Matthew 11:1-6
After Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee.[a]
2 When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples 3 to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”
4 Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5 The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy[b] are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.6 Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”
Questions:
ReplyDelete- Isn't it a matter of faith - yet Jesus is saying that John should believe what is seen?
- What does Jesus mean by saying, "Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me"?
https://bible.org/seriespage/15-question-john-baptist-matthew-111-19 says:
ReplyDelete“Are you the Messiah or should we expect someone else?” This is not such a surprising question for an Israelite. Every king who came to the throne in Jerusalem was “anointed,” was a “messiah.” And each of them knew that God was going to bring in the golden age with His anointed one. Each of the believing kings who came to the throne may have wondered if it might happen in his reign--until there was a war, or he sinned and was denounced by the prophet. And so they would look for another, maybe the next king. John had certainly been convinced that Jesus was the Messiah, but things had not been going as he thought they might if Jesus was the promised one.
In considering John’s question you need to think through the Messianic expectations of the people a little bit--it will figure prominently in this chapter. Most people expected a Messiah who would expel the Gentile oppressors from the land and establish a kingdom of righteousness and peace. They did not expect, and did not understand, that Jesus would not do that but would die at their hands. It actually took the resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost before the disciple were able to put together what the plan was--even though Jesus tried to explain it to them again and again.
Part of the explanation of John’s question can be learned from Jesus’ answer. He simply told John’s disciples to go and tell John what they heard and saw.1 And then what Jesus listed was a number of works that the prophet Isaiah had said would be done by Messiah or in the Messianic Age. Most of these come from Isaiah 35 and Isaiah 61. Messiah was expected to do the miraculous--give sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, speech to the dumb, and the ability to walk to the lame. Messiah was also going to heal lepers because they were barred by the Law from the presence of God in the Temple.2 And Messiah would also do away with death according to Isaiah’s prophecies. So good news--the gospel as we call it--was being preached to the poor. These were works that Jesus was doing that would be recognized as works the Messiah was to do, works that only the Messiah could do.
But interestingly Jesus left one significant work out: Messiah would set the prisoner free and loose the captives. John was in prison. Now we begin to see John’s problem. He had heard what Jesus was doing--the works of the Messiah. But why then was he in prison? His question was probably not so much of doubt, but rather a mild prod for Jesus to do the work of Messiah. But Jesus’ answer to John only confirmed that He was the Messiah; the silence about the prison indicated that John was to stay in prison.
Before going on it is helpful I think to make a theological observation here. God has His plan and His timetable for His plan. He knew, as we now do, that Jesus had to suffer and die before entering into His kingdom. Otherwise there would be no redemption. So John, and many others, would have to suffer with Christ and His rejection by the nation. In one sense Jesus’ answer to John was that He was doing the Messianic works, but not all of them yet. He first had to suffer and die to rescue people from the prison of sin, and then He would establish His reign. In another sense Jesus was simply telling John that He was the Messiah but John would have to trust Him because He knew what He was doing. No doubt this was enough for John. If it was part of the Messiah’s plan for John to die in prison, that was fine as long as He received the word from the Lord.
http://www.bibleanswers.ie/short-bible-studies/69-questions-to-jesus-a-5-part-study/259-matthew-113 says:
ReplyDeleteJesus could have given a straightforward "yes" in reply to John's question, but he didn't. Instead he replied, "Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me." (Matthew 11:4-6) Miracles were the balm provided to heal John's doubts.
Jesus often appealed to his miracles to help people move from unbelief to faith. For example, "Believe me," he said, "when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves." (John 14:11) The miracles performed on the blind, the lame, the lepers, and the deaf caused Nicodemus to say, "No one can perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him." (John 3:2) The report of such miracles would have had the same effect on John.
