[And He Walks With Me] Matthew 11
2-3 Scholars suggest two ways to interpret John’s question. The traditional view is that, while imprisoned, he began to doubt. This is certainly plausible. Life disruptions (such as being thrown in prison) have a tendency to make us question things we thought we knew. Biblical examples of this tendency may be found in Job, Moses, and Elijah. In this case, we can be encouraged because Jesus responded gently to John’s sincere doubt, and he will respond gently to our honest questions as well. Alternatively, it has been suggested he sent his disciples to ask this question to encourage them to follow Jesus instead of himself. Indeed, John had been pointing people to Jesus since before he was born. Luke 1:41 says the unborn John the Baptist leaped inside Elizabeth when she heard Mary’s greeting, recognizing that the baby she carried was his whole purpose for existence. When Jesus came to him at the Jordan River to be baptized in Matthew 3, John confessed, I need to be baptized by you, and yet you come to me? (14). The fourth gospel includes a much more detailed account of how John directed his disciples, including Andrew, to follow Jesus (John 1:19-42), and in John 3:30, John the Baptist explained, He must increase, but I must decrease. In this interpretation, as John heard in prison what the Christ was doing, he did everything he could to magnify Jesus in the eyes of those who still followed him. In this case, we see a model for how we may direct people to Jesus by inspiring them to ask questions and seek answers. In the end, it is tempting to think we must choose one of these interpretations over the other, but we must recognize that life disruptions often introduce a tremendous amount of confusion. Therefore, John’s question may have been a little of both him seeking the comfort of confirmation and, if they were convinced of Christ’s authenticity, him encouraging his followers to follow Jesus. The wonder of this is that we can doubt and minister at the same time, and often, our effort to minister will provide the assurance we need. In fact, believers will do well to remember that faith is not really faith if every question and doubt has been answered.
4-6 However we interpret John’s question (see note on vss 2-3), Jesus’ response is interesting. Whether it was John or John’s disciples, someone was doubting Jesus. Yet, Jesus’ response was gentle and encouraging. Instead of ignoring the question, rebuking them for doubting, or even marshalling an apologetic argument, Jesus invited them to observe what he was saying and doing. Ignoring a sincere question only allows it to grow. Rebuking someone for doubt tends to send them away dejected. Even the best apologetic arguments lead people to dig in their heels. But gently inviting people to hear and see what Jesus does in and through his followers, and then draw their own conclusions, is a much more reliable way to convince people of the veracity of the good news.
7-15 Jesus uses a series of rhetorical questions to explain John’s role. He was certainly not a reed swaying in the wind of popular trends or public opinion. Neither was he a man dressed in soft clothes. He wore a tunic of camel’s hair and a leather belt, which was a far cry from the fine robes of nobles and suggested he stayed outside in the elements more often than not (camel hair is water repellant), and he ate the locusts and wild honey that were available in the wilderness (see Matthew 3:4). They were clearly not going to him because he was cool. Yet, there was something compelling about John the Baptist. He was greater than all those born of women, but not quite as great as the least in the kingdom of heaven. That is, he was living in the gap between earth and heaven, people and God and announcing that the time was coming near when the kingdom of heaven will reassert itself and no longer accept abuse at the hands of Satan or men. He was Elijah, a reference to the popular rabbinical teaching that the prophet Elijah would return to proclaim the imminent arrival of the Messiah. The question was whether anyone would listen and heed such a message to embrace Jesus.
16-17 Jesus segued from his celebration of John the Baptist into a critique of this generation. By comparing them to children, he suggested they were immature, impulsive, and implacable. When they heard the joyful sound of the flute, they didn’t dance, a common expression of happiness and excitement. Yet, when they heard the song of lament, neither did they mourn. The idea is that, no matter what someone does, the people of the generation were determined to scoff.
18-19 Jesus here applied the illustration of vss 16-17 to the real-life situation of John and himself. John practiced fasting and abstinence from alcohol, which were common expressions of piety among Jews, but they accused him of being demon-possessed. Jesus came eating and drinking, and they dismissed him as a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners. Whether fasting or eating, abstaining or drinking, the people were determined to find fault and dismiss God and his representatives. It was entirely unreasonable.
20-24 Finally, Jesus applied the illustration of vss 16-17 to the towns where most of his miracles were done. Chorazin (alt. Korazin) and Bethsaida (not to be confused with the Bethsaida near Jerusalem) were villages on the northern side of the Sea of Galilee. They were located near Capernaum, which served as Jesus’ base of operations. It went without saying that the people of these villages would not respond to the mundane or natural, but even when Jesus backed up his call to repentance with the power of God in the form of miracles, they did not repent. He punctuated this by insisting that the Gentiles of Tyre and Sidon… would have repented in sackcloth and ashes long ago if they had seen the sort of things Jesus did in these towns. So also, he said that, if the famously sinful city of Sodom had seen the miracles he was doing, it would have remained until today because it repented. No doubt, he was also thinking of the people of Nineveh, who responded to the prophet Jonah’s message even though he only walked through the streets calling people to repent. We would do well to reflect on this concerning ourselves and our churches! Are we so determined to do our own thing that, no matter what God does, we dismiss it?
25 At that time connects what Jesus said in the following verses to the exchange of vss 1-24 in more than just time. The implication is that these verses demonstrate the proper response to the indictment of the previous verses: namely, that the people who considered themselves wise and intelligent were utterly unresponsive to God while those who were mocked as infants accepted Christ’s message on the basis of the miracles he performed and repented.
27 People acting solely upon their own reason and knowledge will not come to know God. Jesus here declares that the only way to know the Father is by getting to know the Son. This is not to be confused with knowing about the Father or the Son. We must place our faith in Jesus and seek in a personal relationship with him. Without that, we are hopeless!
28-30 Still building upon the conversation begun when John’s disciples approached at the beginning of the chapter, Jesus extends an invitation: Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Those who were tired of cynicism and skepticism, constantly picking God’s servants and messages apart, and trying to figure out everything by their own reason and knowledge were invited to come to Jesus to find that which was authentic and true.
A yoke is a bar, typically wooden, that is fitted over the shoulders of an ox or other beast of burden. This bar is then connected to a cart or plow so that the animal can push against the yoke to pull it forward. Poorly fitted yokes were uncomfortable for the animal, resulting in injury and pain. Jesus’ promise here was not that his follower will be exempted from all work. Rather, he promised that the yoke he offered would be easy, i.e., tailored to fit them perfectly. He also promised his burden is light, suggesting that he would take most of the load from our shoulders if we will let him. Again, this is not to say that we will not work hard. It is to say that he will help us to accomplish far more than we ever could on our own.
In effect, Jesus in these verses invited his listeners and us to stop criticizing and try following him instead.