WWUTT 1996 John the Baptist Questions Jesus (Matthew 11:1-6)

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John the Baptist was in prison and he sent his disciples to Jesus to ask him, are you the prophesied

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Messiah or should we wait for another? Why did John have to ask him this? When we understand the text.

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Many of the Bible stories and verses we think we know, we don't. When we understand the text is committed to teaching sound doctrine and rebuking those who contradict it.

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Visit our website at www .utt .com. Here once again is Pastor Gabe.

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Thank you, Becky. We're back to our study in the Gospel of Matthew this week in chapter 11.

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I'm going to start off by reading verses 1 through 19 out of the Legacy Standard Bible.

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Hear the word of the Lord. Now it happened that when Jesus had finished giving instructions to his 12 disciples, he departed from there to teach and preach in their cities.

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Now when John in prison heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, are you the one who is to come or shall we look for someone else?

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And Jesus answered and said to them, go and report to John what you hear and see.

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The blind receive sight and the lame walk. The lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear.

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The dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who does not take offense at me.

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Now as these men were going away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John. What did you go out into the wilderness to see?

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A reed shaken by the wind? But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing?

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Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in king's palaces. But what did you go out to see?

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A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and one who is more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written, behold,

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I send my messenger ahead of you who will prepare your way before you. Truly I say to you, among those born of women, there is not arisen anyone greater than John the

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Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

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And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence and violent men take it by force.

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For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to accept it,

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John himself is Elijah who was to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

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But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplace who call out to the other children and say, we played the flute for you and you did not dance.

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We sang a dirge and you did not mourn. For John came neither eating nor drinking and they say, he has a demon.

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The son of man came eating and drinking and they say, behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.

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Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds. So we come back to the start of this here and this indicates that Jesus had finished the second discourse.

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There are some that I've heard say that Jesus' second discourse actually includes chapters 10 and 11, but one of the things

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I had mentioned at the start of our study in Matthew is that whenever you see the words, when Jesus finished these sayings, that marks the conclusion of a discourse.

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We saw that at the end of chapter 7 when Jesus finished the Sermon on the Mount. And so here we are at the start of chapter 11 and it says, now it happened that when

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Jesus had finished giving instructions to his 12 disciples. So that marks the end of another discourse.

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And that discourse was over the course of chapter 10 with Jesus commissioning his disciples that they were going to go out.

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And they would go and preach and teach in the cities and they would perform miracles to authenticate that the word that they gave was from God.

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And if anybody would not receive them, they were to kick the dust off their feet and then go on to the next town. But we also observed how in chapter 10, not all of those things had come to pass.

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Them being arrested and brought before the synagogues and things like that had not yet happened. That would happen later on in Acts.

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So some of the things that Jesus said to them was indeed what they would experience or what they were to do is he sent them out to the to the cities in Israel.

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He said, don't go to the Samaritans, don't go to the Gentiles, but just go to the children of Israel. And so this sending out of the disciples, we see it in Luke is sending out of the 72.

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And and so there are some instructions there that he gives that directly applies to the mission that they were doing at that time.

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There were other things he said that would come about later. So he finishes that discourse, telling his disciples what they would experience.

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And here we are on into chapter 11, where now he's going to preach and teach in their cities.

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And as he goes out, it says in verse two, John was in prison and he heard of the works of Christ and he sent word by his disciples and said to him, are you the one who is to come or shall we look for someone else?

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Now, there are a couple of ways that this has been interpreted is John really wanting to know if Jesus is the

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Christ, like like are there moments of doubt that he has in his mind? After all, John was right there at Jesus baptism.

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We read about this back in chapter three, where Jesus comes to John to be baptized. And John says,

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I should be baptized by you and you come to me. He would have prevented

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Jesus from having John do this. But Jesus said to John, permit it now for righteousness sake.

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And so John does it. He's baptized when Jesus comes up out of the water. The Holy Spirit descends upon him like a dove.

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And the holy voice of the father from heaven says, this is my beloved son in whom

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I am well pleased. And we know John heard this. John's testimony is in the gospel of John chapter one.

