Chapter 11

— the ministry of the King continued.

Verses 1-15, the herald of the King. This chapter is actually a continuation of the ninth chapter. The tenth chapter was a parenthesis to demonstrate the principle that Jesus Christ did not do all of the work Himself but He sent out His disciples. It was their briefing, not complete instructions.

Verse 1 — the word “commanding” here means to brief, to give the details before the assault; “he departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities.” He is going to do two things and the big question is, are they different or are they the same? Grammatically they are really the same — “teach, even preach.” There are some verses which would seem to separate the two and always one of the big problems is what the difference is between teaching and preaching. Most people think of teaching as some boring, academic dissertation, whereas they think of preaching as shouting and entertaining and jumping up and down, etc. Actually, they are two parts of the same thing. Preaching is just as much teaching as teaching is. The difference: teaching always emphasises the content and preaching emphasises the communication. They are two aspects of the same thing. Both of these are present active infinitives to indicate our Lord’s purpose on earth up to the cross. His purpose was to communicate exact information whereby people could be saved, whereby believers could grow up.

Verse 2 — When He begins His ministry again John at this time is held in a fortification by the Dead Sea. Being in prison he has to send a delegation to make a reconnaissance with regard to Jesus Christ. “ … when he had heard in the prison the works of Christ.” John was in about the most isolated place that it was possible to be, and the point is that people in the most isolated areas were getting information with regard to the work and the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Verse 3 — John sent a delegation of two to Jesus. “And said unto him, Art thou he that should come.” “He that should come” is a technical term. In the Greek it is a participle but it is a very technical participle which refers to the Messiah. This technical participle is also used in Mark 11:9; Luke 13:35; 19:38; Hebrews 10:37, and in each case it is a technical participle and it is asking a question: Are you the Messiah? — “or do we look for another?” another who is not you, another of a different kind.

Verse 4 — to reply to the inquiry leads to a dissertation on John the Baptist from which we learn certain principles about us as believers. This dissertation first of all describes a believer in a previous dispensation but by application the things we learn from John are applicable to us right now.

“Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and show.” “Show” is an aorist active imperative; “John again those things which ye do hear and see.” In other words they were so observe and report back to John.

Verse 5 — He describes some of the things they are going to see and have seen. This is a quotation from Isaiah 35:6 and 61:1. These are the things that they are to go back and announce to John. The reason that the delegation was to announce these things was simply because the things that Jesus has accomplished in chapters eight and nine of Matthew were the signs that He was the Messiah. And Jesus performed these signs not to alleviate suffering, not to help human beings as such, but to demonstrate who and what He was so that all men everywhere might receive Him as saviour. This is a very important principle. We must understand that miracles were not designed to alleviate suffering, they were designed with one thing in mind: to focus the attention of the people of that day upon the person of Christ and on His work which was about to take place so that they might have eternal life. Alleviation of suffering is absolutely nothing compared to having eternal life. This is an important perspective that very few people seem to have.

“The blind receive their sight.” The word “receive” is in the present tense to indicate not just one blind person but on numerous occasions blind people are receiving their sight. The same thing is true of all of these words, they are all in the present tense for that reason: to show that these things are happening periodically.

“and the poor have the gospel preached to them” — not under a special program to remove their poverty, as religion emphasises. The poor get what they need the most, the gospel, not money, not socialism, etc. There isn’t any war on the part of mankind that is going to cure poverty. The one thing by which the poor man can profit is the gospel. No poor person profits by getting money. This doesn’t mean that you don’t help people in need, not at all. But when you give money to the poor it isn’t going to change their status. You may be surprised to know that being poor is not a financial status but it is a mental attitude, and the only thing that can change poverty is regeneration. Poverty is a mental attitude.

Verse 6 — here is the reply to the inquiry. “And blessed in he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.” This is stated in a negative way because most of the people, due to the religious influence, were being offended. To be offended here means to be shocked. Why was this generation so shocked by the gospel? Because they were so saturated with religion. Jesus is trying to reach a religious society. (Wherever you have a religious society you have poor people) What shocks people in a religious society is the gospel and the thing that shocks them about the gospel is the principle of grace. It is shocking to a religious type society and Jesus says there is blessing for the one who is not shocked.

Verses 7-11, the evaluation of the ministry of John.

