Matthew 11–12

In Praise of John the Baptist

11When Jesus had finished giving orders to His 12 disciples, He moved on from there to teach and preach in their towns. ^m2When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent a message by his disciples ⁿ³and asked Him, “Are You the One who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” ^o

⁴Jesus replied to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see: ⁵the blind see, the lame walk, those with skin diseases are healed, ^pthe deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor are told the good news. ^q6And if anyone is not ^•offended because of Me, he is blessed.” ^r

⁷As these men went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swaying in the wind? ^s8What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothes? Look, those who wear soft clothes are in kings’ palaces. ⁹But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and far more than a prophet. ^t10This is the one it is written about:

Look, I am sending My messenger ahead of You; ^u

he will prepare Your way before You. ^vw

¹¹“^•I assure you: Among those born of women no one greater than John the Baptist has appeared, ^xbut the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. ¹²From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been suffering violence, ^yand the violent have been seizing it by force. ¹³For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John; ¹⁴if you’re willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who is to come. ^z15Anyone who has ears ^ashould listen! ^b

An Unresponsive Generation

¹⁶“To what should I compare this generation? It’s like children sitting in the marketplaces who call out to each other:

¹⁷We played the flute for you,

but you didn’t dance;

we sang a lament,

but you didn’t mourn! ^c

¹⁸For John did not come eating or drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon!’ ^d19The ^•Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, ^ea friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ ^fYet wisdom is vindicated ^gby her deeds.” ^h

²⁰Then He proceeded to denounce the towns where most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent: ²¹“Woe to you, Chorazin! ⁱWoe to you, Bethsaida! ^jFor if the miracles that were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, ^kthey would have repented in ^•sackcloth and ashes long ago! ²²But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment ^lthan for you. ²³And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will go down to ^•Hades. ^mFor if the miracles that were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until today. ²⁴But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”

The Son Gives Knowledge and Rest

²⁵At that time Jesus said, ⁿ“I praise ^oYou, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned and revealed them to infants. ^p26Yes, Father, because this was Your good pleasure. ^q27All things have been entrusted to Me by My Father. No one knows ^rthe Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son desires ^sto reveal Him. ^t

²⁸“Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ^u29All of you, take up My yoke and learn from Me, ^vbecause I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for yourselves. ^w30For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Lord of the Sabbath

12At that time Jesus passed through the grainfields on the Sabbath. ^xHis disciples ^ywere hungry and began to pick and eat some heads of grain. ²But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful ^zto do on the Sabbath!”

³He said to them, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and those who were with him were hungry— ⁴how he entered the house of God, and they ate ^athe ^•sacred bread, which is not lawful for him or for those with him to eat, but only for the priests? ^b5Or haven’t you read in the Law ^cthat on Sabbath days the priests in the temple violate the Sabbath and are innocent? ^d6But I tell you that something greater than the temple is here! ^e7If you had known what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice, ^fgyou would not have condemned the innocent. ⁸For the ^•Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” ^h

The Man with the Paralyzed Hand

⁹Moving on from there, He entered their synagogue. ⁱ¹⁰There He saw a man who had a paralyzed hand. And in order to accuse Him they asked Him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” ^j

¹¹But He said to them, “What man among you, if he had a sheep ^kthat fell into a pit on the Sabbath, wouldn’t take hold of it and lift it out? ^l12A man is worth far more than a sheep, ^mso it is lawful to do what is good on the Sabbath.”

¹³Then He told the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out, and it was restored, ⁿas good as the other. ¹⁴But the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him. ^o

The Servant of the Lord

¹⁵When Jesus became aware of this, He withdrew from there. Huge crowds ^pfollowed Him, and He healed them all. ^q16He warned them not to make Him known, ^r17so that what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

¹⁸Here is My Servant whom I have chosen,

My beloved in whom My soul delights;

I will put My Spirit on Him,

and He will proclaim justice to the nations. ^s

¹⁹He will not argue or shout,

and no one will hear His voice in the streets.

²⁰He will not break a bruised reed,

and He will not put out a smoldering wick,

until He has led justice to victory. ^t

²¹The nations will put their hope in His name. ^uv

A House Divided

²²Then a demon-possessed man ^wwho was blind and unable to speak was brought to Him. He healed him, so that the man ^xcould both speak and see. ^y23And all the crowds were astounded and said, “Perhaps this is the Son of David!” ^z

²⁴When the Pharisees heard this, they said, “The man drives out demons only by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.” ^a

²⁵Knowing their thoughts, ^bHe told them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is headed for destruction, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. ²⁶If Satan ^cdrives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? ²⁷And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, who is it your sons drive them out by? For this reason they will be your judges. ^d28If I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you. ^e29How can someone enter a strong man’s house and steal his possessions unless he first ties up ^fthe strong man? Then he can rob his house. ³⁰Anyone who is not with Me is against Me, ^gand anyone who does not gather with Me scatters. ³¹Because of this, ^hI tell you, people will be forgiven every sin and blasphemy, ⁱbut the blasphemy against ^jthe Spirit will not be forgiven. ^k32Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, ^lit will be forgiven him. But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the one to come. ^m

A Tree and Its Fruit

³³“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad ⁿand its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. ^o34Brood of vipers! How can you speak good things when you are evil? For the mouth speaks from the overflow ^pof the heart. ³⁵A good man produces good things from his storeroom of good, ^qand an evil man produces evil things from his storeroom of evil. ^r36I tell you that on the day of judgment ^speople will have to account ^tfor every careless word they speak. ^u37For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

The Sign of Jonah

³⁸Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” ^v

³⁹But He answered them, ^w“An evil and adulterous generation demands a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. ^x40For as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish three days and three nights, ^yso the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. ⁴¹The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, ^zbecause they repented at Jonah’s proclamation; and look—something greater than Jonah is here! ^a42The queen of the south ^bwill rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and look—something greater than Solomon is here!

An Unclean Spirit’s Return

⁴³“When an ^•unclean spirit comes out of a man, it roams through waterless places looking for rest but doesn’t find any. ^c44Then it says, ‘I’ll go back to my house that I came from.’ And returning, it finds the house vacant, swept, and put in order. ⁴⁵Then off it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and settle down there. As a result, that man’s last condition is worse than the first. ^dThat’s how it will also be with this evil generation.”

True Relationships

⁴⁶He ^ewas still speaking to the crowds when suddenly His mother and brothers were standing outside wanting to speak to Him. ^f47Someone told Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to You.” ^g

⁴⁸But He replied to the one who told Him, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” ⁴⁹And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, ^hHe said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! ⁵⁰For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven, that person is My brother and sister and mother.” ⁱ