Bible Commentaries
Matthew 11

Not Peace But a Sword (10:34-11:1)

Verses 34-39 resume the theme begun earlier (vss. 21-22) of the struggles which the disciples will have to endure, even in their own family (see Luke 12:51-53). Verse 34 shocks us by the violence of its paradox: "I have not come to bring peace, but a sword." Can it be the Christ of the Beatitudes, the proclaimer of peace, who speaks thus? Yes, it is; for to announce the peace of God is to denounce all false ideas of peace, which are only frightful caricatures of it, as when the false prophets say, "Peace, peace," when there is no peace (Jeremiah 6:14). What passes under the name of "peace" is often only a mask which covers indiscriminately truth and error, justice and injustice. Such peace God loathes (Revelation 3:15-16). Jesus has come to disturb our false quietude, to tear to pieces with the sword of his word all the masks by which we cover ourselves (see Hebrews 4:12-13). And some cruel rendings may be the result The hour may come when the demand to "leave all" may take a concrete meaning which our near relatives cannot accept Jesus himself knew such a painful rupture of family ties (see Mark 3:21; John 7:5). He knew that the disciples would also experience it Jesus demands that he be first in the affection of those who belong to him; their love for him must take primacy over the most legitimate of affections the love of children for their parents and of parents for their children. This demand can be understood only if love for Jesus and love for God are one and the same thing. In this passage it is the Lord who speaks, clothed with the sovereign authority of God himself. Every Jew knows that to love God is the first commandment God alone can demand unconditional obedience. Jesus gives his life for his own. To be "worthy" of him is to be ready to follow him, even though it should be to the ignominious death of the cross.

Verse 38 is found also in Matthew 16:24 (compare Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23; Luke 14:27). The cross is not only a symbol of death, it represents the humiliated condition of a slave. This condition Jesus had made his own. And here again, the disciple is not above his Master. To follow him is to be exposed to humiliation and outrage. This saying is bound to the following, which is also a key saying cited in all the Gospels and repeated twice in some of them (Matthew 10:39; Matthew 16:25; Mark 8:35; Luke 9:24-25; Luke 17:33; John 12:25). To "find" one’s life may be to draw back from the final sacrifice of physical life and for that reason to deny one’s faith. But the term has a larger meaning than that It may mean allowing some dear affections or some human considerations, of whatever sort, to close for us the way of obedience. To do this is to believe one’s self to be living but in reality to be separated from God and thus given over to death. This is to live in illusion. It is to prefer the immediate and transient goods of the present life to the call of Christ who alone can make us "alive" in the biblical sense of the word, as children of the Kingdom.

To the radical demand corresponds the promise, equally radical. Jesus will consider what is done to one of those whom he has sent as done to himself. To receive them is to receive him, and to receive him is to receive the Father who sent him. This leads us back to the initial declaration of the whole chapter: there is a transmission of power and authority from the one who sends to those who are sent (compare 10:1). They do not act in their own name. They give nothing which they have not first received. Those who receive them as "prophets" thereby acknowledge the words which they speak as words of God for the prophet is "the mouth of God" (see Jeremiah 1:9; Jeremiah 15:19) and consequently they are blessed. Those who receive them as "righteous" that is, as faithful believers will receive the recompense which accrues to them. And those even who give them a cup of cold water for the love of Jesus will be blessed by God for this act of love. Note the term "little ones" applied to the disciples. The missionaries of the Early Church were often from among the humble, the artisans, the tradesmen, the slaves, who announced the good news around them. The entire Gospel by Matthew (see the Beatitudes; compare also 11:25) shows that it is the humble of heart to whom Jesus confides the proclamation of his Kingdom. A benediction rests on these ministries, often obscure, as well as on those who, in receiving them, reap the fruits thereof.

Introduction

Discourse Concerning John the Baptist (11:2-30)

This narrative has as its point of departure an inquiry of John the Baptist sent to Jesus (Matthew 11:2-6), an inquiry which is the occasion of a declaration of Jesus about the person and work of the Baptist (vss. 7-15) and a judgment on the unbelieving crowds who received neither John’s message nor his own (vss. 16-24). But some have believed; hence the discourse concludes with a giving of thanks by Jesus and a clear affirmation of his divine Sonship and of the salvation which he brings (vss. 25-30).

Verses 2-6

John’s Question and Jesus’ Reply (Matthew 11:2-6; see Luke 7:18-23)

"He who is to come" Is a classic expression, somewhat veiled, to designate the Messiah. People are often astonished that the Baptist had such a doubt, in view of what has been said about him previously (Matthew 3:11-15). It must be remembered, however, that in the thought of the Baptist the coming of the Messiah coincided with the Last Judgment, when the just would be delivered and the wicked destroyed (Matthew 3:12). Then, too, John is in prison for having had the courage of the prophets (Matthew 14:3-12). And "the Messiah" remains silent. He seems impotent. Evil continues to triumph. What John’s disciples have reported to him is not completely reassuring. Could it be that Jesus is only a prophet like himself, a forerunner and not the Messiah-Judge of the end-time? John honestly posed this question to Jesus.

