Matthew 11

CHAPTER 11THEME: Jesus continues His ministry; is quizzed by the disciples of John; rejects the cities where He has performed mighty works, and issues a new invitation to individualsThe movement continues in this chapter. The Lord Jesus has enunciated the ethic, He has performed the miracles, and He has sent His disciples out to present His claimsthey have gone down the highways and byways until they have covered all the cities of Israel. Now what is the reception? What is the reaction to His messianic claim? Let me give it to you in one word: rejection!This chapter makes a turning point in the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. In verses Mat_11:28-30 we will see that He gives a new message. It is a definite departure from the message of repentance in view of the presence of the King.

Matthew 11:1

Having sent out His disciples, He Himself goes out. How important it was to get the Word of God out to the people! And in our day it is equally important.

Matthew 11:2

JESUS QUIZZED BY THE DISCIPLES OF JOHNBack in Mat_4:12 it is recorded that John the Baptist was put in prison. So he has been imprisoned for a while now, but he has been kept informed about the movements of the Lord Jesus. John’s disciples have been watching Jesus and reporting to John. John is expecting any day for the door of his prison to be opened, because he believes that Jesus is coming immediately to the throne to establish His Kingdom.

Matthew 11:3

John’s question is a logical one. He has every reason to believe that the King would have assumed power by this time. He is definitely puzzled that the Lord is moving so slowly toward the throne. Note the Lord’s answer to John.

Matthew 11:4

The answer of Jesus is remarkable and can be understood only in light of the credentials which the Old Testament said the Messiah would have. This is a direct reference to Isa_35:4-6:“Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.” Now waters did not break out in the wilderness nor were there streams in the desert when Jesus came. Why? Because He did not establish the Kingdom when He came the first time. But He was the King, and He had the credentials of the Messiahthat is all He is saying. John would recognize the credentials.

Matthew 11:7

JESUS PAYS TRIBUTE JOHN THE BAPTISTIn the following verses the Lord Jesus defends John in case anyone wanted to criticize him. By the way, John was not the reed shaken with the wind; he was a wind shaking the reeds! In our day, the pulpit has become very weak because it is in subjection to somebody sitting out there in the pew who doesn’t like the preacher. Or the message is tailored to suit a certain group in the church. Too often the pulpit is a reed that is shaken in the wind. Thank God for John the Baptist, a wind shaking the reeds! Our Lord continues His commendation of John the Baptist

Matthew 11:8

John the Baptist was rugged, a rugged individual!

Matthew 11:9

He was a prophet, but he was more than a prophet.

Matthew 11:10

The Lord declares clearly that John is the fulfillment of Mal_3:1, which states: “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.” John was that messenger. John was specially chosen to introduce the Messiah to Israel. Note also Joh_1:21-23.

Matthew 11:11

Sometimes we like to debate the question of who was greater: Abraham, Moses, or David. Jesus declares that John is greater than anyone in the past. No one topped John the Baptist. “Notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” When the Lord Jesus came, He began calling out a group of people who are even greater than John the Baptist. How can they be greater? Because they are in Christ and clothed with His righteousness.

Matthew 11:12

This is a difficult verse to interpret because the “force” mentioned can be either internal or external. The forces of evil from without seek to destroy it, that is true. But also those who are committed wholeheartedly press into it; that is, they violently want to come in. There is a note of need and desperation. We have already seen that one young man ran and fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, “Master, I will follow you whithersoever thou goest!” (see Mat_8:19). There are these two aspects. I am not clear in my own thinking as to what He meant. He may have been referring to both aspects.

Matthew 11:13

John the Baptist fulfilled the prediction of the messenger to come, as recorded in Mal_3:1. But the question arises: “If Israel had accepted Christ at His first coming, would He have established the kingdom immediately, and would John the Baptist have been Elijah?” The answer is yes. You say, “How can that be?” I have an answer for you: “I don’t know.” I only know that this is what Jesus said, and He can do things which I cannot explain. In fact, He does a lot of things which I can’t explain; I simply accept them. There are those who argue, “Well, if Christ intended to go to the cross and die, His offer of Himself as King was not a sincere offer.” But it was sincere. “But,” they insist, “what if Israel had accepted Jesus as their King?” Well, the point is that they didn’t! These are “if” questions we are asking, and the fact is that the Jews rejected the Lord. “Iffy” questions pose problems that don’t exist. And there are enough problems that do exist without making up some! The next two verses compose one of the Lord’s parables that was loaded with biting sarcasm and irony. The Lord did not give this story to hurt or to harm but to illustrate a great truth.

Matthew 11:16

This is a picture of a group of children out playing in the streets. One group says, “Let’s play funeral.” They play funeral for awhile, soon tire of it and then say, “Let’s play wedding.” Soon they grow tired of playing wedding. They go from one extreme to another. They are spoiled children. The generation Jesus was speaking to was like that, and our generation is also.

Matthew 11:18

John was both austere and severe. And they didn’t feel comfortable with him.

