel to see these things for himself. What are they? Chapters 5-7 are Jesus essential teachings called the Sermon on the Mount. Chapters 8 and 9 are his miracles and they will continue to flesh out Jesus deeds. the Christ. It is whether Jesus is in fact the Christ that causes John to send his disciples in the first place. But to Matthew, at the stage in his life when he writes this account, there is no question at all; Jesus is the Christ. disciples. John sent two disciples. calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another? (Luke 7:19, ESV) Matthew 11:3 and said to him, Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another? Are you These two words are emphasized in the Greek text. It is are YOU the one who is coming? The way it is phrased shows some doubt. Why was John in doubt about Jesus? Because John s Coming One in Matt 3, we recall, was mainly a figure of power, mainly a bringer of judgment, mainly a carrier of (to use his favorite word) fire, with an ax in one hand to chop down unfruitful trees and a shovel in the other hand to sift the chaff in his granary (3:10 12). There is good reason to wonder if Jesus since chap. 3 fits John s fiery descriptions. 4 3 deeds ἔργον to function, to work, that which is done, with possible focus on the energy or effort involved act, deed. Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Vol. 1: Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: Based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition. (511). New York: United Bible Societies. 4 Frederick Dale Bruner, Matthew: A Commentary: The Christbook, Matthew 1 12 (vol. 1, Revised and Expanded Edition.; Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2007), 505.
Now in prison and probably somewhat confused, Jesus current ministry and John s prior predictions did not seem to harmonize. He needed to make sure. the one who is to come. Earlier John had said: I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. (Matthew 3:11, ESV) So, much had changed since John s prophecy; now as he languishes in prison, he has lost that fiery confidence, he wondered where was that fire? He needs reassurance. John needed to come to terms with the fact that the one of whom he had now been hearing such remarkable things was, despite the quite unexpected form of his ministry, the one whom he had heralded as eschatological judge and deliverer the one coming after John (Mt. 3:11). 5 shall we look 6 for another 7? John had been looking or expecting the Messiah. He thought he knew but prison wreaks havoc with John s thoughts. John had a pretty good idea on how the Messiah would act. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. (Matthew 3:10 12, ESV) But Jesus wasn t doing these things at all. So, John ask, should I be looking for another 89 of a different kind? The kind that brings judgment! 5 John Nolland (2005). The Gospel of Matthew: A commentary on the Greek text. New International Greek Testament Commentary (450 451). Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press. 6 look προσδοκάω to give thought to something that is viewed as lying in the future, wait for, look for, expect. William Arndt, Frederick W. Danker, and Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 877. 7 another ἕτερος Other but different, another. Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2000). 8 another ἕτερος Other but different, another. Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2000). 9 another ἄλλος Another, numerically but of the same kind in contrast to héteros. Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2000).
If Jesus was the righteous judge, where was the judgment? If he had been anointed of the Spirit to release the oppressed (Luke 3:21, 22; 4:18), why did he not release his forerunner? 10 Perhaps John was wrong about Jesus. In John s case he certainly had not released the oppressed. John was confused but he turned to the one all must turn to who are confused and need answers, Jesus. Interestingly John s namesake, Elijah, also had great doubts (I Kings 19). Here John is again following in the footsteps of his great predecessor. As Elijah expressed confusion and doubt in his own ministry, so John does as well. Not only may the Baptist have become demoralized, like his namesake Elijah, but the Baptist had preached in terms of imminent blessing and judgment. By contrast Jesus was preaching in veiled fulfillment terms and bringing much blessing but no real judgment and as a result the Baptist was having second thoughts. 11 Like Elijah, John longed for the fire to fall from heaven. Matthew 11:4 And Jesus answered them, Go and tell John what you hear and see: Jesus could have simply said, Yes, I am the one. But the problem with that answer is that anyone could say that and many had. Would John s doubts be assuaged with that answer? Maybe not. Instead Jesus gives John s disciples an answer that carries its own authenticity. This answer will fully satisfy John. what you hear This would be Jesus words as summarized in The Sermon on the Mount. and see. The miracles of chapters 8 and 9 would be examples. In addition, Luke adds this to the story as John s disciples watched: In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight. (Luke 7:21, ESV) John s disciples are to take back a firsthand report on what they personally see and hear. Seeing what Jesus does and hearing what Jesus says is the way, and the only way, that leads to faith. Another means by which we can make ourselves or others into believers simply does not exist. 12 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. (Romans 10:17, ESV) 10 D. A. Carson (Ed.). (1992). Right with God: justification in the Bible and the world (electronic ed., p. 38). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House. 11 D. A. Carson (1984). Matthew. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor s Bible Commentary: Matthew, Mark, Luke (Vol. 8, p. 262). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House. 12 A. Schlatter in Frederick Dale Bruner, Matthew: A Commentary: The Christbook, Matthew 1 12 (vol. 1, Revised and Expanded Edition.; Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2007), 507.
