In today's study we see Jesus confronted by John the Baptsit's disciples, whom he sent with a question. In the process Jesus expounds upon the greatness of the last Old Testament prophet, and how those in the Kingdom of Heaven are greater than.
“Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?”
(Matthew 11:3)
I understand that many scholars are divided upon this question. Did John truly doubt that Jesus was the Messiah? Or as I believe, was he himself sure, but wanted his disciples to hear it from GOD's own words? In this study I come from the belief that John knew, but desired for his disciples to hear it from Jesus, and then become HIS followers. Since John himself told them earlier that he must decrease in importance and that Jesus must increase, because HE is the ONE john foretold would come. (John 3:30)
That being said, Jesus tells us the John was Elijah to come, and like Elijah ran in fear from Jezebel's threats to kill him, so too did John have a bullseye on him by an evil wicked woman, Herodias. John spent the last 2 years of his life in prison, and would eventually be executed. While languishing in prison, there is a chance his faith in who Jesus was may have wavered, as some scholars believe. I myself do not believe it wavered so much as he wanted his disciples to now follow the ONE he pointed to.
I begin with a STATEMENT, a CONJECTURE, and a WARNING
STATEMENT
There are consequences we all must face when we refuse to follow GOD's will. Thus our rejection of GOD and HIS Word will bring condemnation into our lives
It is without a doubt, that John would not have been imprisoned or beheaded, nor would Jesus had been arrested and crucified If we never disobeyed GOD
GOD knew HIS people would reject HIM and HIS will, and that rejection of GOD's will eventually brought about HIS inevitable plan.
CONJECTURE
Had the followers obeyed Jesus command,
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Matthew 28:19-20
Steven would not have been martyred
After all, his stoning is what scared many followers into leaving Jerusalem
Now Saul was consenting to his death. At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.
Acts 8:1
WARNING
There is a major lesson we should all learn from the history of humans,
Mankind's constant rejection of GOD's will in our lives leads to trials and tribulations
GOD will inevitably bring chaos in the lives of those who do not trust in HIM
History shows us that those who put their faith in the World of man, will inherit a curse instead of a blessing.
Thus says the LORD: "Cursed is the man who trusts in man And makes flesh his strength, Whose heart departs from the LORD. For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, And shall not see when good comes, But shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, In a salt land which is not inhabited.
Jeremiah 17:5-6
This is why we must teach about the consequences of rejecting GOD
Just as HIS people suffered, so too will we if we follow the path of the World
The cause of suffering by mankind is the rejection of our Creator
If we refuse to conform to GOD’s will, then He will reject us
Jesus warns us about hell which is the consequence of rejecting HIM
“Where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched”
(Mark 9:44)
(Matthew 11:1) Today’s study picks up where Jesus sent out the 12 disciples to proclaim publicly the kingdom of God is at hand. Before we continue, I must clarify an age-old problem. I will begin by offering the first two verses of chapter 11;
Now it came to pass, when Jesus finished commanding His twelve disciples, that He departed from there to teach and to preach in their cities.
(Matthew 10:43)
And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to Him, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?”
(Matthew 11:1)
This is my own opinion, but I believe the man who separated the New Testament into chapters and verses erred in many places. This is one of them. Follow me please,
The original New Testament manuscripts were just letters written to be dispersed amongst the believers to read. They were like the letters you receive today. Just a document written in sentences and paragraphs with no verses or chapter numbers. Then in 1551, a Frenchman, named Robert Estienne (better known as Robertus Stephanus), divided the New Testament Scriptures into chapters and verses. Thus today we can find passages by memorizing chapters and verses.
That being said, while I do believe every Word of the Bible is the inspired Word of God, I do not believe that Stephanus's choices of where he decided to split some sentences up into different verses or chapters were inspired. I say so, because there are many instances throughout the Bible where a reader can be distracted or even misled at times, as to what the passage is conveying.
One of these many errors is the first verse of today’s study is Matthew 11:1. It is my opinion that this verse should be the last verse of chapter ten. When you read the last portion of chapter ten, you can plainly see that this verse is the conclusion of that chapter. Why Stephanus broke the chapter where he did, cannot be explained since he is long dead. However, I am of the opinion he erred in his dividing of chapter ten and eleven as he did.
