January
16th Matthew 11 John seeks confirmation
1: And 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. 2: Now when John had heard in the prison the
works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, 3: And said unto him, Art thou
he that should come, or do we look for another? 4: Jesus answered and said unto
them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: 5: The
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. 6: And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me. 7: And 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? 8: But
what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that
wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. 9: But what went ye out for to see? A
prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. 10: For this is he, of
whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall
prepare thy way before thee. 11: Verily 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.
12: And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven
suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. 13: For all the prophets
and the law prophesied until John. 14: And if ye will receive it, this is
Elias, which was for to come. 15: He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. 16:
But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting
in the markets, and calling unto their fellows, 17: And saying, We have piped
unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not
lamented. 18: For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath
a devil. 19: The 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.
Woes
to the cities
20: Then began he to upbraid the
cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not:
21: Woe 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. 22: But I say unto you, It shall be
more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you.
23: And 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. 24: But I say unto you, That it shall be
more tolerable for the land
of Sodom in the day of
judgment, than for thee.
Come
to me
25: At 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. 26:
Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight. 27: All 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. 28: Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and
I will give you rest. 29: Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek
and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30: For my yoke is
easy, and my burden is light.
The Apostles set out on their
Evangelistic tours. And at this time John sends two of his disciples to Christ
with a message. Was John’s faith failing? I doubt it; I think John was seeking
further confirmation of the success of his public recognition of Christ. He is
seeking confirmation of Christ’s Messianic signs. Christ tells John’s disciples
to go and tell him that they have seen six Messianic signs. 1. The blind
receive their sight, (That is those blind from birth) 2. The lame walk, (That
is those who have never walked) 3. The
lepers are cleansed, (An unknown thing in Israel) 4. The deaf hear, (This is
probably referring to the deaf and dumb demon possessed), 5. The dead are
raised up, (This was considered impossible after four days) 6. The poor have
the gospel preached to them. (Nobody preached to the poor!) These six signs
were known by the Rabbis as ‘Messianic signs’ or sign that only the Messiah
would be able to do. When John’s disciples had gone, Christ spoke of the
greatness of John. He describes him as the greatest prophet ever born. Then
Christ speaks about the fickle multitudes. The multitudes are frustrated with
Christ because he did not dance to their tune. Then Christ began to upbraid the
cities in which his might works were done. He says that they had been so
privileged in seeing his mighty works that even Sodom would have repented at seeing Christ’s
works. Then Christ breaks into a hymn of praise to the Father who hides these
truths from the wise but who reveals it unto children. Then lastly he gives his
General call to Israel.
‘Come unto me. All ye who labour and are heavy laden and l will give you rest’.
(This is the subject of the book of Hebrews) Christ is calling on Israel to come
to him and find their rest in him. He says take my yoke upon you and learn of
me etc. Christ is calling on Israel
to forsake their hard law keeping and to come under the discipleship of his
Messianic authority. In Christ they would find a spiritual transformation,
bringing a light burden and an easy yoke. (An easy yoke is one that does not
rub the skin)
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