January 14, 2024
Matthew 11:1–11

Title: The Weak Moments Of Life

Outline:

1. John’s Low Moment
2. Jesus’ Answer
3. Jesus’ Evaluation
4. Our Duty

Matthew’s account of the Gospel brought “hopeful and encouraging” to the first century people of faith. Great crowds followed Him around as He traveled from place to place, and numerous ones “responded to [His kingdom] summons” for they were astonished at His doctrine as He preached. As His words brought both spiritual and physical healing to many. ¶ In chapter 11, we see Jesus’ ministry continuing, but with threatening "overtones.” (Blomberg, 185) We know where our Lord is going. Our King’s earthly life will not end in an earthly triumph as defined either by the world and even by most first century people of faith. Instead He will be “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” (Isaiah 53:3) His sorrows and griefs and rejection will culminate upon His cross and to His grave. But His cosmic triumph will be a short three days later at His own resurrection. (Gibson) ¶ The ministry of John the Baptist will shortly end in disaster according to our texts. But during his ministry, Of John Barclay wrote, that he was “incapable of seeing evil without rebuking it.” It was due to this quality that John landed in prison. John publicly rebuked Herod Antipas of Galilee because he had seduced his own brother’s wife while he was in Rome. After arriving back home he dismissed his own wife and married the sister-in-law. “Publicly and sternly John rebuked Herod”, and for that, Herod took his revenge by locking John up in a fortress dungeon near the Dead Sea. (Barclay)

Messengers from John the Baptist

1 When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities.

• Last week we finished quite the list regarding discipleship given by Jesus to the Apostles as they were being sent out.
• Again we see that Matthew “had no concern for recording what happened when the Twelve went out having received Jesus’ instructions.” He skips all the details of how things went for them—as Disciples—and "resumed his narration of [our Lord] Jesus’ ministry.” (Constable)

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?”

• John was the Lord’s heralder, His “forerunner,” that was strong, clear, reliable and bold. John "had been tried again and again, and always found brave and true. Yet it is he who sends the doubting message.” (Gibson)
• This half verse has brought much debate into commentary work. Why did John ask the question?
  • “(i) Some few have thought that this question was nothing less than the question of dawning faith and hope. …” A romantic explanation at best.
  • “(ii) Some people think that the question was asked, not for John’s sake at all, but for the sake of his disciples. …” This seems a wonderful stretch to me.
  • “(iii) It may be that John’s question was the question of impatience. His message had been a message of doom (Matthew 3:7-12). The axe was at the root of the tree; the winnowing process had begun; the divine fire of cleansing judgment had begun to burn. …” (Barclay; The order was changed.)
  • I would draw attention to what prompted John’s question: “when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ.” It seems John logic was, “If He is raising the dead, surely he can deliver me from prison.” (cr Gibson)
  • (iv) Also another driver most likely had to do with what France called his “discrepancy between his expectations” (France, 192)
• Another reason John may have asked the question is that he may have been thinking what the Disciples also thought: the kingdom was going to fully start during Jesus’ earthly ministry. (Blomberg, 185)
  • From the Scriptures it is easy to infer that John the Baptist and Jesus’ Disciples expected Jesus to set up the final rule to His kingdom in the first century.
  • That too is what the whole nation expected.

APPLICATION

• We often want to speak for God. God will do this or that, or worst, God should do this or that. WATCH OUT O MAN!
• "It took spiritual commitment to not be “‘put off’ by Jesus.” John was not alone in finding Jesus “hard to take.” (France, 193) Later, a huge crowd would leave His ministry for good.
• When our human expectation are not willing to bend to God’s plan we will find doubt in our lives.

This brings us to outline point number 2. In Jesus’ answer we hear “confidence.” Jesus’ answer to John’s disciples was: “Go back, and don’t tell John what I am saying; tell him what I am doing. Don’t tell John what I am claiming; tell him what is happening.” (Barclay) >>

• Look at it in verse 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.
• Jesus gives two categories of reasons here.
• Reason #1: Jesus’ reply pointed back to an itemized list of the ministry work He was doing. (Blomberg, 185)
• One point we will constantly see Jesus point His audience’s attention to is the miracles he was doing.
• Miracles validated Jesus, Israel’s Messiah.
• Blomberg was astute to bring up one of the possible reasons: “Such works were in fact undermining the evil powers in the universe …” (185) >>
• Let’s not forget that.
• Reason #2: Jesus also points to the the kingdom message being preached, “particularly to the ‘poor’”. (Blomberg, 185)
• God has a real heart for poor people.

