Matthew 11
11
Jesus and John the Baptist
1After Jesus had finished teaching his 12 disciples, he went on to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee.
2John the Baptist was in prison, and when he heard about what the Messiah was doing, he sent his disciples 3to ask Jesus, “Are you the one who is supposed to come? Or should we look for someone else?”
4Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see. 5Those who are blind are receiving their sight, those who are disabled are walking, those with skin diseases are being made clean, those who are deaf are hearing, and the dead are being raised to life. And the good news is preached to those who are poor. 6Blessed is anyone who doesn’t give up their faith because of the way I do things.”
7As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John. “What did you go out into the desert to see?” he asked. “Tall grass waving in the wind? No? 8Then what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, people who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces. 9Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10John is the one written about in Scripture, where it says,
“ ‘I will send my messenger ahead of you,
and he will prepare your way for you.’
11Truly I tell you, no one greater than John the Baptist has ever been born in this world. But the one who’s least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he is. 12From the time of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been under attack, and violent people have been raiding it. 13All the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John came. 14If you’re willing to accept it, John is the Elijah who was supposed to come. 15Whoever is able to understand should pay attention.
16“What can I compare this generation to? They’re like children sitting in the markets and calling out to their friends,
17“ ‘We played the flute for you,
but you didn’t dance.
We sang a funeral song,
but you didn’t become sad.’
18When John came, he didn’t eat or drink the way most people do, so you said, ‘He has a demon.’ 19But when the Son of Man came, he did eat and drink the way most people do, and you said, ‘He’s always eating and drinking too much. He’s a friend of tax collectors and “sinners.” ’ But wisdom is proved right by its own actions.”
Towns That Do Not Turn Away From Sin
20Jesus then began to speak against the towns where he’d done most of his miracles, because the people there hadn’t turned away from their sins. 21“Woe to you, Chorazin!” he said. “Woe to you, Bethsaida! If the miracles that I did in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have turned away from their sins long ago. They would have put on mourning clothes and sat down in ashes. 22But I tell you this, on judgment day it will be better for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 23And what about you, Capernaum? Will you be lifted up to the heavens? No! You’ll go down to the place of the dead. If the miracles that I did in you had been done in Sodom, it would still be here today. 24I tell you, on judgment day it will be better for Sodom than for you.”
Rest for All Who Are Tired
25At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you’ve hidden these things from wise and educated people and shown them to little children. 26Yes, Father, you’ve done what you wanted to do.
27“My Father has given everything to me. No one knows the Son except the Father. No one knows the Father except the Son—and anyone the Son chooses to show the Father to.
28“Come to me, all you who are tired and carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest. 29Become my servants and learn from me. I’m gentle and humble, and you’ll find rest for your souls. 30My requirements are compassionate, and my load is light.”
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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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