Matthew Chapter 11
The imprisonment of John the Baptist is an event that was completely unfair. John had spoken against the sin of Herod Antipas who had seduced his brother’s wife.
Rather than kill John on the spot, Herod had him thrown in prison because he feared the popularity of John amongst the people.
We do not know for sure, but it is possible that while sitting in prison a question formed in John’s mind; he may have questioned why God would allow this to happen to him.
We know that John truly believed that Jesus was God.
He had proved that in his ministry of proclaiming Jesus to the world. But maybe he questioned if Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah who would free the Israelites from the tyranny of the Romans.
Let's Reflect
1. Jesus responded to John’s question by asking the disciples of John to report about what to him?
2. His last sentence of His message to John is one that we should all think long and hard about. “Blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” Jesus knew that the expectation of the Jewish people was to be delivered from the Romans. This is what they had been longing for, for such a long period of time. But He asked them to not be offended by His ministry, not to be offended by His message. His message was not going to necessarily relieve the pressure of the Roman government, but it would do so much more for them, it would provide eternal security. Jesus called His message by a very special name. It can be found in verse 5, what is it?
3. As the disciples of John left to deliver the answer back to him, Jesus began to speak to the multitudes about John. He assigned great honor to John because he had been born for the very specific purpose of announcing the Messiah to the world. John had not been a man pleaser. He had not cared about the way he dressed in that he did not dress to impress others. Jesus compared Himself to John in that He did not dress in the kind of clothes they might have expected Him to. What type of clothes might they have expected their Messiah to wear according to verse 8?
4. Remember that Jesus’ message, as well as John’s, was that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. This announcement had caused great violence in the spiritual world to begin.
“The kingdom has come with holy power and magnificent energy that has been pushing back the frontiers of darkness. This is especially manifest in Jesus’ miracles and ties in with Jesus’ response to the Baptist…The kingdom is making great strides; now is the time for courageous souls, forceful people, to take hold of it.” [Carson]
Jesus was making a declaration that John was the last of the Old Testament prophets that had foretold about the coming Messiah. If the people could receive that message, then they could understand that John the Baptist was a type of an Old Testament prophet. He was like who?
5. The sad part for Jesus was that the people did not understand, they did not accept that He was their Messiah. Instead of thinking like adults, they were like children playing where?
6. They did not accept the message of John because of the peculiar way he delivered his message, and they certainly did not accept the message of Jesus who sat and ate with tax collectors and sinners. What did they call Jesus for doing such things?
7. The places where Jesus had ministered, one would think that these places would have been full of people who had repented and were on fire for the Lord. What does verse 20 tell us about the response in these various cities?
8. While the people sought a political hero, Jesus offered them something far better. His invitation was to come to Him. What would they find if they accepted what He was offering? See verse 29.
Devotionals
