Contents:
• John the Baptist begins to question
• Unrepentant cities
• Truth is hidden from the wise and well educated
• Jesus’s burden is light

Before reading this commentary, I encourage you to first read the text of Matthew chapter eleven.

Verse 1

Jesus was teaching and preaching in various cities

Verses 2-6

It appears that from his prison cell John the Baptist began having some doubts. I can imagine that in his miserable state behind bars he started questioning himself and his God. So John communicates with some friends who are outside the prison walls and he sends them to find Jesus and ask “Are You the One who was to come, or should we look for someone else?”

The way in which Jesus answers John’s question is very interesting. Jesus doesn’t say, “Yes, I am the one.” Instead Jesus instructs John’s friends to go back and tell John about the miracles that Jesus is doing. This of course, is meant to reassure John that Jesus is in fact, the one who was to come. The Messiah.

Notice, however, that the Pharisees, who likely have studied the scriptures more than John has, also have seen the miracles that Jesus has been doing, and yet they refuse to believe.

Recall from our previous chapter when Jesus said, “whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father in heaven”. The Pharisees are a shining example of those who deny Jesus before men. They know the scriptures and they very likely are aware that Jesus aligns with everything the scriptures say about the Messiah, but yet they still hate him and publicly denounce him.

Verses 7-15

Frist, before we start on these verses, I want to skip ahead to verse 15 in which Jesus concludes by saying “He who has ears, let him hear.” The fact that Jesus said that, tells us immediately that the preceding passage may have been spoken figuratively.

“He who has ears, let him hear” is the equivalent of saying “If you understood what I was referring to then you will get what I’m saying.” Elsewhere in 1 Corinthians chapter two it says,

The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. (1 Corinthians 2:14)

The secret things within God’s word and God’s will can only be revealed to a person by God’s spirit. Thus, a person without the Holy Spirit can not understand God’s word because the spirit of God does not reveal it to him.

The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, so that we may follow all the words of this law. (Deuteronomy 29:29)

There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, and nothing hidden that will not be made known. (Luke 12:2-3)

He reveals the deep and hidden things; He knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with Him. (Daniel 2:22)

Remember; ask the Lord for the Holy Spirit. To those who already have the Holy Spirit, you must make it your regular habit to rely upon God to reveal to you the meaning and secrets of His word. Never rely upon yourself, assuming you are smart enough to understand it. Regardless of how smart a person is, understanding the scriptures requires that God reveal their spiritual meaning to you. So we must pray before (and I would include also, after) every time we read the word of God.

Having now said all of that, let’s dig into this difficult passage.

Frist, Jesus gives commendation and acclaim to John the Baptist stating that he is the greatest of all prophets. Not because John the Baptist is himself some sort of ultra-holy person. No. It is that, of all the profits who ever lived, John was the one given the opportunity to announce to Israel “Here comes Jesus. Here he is.”

John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.’ I myself did not know Him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that He might be revealed to Israel.” (John 1:29-31)

Jesus continues, “Yet even the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he”. John is the greatest profit because he is the one who announced Jesus’s entrance. But imagine those who are already in heaven, being able to see with their own eyes the almighty God seated on his thrown!

Verse twelve states; From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subject to violence, and the violent lay claim to it. For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come.

Huh? What does he mean heaven has been subject to violence?

First let’s examine this bit by bit. “From the days of John the Baptist until now” is talking about the entirety of Jesus’s earthly ministry up until that moment.

“For all the Prophets and the law prophesied until John” This means that the Law of Moses and every profit who every lived up until John, merely foretold of the coming Messiah. But now the Messiah himself is standing there talking to the crowd!

Just as Andrew declared to his brother Peter “We have found the Messiah” (John 1:41b)

So we know that whatever is meant by the word “Violence”, it has something to do with Jesus’s earthly ministry.

We know that huge numbers of people have been coming from every town in Israel in order to find Jesus. The crowds are huge and people press up against him, they climb trees just to catch a glimpse of him passing by. They yell to him and plead with him and beg him. They push through the crowds just to touch the hem of his garment.

I believe this is the, quote – unquote, “violence” that Jesus is referring to. It is the forcefulness by which people are scrambling to draw near to Him.

Then Jesus refers to John the Baptist as being the Elijah who was to come.

We see in John chapter one verse twenty-one, that John the Baptist denies being Elijah to the Jewish priests and Levites. John the Baptist is not some sort of re-incarnated Elijah. There is no such thing as reincarnation. Thus, John is speaking accurately and truthfully when he says he is not Elijah. However, in Luke chapter one it says,

And he will go on before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” (Luke 1:17)

Recall what was said earlier, when Jesus says “He who has ears, let him hear” it is an indication that he is speaking figuratively. So John the Baptist is not actually Elijah, but figuratively John the Baptist comes in the spirit and power of Elijah.