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This is the apostle John that wrote it. But we have the testimony of John the Baptist at the very beginning. And he says in the gospel of John, this is

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John one beginning in verse thirty one. John says, I did not know him, but so that he might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing with water.

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And John bore witness, saying, I have beheld the spirit descending as a dove out of heaven.

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And he abided on him. And I did not know him. But he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, the one upon whom you see the spirit descending and abiding on him, this is the one who baptizes with the

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Holy Spirit. And I myself have seen and have borne witness that this is the son of God.

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So that's what we have at the beginning of John. The thing with Jesus coming up out of the water and the dove descending upon him and the father speaking from heaven was not an isolated thing.

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It wasn't just something Jesus experienced. There were witnesses there to it. And in fact, in at the beginning of Acts, when the apostles are deciding upon who is going to replace

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Judas. They they say that the qualification for the 12th needs to be one who had been with Jesus during his ministry from the time of the baptism of John to his ascension to heaven.

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And there were two men that qualified. So in addition to the 11 apostles, there were other disciples.

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There were many other disciples that followed Jesus. Like I said a little bit ago, there's the 72 that Jesus sent out as talked about in Luke.

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There were other disciples, but there was that inner 12, that core 12. And then even then there was an inner three that had an even greater closeness to Jesus than the other nine.

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And that was Peter, James and John, three of the first disciples that were called.

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So there were many there. Even Jesus, 12 disciples had been there at the

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Jordan River when Jesus was baptized. John the Baptist saw the spirit of God descend upon him and had even been told ahead of time by God, the one you see with the spirit descending upon him, the one the spirit descends upon.

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That is that's my holy one. He is the one. So why would John then here at the beginning of Matthew 11, while he is in prison, be asking, are you really the one or is there another that we should be waiting for?

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So like I said, there's two possibilities here. Either John really was questioning and it wasn't that he was doubting, but he wanted he just wanted that affirmation again.

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I've done all of this as the forerunner of the one who was to come.

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Is that you? And he just wants to hear it again as he's in prison, knowing why he's there for preaching the gospel and for calling out sin.

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That's why he's in prison and he's going to die there. He's going to be beheaded. I don't know if John knew that or not, but but he he was going to die in prison.

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So there he is in prison having preached about the Christ. And so he's asking, are you the one?

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So is the reason why John is asking this, because he just wants to hear it again. He wants the testimony again, that assurance to his soul again, because he can't be there to see the miracles of Jesus.

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Even in John three, when Jesus is going out and he and his disciples are baptizing.

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Well, Jesus is not the one baptizing, but his disciples are. So he's going out. His ministry is increasing.

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John's disciples come back to him and John the Baptist says, this is what's supposed to happen. So I must decrease.

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So he must increase. This is the moment where we're handing things off. So now our ministry is done.

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His is now in full force. He needs to continue doing what he is doing for the will of his father in submission to his father's will.

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So so at some point, John sees that and he knows that his ministry needs to take a backseat.

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Now, here he is in prison. He can't be there to see those things anymore. So because he can't be out there seeing it, he's been separated from it for a time.

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He's hearing about the miracles, but he can't be there to see it. So is there something that's kind of starting to set into his mind where he's he's like,

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I just need this reminder again, give it to me again. And if that's the case, I mean, what a testimony that is to us, because there's moments where we can feel that kind of weakness and we just ask

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God, I need to be reminded again. And we're weak in the flesh. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak, as Jesus said to Peter.

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So we can be confident, bold. We think we're never, ever going to lose our faith. And then tough times come and we might be praying the way that David prays in Psalm 13.

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How long, oh Lord, are you going to forget me forever? And maybe that was John's condition while he was in prison.

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Why am I here languishing in this way when the Messiah is here, but I don't have the chance to see him.

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So could it be that maybe he's not the one and that there's another one to come?

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Maybe maybe I'm not the Elijah. John the Baptist could be thinking maybe he's the

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Elijah and he's the one preparing the way for the one to come. I'm just speculating here.

