Scripture reading – Matthew 11
A great multitude was following Jesus as we come to Matthew 11. Jesus’ ministry had begun in the countryside of Galilee, and He was followed by great crowds who came to hear Him teach, perform miracles, and ponder if He was the long-awaited Messiah of Israel. The people had been watching and waiting for a Messiah-King who would cast off the oppression of Rome; however, they would learn too late that Jesus had come to be their Savior, Messiah-Redeemer.
Matthew 11 – The Disciples of John the Baptist
Jesus had finished commanding and commissioning His disciples, and appears to have sent them out to minister while He began “to teach and to preach in their cities” (11:1). It was in that hour that John the Baptist, now in prison, sent two of his disciples who came to Jesus and asked, “Art thou He that should come, or do we look for another?” (11:3)
Why the question, “Art thou He that should come?” (11:3) Why this wondering? Was John doubting that Jesus was the promised Messiah? When he had baptized Jesus, John had witnessed the anointing of the of the Holy Spirit (3:16) and heard the voice of God the Father affirming, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (3:17).
Perhaps it was the darkness of the dungeon and his uncertain future. Maybe the isolation from those to whom he ministered, and the sudden end of his public ministry that left John seeking assurance that Jesus was the promised Messiah.
John’s disciples had brought him word of a spiritual stirring in Israel, and the people saying, “That a great prophet is risen up among us; and, That God hath visited his people” (Luke 7:16b). The news of Jesus’ ministry had reached John through his disciples (Luke 7:18). He had faith that God would send His Messiah, and he wanted reassurance, “Art thou He that should come?” (11:3) Jesus answered John’s disciples with love and grace saying,
Matthew 11:4b–6 – “4 …Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: 5The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. 6And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.”
Two Proofs Validated Jesus’ Messiahship: His Works and His Words (11:4-5)
Jesus commanded John’s disciples to go to him and declare what they had witnessed, His works.
Languishing in a Roman dungeon, John sought reassurance that Jesus was the Messiah, and it came in the outward, visible, undeniable evidence of miracles: “The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up.” (11:5)
The miracles Jesus performed, and later His physical bodily resurrection from the dead, give us undeniable proof that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Christ declared to His disciples, “11Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake” (John 14:11).
Are there times you need reassurance? Times when you find your faith weak? Remember, John the Baptist needed his faith strengthened, thou he was a man of whom Jesus said, “Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist” (11:11).
The second validating proof Jesus was the Promised One, the long-awaited Messiah, were His words. (11:5b)
Jesus commanded John’s disciples to go and tell him what they had heard, His words: “The poor have the gospel preached to them” (11:5b). Unlike men who are given to rhetoric and take pride in their oral arguments and powers of persuasion, Jesus’ words were divinely inspired and delivered with authority.
Luke 4:32 – “They were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power.
John 12:48–50 – 48He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. 49For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. 50And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.
John 14:10 – 10Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.
We conclude with Peter’s assertion of his faith in Jesus Christ: “Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. 69And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God” (John 6:68b-69).
The works of Christ were essential signs that validated His person and ministry before His generation; however, it is the hearing and preaching of the WORD that was and is essential for men to be saved.
Romans 10:17 – 17So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Copyright 2020 – Travis D. Smith