Verses 16-19

The Jewish leaders of Jesus’s time were flip-flop hypocrites. When John the Baptist came neither eating or drinking, they claimed he had a demon. When Jesus came both eating and drinking, they called him a glutton and a drunkard. So we see that nothing would ever satisfy them. No matter what was done, they were only ever going to make accusations.

Verses 20-24

First of all, cities do not go to hell, people do. So when Jesus says, “it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you” he is talking about the people of Tyre and Sidon, not the buildings and the land.

Jesus is saying that if the populations of Tyre, Sidon and Sodom had witnessed the miracles Jesus performed, they all would have repented. But the people of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum did not.

It’s also interesting to note that according to this dialogue, there appears to be different severities of judgment. Jesus says that it will be more bearable for them on the day of Judgment than for these cities he is addressing.

So what does this mean? We know the timeline goes something like this; upon death, the unsaved go to hell until the day of judgement. Then they are resurrected out of hell in order to stand before God and give an account. The unsaved are then judged and afterwards thrown into the lake of fire along with Satan and his demons.

I have heard, and am willing to believe that there are different levels of hell which have greater or lesser severity. However, I do not believe the same is true for the lake of fire. I am willing to assume that the lake of fire is a uniform punishment for Satan, his demons, and all who rejected Jesus Christ as their savior.

Therefore, the thing which is more bearable or less bearable on the day of Judgment must be the act of being judged by God. Not the punishment, but rather having to stand before the almighty God to explain yourself and receive His reprimand. It would be like going before your earthly dad and telling him you spilled some milk vs telling him you burned the house down.

Verses 25-26

Immediately after condemning these cities, Jesus praises the Father for having hidden these things from the wise and learned. Pride is the antitheses to worshiping God. Pride is what caused Satan to be kicked out of heaven. Quite simply, pride says “I can handle this myself; I don’t need God.”

The wise, the well-educated (and I’ll include) the wealthy, have at their disposal obstacles which hinder them from fully relying upon God.

So the person who desires to turn from God and rely upon himself is assisted in doing so by God in that God hides from him the understanding of simple spiritual truths.

To make an earthly comparison, I previously worked for a company that had a high level of security. In order to get from the parking lot to the building, every person had to pass through one of several turnstiles, each of which could only fit one person at a time. Everyone had to swipe their badge to activate the turnstile. One day I forgot my badge and the turnstile would not turn for me. No matter my wisdom, knowledge, or how much money I had, those turnstiles were not going to turn unless I swiped the badge I did not have. To make matters worse, I had car pooled with a coworker who had already passed through the turnstile and was unaware of my predicament. I had to then walk half a mile to the administration building to get a temporary badge.

In this example, the badge represents humility and one’s desire to seek after God. When a person is wise, well-educated or wealthy, they might be tempted to show up without a badge. In response to this, God places a turnstile between the parking lot and the building. The turnstile represents God hiding from them simple spiritual truths which they now can not even understand.

If you are reading this commentary and are yourself well-educated or wealthy what should you do? I once took a PHD level scientist fishing and was surprised to discover that he did not know how to tie a knot. He couldn’t attach his fishing hook to his fishing line. I had to teach him how to tie a knot.

If you have a high-level of education, be aware that the only area in which you are smart is the specific area of your college degree program. In everything else, you are as ordinary as the person who never went to college. For example, if you have a PHD in thermodynamics, it doesn’t mean you know anything about chain stitch crochet.

When you read the Bible, do not approach it like a college text book. Like as if you are smart enough to understand it, if you just read it carefully. Instead, be willing to acknowledge that without God, you can not know or understand anything about God. Be humble. Get rid of your pride.

Verse 27

All things have been entrusted to Jesus. This is a broad statement for a reason. When Jesus says “all things”, he means everything. In Matthew chapter 28 Jesus says, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.” (Matthew 28:18). Jesus is the King of Kings. Whatever he says, and by extension whatever the Bible says, is the ultimate authority.

So when we hear someone complain that the Bible is an obsolete book that is no longer relevant to modern society, they are in error because all authority belongs to Jesus. That means that it doesn’t matter how old the Bible is, it represents the ultimate authority.

Jesus continues, “No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.” Jesus is saying here that he is the only path to salvation. Without Jesus, you have no hope at all of ever getting into heaven. None.

Verse 28

This is a verse that has always perplexed me. Jesus repeatedly states that if we follow him, we will be persecuted, perhaps even to death. But now he is saying his burden is light? This doesn’t seem to make much sense to me. How can being persecuted and being murdered be a light burden? To this I have no answer. But let’s look at the statement from a different point of view. Jesus just a moment earlier talked about himself being the only path to salvation. As we go through the entirety of the New Testament, we’re going to see that salvation by faith brings freedom from the law. In this regard, the burden is light in the sense that there is no requirement of works. We walk by faith and are not required to earn our salvation, a task otherwise impossible.