Now, when you look at it, you can plainly see that verse two of chapter eleven begins a whole new event separate from what we read in Matthew 10:11-42. Thus verse two should be the first verse of chapter eleven. Mind you, nothing I am suggesting changes GOD’s Word, nor the teachings of Jesus in any way. In truth, my suggestion actually puts the verses in proper perspective considering the events taking place. It also makes it easier to teach the lesson, and easier for the student to understand the lesson being taught.
I covered this in more detail in my commentary about the Sabbath. I am attaching it to today’s lesson for anyone who wishes to read it and get a better understanding of what I am speaking of. It is titled. “What About The Sabbath?”
(Today’s lesson will begin at Matthew 11:2)
Today we read of five questions, one by John the Baptist, and four by Jesus
(Matthew 11:2a) While in Prison John send his Disciple to ask Jesus a question
And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to Him, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?”
(Matthew 11:2-3)
Herod Antipas arrested John, because he he chastised him for taking his brother’s wife, Herodias
His arrest took place in the first year of Jesus ministry
Just after Jesus met the Samaritan woman at the well
(Matthew 11:2b-3) John sends his disciples to ask Jesus, “if HE is the Messiah?”
about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to Him, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?”
(Matthew 11:2-3)
John knew who Jesus was, because earlier when he baptized HIM he told them. He wanted his disciples to know from Jesus Himself
These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.’
(John 1:28-30)
Questions and responses
(Matthew 11:3 ) First question, asked by John the Baptist,
And said to Him, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?”
(Matthew 11:3)
Jesus responds,
“Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see 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.
(Matthew 11:4-5)
(Matthew 11:7) Second question, asked by Jesus
“What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?
(Matthew 11:7)
(Matthew 11:8) Third question, asked by Jesus
But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses
Matthew 11:8
(Matthew 11:9a) Fourth question, asked by Jesus
But what did you go out to see? A prophet?
Matthew 11:9a
(Matthew 11:9b-10) Finally Jesus answers the three questions HE Himself asked by giving a tribute to John;
Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet. For this is he of whom it is written: ‘Behold, I send Mymessenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You.’
(Matthew 11:9b-10)
These questions and the answers by Jesus were needed so that there would be no doubt about the John's faith in the mind’s of the people
(Matthew 11:11) Jesus then tells us about the greatness of John the Baptist, and that those in the Kingdom are greater
“Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he;
(Matthew 11:11)
What Jesus is in essence telling us, is that to be a citizen of a kingdom that exists, is always better than to be the one announcing its arrival. John's privilege was to announce the coming of the Messiah, but he would not live to enjoy the blessings of the kingdom itself. Like all those of the Old Testament before him, after he died, he too went to Paradise to await the promise.
Thus all the Saints of old died and went to Paradise to await for the Messiah. Adam, Abraham, Mosses, David, Isaiah, and all those who lived and died before him, John too had to await the death and resurrection of Jesus. Then they would all ascend with Christ as HE assumed His rightful place at the right hand of GOD. Paradise lost became Paradise restored. Paradise being the perfect union man had with GOD before the fall in the Garden of Eden.
This is what each and every believer of the Old Testament years had faith in, the One True GOD. They all looked forward in anticipation of the promise of the Messiah. We gain that realization the moment we accept Christ. Thus we look back to the cross for when our citizenship in the Kingdom of God began, while those who lived before Christ looked forward to HIS death, resurrection and ascension to gain their citizenship into the kingdom of GOD.
The greatness of John the Baptist
He was a great man
He endured a life of poverty, with simplicity (Luke 1:80 and Matthew 3:4)
He showed courage before king Herod, condemning his unlawful marriage (Matthew 14:3-4)
He possessed humility, showing deference at the height of his own ministry to a New Comer (Jesus) (John 1:19-37 and John 3:22-30)
He was a great prophet
His drew GOD's people to him in the desert (Matthew 3:1-2 and 3:5)
They volunteered to be baptized and confess their sins (Matthew 6:6)
He never scratched their itchy ears (Matthew 6:7-8)
He was a great in preparing the way for Christ
This was his particular mission (Matthew:3:3 and Matthew 11:9-10)
Five times he pointed people towards the Messiah who was coming,
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
John 1:29
This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.
John 1:30
And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!”
John 1:36
He must increase, but I must decrease.
