Day 11: John the Baptizer, Warnings, and an Invitation to Rest

11:1 It happened that when Jesus had finished directing his twelve disciples, he departed from there to teach and preach in their cities. 11:2 Now when John heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples 11:3 and said to him, “Are you he who comes, or should we look for another?” 11:4 Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: 11:5 the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. 11:6 Blessed is he who finds no occasion for stumbling in me.”

11:7 As these went their way, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what did you go out to see? A man in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in king’s houses. 11:9 But why did you go out? To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and much more than a prophet. 11:10 For this is he, of whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’ 11:11 Most certainly I tell you, among those who are born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptizer; yet he who is least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he. 11:12 From the days of John the Baptizer until now, the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. 11:13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. 11:14 If you are willing to receive it, this is Elijah, who is to come. 11:15 He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
11:16 “But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces, who call to their companions 11:17 and say, ‘We played the flute for you, and you didn’t dance. We mourned for you, and you didn’t lament.’ 11:18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ 11:19 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!’ But wisdom is justified by her children.”

11:20 Then he began to denounce the cities in which most of his mighty works had been done, because they didn’t repent. 11:21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon which were done in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 11:22 But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. 11:23 You, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, you will go down to Hades. For if the mighty works had been done in Sodom which were done in you, it would have remained until this day. 11:24 But I tell you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom, on the day of judgment, than for you.”

11:25 At that time, Jesus answered, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you hid these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to infants. 11:26 Yes, Father, for so it was well-pleasing in your sight. 11:27 All things have been delivered to me by my Father. No one knows the Son, except the Father; neither does anyone know the Father, except the Son, and he to whom the Son desires to reveal him.

11:28 “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest. 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart; and you will find rest for your souls. 11:30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Chapter Summary:

• Questioned by John the Baptizer


• Our Lord Speaks About John the Baptizer


• What Shall I Say About This Generation?


• Woe to You!


• A Prayer of Thanksgiving


• Come Unto Me

Questioned by John the Baptizer

St. Matthew does not tell us the story of the arrest and imprisonment of St. John the Baptizer. (We must wait until we get to chapter 14 – although there’s nothing to prevent you from skipping ahead, if you want to do so!) Having sent the twelve on their mission, our Lord Himself returns to doing what He had initially done, which now His disciples have joined Him in doing: preaching the coming of the kingdom of heaven. Word of this reaches St. John the Baptizer in his prison cell; and so he sends two of his disciples to ask, “Are you he who comes, or should we look for another?” Even St. John, the last of the Old Testament prophets, who had preached the coming of the Messiah, and had recognized Him when He came to the Jordan River to be baptized – even this man of God must confront the doubts that arose in him. He asks for proof; and the answer given to him by our Lord also comes from prophetic roots: the miracles of healing, the raising of the dead, and the preaching the good news to the poor are all signs of the Messiah, given by God centuries before to prophets such as Isaiah. Our Lord concludes, “Blessed is he who finds no occasion for stumbling in me.” Jesus recognizes and acknowledges John’s doubt, and reassures him, even as He speaks to us today.

Our Lord Speaks About John the Baptizer

As John’s followers depart, Jesus addresses the multitude who followed Him, as perhaps many there had also followed John before his arrest. He asks them, “What did you go out into the desert to see?” He declares that John is a prophet, even the greatest of prophets – in itself, a rebuke to those who went out of curiosity, but did not respond to John’s call to repent and be cleansed by baptism. Quoting the prophet Malachi, Jesus (in verse 10) identifies St. John as the one spoken of by the prophet several hundred years before: The messenger sent to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah. He praises John as the greatest of any born of a woman; but then makes him less than the lowest of those who enter the kingdom of heaven. For John was of the old covenant; those who will receive our Lord by faith, and be baptized into His life, who are of the family and the household of Christ, who are of one blood with Him by the blood He shed on our behalf, are closer to Christ than was St. John. (Presumably, as St. John also comes into the kingdom by faith, he is restored to his place of honor – but that was yet to come.) Then John is identified as Elijah, the prophet who was taken up into heaven by a fiery chariot, and who was expected to return when the Messiah had come.

