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.
John had been cast into prison because for speaking out against king Herod’s marriage to his sister-in-law (and niece), which was contrary to the Law (Mat 4:12; 14:3-4). The Scriptures do not spell out the Baptist’s motive for sending his disciples to ask Jesus if He was the Messiah, but it is safe to infer that John was getting discouraged there in his prison cell. He had been witness to the Spirit descending like a dove upon Jesus and testified to that He was the Messiah (Mat 3:13-17; John 1:19-36), but now, feeling alone, forgotten and useless, he sought reassurance.
All Jewry, including the disciples, had a greatly mistaken view of Messiah’s life and mission (see note Mat 12:19). They expected Jesus to raise up a Jewish militia and shake off the bonds of Rome. Then He would set up the earthly kingdom of David and fight for the nation of Israel. Did John have similar hopes? Perhaps he thought Jesus would come and deliver him. However, after sitting in jail for long months and seeing that Jesus was doing none of these things, John was discouraged and tired of waiting. And so He sent for further confirmation. Perhaps there is even a subtle hint, “Here I am in languishing in prison. If you’re the Messiah, what are you going to do about it?”
Jesus did not answer John with any new proofs of Messiahship. He only says, Go shew John again those things which ye do hear and see (Mat 11:4). Those that are wavering in faith and hoping for new proof of God should learn from this a lesson. Instead of saying, “Yes, I’m the one,” Jesus reminded John of those miracles which only God has the power to work. Anybody can SAY he is the Messiah, but only Jesus could demonstrate it.
The prophets of old had named the very miracles in Jesus’ list as works of the Messiah (see Is 35:5; Isa 61:1). And John, of priestly heritage and highly learned in the Law, would have been familiar with those passages. It has been noted that of all the miracles listed, none is so marvelous as the last one: the poor have the Gospel preached to them. Healings are thoroughly convincing, yes, but that the Almighty God would care for the poor and downtrodden is an incredible proof of His character. He IS a kind and compassionate God, a God of love, mercy and goodness.
Even great men can become discouraged and disheartened. The forerunner John the Baptist and the afterrunner Paul the Apostle both were imprisoned for the last years of their lives (see note Mat 3:4). They were sidelined from preaching the message that they loved, their very life’s work derailed and in doubt. Both were seemingly marginalized by their own disciples. Paul’s last epistle reveals his own end-of-life discouragements (2Tim 1:15; 4:10; 4:16-17). I can imagine John sitting day after day, alone in his cell; it seems so sad! But then it strikes me – these were real men, men of faith, men of God! Could it be otherwise for them? Which of the prophets were not persecuted? (Acts 7:52). All of the Apostles save John the Beloved were eventually taken and killed by wicked hands. Truly these were men of whom the world was not worthy (Heb 11:38).
The Jewish nation in general was offended at Christ, another detail foretold by the prophets (Is 8:14-15). They were offended at His lineage and His Nazarene roots, and they were offended at His teaching and His manner of life. Jesus was not the Messiah that they expected and wanted! At His crucifixion, even His own disciples were offended (Mat 26:31). John was offended because Jesus was not helping him get out of that stale prison. And today, many continue to be offended at Christ and the Gospel (1Cor 1:23).
- The careless Christian is easily offended by myriad tricks and deceptions of the Devil.
- The self-centered Christian is offended when God asks him to do something he doesn’t want to do.
- The weak Christian is offended when God doesn’t deliver him from temptations.
- The lazy Christian is offended when God does not make his life easier.
- The world in general is offended because of the Message itself.
- Atheists are offended because God cannot be seen with the eyes. Richard Dawkins was asked what he would say to God if he woke up dead and discovered that God was real after all. He said, “I would ask why He had taken such great pains to hide Himself.”
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.
John the Baptist was a prophet and priest. He could also be called the Kingdom’s first fire-and-brimstone evangelist. Unabashedly and uncompromisingly given to seeking God and truth, no greater prophet has ever walked this earth than John the Baptist. He was more than a prophet, he was the prophesied messenger sent by God to make ready the way for the Messiah.
