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    ​Matthew 11:2-24
    Lesson 21​

    Read both the "King James Bible" and the "New Living Translation."

    In this lesson:
     
    In Matthew 3:13-15 (lesson 4), John the Baptist confirmed that Jesus is the Messiah. 
    Now languishing in prison, John has a crisis of faith.
     
    Remember Jesus' words to John in verses 11:4-6 in moments of doubt.

    Woe to those who reject Jesus' miracles (11:20-23).
     
    Also, Jesus tells us there is a judgment day (11:24). ​

    John the Baptist in prison.
    ​A 19th-century print.
    Study Tip:
     
    Find the truth in each passage.
    Ponder what that truth means to you.
    Decide how to apply that truth to your life.
    Where was -
        
    Chorazin -
    A city three miles north of Capernaum near the Sea of Galilee.  Jesus performed many miracles there, yet few people from Chorazin believed.  In this passage and Luke 10:13, Jesus scolds the citizens of Chorazin for their lack of faith.  The ruins of an ancient synagogue were excavated there over a century ago.
     
    Bethsaida -
    A small town in Galilee on the north-east shore of the Sea of Galilee six miles east of Capernaum.  Bethsaida was the hometown of three disciples, Peter, Philip, and Andrew (John 1:44).  Jesus visited Bethsaida often and performed many miracles there (Mark 8:22-25).  While teaching near Bethsaida, Jesus performed one of His greatest miracles.  He fed five thousand people with just five loaves of bread and two fish (Matthew 14:15-21; Mark 6:35-44; Luke 9:10-17; John 6:5-13).  Bethsaida was lost for almost two thousand years until archaeologists located its ruins in 1987.  
     
    Tyre -
    A seaport city in Phoenicia on the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea in what is now modern-day Lebanon.  It lay thirty-five miles northwest of the Sea of Galilee, forty-seven miles north of Caesarea, and twenty-five miles south of Sidon.  The city was primarily populated by Gentiles.  Tyre dates back to the twenty-eight century BC and was called Tyrus in the Old Testament (Ezekiel 26:2).  Described as a beautiful city (Ezekiel 27:4), Tyre was known for its cedar trees (1 Chronicles 22:4), dye works, glassware, weaving, and other manufactured goods.  Isaiah 23:8 tells us that Tyre was a "crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth."  Ezekiel 27:3 describes Tyre as being "situate at the entry of the sea, a merchant of the people for many isles."  Shipping goods throughout the Roman Empire made the city wealthy.  Tyre supplied cedar wood, carpenters, and masons to build the Temple in Jerusalem (2 Samuel 5:11; 1 Kings 5:2-10; 2 Chronicles 2:3).  Unfortunately, the city also had a reputation for wickedness.  Its people turned against Israel and sold Hebrews into slavery (Joel 3:6-8).  God destroyed Tyre in the Old Testament (Isaiah 23:1; Amos 1:9-10; Zechariah 9:3-4).  By Jesus' time, the city had been rebuilt and boasted one of the busiest harbors in the eastern Mediterranean.  Today, Tyre is called Sur and inhabited by just a few thousand residents.  Tyre is mentioned extensively in Isaiah 23 and Ezekiel 26-28. 
     
    Sidon -
    Sometimes called Zidon in the Bible.  Sidon was a seaport city (Ezekiel 27:8) on the Mediterranean Sea twenty-five miles north of Tyre (south of modern-day Beirut, Lebanon) and thirty-five miles from Galilee.  It was a one-day sail (sixty-seven miles) from Caesarea.  Called a great city in Joshua 11:8 and 19:28, Sidon was populated by Gentiles who had a history of oppressing Jews (Judges 10:12).  In the Old Testament, God destroyed Sidon because of its wickedness and pagan worship.  But by Jesus' day, Sidon had recovered and was a thriving fishing town and trading center with prosperous glass and weaving shops and famous for its art, commerce, and cedar trees (1 Kings 5:6 and 1 Chronicles 22:4).  Today, Sidon is home to about 10,000 citizens and boasts many ancient ruins. 

    The Gospel According to St. Matthew

    The King James Bible    ​

    Matthew 11:2-24
    Jesus assures John the Baptist

    2 Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, 

    3 And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?
     
    4 Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see:
     
    5 The 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.
     
    6 And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.
     
    7 And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind?
     
    8 But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses.
     
    9 But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet.
     
    10 For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.
     
    11 Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
     
    12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.
     