Jesus articulates the proper simple response John should adopt. Verse 6 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

• One is blissful if He is not offended by Jesus.
• ESV, et al. = “offended” from the Greek skandalon (scandal in English comes from this word); other translations = “stumble”, “fall away”, “suspicious” (Peshitta), “reject” (Contemporary English Version), “scandalized” (Douay-Rheims), “lose … faith” (GOD’S WORD®), “doubts” (Good News Translation)
• This message of “And blessed is the one who is not offended by me” "was spoken to John; and it was spoken because John had only grasped half the truth. John preached the gospel of divine holiness with divine destruction; Jesus preached the gospel of divine holiness with divine love … Sometimes a man can be offended at Jesus because Jesus cuts across his ideas of what religion should be.” (Barclay; British spelling retained.)

APPLICATION

• First, we should be grateful for John’s doubt for it has left us some encouragement.
• If John the Baptist had weak moments, we too may have weak moments.
• John was tempted by his flesh in the same ways we are "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man…” (1 Corinthians 10:13a)
• In prison for speaking truth, about to suffer the death penalty for it—That’s a test, but it’s still a common one.
• John had character in his doubts, he went straight to the “Master Himself” with them. (Gibson)
• The Baptist is not alone. Some of the greatest men of the Bible had doubts.
  • There are not too many kids named Gideon because he seemed to have, many many doubts about His abilities and potential. But an angel of the LORD called him a “might warrior.” (Judges 6:12)
  • Abraham lied to Pharaoh (Genesis 12:10-20) because he doubted—in that instance—that God could protect him.
  • What did the LORD have to tell Joshua? "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (1:9) >>
  • Joshua doubted that God could fully protect him.
  • "The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!’” (Luke 17:5) Jesus said faith as small as a mustard seed is enough. The apostles were struggling with doubt not faith.
• When one is living a life of faith, one will have doubts somewhere along the way. Talk to God about them. He will help us.
• Those that claim, “I have never doubted God” have not trusted Him very much. These are the ones muddling through their Christian life with little faith at all in God in their daily lives or they have not been tested with difficulty yet.
• You want blissfulness. Then don’t have frozen expectations of God.

Point 3 of the outline is Jesus’ Evaluation of John starts with questions for the crowd. Look at it in verse 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?

• Some have thought that this verse speaks to John the Baptist’s uncommonness. A reed was a common sight. John was anything but common. But …
• The idea of the wind blowing a reed over suggests that John was not a wishy–washy type of guy that could be pushed around by people wants and opinions. (cr. France, 193)
• John was more like an mature oak tree than a reed.
• Jesus asked a second question 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.
• Jesus seems to use irony here. John was especially not in a king’s house; he was in a king’s prison.
• Everyone knew John was not a soft man physically.
• Remember Matthew 3:4, “Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.”
• Jesus asked a third question that pointed to John’s convictions. >>

Verse 9 What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.

• Amos 3:7 speaks to this idea “For the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets.” >>
• Barclay wrote, "The prophet is two things–he is the man with a message from God, and he is the man with the courage to deliver that message. The prophet is the man with God’s wisdom in his mind, God’s truth on his lips, and God’s courage in his heart.”
• But John was more than a prophet. He was a unique one with the unique message and ministry.
• Jesus explains in verse 10 This is he of whom it is written, “‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’
• This prophecy is from Malachi 3:1 & Isaiah 57:14
• John the Baptist in a sense was also like Moses who saw the promise land but didn’t stand in the promise land. And Daniel who would would see the end-times but have no experience with them. John only saw the plan of Messiah from His distant vantage point and through his limited understanding. I am confident that Jesus full plan would have surprised John the Baptist just as much as it did the Disciples. The same prophets rarely see both the vision of the future and the same reality. (Barclay)
• Gibson had a great summary for this section of Scripture: “The answer sent to John was kind; but there was no flattery in it-not even a word [to endure or] of commendation… The Master knew the strength of His disciple, and He dealt with him accordingly. But as soon as the messengers are gone He tells the people what He thinks of him. He in effect deprecates the thought of judging John by a message sent in an hour of weakness and despondency.” (Gibson)
• God sees the entire life.
• John’s weak moment did not define his whole life.
• And Jesus’ confidence—of course—in His own plan was made evident as well.

Jesus didn’t focus on John weakness here. Instead he talked about the character of his person overall. Verse 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.

• “Truly” adds emphasis.
• “Among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist.”
  • On a human level John the Baptist had no equal among the prophets of God.
  • But when any person crosses over into heaven they outshine all of these.
  • Why? God’s work is completed—more accurately more completed in our lives, save the resurrection of our bodies.
  • On a human level Salomon was the smartest who has ever walked on the planet.
  • Salomon was a man of awesome wisdom. Imagine how smart you will be in heaven. 1 Corinthians 13:12, “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.”
  • On a human level Abraham was a prince among his peers.
  • Abraham was a great man of faith. Imagine the faith you will have in heaven. Hebrews 12:2a, “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith”; perfect faith.
• A point not to be missed: there is a least in heaven. An individual or a group of individuals are least.
  • In Matthew 20 we will see that there is a person who sits at Jesus’ right hand. The one who is first place.
  • We do not need any more texts, although one does have hundreds of others (if desired), to prove a rewarding of each person to what they have done. >>
  • Like Matthew 16:27, “For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.”

