When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities.
2 Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples 3 and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” 4 And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. 6 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
7 As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 8 What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. 9 What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 This is he of whom it is written,
“‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face,
who will prepare your way before you.’
11 Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12 From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. 13 For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, 14 and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. 15 He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
16 “But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates,
17 “‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’
18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.” Matthew 11: 1-19 ESV
Matthew 11: 1-19
When John heard in prison - People were just as big on hearing that they were sinners back then, and the average Joe on the street might yell at you, may pick a fight with you, but when you tell the king he is a sinner, then he has the power to throw you in jail. John confronted Herod, and we will learn more about that in Matthew 14.
“Herod Antipas of Galilee had paid a visit to his brother in Rome. During that visit he seduced his brother’s wife. He came home again, dismissed his own wife, and married the sister-in-law whom he had lured away from her husband. Publicly and sternly John rebuked Herod. It was never safe to rebuke an eastern despot and Herod took his revenge; John was thrown into the dungeons of the fortress of Machaerus in the mountains near the Dead Sea.” (Barclay) - E Word
Are You the One Who is to come, or shall we look for Another - Jesus has come preaching the kingdom, and John is the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy of a voice of one calling from the wilderness. John baptized Jesus, acknowledging that He truly comes before him, even though John was born first, and his ministry started first, preparing the way of the Lord, crying out for the people to repent. He is in jail now, and he sends his disciples to ask Jesus a question. I don't believe in any way that John's faith has hit such a crisis as to now be an unbeliever, and it is possible that he, like many, even Jesus's own disciples, expected the Kingdom to come right then, for there to be a huge political uprising now, and I think we will have even more reason to see it from a Millennial, Messianic perspective in Jesus answer to John's disciples. Whatever the reason, disappointment, present living quarters, confusion in his eschatology, he has come to a place of doubt.
…2“Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her forced labor has been completed; her iniquity has been pardoned. For she has received from the hand of the LORD double for all her sins.” 3A voice of one calling: “Prepare the way for the LORD in the wilderness; make a straight highway for our God in the desert. 4Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill made low; the uneven ground will become smooth, and the rugged land a plain.… Isaiah: 40:2-4
29The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30This is He of whom I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.’ 31I myself did not know Him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that He might be revealed to Israel.”… John 1: 29-31
It’s as if you have to believe something before you can doubt it; you have to be committed to it before you would begin to question it, so that doubt is pointed up as the unique problem of the believer. There’s only one time in the gospels when it refers to unbelievers in reference to doubt, and when it does, it uses a word that means ‘to keep in suspense.’ And it is a term that is nowhere else used in the New Testament. The normal terms that surround the concept of doubt are used of believers.
Now I say that, in a sense, to encourage you, that doubt is something that occurs in the life of a believer. In fact, the illustration in Matthew 11 happens to be John the Baptist’s. Now, unless you might think – unless you might think that John the Baptist was a weak believer, verse 11 will help you. It says, “Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist.” Now, if the greatest man that ever lived up until his time had doubts, then we can be a little comforted, can we not, when we doubt?
So doubt is basically a problem encountered by believers. Over and over, for example, in Matthew, Jesus said to His disciples, “Oh you of” – What? – “little faith.” And on some occasions, “How long will you doubt?” he said. They had committed themselves to Him. They had believed, but their belief, from time to time, hit some snags that made them doubt. Jesus said to them in John – in Matthew 21:21, “If you have faith and doubt not, you shall not only do this to the fig tree, but also,” and He goes on to talk about moving mountains. So He had to continually remind them not to doubt. - J Mac
Blind receive their sight and the lame walk - Before this he tells John's disciples to tell what they "hear and see", so they are witnessing these miracles as Jesus performs them. He has been preaching about the Kingdom, which He will rule as the Lion of Judah, but right now He is looking towards the cross, as the Passover Lamb. These are aspects of the Kingdom, remember, even after the fall people lived longer lives, but the population and gene pool were reduced greatly after the flood, and the environment changed as well. During the Millennial Kingdom Christ will reign, healing disease, and someone who dies at the age of a hundred will be considered young. This was all foretold in the OT, and many of Jesus's followers are seeing the signs of it now, so they are expecting it now, yet He still has to die for their sins. This is His answer back to John though, that He is the One, look, these are the signs, this is the Messiah. He refers John back to what the prophet Isaiah said:
5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
6 then shall the lame man leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.
For waters break forth in the wilderness,
and streams in the desert; Isaiah 35: 5-6
…19I will rejoice in Jerusalem and take delight in My people. The sounds of weeping and crying will no longer be heard in her. 20No longer will a nursing infant live but a few days, or an old man fail to live out his years. For the youth will die at a hundred years, and he who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed. 21They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.… Isaiah 65: 19-21
Blessed is the one who is not offended by Me - As we learned in the last chapter it is a divisive message, but to the one who accepts it, it is salvation. It's a hard calling, but here John the Baptist is the first to die on account of this truth. Preaching repentance, being a disciple of Jesus is a lesson in self denial, it's not how you want it to be, what you would like it to be, wanting something to be true doesn't make it so, but nothing that you suffer is outside of God's sovereignty, and everything here in this time and space is minute, far less than what we deserved. Don't be ashamed of the One Who brings you this grace.
