Matthew 11:7-19: “Jesus Begins To Tell The Multitudes Who John
The Baptist Was In God’s End-times Scheme”
by
Jim Bomkamp
1.
INTRO:
1.1.
In this next section we will continue to look at John the
Baptist, and in this study we will look at what his role was prophesied to be
1.1.1.1.According to
Jesus, John the Baptist was Elijah who came to prepare the way for the Lord
1.1.1.2.However,
John denied that he was Elijah when asked
1.1.1.3.John came in
the spirit and power of Elijah
1.1.1.4.There will
be a second coming of Elijah to earth, this time he will be transported
directly from heaven during the 7 year tribulation of the book of Revelation
1.1.2.
We will also look at what Jesus meant when He said
that of those born of women none were greater than John the Baptist yet the
least one in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he
2.
VS 11:7-10 - “7 And as these were
going away, Jesus began to speak to the multitudes about John, “What did you go
out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? 8 “But what did
you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft
clothing are in kings’ palaces. 9 “But why did you go out? To see a prophet?
Yes, I say to you, and one who is more than a prophet. 10 “This is the one
about whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who
will prepare Your way before You.’” -
Jesus gives tribute to John the Baptist
2.1.
John the Baptist had doubts, but this righteous man was great in every
way, and in fact he was the greatest of the Old Testament prophets (vs 11;11)
2.2.
If there were any doubt concerning John the Baptist’s character as a
result of this group of his disciples coming to ask Jesus this question, Jesus
seeks to clear up the confusion by speaking well on John’s behalf
2.3.
Jesus enumerates John’s godly characteristics
2.3.1.
John was not a reed shaken by the wind of popular opinion or religious
convention, but rather he was willing to go anywhere God would send him and he
would speak to anyone all the words that the Father gave him to speak
2.3.2.
John was a man who was not in love with the fine things that this world
has to offer, and thus he didn’t wear soft clothing, and he forsook all of the
comforts of society in order to live in the wilderness wearing a camel’s hair
coat and eating locusts and wild honey
2.3.3.
Jesus said that John the Baptist was the one who was prophesied in
Malachi as coming before the Messiah in order to prepare His coming
2.3.3.1.Malachi 3:1 is the verse
that Jesus has in mind here concerning John’s calling and mission, “3:1 “Behold,
I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the
Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the
covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of hosts”
2.3.3.2.Malachi 4:5, the last verse
of the Old Testament, spelled out that this messenger who was coming before the
Messiah to prepare the way was Elijah, “5“See, I will send you another
prophet like Elijah before the coming of the great and dreadful judgment day of
God””
2.3.3.2.1.Throughout history the Jews
have known that Elijah is to come before the Messiah, and thus it is a
tradition that has carried down all the way to today that at the Jewish
Passover meals that each family will leave one empty chair at the dinner table
for Elijah should he come
2.3.3.2.2.John himself claimed that he
was not Elijah the prophet when asked (John 1:21), however Luke 1:17 clears up
this difficulty by explaining that John was not Elijah reincarnated, but rather
that he came ‘in the spirit and power of Elijah’, “17 “And it is he who will
go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the
hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude
of the righteous; so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord””
2.3.3.3.Isaiah 40:3-4 is another
section of prohphesy that foretold John’s coming before the Messiah, “3:1 “Behold,
I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the
Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the
covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of hosts”
2.4.
In Jesus’ grilling the people as to what reason they went out to see John
the Baptist, he is chiding them for not receiving the very words that John had
to share.
2.4.1.
John’s character and his message give credence to his ministry, therefore
those who would hear him preach and yet refuse to repent and turn to God will
have no excuse on the day of judgment
2.5.
John the Baptist was a guy who taught and spoke truth to the people, and
he understood the importance of the things that were eternal rather than
temporal, of an eternal heaven and hell, and thus multitudes of people were
drawn to him, even among the rich and powerful of the day
3.
VS 11:11 - “11 “Truly, I say to you,
among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the
Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he” - Jesus teaches that the least disciple in His
kingdom is greater than the one Jesus called the greatest Old Testament
prophet, John the Baptist
3.1.