Here Jesus quotes Malachi 3:1, Behold, I will send My messenger, and he shall prepare the way before Me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, He shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. This is an amazing prophecy in which the Messiah and the Lord of hosts seem to be the same person. John is the messenger who came to prepare the way and Christ is the Messenger of the covenant who appeared suddenly upon Jewish scene and just as suddenly departed to take His throne in the heavenly Temple (Heb 8:1-2).
The last two chapters of the Old Testament contain some of the clearest prophecies of the Messiah to be found in the Scriptures. Pre-millennialists however, deny that they apply to Christ’s first coming and insist upon a fulfillment after the Church has been raptured from the earth in a supposed Millennial Age. For this interpretation, they must divorce mid-sentence the prophet’s message in Mal 3:1. The first half, they say, is a reference to John the Baptist, but the second half concerns a future re-appearing of Christ at a supposed rebuilt temple at Jerusalem. The same dissection is performed on Mal 4:1. However, there is not one New Testament prophetic hint that the temple at Jerusalem will be rebuilt, although one would suppose it to be commonly found therein. Instead, they cite Old Testament prophecies, yet completely ignore that all of those prophecies, every last one, was written before the Jews returned from Babylon and did actually rebuild the temple at Jerusalem. To prove that statement, we offer as Exhibit A their key prophetic text, Dan 9:24-27.
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.
Can there be a higher compliment? A major component of John’s “greatness” was the depth of his commitment to seek God and fully follow His Word. The degree to which he disciplined himself and refused to be even slightly turned to the right or to the left is very impressive. John was well-born in Jewish society, of priestly lineage, with a bright and lucrative future in Judaism if he so desired. He laid those benefits aside so that he might better prosecute his special calling to prepare the way of the Lord. See our notes on Matthew 3.
Yet, the least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he. What does this mean? I think Jesus was showing just how blessed it is to be part of the New Covenant, something which John the Baptist was not privileged to experience. Although filled with the Holy Spirit from birth (Luke 1:15), John lived and died during the Old Covenant age, before the sacrifice for sin was made (Rom 3:19-25). He was the last of the Prophets and its greatest according to Jesus, yet he would not live to know the events and details of Kingdom of heaven. He knew nothing of Christ’s death for the sins of the world, of His resurrection, of His ascension into heaven and of salvation through faith in His name. Those transcendental things, however, are known and preached by the least evangelist in the kingdom of heaven. Although he was neither, Samuel has been called the last judge and the first king of Israel; John was the last prophet and the first evangelist in Israel.
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.
The parallel passage reads, Every man presseth into it (Luke 16:16). The same Greek word (biazo) that is translated violent in Matthew is translated presseth in Luke. It takes force of will to enter the Kingdom. Weaklings and fearful ones will not attain its blessings. Only those who strive diligently to enter (Luke 13:24), who are willing to wrestle all night (Gen 32:24-28), who are unmoved by afflictions (1Thes 3:3), who ignore the opprobrium and shame (Heb 12:2), and who buffet their bodies into subjection (1Cor 9:27), will be able to enter in. We must through much tribulation enter the Kingdom of God (Act 14:22). It’s not a birthright condition, like the Jewish covenant was, but a real and desperate struggle to enter, overcome and win the prize (Rev 3:21; Php 3:14). The violent take it by force…every man presses into it. The Gospel road is not for wimps and weaklings, it is an intense, life-long conflict. Those who will live godly in Christ Jesus SHALL suffer persecution (2Tim 3:12). The Devil and his demons will attack, the world will tempt, the fight will be most severe and only the strong will overcome. The violent take it by force. This verse does not square with the Calvinist notion that the will of man does not enter into salvation, which they have manufactured by mis-representing Romans 9:16.
Perhaps there is an allusion to Daniel’s prophecy that the saints of the most High shall take the Kingdom and possess the Kingdom forever, even forever and ever (Dan 7:18). The Kingdom of Christ is non-militant, but that does not at all mean it is passive. No, it goes out conquering and to conquer (Rev 6:2). It overcomes evil by doing good to others, it preaches the saving Gospel and so wrests from Satan’s power the souls of men, it is actively advancing in all the world (Mat 28:19).
From the days of John the Baptist until now. Luke marks the same moment in his record, The law and prophets were until John: since that time the Kingdom of God is preached (Luke 16:16). Jesus’ ministry lasted 3-1/2 years, during which time the Jews constantly tried to kill Him (Luke 4:28-30; 13:31; John 5:18; 7:1).
