Matthew 11:2-11
Chapter 11
About John the Baptist
When John the Baptist heard in prison about the deeds of Christ, he sent a message through his disciplesasking him:
“Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”
Jesus answered them:
“Go and tell John what you hear and see:
the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are healed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor hear the good news;
and how fortunate is the one who does not take offense at me!”
As the messengers departed, Jesus started speaking to the crowds about John:
“When you went out to the desert, what did you expect to see? A reed swept by the wind?
What did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? People who wear fine clothes live in palaces.
What was it that you truly went out to see? A prophet? Yes, indeed, and even more than a prophet.
He is the man of whom Scripture says:
I send my messenger ahead of you to prepare the way before you.
I tell you this: no one greater than John the Baptist has ever been born of women, yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
Commentaries
About John the Baptist.
When Matthew discusses the Baptist, he often speaks indirectly to his followers, who, even decades later, had not yet decided to join the Christian community. Jesus responds about his identity and mission not by theorizing but by showing miracles and signs performed for the poor and the excluded (8f), in which the echoes of the prophecies are heard (Is 35:5f; 61:11). Those who reject him violently oppose his messengers, as is happening in the communities Matthew is addressing; it continues today and will always be so.