Matthew 11:2-6

Introduction

Have You Ever Had Expectations for Something that Just Didn’t Turn Out How You Wanted/Expected?

Maybe You Had Expectations for a Vacation that Didn’t Turn Out How You Expected

Maybe a Celebrity You’d Always Wanted to Meet was Different than You Expected

Maybe You’ve Ordered Something Off the Internet that was Very Different From it’s Description

There are So Many Times Where Reality Just Doesn’t Meet Our Expectations

Here are a Few Other Examples:

After a Brutal Winter, We All Expect This to Be Us in Spring

But in Reality, This is Us During Spring

This is How We All Think We Look When We Drive

This is a Little Closer to Reality

Every Parent Wants a Sweet Picture of Their Children with Santa Clause

But Reality is Typically a Little Different

We All Like to Think that We Wake Up Like This

But in Reality, This is More Like it

So Often, Reality Just Doesn’t Meet Our Expectations

In Our Text, We are Going to See How Reality Didn’t Turn Out Quite the Way Some People Expected

And I Think What We will Find is That:

When it Comes to Jesus, Reality is Better Than Our Expectations

Matthew 11:2-6

Last Week, We Finished the 2nd Major Teaching Discourse of Jesus

He Sent His Apostles Out into the Mission Field to Proclaim and Demonstrate the Kingdom

We Have Seen the Ministry of Jesus Proclaimed (Ch. 5-7)

We Have Seen the Ministry of Jesus Demonstrated (Ch. 8-9)

Now We are Going to See How People Responded to His Ministry

Spoiler Alert: It Wasn’t What They Expected

Matthew 11:2–3 (NASB95)

Now when John, while imprisoned, heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to Him, “Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?”

We Were Told that John the Baptizer was Imprisoned Back in Matthew 4:12

Matthew Will Tell Us Why He was Imprisoned in Chapter 14

The Jewish Historian, Josephus, Tells Us that John was in the Fortress of Machaerus

Jesus was Still Up in Galilee…

So This Might Have Been the Path John’s Disciples Took to Get to Jesus

Luke’s Account Tells Us:

That John’s Disciples Had Been Telling Him What They Were Hearing About Jesus’ Ministry

They Were Hearing About His Teachings and Healings

So John Sent 2 of His Disciples to Ask Jesus a Very Important Question

Matthew 11:2–3 (NASB95)

Now when John, while imprisoned, heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to Him, “Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?”

That’s a Very Strange Question Coming From Someone Like John the Baptizer

This is the Man Who Paved the Way for Jesus

This is the Man Who First Made Disciples for Jesus

This is the Man Who Recognized Jesus as the Messiah Before Anyone Else

This is the Messenger Who Comes Before the King

And Now He is Having Doubts?

People Have All Kinds of Speculations as to Why John was Asking this Question:

Some Believe Being Imprisoned was Causing Him to Doubt

After All, When Isaiah Spoke of the Messiah, He Said:

Isaiah 61:1 (NASB95)

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, Because the Lord has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners;

If Jesus is the Messiah, the Anointed King…

Why is John, His Messenger, Sitting in Prison?

Some Believe it Has to Do with What We Read in Matthew 9:14

Matthew 9:14 (NASB95)

Then the disciples of John came to Him, asking, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?”

If Jesus is the Messiah, the Holy One…

Why Do He and His Followers Not Fast Like the Rest of Us Who are Trying to Live Holy Lives?

Some Believe if Has to Do with the Kind of Company Jesus Kept

He Had Both Tax Collectors and Zealots as His Closest Disciples

He Spent More Time with Sinners Than the Religious Elite

This Isn’t What was Expected of the Righteous One

And Some Believe John Might Have Had a Narrow View of the Ministry of the Messiah

Remember What John was Preaching About the Messiah?

Matthew 3:10–12 (NASB95)

“The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

Maybe John, Like So Many Other Jews, Expected the Messiah to Show Up…

And Immediately Begin Judgement On the Wicked

Maybe He Expected the Messiah to Show Up and Take His Throne in Israel…

And Conquer and Destroy All of God’s Enemies

Maybe He Expected an Everlasting Era of Piece to Immediately Begin When the Messiah Arrived

But When the Man He Believed to Be the Messiah Showed Up…

He Quietly and Peacefully Went From Town to Town…

Teaching, Healing, and Casting Demons Out of Ordinary People

Things that Seemed to Be On a Much Smaller Scale Than You’d Expect of the King of the World

John, and Many Jewish People, Had Expectations of the Messiah

And Jesus Just Wasn’t Fitting Any of Them

So When John Heard About the Ministry of Jesus:

A Ministry that Consisted of:

Not Fasting Like All the Other Religious People

Associating with Tax Collectors and Sinners

Teaching, Healing, and Casting Out Demons

And Primarily, No Fiery Judgement On the Enemies of God

He Began to Wonder, “Is He Really the One We’ve Been Waiting On…”

“Or Should We Be Looking Elsewhere?”

