Matthew 11
11
John Sends Men to Ask Jesus a Question
(Lk. 7:18–35)
1When Jesus finished these instructions for his twelve followers, he left there. He went to the towns in Galilee to teach the people and tell them God’s message.
2When John was in prison, he heard about the things that were happening—things the Messiah would do. So he sent some of his followers to Jesus. 3They asked him, “Are you the one we have been expecting, or should we wait for someone else?”
4Jesus answered, “Go tell John what you have heard and seen: 5The blind can see. The crippled can walk. People with leprosy are healed. The deaf can hear. The dead are brought back to life. And the Good News is being told to the poor. 6Great blessings belong to those who don’t have a problem accepting me.”
7When John’s followers left, Jesus began talking to the people about John. He said, “What did you people go out to the desert to see? Someone who is weak, like a stem of grass#11:7 stem of grass Literally, “reed.” blowing in the wind? 8Really, what did you expect to see? Someone dressed in fine clothes? Of course not. People who wear fine clothes are all in kings’ palaces. 9So what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, John is a prophet. But I tell you, he is more than that. 10This Scripture was written about him:
‘Listen! I will send my messenger ahead of you.
He will prepare the way for you.’ Malachi 3:1
11“The truth is that John the Baptizer is greater than anyone who has ever come into this world. But even the least important person in God’s kingdom is greater than John. 12Since the time John the Baptizer came until now, God’s kingdom has been going forward strongly.#11:12 has been … strongly Or “has suffered violence.” And people have been trying to take control of it by force. 13Before John came, the Law of Moses and all the prophets told about the things that would happen. 14And if you believe what they said, then John is Elijah.#11:14 Elijah See Mal. 4:5-6. He is the one they said would come. 15You people who hear me, listen!
16“What can I say about the people who live today? What are they like? The people today are like children sitting in the marketplace. One group of children calls to the other group,
17‘We played flute music for you,
but you did not dance;
we sang a funeral song,
but you were not sad.’
18Why do I say people are like that? Because John came, not eating like other people or drinking wine, and people say, ‘He has a demon inside him.’ 19The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and people say, ‘Look at him! He eats too much and drinks too much wine. He’s a friend of tax collectors and other sinners.’ But wisdom is shown to be right by what it does.”
Jesus Warns People Who Refuse to Believe
(Lk. 10:13–15)
20Then Jesus criticized the cities where he did most of his miracles. He criticized these cities because the people there did not change their lives and stop sinning. 21Jesus said, “It will be bad for you Chorazin! It will be bad for you Bethsaida! I did many miracles in you. If these same miracles had happened in Tyre and Sidon, the people there would have changed their lives a long time ago. They would have worn sackcloth and put ashes on themselves to show that they were sorry for their sins. 22But I tell you, on the day of judgment it will be worse for you than for Tyre and Sidon.
23“And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to heaven? No! You will be thrown down to the place of death. I did many miracles in you. If these same miracles had happened in Sodom, the people there would have stopped sinning, and it would still be a city today. 24But I tell you, it will be worse for you in the day of judgment than for Sodom.”
Jesus Offers Rest to His People
(Lk. 10:21–22)
25Then Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth. I am thankful that you have hidden these things from those who are so wise and so smart. But you have shown them to people who are like little children. 26Yes, Father, you did this because it’s what you really wanted to do.
27“My Father has given me everything. No one knows the Son—only the Father knows the Son. And no one knows the Father—only the Son knows the Father. And the only people who will know about the Father are those the Son chooses to tell.
28“Come to me all of you who are tired from the heavy burden you have been forced to carry. I will give you rest. 29Accept my teaching.#11:29 Accept my teaching Literally, “Take my yoke upon you.” A yoke was put on the neck of a work animal for pulling a load. It was a Jewish symbol for the law. See Acts 15:10; Gal. 5:1. Learn from me. I am gentle and humble in spirit. And you will be able to get some rest. 30Yes, the teaching that I ask you to accept is easy. The load I give you to carry is light.”
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
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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