Matthew 11
11
John the Baptist Sends Messengers to Jesus
1Now it came to pass, when Jesus finished commanding His twelve disciples, that He departed from there to #Matt. 9:35; Luke 23:5teach and to preach in their cities.
2#Luke 7:18–35And when John had heard #Matt. 4:12; 14:3; Mark 6:17; Luke 9:7in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples 3and said to Him, “Are You #Gen. 49:10; Num. 24:17; Deut. 18:15, 18; Dan. 9:24; John 6:14the Coming One, or do we look for another?”
4Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: 5#Is. 29:18; 35:4–6; John 2:23The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and #Ps. 22:26; Is. 61:1; Luke 4:18; James 2:5the poor have the gospel preached to them. 6And blessed is he who is not #Is. 8:14, 15; (Rom. 9:32); 1 Pet. 2:8offended because of Me.”
7#Luke 7:24As they departed, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? #(Eph. 4:14)A reed shaken by the wind? 8But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. 9But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, #Matt. 14:5; 21:26; Luke 1:76; 20:6and more than a prophet. 10For this is he of whom it is written:
#Mal. 3:1; Mark 1:2; Luke 1:76‘Behold, I send My messenger before Your face,
Who will prepare Your way before You.’
11“Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12#Luke 16:16And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. 13#Mal. 4:4–6For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. 14And if you are willing to receive it, he is #Mal. 4:5; Matt. 17:10–13; Mark 9:11–13; Luke 1:17; John 1:21Elijah who is to come. 15#Matt. 13:9; Luke 8:8; Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
16#Luke 7:31“But to what shall I liken this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their companions, 17and saying:
‘We played the flute for you,
And you did not dance;
We mourned to you,
And you did not lament.’
18For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ 19The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, #Matt. 9:10a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ #Luke 7:35; John 2:1–11But wisdom is justified by her children.”
Woe to the Impenitent Cities
20#Luke 10:13–15, 18Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent: 21“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago #Jon. 3:6–8in sackcloth and ashes. 22But I say to you, #Matt. 10:15; 11:24it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. 23And you, Capernaum, #Is. 14:13; Lam. 2:1; Ezek. 26:20; 31:14; 32:18, 24who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 24But I say to you #Matt. 10:15that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.”
Jesus Gives True Rest
25#Luke 10:21, 22At that time Jesus answered and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that #Ps. 8:2; 1 Cor. 1:19; (2 Cor. 3:14)You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent #Matt. 16:17and have revealed them to babes. 26Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. 27#Matt. 28:18; Luke 10:22; John 3:35; 13:3; 1 Cor. 15:27All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. #John 1:18; 6:46; 10:15Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. 28Come to #(John 6:35–37)Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29Take My yoke upon you #(John 13:15); Eph. 4:2; (Phil. 2:5; 1 Pet. 2:21; 1 John 2:6)and learn from Me, for I am gentle and #Zech. 9:9; (Phil. 2:7, 8)lowly in heart, #Jer. 6:16and you will find rest for your souls. 30#(1 John 5:3)For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
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Matthew 11: NKJV
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Matthew 11
11
Jesus talked about John the Baptiser
1Jesus finished talking to his 12 special workers, then he went around the towns in Galilee country. He talked to people and taught them more about God.
2At that time, John the Baptiser was in jail. But people told him about all the things that Jesus was doing. So John sent some of his own followers to ask Jesus some questions. 3They went to Jesus and said to him, “John the Baptiser has sent us to you. He wants us to ask you, ‘Are you the special man that God has sent to us? Or do we have to start looking around for somebody else?’ ”
4Jesus said, “Go back and tell John what you see here. 5Some people were blind, but now they can see. Some people were crippled, but now they can walk. Some people had a bad skin sickness, but now their skin is good again. Some people were deaf, but now they can hear. Some people were dead, but now they are alive again. And tell John that you heard us telling the good news to poor people.#Isaiah 35:5-6; 61:1 6Maybe I’m not the sort of person you thought God would send, but just trust me anyway, and God will make you happy.”