Verse 7 — “What went ye out into the desert to see?” This is addressed to a religious crowd who are impressed with the temple down in Jerusalem, who are impressed with their many synagogues, who are impressed with their religious activity. This is quite a challenge to these people because the fact that they went out into the desert means that they were seeking. They couldn’t find it in the temple or in their synagogues so they went out to the desert.

“A reed shaken with the wind?” A reed shaken with the wind is the first of a number of principles which are involved with any believer who serves the Lord. Just as this principle is connected with John , so it applies to you and to me.

The first principle: personality does not make the man. It is a human viewpoint concept that personality makes the man.

Verse 8 — “A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft raiment are in castles [palaces].”

The second principle: Clothes do not make the man [believer].

Verse 9 — “But what went ye out to see? A prophet?” someone who could tell you what is going to happen tomorrow or the next day; “yea, I say unto you, even more than a prophet.” John the Baptist was not a prophet as such, he was more than a prophet.

Third principle: The title or office does not make the man.

Verse 10 — “For this is he of whom it is written.” Now we have some documentation from Malachi 3:1 — “Behold I send my messenger [angel, literally. Greek: a)ggeloj],” i.e. John, “before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.” John is the herald who announces the coming of the King, the Messiah. “Before thee” is before Christ.

The problem of John the Baptist begins in Malachi 4:5,6 where it is announced that he will come and prepare the way for the Lord — also in Isaiah 40:3. The Malachi passage anticipates, however, that Christ will be rejected and therefore will come a second time, and therefore Jesus actually needs two sets of heralds. So for the first advent John the Baptist is His herald; at the second advent, the two witnesses and/or Moses and Elijah. This is amplified in Luke 1:16,17 where John as the herald of the first advent has the same spirit and power of Elijah. So Luke tells us that John is the herald for the first advent and Elijah is the herald for the second advent. In John 1:21 John the Baptist specifically declared that he was not Elijah, so we have two sets of heralds. In this passage in Matthew 11, if Israel had received John’s message and if they had received the Messiah, then John wouldn’t have been John, he would have been Elijah.

“I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare the way before thee.”

The fourth principle: “It is written.” The Word makes the man, not the man the Word.

Verse 11 — “Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not been a greater than John the Baptist” is a statement made by Jesus Christ Himself and He is actually saying to us that John the Baptist is the greatest (Paul hadn’t come on the scene yet); “notwithstanding [in spite of that] he that is least in the kingdom is greater than John the Baptist,” anticipating the coming of Paul. It is a prophecy about the coming of Paul the apostle. “He that is least” refers to a believer who is oriented to the grace of God. You cannot orient to the grace of God except through Bible doctrine and of all of the people who have ever lived Saul of Tarsus, after he became Paul, was better oriented to Bible doctrine than anyone who has ever lived. Therefore of all of the people who have ever lived “he that is least” refers to the apostle Paul. He was the least of all, he said he was the least of all, and in 1 Corinthians 15:10 he said: “By the grace of God I am what I am.” The word “least” describes a person who is oriented to grace, and a person who is least is the greatest because he uses maximum grace.

The fifth principle: grace makes the man.

Verse 12 — opposition to the kingdom. When you get to grace you are going to have opposition. “ … the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent taketh it by force.” This is a reference to opposition to grace. Note: You do not suffer bona fide persecution from religion, from people, until you are oriented to grace. When you know the Word of God and you use the Word of God and are actually oriented to the grace of God, then you are going to receive bona fide opposition and persecution because the devil cannot stand a grace person. Religion as a system from Satan cannot stand grace; people cannot stand grace; and as it says in the book of Galatians, the son of the bond-woman always persecutes the son of the free woman.

Verse 13 — the declaration of the kingdom. “For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.” The prophets and the law refer to the Old Testament and all this is saying is that the Old Testament scriptures declare grace.

Verse 14 — the rejection of the kingdom which is declared in the Old Testament. “And if” — first class condition of supposition; “ye will receive it [the gospel], this is Elijah.” In other words, John is Elijah if you will receive the gospel. But if you will not receive the gospel then John is John and Elijah comes later; “which was for to come,” an old English way of saying, “who is predicted” or “about to come.”