Jesus replies with deeds. John would immediately grasp their significance; for they are the "signs" announced by the prophets (Isaiah 35:5-6), signs which even go beyond what had been prophesied, for Jesus mentions the healing of lepers and the raising of the dead. But more important than all the healings is the fact that "the poor have good news preached to them" (see Isaiah 61:1). The signs of the Kingdom are there. But it comes otherwise than John had foreseen; no fire from heaven falls on the wicked. This mystery of the Kingdom which comes in a manner both real and hidden, Jesus does not explain.

His works testify to Jesus for those who "understand". "Blessed is he who takes no offense at me." This "offense" is the mystery of the Son’s coming under the form of the Servant This is the scandal of the Cross (see Matthew 16:21-23; 1 Corinthians 1:22-25).

Verses 7-19

Jesus’ Declaration Concerning John the Baptist

(Matthew 11:7-19; see Luke 7:24-28; Luke 16:16; Luke 7:31-35)

The crowds had to face the questions of the origin and the relation between these two "prophets," at the same time so alike and so different This had already produced some discussions between their respective disciples (see Matthew 9:14). Paul later found some men who knew only the baptism of John (Acts 18:25; Acts 19:1-5). This indicates that the problem remained real in the Early Church, and it is not by accident that all the evangelists underline the role of the Baptist as forerunner (Matthew 3; Mark 1:3-8; Luke 3:15-17; John 1:6-8; John 1:19-40; John 3:22-30).

The words spoken by Jesus, as they are reported to us in Matthew 11, are designed to throw light on a latent question: What did Jesus himself say about the person and work of John the Baptist? The testimony which Jesus rendered to the Baptist is as explicit as it could be. John was no changeable man, a reed swinging in the wind, a courtier looking for an easy life. (Was this perhaps an ironic remark directed toward the detractors of John?) Those who had gone to find him in the desert knew him: it was to an authentic prophet they had gone. But his greatness surpassed that of the prophets, for he had been the announcer of the coming Kingdom, the herald who opened the way for the King (Malachi 3:1; Isaiah 40:3). Among all those born of women, there was none greater than he!

Here follows immediately a word which baffles us: fie yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he" (vs. 11), This text sets over against the natural birth another the birth from above (compare John 3:3-5). John stands on the threshold of the New Age, he announces it; in Jesus it has come. John is the last great figure of the Old Covenant and in a fashion he wins the Kingdom by main force, by asceticism and heroic obedience (vs. 12). But the New Covenant of which Jesus is the incarnation is a Covenant of grace, and marks a new beginning. This saying is not a judgment on the person of John, and certainly does not prejudge his eternal destiny; but it traces a clear line of demarcation between the former time and the New Age which Jesus inaugurates. John is the "Elijah who is to come" (vs. 14; see Malachi 4:5-6). To say this, for those who were able to understand, was to say that now, in the Person of Jesus, the Kingdom of God had come. And this coming, as has been seen earlier, is good and joyous news; it is the announcement of salvation,

The following sayings (vss. 16-19) are a melancholy declaration. The crowds are like changeable children who always demand a kind of music other than that which is offered them, They will neither dance with those who dance nor sing lamentations with those who play a funeral dirge. John practiced austere abstinence and they accused him of being demon-possessed. Jesus came "eating and drinking" and they charged him with being fond of wild living, with having evil companions (compare Matthew 9:10-15). They objected to John because of his asceticism and to Jesus because of the freedom with which he used the good things of this world and because he fraternized with sinners. Jesus did not appear to his contemporaries as a man austere and detached from the world, but as a man open to joy, free of prejudice, truly a man among men.

Verse 19b indicates that, however different John and Jesus were, the wisdom of God spoke through them both. It was necessary to understand then twofold message a message of repentance and a message of joy; for only he who has first understood and accepted condemnation can grasp the joy of salvation. "Wisdom is justified by her deeds" (Luke says, "by . . . her children," 7:35). The wisdom of God does not work among men in vain. Over against the ingratitude of the many is set the faith of those who have understood and believed. By them God is "justified" that is, recognized for what he is.

Verses 20-24

The Guilt of the Galilean Cities (11:20-24)

The guilt of the cities of Galilee, of which only three are mentioned, lies in the fact that they have been witnesses of the miracles and the message of Jesus. The hour of decision has sounded for them, and in refusing to repent they bring on themselves the judgment of God. For those who do not welcome it, the good news becomes condemnation (compare John 3:17-21). Had such a message of salvation been proclaimed within the walls of even pagan cities such as Tyre and Sidon, they would have put on "sackcloth and ashes." The most severe word is addressed to Capernaum, for Jesus had lived and had done many of his miracles there (Matthew 8:5-17; Matthew 9:1-8; compare Luke 4:23). Will Capernaum be able to boast at the last day of having sheltered the Son of Man? On the contrary, it will be "brought down to Hades." It will be judged in proportion to that which it has received judged more severely than Sodom, which was regarded by the Jews as accursed (Matthew 10:15).