Matthew 11:19

Jesus was friendly. What about Him? “Oh, He is gluttonous. He’s too friendly with sinners!” They weren’t pleased with John, nor were they pleased with Jesus. There are some folk that you simply cannot please, and you are better off to forget about them. They don’t like one preacher because he just stands up there and in a monotone gives his sermon. Then the next preacher they don’t like because he is very demonstrative and pounds the pulpit. Or one is too profound, and they don’t understand him, and the other is too simpleso they don’t like him either. There are a lot of people whom no one can please, and that was certainly true in our Lord’s day.

Matthew 11:20

JESUS REJECTS UNREPENTANT CITIESWe have now come to a tremendous change. Remember that Jesus is the King. He has enunciated the ethic, He has presented His credentials by performing miracles, He has preached the gospel that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, He has presented Himself, but His people have rejected Him. Their rejection has caused Him to make a decision, and He rejects them. He is the King, and the King always has the last word. Chorazin and Bethsaida were cities in the north near Capernaum where the Lord had His headquarters. He had performed many miracles in this area. They rejected Him, and now He pronounces a judgment upon them.

Matthew 11:22

Light creates responsibility. The Lord never had a ministry in Tyre or Sidon, nor did He have His headquarters there. But He spent a lot of time in the area of Chorazin and Bethsaida, and He holds them responsible for the light which He gave them. It is my understanding that there will be degrees of punishment as well as degrees of reward at the time of God’s judgment. Even in our own day, there are many folk who have had a glorious opportunity to receive Christ, but they have turned their backs on Him. Without going into detail, let me say this: I do not know what God will do with that person on a little island in the South Pacific who has never heard the gospel and bows down and worships an image. I do know what God is going to do with that person who comes and sits in church Sunday after Sunday and hears the gospel and does nothing about it. Now the Lord speaks of Capernaum, His headquarters.

Matthew 11:23

What a privilege was theirs in having the headquarters of the Lord Jesus in their city! But they rejected Him. The Lord Jesus is saying that if the wicked city of Sodom had witnessed the miracles that He had performed in Capernaum, they would have turned from their wickedness and would not have merited the judgment that came upon them.

Matthew 11:24

This is the harshest language of all. Remember it fell from the lips of the gentle Jesus. He speaks here as the Judge and King. This strong language ought to make us sit up and listen. I would much rather be a Hottentot in the darkness of a jungle without having heard the gospel than to be an officer in one of our modern churches, having a Bible but never truly having accepted Christ as Savior. Although Sodom and Gomorrah were terrible places, it will be more tolerable for them in the day of judgment than for cities that heard the message of Jesus and rejected Him.

Matthew 11:25

The phrase “Lord of heaven” takes you back to Gen_14:19, where God is called by this name. He is the Lord of heaven and earth. Many wise people never learn this truth, but many babes understand it. Dr. Harry Ironside said many years ago, “Always put the cookies on the bottom shelf so the kiddos can get them.” If you preach so children understand what you are saying, you can almost be sure the older folks will understandbut sometimes the children get it and the adults miss it.

Matthew 11:27

This is another way of saying, “…no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (Joh_14:6).

Matthew 11:28

JESUS ISSUES NEW INVITATION TO INDIVIDUALSThese verses bring us to a definite break and change in the Lord’s message. Up to this point the Lord taught, “Repent, the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” He had presented His credentials and had been rejected as the Messiah. These cities which have been mentioned turned their backs upon Him, and so had Jerusalem. The Lord now turns His back upon the nation Israel, no longer presenting to them the Kingdom. He is on His way to the cross, and His invitation is to the individual. Listen to Him: This language is in contrast to what has preceded it in this chapter. It is like coming out of a blizzard into the warmth of a spring day, like passing from a storm into a calm, like going from darkness into light. This is a new message from Jesus. He turns from the corporate nation to the individual. It is no longer the national announcement about a kingdom but a personal invitation to find the “rest” of salvation. “I will give you rest” is literally “I will rest you.” When He speaks of being “heavy laden,” He is referring to being burdened with sin. This same figure is used by Isaiah and the psalmist: “Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward” (Isa_1:4). “For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me” (Psa_38:4). My friend, sin is too heavy for you to carryyou’ll really get a hernia if you try to carry your load of sin! The only place in the world to put that burden is at the Cross of Christ. He bore it for you, and He invites you to come and bring your burden of sin to Him. He can forgive you because on the cross He bore the burden of your sin. “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” refers to the salvation of the sinner through Jesus Christ. “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” refers to the practical sanctification of the believer. There is a rest which Jesus gives, and it is the rest of redemption. There is also a rest which the believer experiences, and it comes through commitment and consecration to Christ. You don’t have to worry about being recognized; you don’t have to jockey for position if you are committed to Christ. Frankly, I quit joining organizations because I got so tired of watching ambitious men trying to be chairman of something or trying to be president of something. If you are committed to Christ, you don’t have to worry about that. He will put you exactly where He wants you when you are yoked up to Him.