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.
The prophet Malachi had prophesied: Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord (Mal 4:5). Accordingly, the Jewish doctors of the Law taught that Elijah himself would descend from heaven in a whirlwind just before the Messiah appeared. Jesus however, affirmed that John the Baptist was the Elijah of Malachi’s prophecy, not reincarnated, but come in the spirit and power of Elias, just as the Lord had told his father Zacharias (Luke 1:17). See notes on Mat 17:10, John 1:21.
As were the Pharisees of Jesus’ day, Pre-millennialists are obsessed with the idea that Elijah will return before the end of the world. They support this belief by linking one of the two witnesses in Rev 11 to the prophesy of Malachi 4:5. That interpretive system falls hard when compared to Jesus’ plain words here, that John the Baptist was Elijah, which was for to come. Let the Pre-millenialist note Jesus own words: Elias is come already…and they have done unto him whatsoever they listed (Mat 17:12).
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.
This generation refers to the Jews in general (see that usage of the word in Mat 12:41, 24:34). Most did not accept the Messiah and His Gospel of the Kingdom. Some did and were saved; but most, especially the leaders and elite of the nation, violently rejected Christ and His spiritual kingdom (Luke 7:29-30). The picture of dancing and mourning describes the two-fold manner in which God testified to that generation. The messenger John the Baptist had come preaching repentance, austere living and strict adherence to the Law – and they beheaded him. Then the Messenger of the Covenant, Jesus the Messiah, came preaching mercy and love – and they crucified Him.
The wicked and selfish will find a reason to reject Truth no matter how it is presented. It is a rule that applies today. Some reject Christ because they do not believe the Bible is the Word of God. Some do not believe Christ is the son of God. Some find certain of his teachings too onerous, etc. So it was with the Jewish rulers. They found fault with the company He kept. They were outraged at His “blasphemous” doctrine. They criticized His actions against their interpretations of the Law (see v6).
Wisdom is justified of her children. True wisdom will be proven to be authentic by time and her wise actions; counterfeit wisdom will be proven to be false by the same method.
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.
Tyre, Sidon and Sodom were wicked Gentile cities of the Old Testament whose sins God could no longer tolerate. Jesus came preaching the wisdom and knowledge of God with many convincing signs and proofs of His origin, but many people did not believe upon Him. Those who have received gifts of spiritual knowledge will be held responsible to rightly respond to that gift on the day of Judgment. The children of Israel in the time of Christ failed that test. They did not keep the oracles God had entrusted to them, and made their own rules and interpretations that mocked His plan.
Isaiah 10:12-16 is a passage which undergirds Christ’s words, and they help to better understand Him in Luke 8:10; Mark 4:12; Mat 13:13, where one might erroneously infer that Jesus made sure that the Jews would not believe on Him. Those who possess the Gospel will be given more, but those who reject it will find that even the little they have will be taken away (Mat 13:12; Luke 19:26).
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.
This truth is even more relevant today, for the societies of the world have elevated “knowledge and wisdom” to a maximum position. The intellectual community has placed complete confidence in human rationale based on science and knowledge. And yet the highest, ultimate truths of the Universe are hidden to them. Not many wise men after the flesh accept the Gospel (1Cor 1:26). Why? Because they cannot comprehend it and according to their own rationale, that means they cannot accept it. Of course, they are inconsistent even in that posture, for they use electricity and light without understanding how they work and they believe evolution is the cause of life without proof. They ask, “How can a good God permit evil in the world?” And then reject Him because they cannot fit the answer to their worldview. Who can comprehend God? It is impossible (Is 55:8-9). The materialistic minded man however, must understand, or he will reject. They have much too lofty confidence in Man’s faculties and capacities. The glory of Man is but a vapor of smoke and a fleeting flower of the field (James 4:14).
Few of the worldly wise and prudent will believe the Gospel. It is a stumblingblock to their way of thinking. In Jesus’ day, the Jewish leaders thought themselves the very Wisdom of the ancients (compare Luke 10:21-24) and they were offended at Christ. That is not surprising. The very prophets had foretold the Messiah’s rejection by the wise of the world (Is 29:14; Jer 8:9). Because of their hardened hearts, the Gospel became more and more hidden to them (Mat 13:12-14; Luke 8:10; Act 28:25-28). The Psalmist wrote, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast ordained strength (Ps 8:2). These will hear, speak and receive the Truth, while the wise and prudent of this world will stumble and fall (1Cor 1:18-28).
