Matthew 11:1-19 - A Question From John The Baptist

¹ And when Jesus had made an end of giving orders to his twelve disciples, He departed from thence to teach and preach in their cities. ² Now when John heard in prison of the works of Christ, ³ he sent two of his disciples to ask Him, Art thou He who was to come, or are we to expect another?

⁴ And Jesus said to them in answer, Go and tell John the things which ye hear and see: ⁵ the blind are restored to sight, and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear; the dead are raised to life, and the poor have the gospel preached to them: ⁶ and happy is the man who shall not be offended at any thing in me.

⁷ And as they departed, Jesus took occasion to say to the people concerning John, What went ye out into the desert to see? a reed shaken by the wind? ⁸ But what went ye out to see? a man clad in fine attire? they that wear rich clothes are in the palaces of kings. ⁹ But what did ye indeed go out to see? a prophet? Yes, verily, and one superior to a prophet. ¹⁰ For this is he, of whom it is written, "Behold I send my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee."

¹¹ For I assure you that in the whole human race there hath not risen a greater than John the baptist: though the lest in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he: ¹² and from the days of John the baptist to this time, the kingdom of heaven is as it were forced into, and the most pressing seize upon it with eagerness. ¹³ For all the prophets, and the law, did no more than prophesy, till John came: ¹⁴ and, if ye are willing to receive the truth, This is that Elias who was to come. ¹⁵ He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

¹⁶ But to what shall I compare this generation? they are like children sitting in the market-places,

¹⁷ and calling to their companions, and saying "We have sung and ye have not danced; we have mourned, and ye have not lamented:"

¹⁸ for John came neither eating nor drinking as others do, and they say, He is beside himself: ¹⁹ the Son of man came eating and drinking like other men, and they call Him a gluttonous man, and a wine-bibber, and a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified by her children.

¹⁸ And the disciples of John told him of all these things: so John called two of his disciples to him, ¹⁹ and sent them to Jesus, saying, Art thou He that was to come, or are we to expect another?

²⁰ And the men came to Him, and said, John the baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou He that was to come, or are we to expect another?

²¹ (Now at that very time He cured many of their diseases and plagues, and of evil spirits, and gave sight to many that were blind.) ²² And Jesus answering said unto them, Go and tell John what ye have seen and heard: that the blind recover sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them, ²³ and happy is he who shall not be offended at any thing in me. ²⁴ When the messengers of John were departed, He began to speak unto the people concerning John, what went ye out into the wilderness to see? ²⁵ a reed shaken by the wind? but what did ye go out to see? a man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that are dressed in fine clothes and live delicately, are in palaces, not in deserts: but what went ye out to see? ²⁶ a prophet? yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet. ²⁷ This is he of whom it is written, "Behold I send my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee:"

²⁸ for I tell you that among the sons of men there is not a greater prophet than John the baptist: (though the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he:)

²⁹ ---and all the people that heard him, even the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John; ³⁰ but the pharisees indeed and the lawyers rejected the counsel of God within themselves, and were not baptized by him.---

³¹ Whereunto therefore shall I compare the men of this generation? ³² and to what are they like? they are like children sitting in the market-place, and calling to one another, and saying, "We have played pleasant tunes to you, and ye have not danced; we have sung mournful ones and ye have not wept:"

³³ for John the baptist came neither eating bread, nor drinking wine, and ye say, he hath a demon: ³⁴ the Son of man is come eating and drinking like other men, and ye call Him a gluttonous man and a wine bibber, and a friend of publicans and sinners. ³⁵ But wisdom is justified by all her children.