11:7–15 This passage begins with several rhetorical questions. Rhetorical questions can deliver stinging rebukes (16:8–11), but here they lead the audience to a proper view of John. If John’s question in 11:3 has caused anyone to question his character, Jesus corrects them.

Jesus first asks why people traversed the wilderness (no light matter) to see John (11:7; 3:1). Did they go to see a reed, a slender, easily shaken water plant? No, John is God’s prophet, a man not easily moved by public opinion or threats. Nor did anyone go to see someone in soft clothes. John wears rough clothes, but the point is broader. John is a prophet, but there were two kinds of prophets in Israel: prophets of God and prophets who served kings. A few godly kings welcomed the council of true prophets in their courts. David had Nathan, while Hezekiah had Isaiah (2 Samuel 7–12; 2 Kings 19–20). But too many prophets served kings who paid them to “prophesy” what they wanted to hear. The case of Ahab’s prophets against Micaiah painfully illustrates this (1 Kings 22:1–35; cf. Amos 7:12–16). Royal prophets had a soft life—soft garments and a soft message. Not so with John.

John is a prophet, yet more than a prophet, since he is the object as well as the source of prophecy. He is the second Elijah, foretold by the last writing prophet in Malachi 3:1; 4:5. As Elijah, he introduces Jesus. John also attests to Jesus’ deity, for Malachi says he would prepare the way of the Lord, not the Messiah (Mal. 3:1; Matt. 3:3; 11:10).

John is also greatest “among those born of women” (v. 11a). He represents the beginning of a new order of prophets and is the first to usher in the new age. Carl Kraeling notes that one (later) rabbinic writing uses the phrase “No one is greater than he” in one passage to describe both Joseph and Moses. The point is not that both are literally the greatest but that each is great in a specific way. If this is the sense of “no one greater” in Matthew, it means one should ask at what point John is greatest.178

If John is so great, how could Jesus say that “The one who is least in the kingdom . . . is greater than he” (v. 11b)? Not because they have more faith but because those who live later see Jesus’ ministry to its end and so have a more complete revelation of Jesus’ ministry.

Verse 12 is a difficult verse; the correct translation is disputed because the meaning of its essential terms is uncertain. All translations agree on the first half, “From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven . . .” Then the variations begin:

ESV: “has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force.”

NIV: “has been subjected to violence, and violent people have been raiding it.”

NIV 1984: “has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.

NLT: “has been forcefully advancing, and violent people are attacking it.”

The interpretation of Jesus’ statement raises at least three questions. First, does the kingdom suffer from force applied to it, or does it act forcefully? Second, do forceful people grasp it, or do violent people attack it? Overall, is the idea that the kingdom advances powerfully, or that it suffers violence? The riddle begins with the present-tense verb biazomai. Morphologically, the verb may take the middle or the passive voice. The middle voice means to use force or force one’s way. The passive means to suffer violence. Statistically, the middle voice is more common, which makes the translation “forcefully advancing” more likely. If the first half of the line is positive, as is likely, one expects the second to be positive too. But the noun biastēs always means “violent men” (except possibly here), and the verb harpazō almost always means to seize or grasp for one’s advantage. This makes the NLT translation perhaps the most likely. The idea is that the kingdom is forcefully advancing, as verse 5 suggests, even though violent men plunder it, as John’s imprisonment suggests.179 This aligns with Jesus’ prophecy of danger for his messengers in 10:16–39.

Even if this is correct, the other translations have merit. The ESV, RSV, KJV, NASB, and CSB, as well as most commentators, say something true: the kingdom does suffer violence, and violent men attempt to seize it and its messengers. The NIV (1984) makes a stirring point: the kingdom is advancing, and those who enter it must act boldly, with zeal and conviction.180 This is the sense of Luke 16:16, which says that the kingdom is advancing, “and everyone forces his way into it.” But the setting, grammar, and terms of Luke are fairly different. Jesus calls kingdom men to bold action in Luke but not in Matthew. In Matthew, Jesus warns disciples to prepare for violence, as John experienced (10:16–39; 11:2; 14:1–12).

Verses 13–15 return to the praise of John. The language of verse 13 is unusual; in Jesus’ statement “Prophets” precedes “Law,” and both are said to prophesy, but the point is transparent. The whole OT prophesied until John, and he is the Elijah foretold by Malachi 3:1–3. He inaugurates the new covenant and the first phase of the day of the Lord, with Jesus at its center. “If you are willing to accept it” (Matt. 11:14) does not mean that the truth is contingent upon human reception. But when new truth comes, the right attitude is essential so that one might move beyond familiar thoughts and arrangements. “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” makes essentially the same point.181

11:16–19 Jesus, master of parables and graphic imagery, shifts from John to the public that assesses him. He compares his generation to petulant children who choose to sit and do nothing despite plausible offers of play. Jesus compares himself and John to children who call out to potential playmates. They play music and propose dancing, perhaps for an imaginary wedding, but the children refuse everything. Next they play a dirge to mourn, perhaps as for a funeral, but their torpid friends decline that too (vv. 16–17). Nothing pleases them; nothing moves them.

As no game or fantasy can please a moody child, so nothing pleases Jesus’ generation. When John came practicing self-denial by fasting over Israel’s sin (9:14), they claimed, “He has a demon.” John fasted and called for repentance, and while great crowds came to hear him, few followed him. The crowds respected John, so “he has a demon” cannot be an accusation of serving Satan. It may mean “He is out of his mind” or “He is a religious fanatic” (cf. Mark 3:21). More generously, although no more likely, “demon” (Gk. daimonion) had the classical Greek sense of a spirit, with no negative overtones. The sense in that case would be that John has a spirit unique to him, one that leads him but no one else.

Worse, when Jesus came eating and drinking at feasts with all sorts of people, they called him a glutton and a drunkard (Matt. 11:19). This is a serious accusation, since the Bible warns against drunkenness and excess dozens of times (Prov. 31:4–5; Isa. 5:22–23) and links drunkenness to rebellion in Deuteronomy 21:18–21. In that culture, “friend of sinners” is an additional accusation. Friends shared beliefs, interests, values, and goals. People assumed that a friend of sinners would adopt their way of life (Luke 15:1–2). But Jesus knows that the kingdom breaks in whenever he befriends sinners who repent and follow him. So he attends feasts that include more sinners than saints.

Thus the people reviled John for austerity and scorned Jesus for profligacy. Nothing satisfied them. They would neither dance with Jesus nor mourn with John, so Jesus abandons direct attempts to win them. He compares himself to wisdom, as a woman: “Wisdom is justified by her deeds” (Matt. 11:19). In this case, to justify is to vindicate (Luke 7:29; 10:29), not to declare righteous (Romans 3–8). Religious leaders have accused Jesus from Matthew 9 onward, but he claims that his deeds will prove him right one day, and they do.