CHAPTER 11

(A.D. 31)

JOHN THE BAPTIST

¹And it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding His Twelve Disciples (refers to the teaching of the previous Chapter; He commanded, which is different than suggesting), He departed thence to teach and to preach (to explain and to proclaim) in their cities.

²Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ (John is now imprisoned, and discouraged), he sent two of his disciples (sent them to Jesus),

³And said unto Him, Are You He Who should come, or do we look for another? (Doubt is the nemesis of Faith, and plagues every Christian at one time or the other.)

JESUS ANSWER TO JOHN THE BAPTIST

⁴Jesus answered and said unto them (if we ask, we will receive [Mat. 7:8]), Go and shew John again those things which you do hear and see (the Divine answer referred him to Isaiah 35:5-6; 61:1-2):

⁵The 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 (Jesus called Johns attention away from the political scene restoring at that time the Kingdom to Israel to the true purpose of His Mission, the restoration of the individual).

⁶And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in Me (the Lord adds another Beatitude to those given in Chapter 5).

JESUS TESTIMONY OF JOHN THE BAPTIST

⁷And as they departed (the two disciples of John the Baptist), Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went you out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind? (Despite appearances John being in prison Jesus proclaims what John really is.)

⁸But what went you out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they who wear soft clothing are in kings houses (if Herods gold could have bought John, he would not now be in prison).

⁹But what went you out for to see? (The third time this question is posed.) A Prophet? yes, I say unto you, and more than a Prophet (more than all Prophets before him).

¹⁰For this is he, of whom it is written (proclaims John as the last of the Old Testament Prophets), Behold, I send My messenger before Your face (John was that messenger), which shall prepare Your way before You (John prepared the way for Christ).

¹¹Verily I say unto you, Among them who are born of women there has not risen a greater than John the Baptist (places John at the forefront of the Prophets): notwithstanding he who is least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he (speaks of the New Covenant [Heb. 8:6]).

¹²And from the days of John the Baptist (John introduced the Kingdom ofHeaven) until now (speaks of Christ Who would bring in the NewCovenant) the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence (the Crucifixion, the price that Christ paid [Gen. 3:15]), and the violent take it by force (speaks of Christ taking the dominion away from Satan, who had taken it from Adam [Col. 2:14-15]).

¹³For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John (the Prophets and the Law testified of the coming Christ, and John was the last of those Prophets).

¹⁴And if you will receive it(if you will receive the Kingdom of Heaven), this is Elijah, which was for to come (had the nation received John, he would have represented Elijah to them, and would have been reckoned by God as Elijah [Mal. 4:5-6]).

¹⁵He who has ears to hear, let him hear (Israel would not hear).

¹⁶But whereunto shall I liken this generation? (That generation most privileged, rejected Christ.) It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows,

¹⁷And saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented (Israel refused to mourn with the Baptist when he demanded Repentance, or to rejoice with Christ).

¹⁸For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He has a devil (demon what the religious said; John had no social life).

¹⁹The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of Publicans and sinners (this is what Christs enemies said of Him, and not what was actually true). But wisdom is justified of her children (wisdom justified both courses, that of John and Christ. Israel rejected both).

JUDGMENT

²⁰Then began He to upbraid the cities wherein most of His mighty works were done, because they repented not (He is speaking mostly of the religious leaders of these places):

²¹Woe unto you, 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 (what a condemnation of Israel!).

²²But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable (different degrees of punishment) for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment (Great White Throne Judgment), than for you (the pronoun you is emphatic; in the Mind of God, the Judgment has already been pronounced).

²³And you, Capernaum (you again emphatic, reserving this city for the worst judgment of all), which are exalted unto Heaven (exalted not because of Christ, but rather because of its economic prosperity), shall be brought down to hell (most of its inhabitants went to Hell): for if the mighty works, which had been done in you, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day (what an indictment on Capernaum!).

²⁴But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom, in the day of judgment, than for you (the Christ-rejecter is morally lower than the idolaters of Tyre and Sidon, or the citizens of Sodom, and will be punished accordingly).

REJOICING OVER DIVINE REVELATION

²⁵At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank you, O Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth, because You have hid these things from the wise and prudent (a judicial judgment on the Religious Leaders of Israel), and have revealed them unto babes (to other than the religious leaders).

²⁶Even so, Father (His Own Personal Father): for so it seemed good in Your sight (the Gospel is hidden to those who reject Christ and the Cross whomever they might be, and revealed to those who accept Christ and the Cross; this is good in Gods sight [Jn. 3:16]).

²⁷All things are delivered unto Me of My Father (All things mean that Christ is both Saviour and Judge): and no man knows the Son, but the Father (Christ is an eternal Member of the Godhead); neither knows any man the Father, save the Son (the only way to God the Father is through Christ [Jn. 14:6]), and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him(Salvation is never a matter of education but of Revelation).

THE GREAT INVITATION

²⁸Come unto Me (is meant by Jesus to reveal Himself as the Giver of Salvation), all you who labor and are heavy laden (trying to earn Salvation by works), and I will give you rest (this rest can only be found by placing ones Faith in Christ and what He has done for us at the Cross [Gal. 5:1-6]).

²⁹Take My yoke upon you (the yoke of the Cross [Lk. 9:23]), and learn of Me (learn of His Sacrifice [Rom. 6:3-5]); for I am meek and lowly in heart (the only thing that our Lord Personally said of Himself): and ye shall find rest unto your souls (the soul can find rest only in the Cross).

³⁰For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light (what He requires of us is very little, just to have Faith in Him, and His Sacrificial Atoning work).