Matthew 11:1-19

Matthew 11:1-19
After Jesus finished His instructions to the 12, He sent them out to preach in the region. John the Baptist, who was in prison (because he had publicly rebuked Herod for his sin--see Matthew 14), heard about what Jesus was doing. John had been the forerunner of Jesus preparing the people for His coming. Now perhaps he was a little discouraged, and he wondered if this Jesus really was the promised Messiah. If Jesus was truly the Messiah, John may have wondered why he had to sit in prison instead of being out preaching and participating in the ministry. So he sent his own disciples to inquire about it.

Jesus answered his doubts by pointing to the miracles and the preaching of the Gospel to the poor. Jesus' identity as the Messiah was obvious to those who saw and heard Him. He went on to encourage John in v. 6 with these words, "Blessed is the man who does no fall away on account of me." In other words, "Take courage, John, and turn to Me rather than away from Me, and God will bless you."

Jesus went on in v. 7-15, Jesus talks to the crowd about John the Baptist.

• He was not weak  (reed swayed by the wind). v. 7
• He was not royalty or a celebrity. v. 8
• He was a prophet. v. 9, 14
• He was a messenger send ahead to prepare the way for Jesus. v. 10
• No human being ever fulfilled God's purpose better than John! v. 11 "I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist;" The second part of v. 11,"...yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he" can be explained this way, "...in God's coming Kingdom all members will have a greater spiritual heritage than John because they will have seen and known Christ and his finished work on the cross." (Life Application Study Bible, p. 1338) Wow! This is quite a statement, made by Jesus Himself, about us as New Testament believers!

Jesus condemned the attitude of that generation because they always found a way to criticize and reject God's Word! They were like children who rejected John because he lived a very plain kind of life in the wilderness. They said "He has a demon." On the other hand, Jesus ate and drank with sinners, and they said, "Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and 'sinners.'"

Though many of the people refused to accept the truth, Jesus ministry of miracles and salvation vindicated them both--"...wisdom is proved right by her actions."  Each one obeyed God in his own way.

Today's generation is much the same. Sometimes it seems that Christians can't do anything right! But we can't pay attention to that. We must obey God. And along similar lines, we need to be careful that we don't find a way to be negative about God's work and those who are trying to do it!