Then (in v. 12) our Lord says something that isn’t immediately obvious in what it says. That is, the words, on the surface, suggest something contrary to what we would expect to hear from the “Prince of peace,” one of the prophetic names given to our Lord before His birth. “From the days of John the Baptizer until now, the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. “ Most of us, probably, will visualize, upon hearing this, an invading army; or a SWAT team entering a building; or a burglar smashing a door or a window to gain entry. But here is what the fathers tell us about this “violence”: it is the violence of the ascetic life, the doing of battle against our passions, the violent breaking of the holds by which the enemy of our salvation attempts to keep us from rising to the kingdom. We struggle against our flesh, and against the powers of this world, in order to bring the life of Christ given to us in our baptism into reality within ourselves. It is by this “violence” that we “take” the kingdom of heaven.

What Shall I Say About This Generation?

It is my opinion that many of the exchanges which our Lord Jesus has with some of the people that appear to be harsh are, in fact, expressions of His inexpressibly great love of us. I think that, at times, He speaks in such a way as to jar those who hear Him, to shake them from their complacency and self-assuredness, so that they can then hear the good news of the coming of the kingdom, and repent and confess and be about the amendment of their lives. So, when He compares them to children, it is not an insult; and when He pushes them, it is so that they might begin their journey from this world to the kingdom that is coming, which He has brought for us all. In particular, He sets Himself into the story, together with St. John the Baptizer, who, He says, came neither eating nor drinking (apart from locusts, wild honey, and water), and was accused of being possessed by a demon. The same people say of Jesus that He was a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and sinners. Neither John nor Jesus were “good enough” for these people, who think they are better, more worthy, than others, because they are “righteous.” But they are mistaken; and “wisdom is justified by her children.” Whose lives better reveal the life of the kingdom? Those who repented? Or those who thought they were the righteous ones?

Woe to You!

Moving from “this generation,” our Lord speaks as a prophet to some of the cities to which He had traveled, and where He had proclaimed the kingdom, and worked miracles, and yet was not accepted by the very people to whom the promise of the Messiah had been made. Chorazin was near the Sea of Galilee, not far from Capernaum. Bethsaida was probably on the northeast shore of the Sea of Galilee. Capernaum was the village where Jesus lived. All three are at risk of a future worse than that which fell upon Sodom and Gomorrah, because they did not believe. Tyre and Sidon were cities on the coastline, established by the Phoenicians, and so were not part of the Holy Land that God had given to Abraham and his descendents – yet our Lord says that, if the pagan peoples living in those cities had seen what the people of the covenant had seen, they would have been quick to repent; something the people of God failed to do.

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Come Unto Me

Here again we come upon an apparent contradiction. Our Lord invites everyone who is troubled to come to Him, and He will refresh them, and give them rest. “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest for your souls.” Yet not too long before, we heard that the way was narrow, and the number to pass through the gate was small; and that we could not love anyone or anything more than the Lord, and that we must carry our cross and follow Him. So how could His yoke be easy, and His burden light?

The fathers approach this in number of ways. One is very practical, coming from the experience of farmers. A young animal, yoked for the first time, may respond with protest against this restraint laid upon it, and at the load it is then required to pull. But when an older, and experienced animal is paired in the yoke with the inexperienced younger animal, the older exerts a calming influence, and resists the attempts to throw off the yoke; and by this, the animal new to the yoke is trained, and becomes experienced and reliable. As it is for the animals, so it is for us, if we will allow ourselves to be yoked in tandem with Christ, and go with Him, and learn from Him. The fathers also tell us that there is no burden so great, so heavy, as the knowledge of our sins; and how light is the feeling when we have confessed, and our sins are forgiven! Righteousness and virtue, while difficult to acquire – it takes the way of the Cross – are of no burden at all, once we have acquired them. Finally, the fathers remind us that this life is transitory, brief, in comparison with eternity; so that even if bearing the Cross is a great burden now, it will not always be so; and we will rejoice when we have come into the kingdom of heaven, and give no thought to the moment when things seemed insurmountable, and unbearable.