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I don't know what was going through John's mind when he's telling his disciples to go and ask

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Jesus this question. The disciples come to Jesus and say, are you the one who is to come or shall we look for someone else?

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Maybe John just needed that reminder. So that's one possibility. John is genuinely asking this question.

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Are you the one? The second possibility. John does know he's the one, but he needs his disciples to see it.

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So he tells his disciples to go to Jesus and ask him this question so that they will see.

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And Jesus testifies to them this way. Verse four, Jesus answered and said to them, go and report to John what you hear and see.

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The blind receive sight and the lame walk. The lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear.

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The dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who does not take offense at me.

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So then Jesus says this to John's disciples. They go back to John who's in prison and they testify to John.

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Here's what it is that we've seen. And so then John says to them, so now you have seen this is the one

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I was preparing the way for. Go and follow him. Maybe that was John's strategy in this because now he's in prison.

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His ministry is not going anywhere else. He wants his disciples to know here's the Christ and follow him.

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And so he tells them to go and ask Jesus this question for their sake.

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Maybe that's the reason why John the Baptist did that. But if it's for himself, if it's really,

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I just got to hear the testimony again, I need to hear it again and be assured that all this work was done for him.

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The Messiah is here and the mission was accomplished. And so he sends his disciples to ask

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Jesus gives them this answer. And the answer that he gives to them is quotation from Isaiah.

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As a matter of fact, in fact, we see several quotations from Isaiah in this particular section that we've read three,

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I believe. So here in verse five, we've got a reference to Isaiah 35 and 61.

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And then a little bit later on, which we'll get to this tomorrow in verse 10, there's another reference to Isaiah. But here in verse five, where he says the blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf here, the dead are raised up, the poor have the gospel preached to them.

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The first part of this is from Isaiah 35, beginning in verse, let's see, let me start in verse four, although this isn't where the quote is.

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So in Isaiah 35, four, say to those with an anxious heart, be strong, fear not.

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Behold, your God will come with vengeance. The recompense of God will come, but he will save you.

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Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped.

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Then the lame will leap like a deer and the tongue of the mute will shout for joy for waters will break forth in the wilderness and streams in the

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Araba. Then the scorched land will become a pool and the thirsty ground springs of water in the haunt of jackals.

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It's resting place, grass becomes reeds and rushes. You see what

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Isaiah is prophesying here. And Jesus is referencing Isaiah 35, five, the eyes of the blind will be opened.

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The ears of the deaf will be unstopped. The lame will leap like a deer, but the testimony that will be preached by the

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Messiah when he comes, and I guess I should have started in verse three because this line is just so great.

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Isaiah 35, three strengthened, limp hands and give courage to the knees of the stumbling. Say to those with an anxious heart, be strong, fear, not behold, your

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God will come with vengeance. The recompense of God will come, but he will save you.

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And that's Jesus. The judgment of God is in his hands. And we have the judgment talked about in John three.

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Yes, Jesus came to save, but judgment has come upon those who do not believe

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John three 36. He who has the son has life, but he who does not obey the son shall not see life.

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But the wrath of God remains on him. So the recompense of God will come, but he will save you.

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He saves those who believe in him. So therefore verse five, then the eyes of the blind will be open.

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Those that he will save, the eyes of the blind will be open. And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped.

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Now Jesus literally does this. He literally heals with the power of God so that it will be seen that he does this spiritually as well.

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If he has the power to do this on a physical level, then you can know that he's doing this on a spiritual level.

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This goes back to the miracle that we had heard about the hang on.

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This was in chapter nine, wasn't it? Yes. The healing of the paralytic. So remember that the

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Pharisees were grumbling about Jesus healing this man because he said that his sins were forgiven.

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Who can forgive sins but God? And so Jesus, knowing their heart says to them, why are you thinking evil in your hearts?

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For which is easier to say your sins are forgiven or to say, get up and walk. And as I said, when we were in that particular story there in Matthew nine,

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I said, it's easier to say your sins are forgiven because you don't have to show any outward proof that you've accomplished that.

