Matthew 11:1 - Meaning and Application

Some connect the first verse of this chapter with the one before it, and not wrongly, as the close of that section. Christ’s sermon of ordination to his disciples in the previous chapter is here described as his commanding them. This reminds us that Christ’s commissions always include commands. Preaching the gospel was not just allowed for them, it was required. They were not left free to decide whether to do it. A necessity was placed on them (1 Corinthians 9:16). The promises he made them are included in these commands, because the covenant of grace is a word he has commanded (Psalm 105:8). He finished giving his instructions, and left nothing out. Jesus completes his work fully.

When Christ had said all he wanted to say to his disciples, he left that place. It seems they were reluctant to leave their Master, until he moved away and separated from them. In that way he was like a nurse who slowly lets go of a child so it can learn to walk alone. Christ was now teaching them how to live and work without his bodily presence. It was good for them that he would be gone for a time, so they could be prepared for his longer absence. By the help of the Spirit, they would learn to stand on their own and not remain spiritual children forever (Deuteronomy 33:7). We have little record of what they did next in obedience to their commission. No doubt they went out, probably into Judea, because the gospel had mostly been preached in Galilee until then. They spread Christ’s teaching and worked miracles in his name, though still in close dependence on him and not far from him for long. In this way they were gradually trained for their great task.

Christ departed to teach and preach in the cities where he had sent his disciples ahead to work miracles (Matthew 10:1-8). That would raise people’s expectations and prepare the way for his welcome. This is how the way of the Lord was prepared. John prepared it by calling people to repentance, but he did no miracles. The disciples went further, working miracles to confirm the message. Repentance and faith prepare people for the blessings of the kingdom of heaven, which Christ gives. Notice that when Christ gave them power to work miracles, he himself kept teaching and preaching, as if that were the higher work. Miracles healed bodies, but preaching the gospel saves souls. Christ had told his disciples to preach (Matthew 10:7), yet he did not stop preaching himself. He set them to work, not to rest himself, but to lighten the burden on the land. He was not less active because he employed them. How unlike Christ are those who make others work only so they can be idle themselves.

The growing number of laborers in the Lord’s work should not excuse our carelessness, but stir us to greater effort. The busier others are, the busier we should be. There is still too much to do. Christ went to preach in the cities, the crowded places where many people could hear. He cast the net of the gospel where it could gather the most fish. Wisdom cries in the cities (Proverbs 1:21), at the city gate (Proverbs 8:3), and in the cities of the Jews, even among those who later despised him and still had the first offer of grace. We are not told what he preached there, but it was likely much like his sermon on the mount.

Next we come to the message John the Baptist sent to Christ, and Christ’s answer to it (Matthew 11:2-6). We were told earlier that Jesus heard of John’s suffering (Matthew 4:12). Now we are told that John, in prison, hears of Christ’s work. He heard about the works of Christ while in prison, and he was surely glad to hear them, for he was a true friend of the bridegroom (John 3:29). When one useful servant is removed, God knows how to raise up many others in his place. The work went on even though John was imprisoned, and that brought him comfort rather than sorrow. Nothing comforts God’s people in trouble more than hearing about the works of Christ, especially when they experience those works in their own souls. That can turn a prison into a palace. In one way or another, Christ will send news of his love to those who suffer for conscience’s sake. John could not see Christ’s works, but he heard of them with joy. Blessed are those who have not seen, yet have heard and believed.

After John the Baptist heard of Christ’s work, he sent two of his disciples to him. What passed between them and Christ is recorded here. First comes the question they were told to ask: “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” This was a serious and important question. Are you the promised Messiah, or not? Are you the Christ? Tell us plainly. It is assumed that the Messiah would come, for that was one of the names by which the Old Testament saints knew him, “he who comes” or “shall come” (Psalm 118:26). He has now come, though there is still another coming of his that we continue to expect.

They also imply that if he is not the Messiah, they will keep looking for another. We must never grow tired of waiting for the one who is to come, or say we will no longer expect him until we enjoy him. Though he delays, wait for him, for he who shall come will come, even if not in our time. But if they were convinced that Jesus was the Messiah, they would not remain doubtful or keep searching for someone else. They ask, “Are you he?” John had already said, for himself, “I am not the Christ” (John 1:20). Some think John sent this question for his own assurance. He had given a noble witness to Christ. He had declared him the Son of God (John 1:34), the Lamb of God (John 1:29), the one who would baptize with the Holy Spirit (John 1:33), and the one sent by God (John 3:34). These were great truths, yet he wanted a fuller certainty that Jesus was the long-promised Messiah.

In matters concerning Christ and our salvation through him, it is good to be fully sure. Christ did not appear with the outward splendor and power people had expected. Even his own disciples stumbled over that, and perhaps John did too. Christ saw something of that in this question when he said, “Blessed is anyone who does not stumble because of me.” It is hard, even for good people, to stand firm against common mistakes. John’s doubt may also have come from his present situation.

John was in prison, and he may have been tempted to think this way: if Jesus really is the Messiah, why has his friend and forerunner been left in trouble so long? Why has Jesus not come to see him, sent word, asked about him, or done anything to ease his prison or bring him out sooner? There was surely a good reason why the Lord Jesus did not go to John in prison, so that no one could think there was some private arrangement between them. Yet John may have taken it as neglect, and that could have shaken his faith in Christ.

Here we learn that true faith can still be mixed with unbelief. Even the best believers are not always equally strong. Troubles that come for Christ, especially when they last a long time without relief, can test faith so severely that they may seem too hard to bear. The remaining unbelief in good people can, in a time of temptation, strike at the root and make them question truths they thought were settled.