This warning must be taken seriously. Those who have never heard the name of Jesus Christ will be more readily pardoned than those who honor him with their lips but have never taken seriously either the judgment or the salvation of God.

Verses 25-30

Of the Mystery of Revelation (11:25-30)

Matthew concludes the whole discourse here by three very important sayings in which Jesus reveals explicitly that of which he heretofore has spoken only in veiled terms the unique character of his Person and mission.

The first two sayings are placed in Luke’s Gospel immediately after the return of the disciples, who were full of joy because of the answers to prayer they had experienced on their mission. Jesus, we are told, "rejoiced in the Holy Spirit" and rendered thanks (Luke 10:17-24).

The context of Matthew is very different. Jesus has just spoken of a defeat From this fact his praise takes on a more general and more profound meaning. God is "Lord of heaven and earth," who can be known only by those to whom he pleases to reveal himself. And the mystery of his revelation consists in this that "these things" (meaning the things of his Kingdom) remain hidden to "the wise and understanding" and revealed "to babes." Who are these wise and understanding? Without doubt Jesus is thinking of the scribes, the doctors of the Law, whose suspicion pursues him from place to place; of all those who are shut up to their own wisdom and because of this are incapable of recognizing God when he comes to them. The Old Testament had previously denounced the false wisdom of the "wise" (Jeremiah 8:8-9; Jeremiah 9:23-24; Isaiah 29:14). And Paul, for whom the Cross had shattered all human wisdom, later took up the saying of Isaiah and set over against all human wisdom the holy folly of God, "a secret and hidden wisdom" (1 Corinthians 1:18-31; 1 Corinthians 2:6-8).

Who are the "babes"? They are those humble, unimportant people, very ignorant in the eyes of the scholars and the "wise," who have believed in Jesus and have left all to follow him; those simple folk to whom God, in his broad benevolence, has been gracious in revealing his Kingdom and declaring himself their Father. Such is the purpose of God. It is manifested in the rejection of some as well as in the election of others. And this purpose fills Jesus with adoration: "Yea, Father, for such was thy gracious will".

The following saying (vs. 27) reveals the mystery of the Person of Jesus himself. To be sure, we have seen him throughout the Gospel speaking and acting with a sovereign authority; he has several times intimated the unique character of his mission. But here, for the first time, it is disclosed that we are standing before the unique Son of the Father, the One to whom all things have been delivered, the One whom the Father alone knows and who alone knows the Father.

Reflect a moment on this word "know." In the Bible it never means merely intellectual knowledge, but rather a living relationship which engages the entire person. For the believer of the Old Testament to be known by God was both a mercy and a terror (Psalms 139); to know him was the supreme good (Exodus 33:12-13; Hosea 2:19-20; Hosea 6:6; Isaiah 11:9; Jeremiah 31:33-34). The knowledge of God is central in the Messianic hope, the great characteristic of the New Age.

In proclaiming that the Father had delivered all things to him Jesus was confiding the secret of his authority. In his Person it is the Father who speaks and acts (compare John 5:19-27). No one save the Father knows the Son. Not only is he misunderstood by his enemies, but his disciples themselves do not know who he is. Only the Father knows him, and only the Father can reveal him (Matthew 16:17). Nor does anyone know the Father save the Son "and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him" (compare John 1:18; John 14:6-10). The mystery of the divine Sonship announced here will be manifested in all its power and fullness only after the Resurrection (Matthew 28:18-19).

The saying recorded in verses 28-30 belongs to the peculiar treasure of the Gospel by Matthew. It is a word of consolation to all the weary and burdened of the world. Jesus offers them rest. Men spoke readily of "the yoke of the law" and that yoke was heavy (Matthew 23:4; Acts 15:10). Jesus declares that his yoke is "easy."

Why? Because Jesus inflicts no yoke on his own which he has not carried himself, before them, with them, for them. He is the Suffering Servant who does not break the "bruised reed" (see Isaiah 42:2-4), and who has taken on himself all the burdens of men (see Isaiah 53:2-5; Matthew 8:17).

His teachings are inseparable from his Person; he is "gentle and lowly in heart" (vs. 29; see 5:3-5); he made himself poor with the poor. And what he enjoins, he gives. He has come to give to his own "a new heart"; and the law written in the heart becomes a yoke both easy and light (Jeremiah 31:33; Ezekiel 36:26; 1 John 5:3-4). This illuminates all his teaching, which if separated from his Person would seem heavy with impossible demands (Matt. chs. 5-7).