John 3:30
He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
John 3:36
Considering his mission, and how he carried it out, no one had ever arisen that was greater than John. Not even Moses, Elijah, or any other prophets or kings. Some may have been considered great, but none as great as John the baptist was
The greatness of those in the Kingdom
We enjoy greater knowledge of Christ
John's limited knowledge of Christ is implied by his question (Matthew 11:2-2)
He had not seen what Jesus' disciples had seen
He had not heard what Jesus' disciples had heard (Matthew 13:16-17)
Through the further teaching of Christ and His apostles…
We know the wonderful story of the cross!
We know the nature of the kingdom, its establishment, its future glory!
We know "many things" which even Jesus Himself had not taught His apostles until after the Holy Spirit was sent! (John 16:12-13)
“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.
(John 16:12-13)
Even "he who is least in the kingdom" knows things about Jesus and His church that John the Baptist did not know!
We enjoy a greater station in this life than John did
John was not in the kingdom of heaven (or church) during his life
John proclaimed it was "at hand", but not there yet, (Matthew 3:1-2)
Jesus and His apostles still preached it as being "at hand" (Matthew 10:7)
Jesus would later speak of building His church (Matthew 16:18)
Now with the establishment of the church, those who are in it
Have been translated into the kingdom of God's Son (Colossians 1:13)
Have been made a royal priesthood and holy nation (1 Peter 2:9)
John lived under the Old Covenant, while we live under the New Covenant. "he who is least in the kingdom" lives under the New Covenant with its better sacrifice, hope, and promises (Hebrews 8:6)
We enjoy greater privileges
John certainly enjoyed wonderful privileges
He was filled with the Spirit from his mother's womb (Luke 1:15)
The Holy Spirit helped him fulfill his mission
But Jesus offers things which John did not have;
A gift (or measure) of the Spirit
Was not given until after Jesus was glorified (John 7:37-39)
Something other than inspiration or miraculous powers, for many had enjoyed that before Jesus was glorified (ascended to heaven)
Because of the outpouring on Pentecost, all who are saved will experience,
"the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit"
(Titus 3:5-7)
John was born of a woman, but those in the kingdom are "born of the Spirit"! (John 3:5)
We therefore receive "the gift of the Spirit" (Acts 2:38)
A gift that helps deliver one from the power of sin Romans 8:11-13)
A gift not enjoyed by those under the Old Covenant (Romans 7:14-8:4)
The fellowship of the church,the body of Christ (Romans 12:5)
Remember that John spent his life in the desert, and then in prison
He did not enjoy the blessings of fellowship available to the "least" in the kingdom
As promised by Jesus, we have a "hundred-fold" family members in this life, something John never had (Mark 10:28-30)
Many other privileges peculiar to the New Covenant could be mentioned, all of which are enjoyed today by "he who is least in the kingdom"!
(Matthew 11:12) John was thrown into prison and soon he is to be beheaded. The kingdom of heaven is going to suffer violence. The King Himself is going to be crucified. And so the kingdom of heaven is suffering the violence of man. All this Jesus alludes to in verse 12, by telling His disciples that a war that is being waged to enter into the kingdom, by those who have been denied their place by men who wish to control the physical World
And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.
(Matthew 11:12)
2 Forces involved when Jesus and John lived, were physical and spiritual
Physical
The Roman Empire ruled the known physical world
Religious Zealots wanted to take the nation by force and set up King David's throne as they believed the Scriptures called for.
The Pharisees and Scribes were determined to keep their power
The people were determined to find their way to GOD
Spiritual
God's Kingdom is not of this earth
Paul tells us that we do not fight flesh and blood, but a spiritual war
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Ephesians 6:12
Jesus is saying that unless this is a battle fought by GOD and for GOD we will never win
Jesus knew that He had to die to open the door for GOD's people to win
However one looks at this passage, the teachings of John and Jesus set off a violent reaction that shook both heaven and earth
While men were wanting to physically put Jesus on the throne of David, GOD was preparing HIM to assume the throne next to HIM in heaven.
John was thrown into prison and soon he was to be beheaded. The kingdom of heaven is going to suffer violence. The King Himself is going to be crucified. And so the kingdom of heaven is suffering the violence of man.
(Matthew 11:13-15) Jesus looks back down the timeline of history and sees it as a procession of Moms who gave birth to prophets who communicated God’s word to people who then wrote them down to prepare others for the coming of HIS Son, their Messiah. Noah, Abraham, Moses, Eli, Samuel, Elijah, Elisha, Jonah, Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Zachariah, Haggai, and then finally there is Malachi, who had prophesied at the end of his book that Elijah would come after him. Here we are now, John the Baptizer who came a little over 400 years after Malachi's prophecy, and whom Jesus said was the prophet that Malachi was predicting and calling Elijah.
For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
(Matthew 11:13-15)
For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
(Matthew 11:13-15)
The name Elijah in Hebrew means “The Lord is my God.”
Each one of these prophets delivered messages from God to mankind and recorded it for posterity.
Each one had to work hard to get the attention of their people and encourage them to obey God’s word.
And everyone who ignored those prophets did so at their own peril
Those who ignored Noah were destroyed in a flood. (Gen. 7, 2 Pet 2:5)
Those who ignored Abraham died in a hail of fire and brimstone or were unable to have children. (2 Pet 2:6, Gen. 20:17)
Those who ignored Elijah suffered famine or were struck by lightning (2 Ki. 1:10, James 5:17)
Those who ignored Elisha were mauled by bears (2 Kings. 2:24)
Those who ignored Amos and Hosea lost their country forever
Those who ignored Isaiah and Jeremiah were captured and exiled to a foreign country
Those who ignored Malachi were unable to make enough money to live on; it was like their pockets had holes in them, and God would not hear their prayers
And the implication is that the people living in Jesus’ day who had heard John the Baptizer’s message had better pay attention to what John said because the consequences would be dire if they didn’t
If they didn’t grasp what John said, they would miss the fact that Jesus was their Messiah, and they would fail to place their hopes of salvation in Jesus
And later on in vs. 23-24, Jesus declares that anyone who doesn’t pay attention to His message will go to hell – their judgment will be more uncomfortable than the fire and brimstone which demolished the town of Sodom
This is why Jesus tells us we better be listening. A similar phrase He has uses16 times in the New Testament
“He who has ears to hear, let him hear”
or
“He who has an ear, let him hear”
Gospels 8 times
Matthew 11:15,Matthew 13:9, Matthew 13:43, Mark 4:9, Mark 4:23, Mark 7:16, Luke 8:8, Luke 14:35
Revelations 8 times
After each letter to the 7 churches
Revelation 2:7; 2:11; 2:17; 2:29; 3:6; 3:13; 3:22;
Near the end where Jesus tells John about the Beast from the sea
Revelation 13:9
Beinga follower of Jesus means heeding what God’s instructions
Oral and written by Prophets
Rather than listening to the instructions of the world around us.
We need to be acting by faith rather than being disqualified by passiveness
It means cutting a different path from the world and humbly obeying God.
This is NOT easy, but that’s the kind of forcefulness that will help us spread the Gospel even to the four corners of the World.
Telling people the Kingdom of GOD is here
To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”
(Revelation 2:7)
(Matthew 11:16-17) The World will be misunderstood and they will criticize Christians
But to what shall I liken this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their companions, and saying:
‘We played the flute for you,
And you did not dance;
We mourned to you,
And you did not lament.’
(Matthew 11:16-17)
There will come a day when Jesus returns to judge mankind. The question is, on that day in the future, when Jesus looks back over your life and judges it, what will He think of you?
Will he say, “Ah yes, he was like old Job; he endured and kept trusting me and kept his friends in line with my truth; man, I’m proud of him.”
Will he say that you are greater than the old prophets, or will he say that you were so foolish that you thought you could tell God what to do?
Jesus states in v. 16 that as of that point in time, he thinks His generation is like a group of children at the mall – or the markets where people shop.
When I was a kid, I thought of the mall as the ultimate antithesis of school. The mall was where you went when you had nothing to do and you wanted to kill time. You didn’t go to the mall to work or do homework or take classes, it was just the place to hang out. Of course, you would dress for the occasion – as cool as possible if you were a boy, or as eye-catchingly as possible if you were a girl.
Back in Jesus’ day, the kids in the market were also killing time while their parents sold or bought stuff at the market. They would play games or do whatever they could to entertain themselves.
Do you see that this is not a flattering statement? Jesus calls them “children” – immature, and He is speaking disapprovingly of the way they were wasting their hours entertaining themselves rather than doing something productive. If this trend continues, then there’s going to be trouble when Jesus returns as judge, but the good news is that the trend can be changed if we take heed.
