John the Baptist Doubts
1 When Jesus had finished giving instructions to his twelve disciples, he moved on from there to teach and preach in their towns. u 2 Now when John heard in prison what the Christ was doing, he sent a message through his disciples v 3 and asked him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else? ” w
4 Jesus replied to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see: 5 The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor are told the good news, x 6 and blessed is the one who isn’t offended by me.” y
7 As these men were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swaying in the wind? z 8 What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothes? See, those who wear soft clothes are in royal palaces. 9 What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. a 10 This is the one about whom it is written:
See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you;
he will prepare your way before you. ,b
11 “Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one greater than John the Baptist has appeared, but the 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 been suffering violence, and the violent have been seizing it by force. 13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. 14 And if you’re willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who is to come. c 15 Let anyone who has ears listen. d
An Unresponsive Generation
16 “To what should I compare this generation? It’s like children sitting in the marketplaces who call out to other children:
17 We played the flute for you,
but you didn’t dance;
we sang a lament,
but you didn’t mourn!
18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon! ’ e 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, f a friend of tax collectors and sinners! ’ g Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”
20 Then he proceeded to denounce the towns where most of his miracles were done, because they did not repent: 21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! h Woe to you, Bethsaida! i For if the miracles that were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, j they would have repented in sackcloth and ashes long ago. 22 But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment k than for you. 23 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will go down to Hades. l For if the miracles that were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until today. 24 But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”
The Son Gives Knowledge and Rest
25 At that time Jesus said, m “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and revealed them to infants. n 26 Yes, Father, because this was your good pleasure. 27 All things have been entrusted to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son desires to reveal him. o
28 “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. p 29 Take up my yoke and learn from me, q because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. r 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
11:1. Matthew signals the end of this second discourse with the formulaic “When Jesus had finished . . .” (cf. 7:28). From 11:2 to 16:20, Jesus continues to teach and preach (11:1) but faces increasing hostility from Jewish leadership as his message and actions engender increasing attention and controversy.
11:2–3. The next section of Matthew (11:2–12:50), between his second and third major discourses, focuses on Jesus’s emerging messianic identity and the rejection he experiences, particularly by the Jewish leadership in Galilee. Jesus is an unexpected Messiah (11:2–30), which explains the divergent responses to his ministry. Stories of controversy, especially with the Pharisees (12:1–8, 9–14, 22–32, 38–45), vividly illustrate those who are “offended” by (or “stumble on account of”) Jesus (11:6).
11:4–6. Jesus’s answer, drawing language and ideas from Isaiah, indicates that his messianic ministry is characterized by signs of God’s in-breaking kingdom—Israel’s restoration—that include healing of the sick and preaching good news to the poor (11:5; cf. Is 35:5–6; 61:1; see also 26:19; 29:18). These are precisely the activities that Matthew has used to characterize Jesus’s ministry to Israel (Mt 4:23–9:38). Jesus then pronounces a blessing on all who are not “offended by” (or do not “stumble” because of; Gk skandalizō) him, which refers to stumbling over the truth that Jesus is an unexpected Messiah. Matthew draws on this term elsewhere to express how people stumble over rather than embrace some part of Jesus’s identity or message (e.g., 13:57; 15:12; cf. 26:31). This sets the tone for various responses that will be highlighted in 11:2–12:50 and beyond.
11:7–15. Jesus’s commentary about John connects with the report of John’s question about Jesus’s identity, with Jesus confirming John’s role as prophet and forerunner (11:7–10; citing Mal 3:1). John’s preparatory role is emphasized by Jesus’s statement that even the “least in the kingdom” is greater than John (11:11). This is a temporal statement rather than an assessment of value: John is the one who prepares for Jesus, the enactor of the kingdom, and so John is not of the generation that sees the kingdom being inaugurated (11:13). He is imprisoned before Jesus announces the kingdom (4:12, 17) and dies in prison without seeing firsthand Jesus’s ministry (14:3–12). Yet John has the unique role of “the Elijah who is to come” (11:14), preparing Israel for the Lord’s coming (Mal 4:5–6), which Matthew shows to be happening in Jesus’s ministry.
11:16–19. Jesus goes on to compare the general response to John with people’s response to himself. Jesus claims that this generation—those who have been privy to Jesus’s preaching and healing—is impossible to please (11:16–17; cf. 12:39–45). They reject John’s ascetic lifestyle consonant with kingdom preparation (repentance), but they also reject Jesus’s celebratory and hospitable way of living in the inaugural days of the kingdom (11:18–19a; cf. 9:9–13).
11:20–24. Matthew 11 continues by emphasizing Jesus’s judgment on the current generation (cf. 11:16) that has seen Jesus’s miracles (cf. 11:4–6) but has not responded with repentance (11:20; for Jesus as judge, see 13:40–42; 25:31–33). Capernaum, Jesus’s home base (8:5), and Chorazin (two miles from Capernaum) are judged as cities that have witnessed greater miracles than Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom (cities receiving God’s judgment in the OT; cf. Gn 19:1–38; Zch 9:2) and yet have not returned to God (11:21–24).
11:25–30. Chapter 11 concludes by returning to Jesus as the embodiment of the Wisdom of God (as in 11:1–19) as well as introducing the theme of revelation. According to this prayer of Jesus, God has hidden the truth of the kingdom—what God is doing in Jesus—from the wise but has revealed it to “infants” (11:25), and the Son (Jesus) is the means of that revelation (11:27). This notion that God through Jesus reveals the nature of God’s reign to some while it is hidden to others emerges more fully in the Parables Discourse of Mt 13, as well as at Peter’s climactic messianic declaration in 16:16–17.