ii. “Blessed is he who can be left in prison, can be silenced in his testimony, can seem to be deserted of his Lord, and yet can shut out every doubt. John speedily regained this blessedness, and fully recovered his serenity.” (Spurgeon)
A reed shaken by the wind - Most people would know better than to speak out against a culture and it's king, but not John, he saw the honor of God at stake and raised his voice against those who flagrantly paraded their sin. He was not easily shaken by them, so Christ speaks out on his behalf, lest others think he wavered here for his question. Christ's own disciples will abandon Him for a time, and when things don't play out like we thought they would, when people will not tolerate the truth, detest logic and reason, we must still tell it, and look to God come what may. I live and work in what is like Babylon, with people that too often remind us of the Peter principal, wind vanes, as I have said before, not sure of what they believe from day to day until they lick their finger and stick it up in the air. So many have to check Facebook, the television, their favorite celebrities' tweets, the majority, the popular opinion, but Jesus is saying John is not like that, He believes in God and is not compromised. He is not like the Pharisees or the culture.
…13until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, as we mature to the full measure of the stature of Christ. 14Then we will no longer be infants, tossed about by the waves and carried around by every wind of teaching and by the clever cunning of men in their deceitful scheming. 15Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Christ Himself, who is the head.… Ephesians 4: 13-15
A man dressed in soft clothing - These were the rich, the influential, the politicians, those who dressed for success and played the game. John was an alien to all that, a man in animal skin, roaming the wilderness, standing up to the present rulers and darkness of the age. He wasn't royalty, was not wealthy, not a famous warrior or athlete, not even a fancy scribe, the greatest preacher was eating locust and honey, not going to red carpet events. The human eye would pass over him quickly, but that mouth, that burning in the bosom, that fire that came forth, the message of repentance, it drew both friends and enemies.
I send my messenger before your face - Jesus reveals John's identity in the OT.
1“Behold, I will send My messenger, who will prepare the way before Me. Then the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple— the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight— see, He is coming,” says the LORD of Hosts. 2But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire, like a launderer’s soap.… Malachi 3: 1-2
Yet the one who is least in the Kingdom is greater than he - John came much in the manner of the prophets before him, and he was greater in that they foretold Messiah, but he was there to baptize and bear witness to Him. He came preaching repentance because of the people's breach of the law, yet Christ was bringing in the New Covenant of His blood. John would die before this, but Chris's disciples would go on to preach it and make it known to the world. Those living in the Millennial Kingdom will enjoy the presence of Christ teaching them directly, a more fuller, clearer picture of all that has taken place and come to fulfillment.
6 But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises.
7 For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. 8 But God found fault with the people and said:
“The days are coming, declares the Lord,
when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel
and with the people of Judah.
9 It will not be like the covenant
I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt,
because they did not remain faithful to my covenant,
and I turned away from them,
declares the Lord.
10 This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel
after that time, declares the Lord.
I will put my laws in their minds
and write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
11 No longer will they teach their neighbor,
or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest.
12 For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.”
13 By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear. Hebrews 8: 6-13
“As we may say, as a rule, that the darkest day is lighter than the brightest night; so John, though first of his own order, is behind the last of the new or Gospel order. The least in the Gospel stands on higher ground than the greatest under the law.” (Spurgeon)
The Kingdom of Heaven has suffered violence - It is not preached without price of turmoil.
i. The exact sense of this has been greatly debated, and is made more difficult by complicated grammar. Carson probably gives the best sense of both expressions. “The kingdom has come with holy power and magnificent energy that has been pushing back the frontiers of darkness. This is especially manifest in Jesus’ miracles and ties in with Jesus’ response to the Baptist…The kingdom is making great strides; now is the time for courageous souls, forceful people, to take hold of it.” (Carson)
ii. The kingdom will never be received passively. It is always founded on God’s work on our behalf, but God’s work will always produce a response in us. “They are not lazy wishes or cold endeavours that will bring men to heaven.” (Poole)
iii. “Frequently complaints are made and surprise expressed by individuals who have never found a blessing rest upon anything they have attempted to do in the service of God. ‘I have been a Sunday-school teacher for years,’ says one, ‘and I have never seen any of my girls or boys converted.’ No, and the reason most likely is you have never been violent about it; you have never been compelled by the Divine Spirit to make up your mind that converted they should be, and no stone should be left unturned until they were. You have never been brought by the Spirit to such a passion, that you have said, ‘I cannot live unless God bless me. I cannot exist unless I see some of these children saved.’ Then, falling on your knees in agony of prayer, and putting forth afterwards your trust with the same intensity towards heaven, you would never have been disappointed, ‘for the violent take it by force.’” (Spurgeon)
He is Elijah who is to come - He is not literally, but comes in the spirit of the prophet. Moses and Elijah stand with Jesus on the mount during the transfiguration.
…4“Remember the law of My servant Moses, the statutes and ordinances I commanded him for all Israel at Horeb. 5Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD. 6And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse.”… Malachi 4: 4-6
Played the flute and mourned - Jesus came healing, teaching, turning water into wine, and John came more somber, mourning, fasting, and people came for the fish and bread, to see miracles, many came to hear the preaching of John, but most could not truly hear either Jesus or John. They called Jesus a friend of tax collectors and prostitutes, as though they knew who and what His mission should be. He should be friends with hypocrites instead, overthrow Rome and put the religious elite in seats of power and privilege. That's what they wanted, not the repentance of John, who called them vipers, or Jesus, who forgave adulteresses and called tax collectors.
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.