Verse 15 — the principle of perception. Some people can understand this and some cannot. What does it take to understand spiritual phenomena and divine truth? You have to have ears! “to hear” is not found in the original of this verse. It reads this way: “He who keeps on having his ears, listen [keep on listening],” an imperative. Some of the people in the crowd were obviously puzzled and Jesus wants them to understand what He is saying about the heralds and about the kingdom and about John and about all these things. He recognises that many do not understand and He says, Keep on listening, you’ll get it.

The sixth principle: persistence in Bible study, in learning doctrine, makes the man.

Verses 16-24, the condemnation of the Jews. Jesus is now going to roast this crowd. In verses 16, 17 the reason is found in the fact of their attitude.

Verse 16 — “But whereunto shall I liken this generation?” The generation standing in front of Him. They are religious people, they are legalistic, they are trying to be saved by works, they are trying to be spiritual by works, etc.; “it is like unto children,” they are adults who act like kids!; “sitting in the markets, and calling to their friends.” They are calling to their friends in a sulky way. They are sulking, they are complaining to their friends about the treatment they are receiving from their friends.

Verse 17 — what they say in their complaint. “We have piped [played music] for you, and you haven’t danced” — the happy side — “we have mourned unto you, and you have not lamented” — people you cannot please no matter what you do for them. One word describes them: implacable. The reason there is nothing you can do to please them is because they are children — small, petty minds.

Verse 18 — He illustrates this (in two ways). The real key here is found in verse 18 — “they say”; in the middle of verse 19 “they say.” Here we have John the Baptist and they criticise him. What “they say” is criticism. With regard to Jesus, “they say” is criticism. The children in the market are yelling at other children and “they say,” etc. In other words, what the children said to the other children was a complaint. They were complaining. John was minus eating and minus drinking [alcoholic beverage, wine] in a day when everyone drank wine. In other words, John satisfied the ascetic group in the religious organisation of Israel. But he receives criticism. The difference between John and the people who are criticising him is that he is a believer and they are not, and they don’t like him even though he is doing everything (asceticism) that they admire. The point is, he pleases them with his asceticism but they still don’t like him and they criticise him. They say he has a demon — verse 18. Why? Because he teaches or preaches grace. If you teach and preach grace you can’t please everyone. Now Jesus comes along and He is plus eating, and he also drank. He is just the opposite. And they say, “Behold a man gluttonous, and a wine-bibber [alcoholic],” verse 19. He didn’t over eat but they called Him a glutton; He didn’t over drink but they called Him an alcoholic. Notice: The modus operandi of John and Jesus is obviously different but both of them get shot down by the religious crowd.

Principle: No matter what you do you can’t please people, and your job as a believer is not to please people but to please the Lord. People make the mistake of going through their lives trying to please people and they never get anywhere. They should stop trying. Please the Lord and let that do the job. The battle is the Lord’s.

Verse 19 — “ … But wisdom is justified of her children.” There is just one word that isn’t found here and that is the word “children.” It should be: Wisdom is justified [vindicated] from her production. The Greek word translated “children” in the King James version is ergon, which means production, works. It never is used for children. Where do you get your production? You get it from God, not from people, and wisdom is knowing doctrine and applying it. Wisdom is used here for application of doctrine to experience and the whole point is: don’t try to please people, you please the Lord by using Bible doctrine. You make Bible doctrine your norm and your standard and you stick with what the Bible requires and what the Bible offers. If you stay with these things people may or may not like you but your life will be vindicated by its production.

So forget about people, let the chips fall where they may. Orient to the grace of God, to the Word of God, and your life will count.

Verses 20-24, the condemnation of Jewish cities. The cities condemned are the cities where Jesus has already preached, where He has presented His credentials, where He has performed the miracles, and where He has told them about the kingdom of God, and so on.

Verse 20 — “Then,” after this dissertation, “began he to upbraid the cities.” Upbraid means to reproach, to censor; “wherein most of his mighty works were accomplished, because they repented not.”

What does repent mean? The Greek word is metanoew, a compound verb; noew means to think, it does not mean to feel and has no emotional connotation whatever; meta is a preposition for switch, and the entire word means to switch your thinking, to reverse your thinking, to change your mind. It does not mean to feel sorry for sin. When Jesus said “they repented not” He means that they did not change their minds toward Him. He did the work; he did the preaching; and this word “they did not repent” is an expression of their rejection of Christ as saviour. So why does He condemn them? Because they have rejected Him.

