Matthew 11:24 | 1721
11:5 v Isa 35:4-6 ; 61:1 ; Lk 4:18 , 19
11:6 w Mt 13:21
11:7 x Mt 3:1 11:9 y Mt 21:26 ; Lk 1:76 11:10 z Mal 3:1 ; Mk 1:2
11:14 a Mal 4:5 ; Mt 17:10-13 ;
Mk 9:11-13 ; Lk 1:17 ; Jn 1:21
11:15 b Mt 13:9 , 43 ; Mk 4:23 ; Lk 14:35 ;
Rev 2:7
11:18 c Mt 3:4 d Lk 1:15 11:19 e Mt 9:11
11:21 f Mk 6:45 ; Lk 9:10 ; Jn 12:21 g Mt 15:21 ; Lk 6:17 ;
Ac 12:20 h Jnh 3:5‐9 11:22 i ver 24 ; Mt 10:15
11:23 j Mt 4:13 k Isa 14:13‐15
11:24 l Mt 10:15
4 Jesus re plied , “ Go back and re port to John what you hear and see : 5 The blind receive sight , the lame walk , those who have lep rosy a are cleansed , the deaf hear , the dead are raised , and the good news is pro claimed to the poor . v 6 Blessed is any one who does not stum ble on ac count of me .” w
7 As John ’ s x dis ci ples were leav ing , Jesus be gan to speak to the crowd about John : “ What did you go out into the wil der ness to see ? A reed swayed by the wind ? 8 If not , what did you go out to see ? A man dressed in fine clothes ? No , those who wear fine clothes are in kings ’ palaces . 9 Then what did you go out to see ? A prophet ? y Yes , I tell you , and more than a prophet . 10 This is the one about whom it is writ ten :
“ ‘ I will send my messenger ahead of you , who will prepare your way before you .’ b z
11 Truly I tell you , among those born of women there has not risen any one greater than John the Bap tist ; yet who ever is least in the king dom of heaven is greater than he . 12 From the days of John the Bap tist un til now , the king dom of heaven has been sub jected to vi o- lence , c and vi o lent peo ple have been raid ing it . 13 For all the Proph ets and the Law prophe sied un til John . 14 And if you are will ing to ac cept it , he is the Eli jah who was to come . a 15 Who ever has ears , let them hear . b
16 “ To what can I com pare this gen er a tion ? They are like chil dren sit ting in the mar ketplaces and call ing out to oth ers :
17 “ ‘ We played the pipe for you , and you did not dance ; we sang a dirge , and you did not mourn .’
18 For John came nei ther eat ing c nor drink ing , d and they say , ‘ He has a de mon .’ 19 The Son of Man came eat ing and drink ing , and they say , ‘ Here is a glut ton and a drunk ard , a friend of tax col lec tors and sin ners .’ e But wis dom is proved right by her deeds .”
Woe on Unrepentant Towns
11:21-23pp — Lk 10:13-15
20 Then Jesus be gan to de nounce the towns in which most of his mir a cles had been performed , be cause they did not re pent . 21 “ Woe to you , Chorazin ! Woe to you , Bethsaida ! f
For if the mir a cles that were per formed in you had been per formed in Tyre and Si don , g they would have re pented long ago in sack cloth and ashes . h 22 But I tell you , it will be more bearable for Tyre and Si don on the day of judg ment than for you . i 23 And you , Capernaum , j will you be lifted to the heavens ? No , you will go down to Hades . d k For if the mir a cles that were per formed in you had been per formed in Sodom , it would have re mained to this day . 24 But I tell you that it will be more bear able for Sodom on the day of judg ment than for you .” l
a 5 The Greek word traditionally translated leprosy was used for various diseases affecting the skin . b 10 Mal . 3:1 c 12 Or been forcefully advancing d 23 That is , the realm of the dead
11:2 – 3 in prison . See 14:3 – 5 . deeds of the Messiah . Jesus ’ deeds , especially his miracles , reinforce John ’ s earlier convictions about Jesus ’ identity . But Jesus has not set this prisoner free , and God has probably not revealed to John that he will have to languish in prison . So John is understandably confused and sends his followers to ask Jesus directly about his role . 11:4 – 6 Although Jesus does not answer John ’ s question directly , he implies that his miracles and concern for the poor demonstrate his Messiah ship ( cf . Isa 35:5 – 6 ; 61:1 ), which is illustrated already in Matt 5 – 9 . The beatitude in v . 6 encourages John not to “ stumble ” in his faith just because Jesus ’ Messianic ministry is not entirely what he expected . 11:7 A reed swayed by the wind . A weak person whose mind is easily changed . John ’ s consistently austere prophecy hardly fits that picture . 11:8 dressed in fine clothes . . . kings ’ palaces . A pampered person benefiting from positions of power and privilege . Again John scarcely fits the mold .
11:9 – 10,14 Matt 3:1 – 6 depicts John ’ s prophetic ministry . But Mal 3:1 promises a messenger — whom Mal 4:5 equates with Elijah — who would immediately precede the Messiah . As this unique forerunner , John is “ more than a prophet ” ( Matt 11:9 ). 11:11 those born of women . An idiom for human beings . greater than he . John the Baptist is greater than all OT prophets , because he most clearly points to Jesus as the Messiah , but he will not live to see the inauguration of the new covenant after Christ ’ s death and resurrection . In that sense , even the least significant Christian ( the “ least in the kingdom of heaven ”) is “ greater than he .” 11:12 the days of John the Baptist . The time before John ’ s imprisonment . subjected to violence . The hostility to Christ ’ s ministry , almost from its outset ( e . g ., 9:34 ; Mark 3:6 ; John 5:16 ), is the “ violence ” to which the kingdom of heaven has been “ subjected .” 11:13 Much of this hostility is related to the shift in ages between old and new covenants that Jesus brings but that many do not understand or accept . 11:16 – 19 Jesus ’ ministry involved celebration , like playing the pipe so that people could dance ( v . 17 ). John ’ s ministry called others to “ mourn ” in repentance , like singing a funeral “ dirge ” ( v . 17 ). But a fair number in the audiences of each of these two (“ this generation ,” v . 16 ) rejected both overtures , like recalcitrant “ children ” ( v . 16 ) who refused to play the various games their playmates suggested . 11:19 wisdom . God ’ s wisdom in all of this will nevertheless be “ proved right ” by the good “ deeds ” of John , Jesus , and their disciples . 11:20 – 24 The inhabitants of Chorazin and Bethsaida , small villages near the northern end of the Sea of Galilee , had witnessed Christ ’ s miracles , like the people of Capernaum had ( v . 23 ). So they would be more accountable on judgment day than even the most wicked cities in the OT , like “ Tyre and Sidon ” ( v . 22 ; see especially Ezek 28 ), because those cities “ would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes ” ( the outward garb and symbols of mourning , v . 21 ). Degrees of punishment in hell ( or “ Hades ” [ v . 23 ], the OT place of the wicked who have died ) are consistent with the principle of judgment according to works ( see note on 10:15 ).