    13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.
     
    14 And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come.
     
    15 He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
     
    16 But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows,
     
    17 And saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented.
     
    18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil.
     
    19 The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children.
     
    20 Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not:
     
    21 Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
     
    22 But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you.
     
    23 And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.
     
    24 But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.     ​                        ​
    ​Margin notes: 
     
    "Art thou he that should come?" (11:3) - God promised in The Old Testament that a Savior would someday come (Genesis ​49:10; Deuteronomy 18:15).  Because of God's promise, Jews were waiting for the Messiah.

    "    Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see." (11:4) - Jesus' miracles are proof that He is the Messiah (see verse 11:5).

    "The poor have the gospel preached to them." (11:5) - "The poor in spirit have the good news taught to them" (Isaiah 61:1). 
     
    "A man clothed in soft raiment?" (11:8) - "A man dressed in nice clothes?"
     
    "Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee." (11:10) - This is a paraphrase from Malachi 3:1, which predicted the coming of John the Baptist 500 years before he was born.
     
    "The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence." (11:12) - Bible scholars disagree over the meaning of this verse.   Many 
    believe it refers to the persecution John the Baptist, Jesus, and His followers suffered.  Others are convinced Jesus is talking about the damage done to the "Kingdom of Heaven" by the corrupt religious leaders of His day.  Some scholars feel Jesus is referring to the large number of believers pressing into heaven after hearing John the Baptist preach (    Luke 16:16).  Still others mistakenly believed that Jesus was a political/military leader.  They claim this verse tells us that the "Kingdom of heaven" would arrive immediately after Jesus overthrew the Roman empire.

    "All the prophets and the law prophesied until John." (11:13) - All the prophets sent by God, and the Mosaic Law prophesied the things that would happen before John arrived."
     
    "If ye will receive it, this is Elias." (11:14) - "If you can believe it, this is Elias (Elijah)."  John the Baptist was not literally Elias/Elijah (Matthew 17:12-13).  In this verse, Jesus tells us that John played the same role as Elias.  He prepared people for Jesus (Isaiah 40:3), just as Elias prepared them for God (Luke 1:17).  
     
    "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." (11:15) - Jesus repeatedly asks us to listen to God's message and promises eternal life to those who do (Revelation 2:7; 2:11; 2:17; 2:29).
     
    "Calling unto their fellows." (11:16) - "Calling to their friends."
     
    "We have piped unto you." (11:17) - "We played music for you."
     
    "A winebibber." (11:19) - "A drunk."
     
    "Wisdom is justified of her children." (11:19) - "Wisdom is verified by the results."
     
    "Began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done." (11:20) - "He began to denounce the cities where most of His miracles were performed."  "The kingdom of heaven, announced as at hand by John the Baptist, by the King Himself, and by the Twelve, and attested by mighty works, has been morally rejected.  The places chosen for the testing of the nation, Chorazin, Bethsaida, etc., having rejected both John and Jesus, the rejected King now speaks of judgment.  The official rejection was later (Matthew 27:21-25)."  ("The New Scofield Reference Bible," published by Oxford University Press, New York, New York; page 1010)
     
    "It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment." (11:22) - Jesus is confirming that there will be a judgment day.  See "Today's Question" below.
    ​​

                                                  New Living Translation 
     

    Matthew 11:2-24         
     
    2 John the Baptist, who was in prison, heard about all the things the Messiah was doing. So he sent his disciples to ask Jesus,

    3 "Are you the Messiah we've been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?"
     
    4 Jesus told them, "Go back to John and tell him what you have heard and seen:

    5 the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.

    6 And tell him, 'God blesses those who do not turn away because of me.'"
     
    7 As John's disciples were leaving, Jesus began talking about him to the crowds. "What kind of man did you go into the wilderness to see? Was he a weak reed, swayed by every breath of wind?

    8 Or were you expecting to see a man dressed in expensive clothes? No, people with expensive clothes live in palaces.

    9 Were you looking for a prophet? Yes, and he is more than a prophet.

    10 John is the man to whom the Scriptures refer when they say,
     
    'Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, and he will prepare your way before you.'
     