Will the Lord cast off forever? Yet we may hope John’s faith did not fail here, only that he wanted it strengthened and confirmed. Even the best saints need the best help they can get to strengthen faith and guard against unbelief. Abraham believed, and yet asked for a sign (Genesis 15:6, 15:8), and Gideon did the same (Judges 6:36).

Others think John sent his disciples to Christ with this question, not mainly for his own sake, but for theirs. Even though John was in prison, they stayed with him, kept attending him, and were willing to learn from him. They loved him and would not leave him. They were still weak in understanding and shaky in faith, so they needed instruction and reassurance.

They were somewhat biased. Because they were loyal to their master, they were jealous for him and against Jesus. They were slow to admit that Jesus was the Messiah, because that would mean John was less prominent. They were also reluctant to believe John if they thought he was speaking against himself and against them. Good people often let their own interests shape their opinions. John wanted their misunderstanding corrected, and he wanted them as fully satisfied as he was.

The strong should think about the weakness of the weak and do what they can to help them. When we cannot help ourselves, we should go to those who can. “When you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” John was also steadily turning his disciples over to Christ, as a student moves from a lower school to a higher one. He may have seen his death coming, and so wanted his disciples to know Christ better before he left them under Christ’s care.

That is the work of ministers, to direct everyone to Christ. Those who want to know for sure what Christ teaches must go to him, for he is the one who gives understanding. Those who want to grow in grace must be willing to ask and learn.

Christ’s answer came in Matthew 11:4-6. It was not as direct as when he said, “I who speak to you am he,” but it was a real answer, answered in deed. Christ wants us to work through the clear signs of gospel truth and take pains to search out knowledge.

He points them to what they heard and saw, and tells them to report it to John, so John may use their own words to instruct and convince them more fully. “Go and tell John what you hear and see.” Our senses can and should be used for things that are proper for them. For that reason, the Roman Catholic teaching of a real bodily presence in the Lord’s Supper does not fit the truth as it is in Jesus, because Christ points us to what we hear and see.

Tell John what you see of the power shown in Christ’s miracles. You see that by Jesus’ word the blind receive sight, the lame walk, and so on. Christ’s miracles were done openly, in front of everyone, because they did not fear close and fair examination. Truth does not hide itself.

These miracles should be viewed as acts of divine power. Only the God who made nature could overrule and surpass nature like this. Scripture especially says it belongs to God to open the eyes of the blind (Psalm 146:8). Miracles are like heaven’s broad seal, and the teaching connected to them must be from God. His power will never go against his truth, and he would not set his seal on a lie. False teachings may be backed by lying wonders, but true miracles prove a divine commission. Christ’s miracles did that, and left no doubt that he was sent by God and that his teaching came from the Father who sent him.

They are also the fulfillment of divine prophecy. It was foretold that when God came, then the eyes of the blind would be opened (Isaiah 35:5, 35:6). Since Christ’s works match the prophet’s words so clearly, he is surely the God we have been waiting for, the one who was to come with reward and help. He is the one so deeply needed.

Then tell John what you hear of the preaching of Christ’s gospel, which goes along with his miracles. Faith is strengthened by seeing, but it comes by hearing. Tell him, first, that the poor preach the gospel, as some translate it. That also proves Christ’s divine mission, because the men he used to establish his kingdom were poor, with no worldly advantages. They could never have succeeded unless a divine power was carrying them along.

Or it may mean that the poor are the ones to whom the gospel is preached. Christ’s audience was made up of people the scribes and Pharisees despised and treated with contempt, and the rabbis would not teach because they could not pay. The Old Testament prophets were often sent to kings and princes, but Christ preached to gatherings of the poor. It was foretold that the poor of the flock would wait on him (Zechariah 11:11). Christ’s kindness and compassion toward the poor show that he truly came to bring God’s tender mercy to the world. It was also foretold that David’s Son would be the poor man’s King (Psalm 72:2, 72:4, 72:12, 72:13).

We may also take this to mean the poor in spirit, not just the poor in worldly goods. Then the prophecy is fulfilled, “He has anointed me to preach good news to the meek” (Isaiah 61:1). This shows Christ’s divine mission, because his message is truly good news for those who are truly humbled by sorrow for sin and who truly deny themselves. The gospel fits the people for whom God has always said mercy was ready.

Tell John also that the poor receive the gospel and are changed by it. They are brought under its influence, receive it, welcome it, and are shaped by it, as dough is worked into a mold. The wonderful power of the gospel is itself proof that it came from God. The poor are changed by it.

The prophets complained that the poor did not know the way of the Lord (Jeremiah 5:4). They could do little with them. But the gospel of Christ made its way into minds that had not been taught. Christ also pronounced a blessing on those who were not offended by him (Matthew 11:6). His proofs were so clear that anyone who was not stubbornly biased against him, and who was not scandalized by him, could not help receiving his teaching and being blessed in him.

Many things in Christ easily offend people who are ignorant or careless. Some people reject his gospel because of the parts they dislike. They stumble over the plainness of his appearance, his upbringing in Nazareth, the poverty of his life, the low status of his followers, the way important people treated him, the strictness of his teaching, its challenge to human desires, and the suffering that comes with confessing his name. These things keep many from him, even though they can still see much of God in him. So he is set for the fall of many, even in Israel (Luke 2:34), and is a rock of offense (1 Peter 2:8).

Happy are those who rise above these stumbling blocks. Blessed are they. The words show that overcoming such prejudice is hard, and that failing to do so is dangerous. But those who still believe in Christ, despite all this opposition, will find their faith leading more and more to praise, honor, and glory.