Our Duty To Understand More Deeply

• We have been given these words to know how our Lord thought about John’s weak moment.
• We have been given these words to encourage us.
• We all have been in John’s shoes.
• It’s encouraging to know that honest feelings towards God are not always met with harsh rebuke.
• But we have been given these words to rise above our hardships.
• We must always remember Isaiah 53:8-9,
  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
  neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
  For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
  so are my ways higher than your ways
  and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Notes

Notes from above may not be in numerical order above.

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Works Cited

Scripture quotations [unless otherwise noted] are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Click here to access the works cited web-page for this document, save those marked as “Notes” or “Other Works Cited”–if any. Most of these cited works correspond to the verses they are outlined with. In the case of general background information and references, one will find cited material with the Bible books the citations are associated with. ¶ Furthermore, there may be numbered notes that are URL linked; these are usually retained numbered notes from Thomas Constable’s, “Dr. Constable’s Expository (Bible Study) Notes.” These links are preserved “as is” at the time of this work’s formation and I usually include other citation information from Constable as well (e.g. authors’ names).

Other Works Cited

Note: All of the resources below were cited in at least one of the sermons in the Book of Matthew but not necessarily this one.

Augsburger, David. Dissident Discipleship. Brazos Press, 2006.

Barclay, William. Barclay’s Daily Study Bible. Westminster Press, 1955-1960. Sourced digitally from studylight.org/commentaries/eng/dsb.html.

Blomberg, Craig L. Matthew. New American Commentary, vol. 22, ed. David S. Dockery, et al., Broadman Press, 1992. May be sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/matthew0000blom

________. Preaching the Parables: From Responsible Interpretation to Powerful Proclamation. Baker Academic, 2004. Sourced from archive.org.
(https://archive.org/details/preachingparable0000blom/page/82/mode/1up)

Bruce, Alexander Balmain. The Training of the Twelve. Ed., A.C. Armstrong and Son, reprint 1984, Kregel Publications, 1971 edition.

Carson, D. A. “Matthew.” The Expositors Bible Commentary, Frank E. Gaebelein, Ed. et al., Zondervan, 1984.

_______. The Sermon on the Mount : an Evangelical of Matthew 5-7 Exposition. 1978, Baker Book House, fifth printing, 1989. Sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/sermononmounteva0000cars/page/54/mode/1up

_______. When Jesus confronts the world : an exposition of Matthew 8-10. Originally published by Inter-Varsity Press in 1988, Paternoster, 1995. Sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/whenjesusconfron0000cars/page/n3/mode/1up

Chambers, Oswald. My Utmost for His Highest. Our Daily Bread Publishing, web ver.

Davies, W. D. and Dale C. Allison, Jr. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel According to Saint Matthew. T. & T. Clark, 1988. Was sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/criticalexegetic0001davi/page/n7/mode/1up. Unavailable on Nov. 14, 2023.

Evans, Craig A. The Bible Knowledge Background Commentary: Matthew-Luke. Victor, 2003. Sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/bibleknowledgeba00crai/mode/1up

France, R. T. The Gospel According to Matthew. W. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1985.

_______. The Gospel of Matthew. W. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2007. Sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/gospelofmatthew0000fran/page/n6/mode/1up

Gibson, J. Monro. “St. Matthew.” Expositor’s Bible Commentary. William R. Nicoll, Editor. Sourced from Bible Portal. Click here for a list of the authors of the EBC.

Harrington, Daniel J . The Gospel of Matthew. Sacra Pagina Series, vol. 1, A Michael Glazier Book, Liturgical Press (publ.), 1991. Sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/gospelofmatthew0000harr/mode/1up

Hendriksen, William. New Testament Commentary: Exposition of the Gospel According to Luke. Baker Book House, 1984.

Phillips, John. Exploring the Gospels: John. Loizeaux Brothers, 1988.

Plumptre, E. H. “Matthew.” Commentary for English Readers, Charles John Ellicott, Compiler/Editor, Lord Bishop of Gloucester Cassell and Company, Limited, 1905. Sourced from BiblePortal.com. Click here for a list of the authors of the CER.

Robinson, Monte. The Way of Discipleship. Independently published, 2021. Web, aimdiscipleship.org/book.html, accessed Oct 2023.

Wiersbe, Warren. The Wiersbe Bible Commentary. 2 Volumes, David C. Cook, 2007.

Yancey, Philip. The Jesus I Never Knew. Zondervan, 1995.

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