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But it's harder to say, get up and walk because then you have to show proof that you can heal this man.

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And so Jesus goes on to say, this is still Matthew nine, verse six, so that you may know the son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins.

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And then he said to the paralytic, get up and pick up your bed and go home. So because Jesus did this, he commanded this man to get up and walk and he does.

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The outward working of this miracle demonstrates the authority that he has, even over sin, that he can forgive someone their sins.

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Whoever believes in Jesus will be forgiven. So we have that same sort of thing said here in fulfillment of the prophecy in Isaiah 35.

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Jesus says to John's disciples, report what you see and hear. The blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear the dead are raised up.

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And we've got this line, which actually comes from a different part of Isaiah. The poor have the gospel preached to them.

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And that is from Isaiah 61, beginning in verse one, the spirit of the

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Lord Yahweh is upon me because Yahweh has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted.

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He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim release to captives and freedom to prisoners, to proclaim the favorable year of Yahweh and the day of vengeance of our

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God, to comfort all who mourn, to grant those who mourn in Zion, giving them a headdress instead of ashes, the oil of rejoicing instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting.

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So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of Yahweh that he may show forth his beautiful glory.

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Now that was all one sentence. So I went ahead and read all three verses there, but it's right there at the beginning of Isaiah 61, the spirit of the

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Lord Yahweh is upon me because Yahweh has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted.

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The gospel has been preached to the poor. And so Jesus says this to John's disciples, verse six, and blessed is he who does not take offense at me.

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You are not offended by what I do or what I say, but you are blessed. You are convicted.

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You repent, you rejoice in God. And this saying this to John's disciples is the testimony.

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I am the one that has fulfilled the prophecy that was made by Isaiah without Jesus directly saying it.

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He doesn't have to directly say, yes, I'm he go tell John that I am he. The proof is in the works that he does.

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Go and tell John what you have seen, because seeing these things is the testimony that this is the fulfillment of what was prophesied in the scriptures.

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It's not enough for Jesus to simply say, I am he. He could have said that. And that should have been enough for us, certainly, but to fulfill what the scriptures have said, he must have done all of these works to do what had been prophesied about him from long ago.

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And these things demonstrate and show even the spiritual power he has, what he has power over naturally demonstrates the spiritual authority he has even to forgive sins.

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The afflicted, the poor. It's not those who are materially poor, who are physically afflicted, but those who in their spirits recognize we have nothing.

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I am nothing. I am low. I am as good as dirt. And so reaching out to God saying, save me.

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And the gospel comes to them. The testimony of Jesus Christ, the son of God, who has come to take away the sin of the world.

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That was also a testimony of John the Baptist, behold, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

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We read that also in John one. So as Jesus shares these things with John's disciples, and he testifies of this back to John, John's heart is comforted and assured that the word of God has been spoken and is being fulfilled in Christ.

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And sometimes my friends, we need those reminders as said in Romans 15 for what was written in former days was written for our instruction that through the encouragement of the scriptures, we might have hope.

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And we need to come back to these things regularly that we may be reminded of what

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Jesus has done and is doing in us and will do for us.

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He will bring us into his eternal kingdom. In the end, he is the

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Christ. Believe on that. Heavenly father, as we finish up our reading here,

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I pray that our hearts would be comforted to regardless of what we think about why

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John the Baptist may have asked this question. Yet our hearts can be comforted in hearing the answer that Jesus is the one who raises the dead.

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He is the one who heals the sick. He is the one who has given sight to the blind.

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As we sing an amazing grace, I once was blind, but now I see. And one day we will enter into a glorious kingdom when our faith will be sight as Horatio Spafford wrote.

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And the afflictions that we experience in our bodies now will be no more as our lowly bodies will be transformed to be like your glorious body by the power that enables

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Jesus to subject all things to himself. Help us to be reminded and comforted by these words and that we may draw all the more near to Christ, hope in you and worship you today.