Matthew Chapter 11
We skipped chapter 10, not the first time we've skipped over a chapter or three in Matthew. His gospel is not as chronologically organized as some of the others. Luke's chapters have been in numerical order, as have John and Mark. So it seems that only Matthew has organized thematically.
2022 - Here is an interesting phrase, shedding light on who the message of at least the previous chapter was for. It might reach back even further than that:
"1 When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples..." [Mat 11:1a ESV]. The messages, explanations and instructions that came before 11:1 were addressed directly to the 12. Not to all his disciples, but to the 12. Chapter 10 started with the calling of the 12, and Matthew being thematic, it seems that chapter 10 was all about those 12. Jesus gave the 12 power to heal everything. The persecution he warns of...was that just during their time alone and healing? Something they could expect in some of the places they went? It looks like t/gt stuff, but may have been more currently applicable. And the rewards...looks like sheep and goats...but was it really just about the 12 going out on their trip to proclaim the gospel? I can also see it relating to the ministries of the apostles after Jesus' ascension. All these things did occur between the ascension and the death of the apostles. The mission trip here is a training exercise for what they will be doing after Jesus is gone. He tells them of the perspective they need to have about mission work.
This chapter starts with the messengers from John the Baptist. Matthew doesn't talk about Jesus showing them the miracles to report, but they leave with the same message for John that we saw before (in Luke 7). Jesus tells the crowd of John's greatness. A new element is here in Matthew, saying that from John's appearance (I don't know if this means since he started his ministry or since his birth) the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence. A footnote in TCR says it could be translated "has been coming violently". It also says "the violent take it by force". Is Jesus referring to things happening in the spiritual realm? Does he mean his angels and Satan's angels fight to stop the coming of the Messiah? Or is he talking about the push back from the Pharisees and Scribes? The MSB note is a little long, and seems to me to miss the mark. So I still don't know. MSB says Luke recounts this same thought this way:
16 "The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone forces his way into it. [Luk 16:16 ESV] The sense in the MSB notes is that the violence started with John. He was neither subtle nor accommodating, but was a "here is how it is, take it or leave it" kind of guy. And those who followed John, those who accepted his teaching, had to break - to wrench themselves away - from the hold the law had on them. So perhaps this statement ties in with the garment patching and the wine storing? There is no accommodation possible. The old is out, the gospel is in.
2025 - So we are going from the Law to the Kingdom. They are not compatible. The Kingdom must win but can only do so by force, by demolition of what was before. The "old guard" does not want change, they don't want new rules, they are comfortable with the old rules - the old rules keep them in charge, in power, the old rules let them coast while the rules are hard work. They fight to keep the old way.
2022b - Not sure exactly where to put this. I always wondered how it was that John, the forerunner of the Messiah, would ask Jesus if he was the one they were waiting for or if there was another. I accepted that it was because John was in prison, which is not where he expected the forerunner of the Messiah to end up. But in "The Christology of the New Testament", in chapter one, and especially on pp 23,24, there is a treatment as to three specific "prophets" that were in play - expected if you will - before the end of time. There was "the Prophet", spoken about in Dt 18, who would be like Moses, bring back the Law, and restore faith in Israel. There was Messiah, who was also seen as a prophet. And there was Elijah, who would reappear before the end of time. In "Christology", using John 1, a case is made that the Baptist saw himself as "a" prophet, rather than one of these three. He did not really see himself as Elijah, crying in the wilderness and preparing the way of the Lord. That means in the sense of preparing the way of God, not of the Messiah. So perhaps John thought Jesus was one of these other prophets. He may have thought Jesus was Elijah but not the Messiah, or he may have thought he was just "a prophet" like he himself. Point is, the Baptist was not certain who Jesus was, and another point is that I did not realize that there were these possibilities about who the Baptist and who Jesus "might have been"! John was asking a legitimate question. But Jesus tells them later. Jesus goes on to "specify" who John is by quoting Mal 3:1. The Baptist is the Messenger who will come to prepare the way. The way of Jesus the Messiah? Or the way of Theos?