Matthew 11:4 (NASB95)

Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see:

Jesus Doesn’t Give a “Yes” or “No”

He Tells John’s Disciples to Report to John What They Themselves Witness

“Don’t Take My Word for it, You Yourselves Be Witnesses to the Evidence”

“Report to John What You Hear”

That Would Include Jesus’ Teachings

“Report to John What You See”

That Would Include Jesus’ Healings and Other Miraculous Works

Matthew 11:5 (NASB95)

the blind receive 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.

Jesus Then Gives Them a Comprehensive List of the Things that They are Witnessing:

The Blind are Seeing

The Paralyzed and Lame are Walking

The Lepers are Being Cleansed

Not Just Healed, But Cleansed

They aren’t Just Being Cured But Reintegrated into Society

The Deaf are Hearing

The Dead are Being Resurrected

And the Good News is Proclaimed to the Poor

These Things are Great, But John was Expecting Fiery Judgement

Prophecies Like Isaiah 35:4

Isaiah 35:4 (NASB95)

Say to those with anxious heart, “Take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance; The recompense of God will come, But He will save you.”

That’s the Messiah John was Expecting

But Read the Next 2 Verses

Isaiah 35:5–6 (NASB95)

Then the eyes of the blind will be opened And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a deer, And the tongue of the mute will shout for joy. For waters will break forth in the wilderness And streams in the Arabah.

Part of Jesus’ List Also Points to Isaiah 61:1-2

Isaiah 61:1–2 (NASB95)

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, Because the Lord has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners; To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn,

The Poor/Humble/Afflicted are Receiving the Good News of the Messiah

John Might Have Been Guilty of Focusing More On the Messiah…

Proclaiming “the Day of Vengeance of Our God”…

Rather Than Him Bringing “Good News to the Afflicted”

While the Jews Were More Focused On the Judgement of God Through His Messiah

Jesus Seemed to Be More Focused On the Blessings of God Through His Messiah

Not Long After Beginning His Ministry, Jesus Goes to the Synagogue in His Hometown of Nazareth

He was Handed the Book of Isaiah and He Began Reading From Isaiah 61:1-2

But He Immediately Stops and Shuts the Book and Says…

“Today this Scripture Has Been Fulfilled in Your Hearing”

But the Thing is, He Stopped Right Before “And the day of vengeance of our God”

Why Would He Stop There?

Because the Day of God’s Vengeance was Not Yet Fulfilled

Jesus’ First Coming was to Bring Blessings

His Second Coming Will Bring Judgement

Matthew 11:6 (NASB95)

“And blessed is he who does not take offense at Me.”

To Take Offense = To Stumble or Be Tripped Up

John and Many Others Were Tripped Up with Doubt Concerning Jesus Being the Messiah…

Because He Wasn’t What They Expected Him to Be

They Were Confused and Therefore Doubted or Outright Refused to Believe Jesus is the Messiah

But Jesus Says, God’s Blessings are Upon Those Who Don’t Allow Their Presuppositions of What the Messiah Should Be Like…

Cause Them to Doubt Jesus’ Messiah-Ship

This was a Gentle Rebuke and Encouragement for John to Continue Placing His Faith in Jesus

Application

John and Many of the Jews Experienced Moments of Doubt and Disappointment…

Because What They Expected the Messiah to Be and Do…

Wasn’t Really Who Jesus Was or What He Did

They Expected Him to Defeat Evil and Establish Peace

But What They Didn’t Realize was…

That is Exactly What He was Doing…

Just Not in the Way They Expected

Every Demon Cast Out…

Every Leper Cleansed…

Every Sickness Healed…

Every Eye and Ear Opened…

Every Leg Made Strong…

Every Body that Arose From the Grave…

Every Poor/Afflicted Who Received the Good News…

Was a Demonstration of the Powers of Darkness Being Attacked

Was a Demonstration of Sin and its Effects On the World Being Defeated

Was a Demonstration of Death Being Destroyed

Was a Demonstration of End of Injustice, Poverty, and Oppression

Jesus’ Ministry was All About Defeating Sin, the Devil, and the Wicked

But it was Only a Taste

When Jesus Returns…

He Will Return with the Fire and Judgement John Expected

Then All the Evil Spirits will Be Cast Out

All the Sick, Diseased, Lame, Deaf, and Blind will Be Healed

All the Poor and Afflicted Will Experience an Everlasting Life of Blessings

Like with John, It’s Easy for Us to Get Discouraged By the Suffering We See and Face in this World

It’s Discouraging Because We Feel Like the King Should Be Doing Something About it

But So Often He Seems Either Absent or Uninterested in Being What We Need Him to Be

But Don’t Doubt, Don’t Lose Hope, Don’t Give Up On Him

Whether We Realize it or Not, Jesus Has Already Begun His Defeat of Evil

He Defeats it in Every Person Who Gives Their Lives to Him

And He Calls Them to Go and Continue Defeating it Where We See it in the World

We Do that By Refusing to Contribute to the Darkness

We Do that By Helping, Loving, and Caring for Those Who are Surrounded By the Darkness

We Do that By Telling the Good News to the Afflicted

The Good News that…

When the King Returns, Your Afflictions Will Be Over

And When He Returns, He

So Don’t Doubt the King if He Doesn’t Meet Your Expectations

Trust Him

Because What He is Bringing is Much Better Than Anything We Could Expect