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 signs 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)
- Why do you think that John requested confirmation of Christs messianic mission?
- What signs of his messianic authority did Christ send back to John?
- What did Jesus mean when he called on Israel to come to him?
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