7Then the followers of John went away, and Jesus started to talk to all the people. He talked to them about John. He said, “You know, you went out into the bush to see John. What sort of man did you think you would see? You didn’t go out there to see a man that is weak, like grass that goes any way the wind pushes it. 8And you didn’t go out there to see a man wearing pretty clothes. No, men that wear pretty clothes live in the town, in good big houses. 9Did you go out there to see a man that tells people God’s messages? Yes, John the Baptiser told you God’s message, and he did something even more important than that. 10You see, a long time ago, God got one of his men to write about somebody that will get everything ready. God’s man wrote about John the Baptiser. We can read it in God’s book. This is what it says,
‘God will send a man to get everything ready for God’s special person.
That man will talk about God’s special person, and he will make a way for people to listen to him.’ ”#Malachi 3:1
11Then Jesus said, “Listen. John the Baptiser is a very important man. He is greater than any other man that ever lived. But everyone in God’s family is more important than John the Baptiser. 12You know, John started to teach some time ago, and from that time until now, God’s family has been getting bigger. There are people that really want to be friends with God, and they have been trying hard to get into his family. 13You see, before John came, God told his words and his laws to his men, and they wrote them in God’s book. And you know, that was a long time ago, but they wrote about the things that will happen now, at this time.#Luke 16:16 14Look. Try to believe this. They wrote about John, but they didn’t use that name for him. They called him Elijah.”#Malachi 4:5; Matthew 17:10-13; Mark 9:11-13
15And Jesus said, “You’ve got ears, so you have to listen to me properly, and take notice of my words.”
16Then Jesus said, “Now I’ll talk about you people that are alive today and I’ll tell you what you are like. You are like kids that are playing in the street. Some kids say to the other kids, 17‘We played happy music for you, but you didn’t dance. So we sang a sad song, but you didn’t cry. No matter what we do, you say we are wrong.’ 18Those kids are a picture of you mob. You are just like those kids. You rubbish God’s people no matter what they do. You see, John the Baptiser didn’t go to parties and eat lots of good food, and he didn’t drink wine. But you rubbished him and said, ‘He’s got a bad spirit living inside him.’ 19But sometimes I go to parties and eat good food, and sometimes I drink wine, and even though I’m God’s special man from heaven, you rubbish me too. You say, ‘He eats too much, and he drinks too much. He’s a friend of those bad men that get tax money from people and give it to the Roman government, and he’s a friend of other bad people that don’t follow the law properly.’ But really, John and me, we are both wise. And you can know if somebody is wise or not. Just look at what they do, and see if they do good things or not.”
(We have not yet translated 11:20-24. You can read that message in Luke 10:13-15.)
God shows things to people that know they are not smart
25At that time, Jesus prayed to God. He said, “Father, you are the biggest boss. You are the boss over everything in the sky and everything on the earth. There are some people here that reckon they are smart, and they reckon they understand everything. And there are other people that are just like little kids. They know that they are not smart. Thank you for showing what your message means to those people that are like kids. And thank you for not showing it to those people that reckon they are smart. 26Yes, Father, that is how you wanted to do it.”
27Then Jesus told the people, “God, my father, gave me everything, so I can teach people all about him. You see, I am God’s son, and my father knows me properly. Nobody else knows me properly. And I know my father properly. I pick some people, and I show them what my father is like, but nobody else knows God properly.”#John 3:35; 1:18; 10:15
Jesus is good to his workers
28Then Jesus said to the people, “Come to me, all of you mob that are tired. You did a lot of ceremony things to get God to save you, but that is not the right way. It’s like you worked hard, and you carried a lot of heavy things, and then you got too tired. Look, instead of that, just come and work for me, and I will let you rest really good. 29Be my follower and work for me. Listen to the things I teach you, and you will feel good inside yourselves, like your spirit is resting. You see, I am not a big tough boss. I will be easy on you.#Jeremiah 6:16 30I will never ask you to do things that are too hard for you.”
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