Verse 21 — “Woe unto thee, Chorazin [a city located on the Sea of Galilee].” And the point is that this city has rejected the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

“for if” — second class condition [if, and it is not true], “the mighty works which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon,” two famous cities which were destroyed as a judgement from God, “they would have repented [changed their mental attitude toward Christ] long ago in sackcloth and ashes.” What is the difference between Tyre and Sidon [the two ancient cities famous for their wickedness] and these two cities? These two cities, Chorazin and Bethsaida, were religious.

Verse 22 — “But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable,” less frustrating at the point of judgement, “for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgement, than for you.” Because the people of Tyre and Sidon did not get what you got. Jesus Christ did not go to Tyre and Sidon, they had been destroyed.

Verse 23 — “And thou Capernaum, which art exalted unto the heaven, shalt be brought down to hades: for if the mighty works have been accomplished in thee, had been accomplished in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.” The point is, we are dealing with people in these cities and these judgements are judgements on individual unbelievers in the city.

Verse 24 — “more tolerable” again, means less frustration.

Verse 25 — “At that time Jesus answered and said.” Jesus prays, He responds now to the message with prayer — “I thank thee O Father.” Notice that even Jesus Himself prays to the Father and the principle is: all prayer is addressed to the Father’ “Lord [deity] of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise [smart ones] and prudent [religious crowd].” In other words, if you get religion in your frontal lobe you will never understand grace; “and hast revealed them unto babes.” What is the difference between wise, prudent, and babes? These are three systems of perception. Wise refers to rationalism; prudent is empiricism; babes refers to faith. Rationalism and empiricism are not the basis for understanding or responding to the gospel. Spiritual phenomena [doctrine] is revealed to those who have the perceptive system of faith. And Jesus is thanking the Father that this is the way, otherwise we would never learn anything.

Verse 26 — “Even so, Father: for it seemed good in thy sight.” In other words, this is the only way to do it, the correct way. Jesus Christ is recognising in His prayer that the plan of the Father is perfect, even though it is in for criticism from religion.

Verse 27 — the plan of the Father is now mentioned. “ … whomsoever the Son will [desires to] reveal him.” The word “desire” means a mental desire based upon understanding the situation, based on knowing who has positive volition at God consciousness and who doesn’t. The Greek word is boulomai, which simply means a mental desire based upon perception, and Jesus Christ in His omniscience knows who has positive volition.

Verse 28-30, the conclusion.

Verse 28 — an invitation to the unbeliever. “Come” is not a verb, it is a particle of exhortation. It is stronger than any verb could be and stronger than the imperative mood. It is the strongest possible invitation. So Jesus is saying in the strongest possible way the importance of coming to Him. (We have a twofold invitation here. In verse 28 the invitation is to the unbeliever, but in verse 29 we have an invitation to the believer to serve the Lord); “unto me, all ye that labour.” The word “labour” is a present active participle and it means to have worked to the point of exhaustion in trying to save yourself. This is a perfect invitation to the Jew because they were working to the point of exhaustion for salvation; “and are heavy laden” is a reference to the tremendous load of religion that they are carrying. It is in the perfect tense: they have been burdened down with this religious load in the past and it is about to break their backs; “and I will give you rest.” This is the rest of salvation based upon faith in Christ.

Verse 29 — an invitation to the believer. For those who come to Christ, believe on Him, “Take my yoke upon you.” In other words, get into harness. A yoke is used for an animal that is going to pull something; “and learn of [from] me.” You have to know doctrine before you can serve the Lord; “for I am meek and lowly of heart.” “I am meek” is a reference to the Spirit-filled life; “lowly of heart [frontal lobe]” is orientation to grace. Jesus Christ is filled with the Spirit; He passes it on to us. He was oriented to grace; He passes the principle on to us — “and ye shall find rest [faith-rest] in your souls.”

Verse 30 — “My yoke is easy.” The yoke is service in phase two. The word “easy” isn’t easy at all, it means it is profitable, My service is profitable; “and my burden” is the burden is opposition, suffering; “is light,” it doesn’t weigh a thing. In other words, you are going to suffer as a believer but it is going to be wonderful. The burden is light, easy to carry. Jesus is saying here that when you get into harness for Him it is the greatest thing that could ever happen.