How John responded to Jesus' reply, we are not told. I'm inclined to think that he took time to ponder the Lord's words. It was as if Jesus had sent him the pieces of a puzzle knowing that once John put them together he would see the picture clearly. This is how God dealt with Job when he wanted to question God regarding his suffering. God never answered Job's question directly. Instead, God asked him a series of questions and, as Job considered the questions, he concluded that God was in control of the world and capable of taking care of him.
https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/IVP-NT/Matt/Questions-Man-God says:
ReplyDeleteJesus' ministry had so far fulfilled none of John's eschatological promises; John had preached that the Coming One would baptize in the Spirit and fire, casting the wicked into a furnace of fire (Mt 3:10-12). It is no wonder that John doubted, and that John's questions arose when he heard of Jesus' deeds (11:2-3), not in spite of them. Thus when John asks if he and his disciples should look for someone else, this Greek expression is in an emphatic position and the specific term emphasizes "another of a different kind" (Gundry 1982:205). In contrast to the expectations of some of his contemporaries, John's expectations about the Messiah's future role were right; Jesus would baptize in fire, judging the world with justice and freeing the captives. But John did not understand that Jesus had another mission before the coming judgment. Jesus urged him to believe nonetheless.
. . .
Jesus' ministry had so far fulfilled none of John's eschatological promises; John had preached that the Coming One would baptize in the Spirit and fire, casting the wicked into a furnace of fire (Mt 3:10-12). It is no wonder that John doubted, and that John's questions arose when he heard of Jesus' deeds (11:2-3), not in spite of them. Thus when John asks if he and his disciples should look for someone else, this Greek expression is in an emphatic position and the specific term emphasizes "another of a different kind" (Gundry 1982:205). In contrast to the expectations of some of his contemporaries, John's expectations about the Messiah's future role were right; Jesus would baptize in fire, judging the world with justice and freeing the captives. But John did not understand that Jesus had another mission before the coming judgment. Jesus urged him to believe nonetheless.
Matthew recorded John's struggle with doubt, not to condemn John, but to encourage subsequent disciples whose faith would be tested by hardships. Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me could be translated "How happy will be the one who does not stumble on my account." In view of its serious use in the Gospel tradition (for example, 5:29-30; Mk 9:42-47; compare especially Mt 21:42-44), the language of "stumbling" here suggests that one's response to Jesus determines one's place at the final judgment (Witherington 1990:43-44).
http://www.livingwaters.cl/magazine/17/05.htm says:
ReplyDeleteThis same word is also used in 1Corinthians 1:22-24 which says, "... Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God."
Here is a great contrast: for some the Lord came to be a stumbling block, and for others he came to be power; for some he came to be a rock that made them fall, and for others he came to be a rock of salvation. This continues to be the case today. The Lord Jesus, the light and salvation for all men, turns out to be a tremendous stumbling block for many.
Dear brothers and sisters, why is the Lord Jesus Christ a stumbling stone? Why is it that He who came only to be of benefit to us, turned out to be a problem for so many people? Even in our days the Lord continues to be a stumbling stone for many. Why? Because all who draw near to the Lord will have to recognize that they themselves are weak. They will have to accept that their pride and their ego are destroyed.
When we come to the Lord Jesus, we find ourselves before a cross; we find that which ends our life, that which destroys our plans. In a sense, it is as if life itself were taken away from us.
Many people stumble because being associated with Him who was crucified on the cross means shame and scorn. Being a Christian, associating with Him who died on the cross is not popular. To be associated with a great thinker of the world such as Heidegger, for example, or to declare oneself a disciple of Sartre or Jacques Maritain, results in prestige and honor in academic circles throughout the world. Our society is based on the exaltation of man's attributes, but whoever comes to Christ, encounters someone that says.. "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." (Matthew 16:24).
What a stumbling stone the cross is! What a great problem! The world today has found a tremendous stumbling stone in the Lord Jesus Christ. "We could accept - the world will say - the teachings regarding loving one's neighbor, caring for the poor, and feeding the starving multitudes. We like that about you, Jesus Christ; this love is good, it is useful for the plans of our society, but if you come to speak to us about the necessity for a kernel of wheat to fall on the ground and die (John 12:24) ... then Christ is no longer convenient for us! What a stumbling stone the Lord is for all the systems of the world! He is a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall!