Matthew 11:19   John was a stranger character. He did not socialize in the normal way, nor did he eat common foods. Jesus, on the other hand, was quite sociable. He attended weddings, funerals, feasts, etc. He was involved in all that a righteous person might normally be expected to be involved in. He did not shun those…

Matthew 11:18    Jesus was not the only one who the Jewish leaders thought was from the devil. John the Baptist got his share of bad names from these self-righteous hypocrites. Often we find that people will associate their enemies with the worst thing they can think of, even if it makes them look like fools.…

Matthew 11:17    Children will play like they are grownups. In this verse, Jesus is talking about children playing ‘wedding’ or ‘funeral,’ trying to get other children involved. Just as kids don’t always get along, the Jewish leaders did not listen to John and Jesus. They did not take the message seriously. Bible Reading: James 5:1-1…

Matthew 11:16   Jesus used some excellent examples. Here, he is talking about children playing in the streets. Simple, yet profound. Bible Reading: James 1:1-4:17 Scripture Memory: 1 John 2:13 “I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the…

Matthew 11:14-15   Though many might not like it, this was Jesus’ way of saying, ‘Some of you are not listening  but hearing only what you want to hear.’ He was fond of saying this often, because he wanted people to pause and actually think about his words. Bible Reading: Hebrews 11:1-13:25 Scripture Memory: 1 John 2:13…

Matthew 11:13   It has been said by many that John was not the promised Elijah of Malachi chapters 3 and 4. However, in Luke 1:17-18 we see quite emphatically that John was indeed the prophet that was promised. Though John denied that he was Elijah in person in John 1:21-23, he made it clear that…

Matthew 11:12   Once again, if we see the kingdom of heaven as Christ himself, and those who are in Christ, the passage makes more sense. Many have surmised that this verse means you have to take the kingdom by force. They say that the disciples were violently zealous. This is just not consistent with he facts, and…

Matthew 11:11   The identification of the kingdom of heaven is the key to many passages in the gospels. Many different interpretations have been advanced in order to understand the phrase. I always understand it to refer to Christ himself. If taken this way, Jesus is saying that, though John was the greatest prophet that had yet walked…

Matthew 11:10   Regardless of whatever else may be said about John, he fulfills a major prophecy of Scripture. This prophecy, concerning the ‘messenger in the wilderness’ is found in Malachi 3:1 and Isaiah 40:3. It is actually quite interesting that we have here a direct interpretation of prophecy. This was somewhat rare. God usually allowed…

Matthew 11:9   The importance of John to the overall prophetic program would be difficult to overestimate. He was a prophet, to be sure, just as much as any prophet of the Old Testament. Virtually all of the Jews agreed to this. Very few tried to invalidate his ministry. Yet, they failed to realize the full…