Piping was either done with a flute or with a reed instrument like bagpipes:
In 1 Samuel 10:5 it was what Saul’s band of prophets played when they prophesied.
It was also used by David’s band to worship the Lord in 2 Samuel 6:5.
Isaiah. 30:29 indicates that piping was for happy occasions and not for mourning
You shall have a song
As in the night when a holy festival is kept,
And gladness of heart as when one goes with a flute,
To come into the mountain of the Lord,
To the Mighty One of Israel.
(Isaiah 30:29)
We learn from the Apocryphal book of 1 Maccabees 3:45, that when the people mourned over the desolation of Jerusalem, they stopped playing their pipes
No need for pipes, because there was no need for rejoicing
So the kids played some happy music, but the prophets wouldn’t do a happy dance to fit the music.
This is the ordinary word for a solo dance in Greek.
It is used of Salome’s dance before King Herod (Matthew 14:6)
It was also used to describe David’s dance when he brought the ark to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6:16-21)
Ecclesiastes 3:4 states that there is a time to mourn and a time to dance, indicating that dancing is the opposite of mourning.
Then the children tried playing a mourning or dirge song:
It’s the kind of song King David sang when Saul and Jonathan died (2 Samuel 1:17) and later when Abner died (2 Samuel 3:33)
It’s what the prophet Jeremiah sang when good king Josiah died (2 Chronicles 35:25), and he later composed a whole book of these kinds of Lamentations when Jerusalem was conquered.
What did it sound like? The prophet Micah gives us an idea,
Therefore I will wail and howl,
I will go stripped and naked;
I will make a wailing like the jackals
And a mourning like the ostriches,
(Micah 1:8)
The anticipated response was for the hearer to “mourn” or “lament” by making chopping motions with his hand, which is the literal meaning of the Greek word here:
Isaiah 32:12 uses this word to speak of beating the breast to mourn a great loss,
This is what Abraham did to mourn when Sarah died (Genesis 23:2)
Joseph also did it when he buried his father Jacob (Genesis 50:10), and later,
David would also mourn in this way when the prophet Samuel died (1 Samuel 28:3)
This is what the people were doing at Jairus’ house to mourn the death of his daughter before Jesus resurrected her (Luke 8:52),
Although Luke used a different word, I believe this kind of motion with the hand that is pictured by Jesus in His parable of the two men in the temple when the repentant tax-collector hit himself,
And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’
(Luke 18:13)
This is also the word in Ecclesiastes 3:4 that is set as the opposite of dancing.
The idea is that when the prophets wouldn’t dance to the happy tune, the kids tried a sad song in hopes that the prophets would act sad. But the prophets were listening to the beat of a different drum and didn’t take their cues from the crowd.
The Jews of Jesus’ day had certain expectations about what a prophet would do, but in their simple foolishness and ignorance of God’s word, they are perplexed that John the Baptizer and Jesus didn’t fit the mold. They say, “Look, we told y’all what to do, but you didn’t do it; what’s up?” Utterly oblivious to the fact that prophets don’t do what you tell them to do, they do what God tells them to do. Instead of saying, “Hey guys, be a little more socially acceptable,” they should have been saying, “Wow, tell me more!”
People have the same two responses today. Many people hear preaching or read the Bible and say, “Hm. That’s quaint. Should’ve said it this way, though.”
Like the top brass in the Army that told their chaplains this year (2012), “Keep representing Christianity, but also start providing marriage ceremonies for homosexuals and don’t use the name of Jesus in your prayers.
Or the school that told their teacher in 2006, “Practice your Christianity all you want, but you may not point out to your students that the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution contain Christian phrases.”
Or our President a couple of months ago who made a requirement that all churches provide their employees with insurance coverage for abortions.
When Christians disobey their marching orders from the world, their superiors and employers are going to be like the children in this verse who were scratching their heads and saying, “Why didn’t you practice your religion the way we told you to?”
Praise be to GOD there will always be those who hear God’s word and say, “Wow, this is great! God communicates; give me more and I’ll follow!” John the Baptizer was one of these:
(Matthew 11:18) If they hate you, nothing you do will be OK with them
For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’
(Matthew 11:18)
For some reason, fasting just never has taken off as a popular past-time. It wasn’t what the people wanted back in Jesus’ day, but there John and his disciples were in the desert, fasting regularly, and when they did eat, it was not Lobster and steak washed down with the best wine.