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.
No man comes to know God except by God. The natural man cannot understand spiritual things, but he that is spiritual understands both (1Cor 2:14-15). God the Son, the eternal Word, became flesh in order to declare God the Father (John 1:18; 3:35; 6:46; 10:15). Irenaeus wrote: “For the Son, being present with His own handiwork from the beginning, reveals the Father to all; to whom He wills, and when He wills, and as the Father wills. Wherefore, then, in all things, and through all things, there is one God, the Father, and one Word, and one Son, and one Spirit, and one salvation to all who believe in Him” (Against Heresies, Bk 4, Ch6).
Only the Father knows the Son, and only the Son knows the Father. A clearer picture of the Son’s deity can hardly be conceived, but add the previous affirmation that the Father has given the Son all things, and we cannot doubt that the Scriptures teach the divinity of Christ. Those who deny that truth, deny these Scriptures. The verse closes with an equally important truth: the Son reveals the Father to whomsoever He chooses. Note the difference between knowing the Father by revelation and knowing the Father on account of direct provenance.
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.
This comforting promise has encouraged the souls of millions of Christians down through the centuries of time. Come unto Me (see also Is 55:1-3; Rev 22:17). No matter the burden you are carrying, take it to the One who knows all and has experienced it Himself. He is willing and waiting to empathize with every pain and sorrow (Heb 4:15) and He is able to lighten your load. The repose that Christ offers is not the absence of duty and work, but rest for your souls (Jer 6:16; Is 14:3). It is that inner peace which passeth all understanding (see note on Mat 10:34).
A yoke implies burden and labor, but we have a choice of yokes. To bear the yoke of self, sin and Satan is to experience the heavy, awful load of guilt and the sad consequences of wickedness in life and death. Accepting the yoke of Christ is total freedom from those weights! Remember though, that Christ also has a yoke for you to carry. And while the first yoke looks plush, shiny and fun; the second has the look of a rough, wooden cross (Mat 10:38; 16:24). Their appearances are deceiving! For to take the first yoke will lead to destruction, misery and eternal death, but that old wooden cross leads to LIFE ETERNAL. Would you be yoked to Satan (2Cor 6:14), that cruel and hateful master? Infinitely more blessed it is to be yoked with Christ, who has promised to walk alongside the whole way (Mat 28:20; Heb 13:5).
I can picture Jesus speaking to the attentive crowd when a pair of oxen pulling a heavy load begins to pass down the street. Come unto Me, He says, Take My yoke upon you…for My yoke is easy, and My burden is light. While there are yokes to bear and works to do in the Kingdom of Christ, His commands are never grievous or too difficult (1John 5:3). Jesus denounced the Pharisees for loading the people’s yoke with unnecessary burdens (Mat 23:4) even beyond the many rules, rituals and ceremonies of the Law (Act 15:10). Yes, there are temporary burdens of self-denial, ridicule and suffering (2Cor 4:17), but the overcomers will be granted the privilege to sit with Him on His heavenly throne for all eternity.
Ye shall find rest unto your souls! Those who refuse the yoke of Christ must bear their heavily laden carts forever, even into Hell itself. How beautiful the picture of Jesus calling to travel-worn pilgrims to come unto Him, where they will find unimaginable blessings forevermore. He assures these tired ones that He is not a difficult King, but a gentle One, kind and compassionate, merciful and easy to talk to. Even the most timid person will quickly discover that is true (Mat 12:20). The yoke of Christ is much lighter than the yoke of sin.
Learn of Me. Jesus had time for children, ate with sinners, spoke with harlots, and healed even the ungrateful. The way of Jesus may be difficult, but truly His yoke is easy and light. Moreover, the soul-rest He offers is heaven itself. The promises of Christ in the New Covenant are not simple revisions to the Law, they are the sure mercies that David wrote about in the Psalms – abounding spiritual realities that make the soul rejoice and sing even in times of sorrow.