    11 "I tell you the truth, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John the Baptist. Yet even the least person in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he is!

    12 And from the time John the Baptist began preaching until now, the Kingdom of Heaven has been forcefully advancing, and violent people are attacking it.

    13 For before John came, all the prophets and the law of Moses looked forward to this present time.

    14 And if you are willing to accept what I say, he is Elijah, the one the prophets said would come.

    15 Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!
     
    16 "To what can I compare this generation? It is like children playing a game in the public square. They complain to their friends,
     
    17 'We played wedding songs,
          and you didn't dance,
       so we played funeral songs,
          and you didn't mourn.' 
     
    18 For John didn't spend his time eating and drinking, and you say, 'He's possessed by a demon.'

    19 The Son of Man, on the other hand, feasts and drinks, and you say, 'He's a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and other sinners!' But wisdom is shown to be right by its results."
     
    Judgment for the Unbelievers
     
    20 Then Jesus began to denounce the towns where he had done so many of his miracles, because they hadn't repented of their sins and turned to God.

    21 "What sorrow awaits you, Korazin and Bethsaida! For if the miracles I did in you had been done in wicked Tyre and Sidon, their people would have repented of their sins long ago, clothing themselves in burlap and throwing ashes on their heads to show their remorse.

    22 I tell you, Tyre and Sidon will be better off on judgment day than you.
     
    23 "And you people of Capernaum, will you be honored in heaven? No, you will go down to the place of the dead. For if the miracles I did for you had been done in wicked Sodom, it would still be here today.

    ​24 I tell you, even Sodom will be better off on judgment day than you."     

    The "New Living Translation" (Tyndale House, Publishers, Wheaton, Illinois) is a paraphrase and not an accurate word-for-word translation of the Bible.  However, it is a helpful tool when read with the "King James Version."
    Today's question:
     
    1. Are there varying degrees of punishment after death? (11:22)




    ​As we study together, let us know your thoughts and opinions.  ([email protected])                  
    Answer: (Do you agree?) ​
    ​
    1. Verse 11:22 does seem to indicate that different degrees of punishment will be meted out on Judgment Day.  Some sins may well lead to harsher penalties.  Sinners who know the Bible but ignore it may incur more of God's wrath than people who are ignorant of His word (Luke 12:47-48).
    ​



    ​     Application thought for the day:
     
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    Thanks to the writings and commentary of John Wesley and Adam Clarke.  Also, "The Layman's Bible Study Notebook" by Irving Jensen, published by Harvest House Publishing, Irvine, California; the "Life Change Series" published by NavPress books, Colorado Springs, Colorado; "Robertson's New Testament Word Studies;" "The MacArthur Bible Commentary" by John MacArthur, published by Thomas Nelson, Nashville, Tennessee; "Wisdom of the Bible" CD by Topics Entertainment, Inc., Renton, Washington for their inspiring pictures; "My utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chambers, published by Barbour Publishing, Inc., Uhrichsville, Ohio; The "Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge" by Reuben Archer Torrey; "Hope For Each Day" by Billy Graham, published by J. Countryman, a division of Thomas Nelson, Inc., Nashville, Tennessee; "Easton's Bible Dictionary" by Matthew George Easton; "Unger's Bible Dictionary" by Merrill F. Unger, published by Moody Press, Chicago, Illinois; "Atlas of the Bible" edited by Joseph L. Gardner, published by Readers Digest, Pleasantville, New York; "Halley's Bible Handbook" by Henry H. Halley, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan; "The Everyday Bible" published by World Wide Publications, Minneapolis, Minnesota; "The New Testament" Recovery Version published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, California; "The Living New Testament" published by Tyndale house, Wheaten, Illinois; "The New Living Translation" published by Tyndale House, Wheaten, Illinois; "The New Testament" translated from the Latin Vulgate, published by Guild Press, New York, New York; the "Life Application Study Bible" published by Tyndale House Publishing, Carol Stream, Illinois; the "Quest Study Bible" published by The Zondervan Corporation, Grand Rapids, Michigan; "The New Scofield Reference Bible" published by Oxford University Press, New York, New York; BibleGateway.com for all their wonderful links; and of course, the "King James Bible."  All were critical in putting these lessons together.
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