John’s was not the kind of lifestyle most people wanted to live, so people made excuses. “He’s probably demon possessed, that’s why he doesn’t eat right. And then, if he’s demon-possessed, we can ignore what he says!”
We humans are capable of convincing ourselves of the most ridiculous, illogical things when we don’t want to believe or obey something we don’t like.
John was not demon-possessed; it was the Holy Spirit of God who had given him the message he preached, and the people should have repented of their sin and believed in Jesus like he told them to, but many people pooh-poohed him instead.
!!!!!On The Other Hand!!!!!
(Matthew 11:19a) If they hate you, nothing you do will be Ok with them
The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’
(Matthew 11:19a)
The word “man” appears in the Greek text as the first thing that they say about Jesus
The NKJ and NIV drop out this word “man,” perhaps because their translators assumed that it goes with “glutton,” as the NASB translated it “a gluttonous man.”
However, in the Greek text, the word “man” and the word “glutton” are both nouns in the nominative case; one is not an adjective describing the other, so I take them as two separate ideas – kind-of like the ESV (“Look at him! A glutton…”) but I think there is more significance to the word “man.”
Jesus says, “The Son of Man came… and they say, ‘Look, he’s just a man.’”
But who was the Son of Man? Was He just a man like any other? No, He is God who became Man. The first thing that people who aren’t listening to God do is they degrade Jesus to being just a man and not God and Man. If He is just a man with opinions like any other – and not God with authoritative opinions, then Jesus can be ignored. That’s their first mistake
Next they call Jesus a “glutton and a wine-bibber/drunk/wino.” These two labels are connected with an “and” in Greek, so we’ll take them together. What’s the deal here?
Jesus is pointing out that no matter what you do, you can’t please the critics:
John apparently didn’t drink wine or eat regular food, and people criticized him for that;
Then Jesus came along and ate regular food and drank wine, yet people criticized Him for that also!
When you follow the Holy Spirit they’ll criticize you. Whether you eat or don’t eat. They don’t even care if their criticism is hypocritical. All they want is to feel like they can safely ignore the prophets who are telling them that they are offensive to God and that they are in danger of God’s judgment.
In the days of Jesus, to religious leaders had so twisted things that being a vegetarian or not fasting to their standards was considered being a glutton
It may well be that some of the Pharisees who criticized Jesus for being a glutton so then they could prove that Jesus exercised poor judgment in His eating habits, they could discredit Him as having poor judgment in HIS His teaching as well, and then they could ignore Him.
Jesus is also criticized as being a “friend of tax-collectors and sinners.”
Once again, if people could discredit Jesus for having poor judgment in who He associated with, they felt they could safely ignore His message.
Jesus did indeed befriend tax-collectors like Matthew and Zaccheus, and He befriended women who made their living by committing adultery for pay.
The casual observer may have been shocked at who all Jesus talked to, but those who observed Jesus closely – like Matthew – saw that this was not because Jesus wanted to join in with their sinful behavior but rather because Jesus wanted to save them from their sin.
Jesus’ disciples observed that people who knew they were messed up with sin were more interested in being saved from their sin than the nice, self-righteous people who led respectable lives and didn’t really want to change. ( Luke 15:1)
Brace yourself. If you humbly obey God and act in a way that is different from the world, then you will be criticized just like Jesus and John were by people who want to avoid God’s truth.
(Matthew 11:19b) Hold fast to God's Wisdom, it will keep you safe, long after man's wisdom has left you in the gutter
But wisdom is justified by her children.”
(Matthew 11:19a)
To be justified is to be recognized by a judge as being in the right. Wisdom is cleared of all charges, acquitted, exonerated, proved right. As those who have been trained by God’s wisdom would agree and say to God , as the Psalmist wrote,
That You may be found just when You speak,
And blameless when You judge
(Psalm 51:5)
The real key to understanding this proverb lies in Luke’s account of this same discourse.
And when all the people heard Him, even the tax collectors justified God, having been baptized with the baptism of John. But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the will of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.
(Luke 7:29-30)
The Pharisees and Scribes had no wisdom, for they did not fear GOD. They rejected HIS Son, whereas the sinners accepted the messages of John and Jesus,
Always remember where wisdom comes from
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
But fools despise wisdom and instruction.
(Proverb 1:7)
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