Compare Jesus command to those disciples to report on what you hear and see with Plato s distrust of the physical: But it thinks best when none of these things troubles it, neither hearing nor sight, nor pain nor any pleasure, but it is, so far as possible, alone by itself, and takes leave of the body, and avoiding, so far as it can, all association or contact with the body, reaches out toward the reality. 13 Compare that statement with John s: That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life (1 John 1:1, ESV) John waited for this report, he wanted his disciples to come back and report, Good new, the fire fell, wicked were consumed, the judgment is spreading to Jerusalem, evil men perish everywhere. But instead they report: Matthew 11:5 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. The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; (Isaiah 61:1 2, ESV) Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead. (Isaiah 26:19, ESV) In that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see. The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the LORD, and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel. (Isaiah 29:18 19, ESV) Jesus did not answer with a direct yes or a no. He replied using language from passages in Isaiah describing what will happen when God comes to save His people in the era of salvation (Is 26:19; 29:18 19; 35:5 6; 61:1). So the answer is yes. 14 Notice who Isaiah says will come and do these extraordinary things, 13 Plato, Plato in Twelve Volumes Translated by Harold North Fowler; Introduction by W.R.M. Lamb. (vol. 1; Medford, MA: Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd., 1966). 14 S. L. Cox & Easley, K. H. (2007). Holman Christian Standard Bible: Harmony of the Gospels (76). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
Say to those who have an anxious heart, Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you. 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. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; (Isaiah 35:4 6, ESV) The man through whom the poor have good news preached to them and through whom miracles have come can only be the anointed one of Isa 61:1, the bearer of the Spirit, who, in the latter days, comforts the mourners and thereby brings promise to fulfilment. 15 Jesus language directs one to Isaiah and is therefore an invitation to put Jesus ministry and Isaiah s oracles side by side. Are not the promises of salvation being fulfilled? Is not eschatology in the process of being realized? 16 the poor have good news preached to them. The blind, the lame, the lepers, the deaf, the raising of the dead, all are but for a time and then all passes into death. But the good news, the gospel, this benefit, extends into eternity. the miracle that heals only the body does not accomplish as much as the word that heals mind and heart and brings eschatological salvation. 17 Our gospel is, manifestly, arranged so that the various threads of chapters 4 10 are woven together in 11:2 6. The passage thus interprets 4 10 as a whole. 18 In Jesus ministry as illustrated by these works, John would have his answer Jesus is indeed the one who is to come. The fire will come and did come in A.D. 70 and will again on the last day. Matthew 11:6 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me. blessed μακάριος 19 or approved. As in most words, there are various facets to this Greek word. Some of the ideas conveyed would be approved, congratulated, fortunate, benefited and rewarded. 15 Matthew (vol. 2; International Critical Commentary; London; New York: T&T Clark International, 2004), 245 246. 16 Matthew (vol. 2; International Critical Commentary; London; New York: T&T Clark International, 2004), 243. 17 Matthew (vol. 2; International Critical Commentary; London; New York: T&T Clark International, 2004), 243. 18 Matthew (vol. 2; International Critical Commentary; London; New York: T&T Clark International, 2004), 242. 19 Blessed μακάριος A prose form of the poetic mákar, blessed one. Blessed, possessing the favor of God, that state of being marked by fullness from God. Zodhiates, S. (2000). The complete word study dictionary: New Testament. Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers.
offended 20 We started with this phrase in verse 11:4: Go and tell John what you hear and see This is followed by a record of Jesus miracles in verse 5, a record that makes plain that Jesus is the Messiah. But, what if you re not inclined to accept this? And it seems that many of John s disciples were not so inclined. In fact, they may have been more inclined to take offense with Jesus words. Why? Because it was judgment they were looking for not miracles. John s disciples were offended by his lack of immediate judgment, but there are many other things one might be offended by in Jesus life. There are many things in Christ which they who are ignorant and unthinking are apt to be offended at, some circumstances for the sake of which they reject the substance of his gospel. The meanness of his appearance, his education at Nazareth, the poverty of his life, the despicableness of his followers, the slights which the great men put upon him, the strictness of his doctrine, the contradiction it gives to flesh and blood, and the sufferings that attend the profession of his name; these are things that keep many from him, who otherwise cannot but see much of God in him. Thus he is set for the fall of many, even in Israel, a Rock of offence, 1 Pt. 2:8. 21 And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. (Isaiah 8:14, ESV) These words could have been directed to John, one who is stumbling, as an encouragement to persevere in his faith there is a blessing for those that do. But probably they were directed to John s disciples. Their teacher was in jail, whereas this other teacher was free. Their loyalty to John may have marred their view of Jesus. Jesus came with a ministry of blessings; they were looking for the curses for disobedience on Israel. They simply had other expectations as to what the Messiah was to do and they were not willing to mend their expectations to the teachings of Isaiah and the other prophets. As a result, a number of John s disciples never accepted Jesus as the Messiah and continued in following John s teachings for hundreds of years, increasingly morphing those teachings into various heresies becoming time fully pagan. They were offended by him and as a result, never obtained the blessing. 20 offended σκανδαλίζω In the NT, figuratively to be a stumbling block to someone, to cause to stumble at or in something, to give a cause of offense to someone. Zodhiates, S. (2000). The complete word study dictionary: New Testament (electronic ed.). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers. 21 Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994), 1666.