As I mentioned earlier, John the Baptist was a great prophet, the
greatest prophet to that point, however he is really an Old Testament prophet,
not a New Testament saint
3.2.
Why would the least one in the
3.2.1.
John the Baptist never understood the new covenant of grace (it hadn’t
yet been revealed), only the inferior old covenant of law given through Moses,
and as a result new covenant believers are greater because of the privileges,
gifts, and enablings they enjoy
3.2.2.
As grace is much superior to law, so John the Baptist is inferior to the
least believer in Christ’s kingdom
4.
VS 11:12 - “12 “And from the days of
John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent
men take it by force”” - Jesus
teaches that men have been taking the kingdom by force since John the Baptist’s
ministry began
4.1.
This verse has been one which has seen many interpretations, and I
personally don’t think that it is important to discuss all of the various ideas
men have had through the centuries
4.2.
My personal belief is that what Jesus is talking about here is that since
the beginning of John the Baptist’s ministry (which began to prepare the way and
herald Christ’s entrance into ministry) there have been men of zeal who have
entered into John’s and/or Jesus’ camp and who have gotten on fire for the Lord
(and thus they have taken the Kingdom of heaven by force)
4.2.1.
I just want to mention here that this is what the church today needs is
people who get on fire for the Lord, people who are radical in their
commitment, and radical in their willingness to follow and serve the Lord
4.2.1.1.One Christian who is on fire
for Christ can do much more good than multitudes who are half-hearted and
content in their spiritual growth and relationship with the Lord
4.2.1.2.If we will let the Lord set
us on fire He’ll use our life in an incredible way
5.
VS 11:13 - “13 “For all the prophets
and the Law prophesied until John”” - Jesus tells them that all the law and
prophets prophesied until John
5.1.
What Jesus is saying here is that the Old Testament Penteteuk as well as
all of the prophets of the Old Testament era foretold of the coming of the
Messiah to the earth for the redemption of fallen mankind
6.
VS 11:14 - "14 "And if
you care to accept it, he himself is Elijah, who was to come""
- Jesus tells them that John the
Baptist is Elijah who was promised to return before the Messiah was revealed
6.1.
Four hundred years before Christ, the Old Testament writings and
prophesies ended with writing of the book of Malachi, in which it was
prophesied that Elijah would return to the earth before the revelation of the
Messiah
6.1.1.
At the end of the book of Malachi, Malachi wrote in Malachi 4:5-6
about this return to the earth by Elijah before the day of the Lord, "5
"Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of
the great and terrible day of the Lord. 6 "And he will restore the hearts
of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their
fathers, lest I come and smite the land with a curse""
6.1.2.
Luke tells us in Luke 1:17 that John the Baptist was not a
reincarnated Elijah of old, but rather one who came in the same spirit and
power as Elijah, "17 "And it is he who will go as a forerunner
before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers
back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous; so
as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord""
6.2.
I personally believe that there is actually a dual fulfillment of
this promise from Malachi 4:4-5 and that during the 7 year Tribulation Period
mentioned in the book of Revelation that one of the two witnesses that appear
on the scene is Elijah who has been transported from heaven to earth for this
ministry of being a witness to the world of Christ
6.2.1.
Revelation 11:3-12 describes the ministry of these two witnesses,
"3 "And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will
prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth." 4 These
are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of
the earth. 5 And if anyone desires to harm them, fire proceeds out of their
mouth and devours their enemies; and if anyone would desire to harm them, in
this manner he must be killed. 6 These have the power to shut up the sky, in
order that rain may not fall during the days of their prophesying; and they
have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with
every plague, as often as they desire. 7 And when they have finished their
testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them,
and overcome them and kill them. 8 And their dead bodies will lie in the street
of the great city which mystically is called
6.2.2.
Remember that there have been two men who did not die a physical
death but were translated directly up to heaven, Elijah and Enoch. So, these two men then must be looked upon as
perhaps being the ones who become the two.
Also, some have said that perhaps it would be Elijah and Moses who are
the two.