This is so very much more "involved", and subject to so many possible interpretations, that I glaze over just thinking of trying to unravel it. But it ought to be taught in church. Where is teaching? How can anyone claim to weaned off mother's milk and yet not hear or study anything more than what is preached on Sunday morning.
Then Jesus gives the same little poem he did in Luke 7:
16 "But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates, 17 "'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.' [Mat 11:16-17 ESV]
Those who reject the gospel do so no matter how it is characterized - by the directness, violence, and high contrast of John, or by the gentleness, example, and subtlety of Christ. They are a hard headed and stiff necked generation, just as they have always been.
And the comparison ends the same way as in Luke: Wisdom is justified by her children. The future will show the truth of both approaches.
Jesus declares several cities destined for judgement. Chorazin, Bethsaida, and even Capernaum, where he lived much of his life. For the most part, and despite the miracles and the healing that took place in these cities, they remained unchanged. This too comes right after the part about violence. These cities hung on to the old, they did not wrench themselves into the good news. Jesus says that Tyre and Sidon - bad towns - will end up better when judgement comes than these cities will. If the miracles had been done in Sodom, Sodom would still be there. Jesus compares the character of the cities in his time with the character of Sodom before it's destruction, and finds Sodom more willing to repent. Maybe this means that during the Millennial, these cities will be laid waste, while Tyre and Sidon will be restored. We know that Edom is going to come out OK as is Egypt. But these cities, where Jesus did his miracles, not so much. This may also be about the people in these towns being more interested in the "show", in the signs, in the miracles as spectacle, and not looking any deeper for meaning in what they are seeing. Just as people today will flock to faith healers - or magicians, or fortune tellers - for the thrill of the inexplicable. Why are people so fascinated with mysteries that defy natural law while at the same time rejecting supernatural explanations. The Big Bang is a theory that fails to explain how we got here. The math can only take us back so far, and has a hard time explaining why things ended up just like this. But if you say "God created from nothing..." well that gets a laugh usually. So odd that the supernatural is only acceptable for explaining things that don't much matter anyway. We won't elevated to explaining anything really important.
Only Matthew records this pronouncement on these cities up in the north.
Hmm...that question seems to be answered in the very next section, and maybe even the reason for it:
25 At that time Jesus declared, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; 26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. [Mat 11:25-26 ESV] Not sure I understand the why, but that seems to be it, stated flatly as God's will to do it this way. Lucifer was arrogant, and Adam wanted to be "as God". Perhaps God favors those on the other end of the "ambition" scale. Perhaps He prefers those who depend on Him more, because they cannot depend on themselves due to limited understanding? It would sort of fit...Only Matthew has this verse about things hidden from the wise. (Not so. Luke also has the verse in 10:21.)
Jesus prays - aloud it would seem, since Matthew records the words - saying that God the Father has given everything over to the Son. And the truth of what is in progress is revealed not to the wise and understanding, but to the children. Jesus says that only the Father knows the Son. What could this mean? Then he also says the opposite, that only the Son knows the Father - unless the Son chooses to reveal Him. The MSB phrases it that the Son is executing the divine will committed to him. This is the authority and the function of the Son - to do the will of the Father. The Father wills it, the Son performs it, and the Spirit...does what? Affirms it, confirms it...connects the physical and the spiritual? Or seals it? Need a way to complete the phrase. It would be good to be able to express the three roles of the One God succinctly.
vss 28-30 are well known. Come to me, all ye who labor...
I have a note that these verses are Jesus describing himself to the world. Here are the verses:
28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 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. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." [Mat 11:28-30 ESV]
It was the law, and its constant requirements, and the Pharisees use of the law to make themselves better for "doing the works" instead of for making themselves more holy, that the people are loaded with. They have made worship a burden and a hardship. Jesus tells them they don't have to do that anymore. That rituals and rules are no longer the door. And they have been the door - to teach the holiness of God to those who would worship Him. But now the burden will be light. Few rules. All things are lawful for me...No dietary restrictions, no sacrifices required during the Gentile age...not even the 10. Make your own heart right with God, and live the infinite intent of God, not the finite condensation of His intent, interpreted and as modified by the religious authorities to elevate themselves rather than to humble themselves.