6.2.2.1.Elijah prayed and
it did not rain upon the earth for 3 1/2 years until he prayed again (1 King
17:1). Plus, once he prayed and fire
proceeded down from heaven and destroyed God's enemies (2 King 1:10-12)
6.2.2.2.Likewise, Moses
prayed and the Lord turned water into blood and brought every kind of plague
imaginable against the Egyptians until Pharaoh released the Israelites
6.2.2.3.Moses and Elijah
appearing with Christ at His Transfiguration and talking about the future
events seems to also support this view
7.
VS 11:15 - "15 "He who
has ears to hear, let him hear"" - Jesus throws out the challenge which He
often repeated, that those who have ears to hear the truth of His words let
them hear it
7.1.
People have to desire to know the truth in order to be able to
hear and understand it. What is at issue
is really a person's will, are the willing to listen to God and to do His will.
7.1.1.
In John 7:17, Jesus said that if a person was willing to do the
Father's will that he would also know whether or not His teaching was from God
or not, "17 "If any man is willing to do His will, he shall know
of the teaching, whether it is of God, or whether I speak from Myself"
7.1.2.
Our heart attitude has everything to do with our ability to know
God and understand truth about Him
7.2.
Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 2:14 about the fact that in and of ourselves
without revelation from God's Spirit that no one would be able to understand
any kind of spiritual truth, "14 But a natural man does not accept the
things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot
understand them, because they are spiritually appraised"
8.
VS 11:16-19 - "16 "But to
what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market
places, who call out to the other children, 17 and say, 'We played the flute
for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn. 18
"For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a
demon!' 19 "The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say,
'Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax-gatherers and
sinners!' Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds"'" - Jesus chides the people for not repenting
at the preaching of His and John the Baptist's
8.1.
In Jesus' day, children would often gather at the city gates or in
the center of the city and act out plays and play music in order to get all of
the children together to dance (much like square dancing in our culture
today). However, sometimes there would
be kids who would come by these groups who refused to participate in the fun
and dancing, but would be unmoved emotionally by the plays or the fun and party
spirit. Jesus says here that the general
populace was reacting in the same inappropriate way towards the prophet John
the Baptist sent by God to them, as well as towards Him the promised Messiah
sent to God's people the Jews.
8.2.
People must try hard to dodge the Lord and His involvement in
their lives, and it takes endless effort to push every stream of the light of
God's truth out of a person's life
8.3.
The hypocrisy and fickleness of the people is revealed in the fact
that the criticized and refused to accept the ministry of John the Baptist and
of Jesus for opposing reasons
8.3.1.
John the Baptist:
8.3.1.1.John the Baptist
was a man who lived his life under a Nazarite vow, drinking no alcoholic
beverages his entire life, plus eating none of the fine and expensive foods of
civilized life but rather only those found in the wilderness
8.3.1.1.1.Numbers chapter 6 tells what
the strict requirements for making and living a Nazarite Vow consist of
8.3.1.1.2.The people
criticized John's austere lifestyle saying that he must have been
demon-possessed to live in that manner
8.3.1.2.Jesus:
8.3.1.2.1.Jesus came and
lived in and among the people, socializing with them to the degree that He had
a reputation for being a friend even of tax-gatherers and sinners, and He drank
alcoholic beverages in moderation only
8.3.1.2.1.1.The people
criticized Jesus accusing Him of gluttony and for His friendship with the
tax-gatherers and sinners
8.4.
People become desperate in trying to avoid being convicted of
their sins, and if they cannot rationalize away the message of the one who
speaks to them from God, they will attack the messenger
8.4.1.
Paul wrote in 2 Tim. 3:12 about the fact that anyone who tries to
live a godly life will be persecuted by the world in rebellion against God,
"12 And indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be
persecuted"
8.4.2.
If they said these things about John the Baptist, the greatest of
the Old Testament prophets, as well as the Son of God Himself, we should not be
surprised when people attack our character as well
8.5.
Jesus says here that regardless of what the world may say about
God's people, or what they may do to them, that the wisdom of God's children
living a godly life before Him will eventually be vindicated by God
8.5.1.
If we continue in doing good deeds and walking as Christ walked,
though people may initially criticize or persecute us, eventually they will
come to the place of appreciating the fruit of our godly life, and they will
also eventually come to the place of wanting to hear the truth from our lips