Matthew 11–12

Chapter 11

John’s Questions

^1aWhen Jesus had finished ¹giving instructions to His twelve disciples, He departed from there ^bto teach and ²preach in their cities.

^2aNow when ^bJohn, ¹while imprisoned, heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples

³and said to Him, “Are You ^athe ¹Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?”

⁴Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see:

^5athe blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the ^bpoor have the ¹gospel preached to them.

⁶“And blessed is he ¹who ^adoes not ²take offense at Me.”

Jesus’ Tribute to John

⁷As these men were going away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John, “What did you go out into ^athe wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?

⁸“¹But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ ²palaces!

⁹“¹But what did you go out to see? ^aA prophet? Yes, I tell you, and one who is more than a prophet.

¹⁰“This is the one about whom it ¹is written,

‘^aBehold, I send My messenger ²ahead of You,

Who will prepare Your way before You.’

¹¹“Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! Yet the one who is ¹least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

¹²“^aFrom the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven ¹suffers violence, and violent men ²take it by force.

¹³“For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John.

¹⁴“And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is ^aElijah who ¹was to come.

¹⁵“^aHe who has ears to hear, ¹let him hear.

¹⁶“But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market places, who call out to the other children,

¹⁷and say, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not ¹mourn.’

¹⁸“For John came neither ^aeating nor ^bdrinking, and they say, ‘^cHe has a demon!’

¹⁹“The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a ¹drunkard, ^aa friend of tax collectors and ²sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”

The Unrepenting Cities

²⁰Then He began to denounce the cities in which most of His ^1amiracles were done, because they did not repent.

²¹“^aWoe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, ^bBethsaida! For if the ¹miracles had occurred in ^cTyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in ^2dsackcloth and ashes.

²²“Nevertheless I say to you, ^ait will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in ^bthe day of judgment than for you.

²³“And you, ^aCapernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will ^bdescend to ^cHades; for if the ¹miracles had occurred in ^dSodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day.

²⁴“Nevertheless I say to you that ^ait will be more tolerable for the land of ^bSodom in the day of judgment, than for you.”

Come to Me

^25aAt that ¹time Jesus said, “I praise You, ^bFather, Lord of heaven and earth, that ^cYou have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants.

²⁶“Yes, ^aFather, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight.

²⁷“^aAll things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father ^bexcept the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.

²⁸“^aCome to Me, all ¹who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.

²⁹“Take My yoke upon you and ^alearn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and ^byou will find rest for your souls.

³⁰“For ^aMy yoke is ¹easy and My burden is light.”

Chapter 12

Sabbath Questions

^1aAt that ¹time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples became hungry and began to ^bpick the heads of grain and eat.

²But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples do what ^ais not lawful to do on a Sabbath.”

³But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he became hungry, he and his companions,

⁴how he entered the house of God, and ^athey ate the ¹consecrated bread, which was not lawful for him to eat nor for those with him, but for the priests alone?

⁵“Or have you not read in the Law, that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple ¹break the Sabbath and are innocent?

⁶“But I say to you that something ^agreater than the temple is here.

⁷“But if you had known what this ¹means, ‘^aI desire ²compassion, and not a sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.

Lord of the Sabbath

⁸“For ^athe Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

^9aDeparting from there, He went into their synagogue.

¹⁰And a man was there whose hand was withered. And they questioned ¹Jesus, asking, “^aIs it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might accuse Him.

¹¹And He said to them, “^aWhat man ¹is there among you who ²has a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out?

¹²“^aHow much more valuable then is a man than a sheep! So then, it is lawful to do ¹good on the Sabbath.”

¹³Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand!” ^aHe stretched it out, and it was restored to ¹normal, like the other.

¹⁴But the Pharisees went out and ^1aconspired against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.

¹⁵But Jesus, ¹aware of this, withdrew from there. Many followed Him, and ^aHe healed them all,

¹⁶and ^awarned them not to ¹tell who He was.

¹⁷This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet:

¹⁸“^aBehold, My ¹Servant whom I ²have chosen;

^bMy Beloved in whom My soul ³is well-pleased;

^cI will put My Spirit upon Him,

And He shall proclaim ⁴justice to the ⁵Gentiles.

¹⁹“^aHe will not quarrel, nor cry out;

Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.

²⁰“^aA battered reed He will not break off,

And a smoldering wick He will not put out,

Until He ¹leads ²justice to victory.

²¹“^aAnd in His name the ¹Gentiles will hope.”

The Pharisees Rebuked

^22aThen a ^bdemon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to ¹Jesus, and He healed him, so that the mute man spoke and saw.

²³All the crowds were amazed, and were saying, “This man cannot be the ^aSon of David, can he?”

²⁴But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man ^acasts out demons only by ¹Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.”

^25aAnd ^bknowing their thoughts Jesus said to them, “¹Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand.

²⁶“If ^aSatan casts out Satan, he ¹is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand?

²⁷“If I ^aby ¹Beelzebul cast out demons, ^bby whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason they will be your judges.

²⁸“But ^aif I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

²⁹“Or how can anyone enter the strong man’s house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.

The Unpardonable Sin

³⁰“^aHe who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters.

³¹“^aTherefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven.

³²“^aWhoever ¹speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in ^bthis age or in the age to come.

Words Reveal Character

³³“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for ^athe tree is known by its fruit.

³⁴“^aYou brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak ¹what is good? ^bFor the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.

³⁵“^aThe good man brings out of his good treasure ¹what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure ²what is evil.

³⁶“But I tell you that every ¹careless word that people ²speak, they shall give an accounting for it in ^athe day of judgment.

³⁷“For ¹by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

The Desire for Signs

³⁸Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, “Teacher, ^awe want to see a ¹sign from You.”

³⁹But He answered and said to them, “^aAn evil and adulterous generation craves for a ¹sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet;

⁴⁰for just as ^aJonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will ^bthe Son of Man be ^cthree days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

⁴¹“^aThe men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because ^bthey repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, ^csomething greater than Jonah is here.

⁴²“^aThe Queen of the South will rise up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, ^bsomething greater than Solomon is here.

⁴³“^aNow when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it.

⁴⁴“Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came’; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order.

⁴⁵“Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and ^athe last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation.”

Changed Relationships

^46aWhile He was still speaking to the crowds, behold, His ^bmother and ^cbrothers were standing outside, seeking to speak to Him.

⁴⁷Someone said to Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to You.”¹

⁴⁸But ¹Jesus answered the one who was telling Him and said, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?”

⁴⁹And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, “Behold My mother and My brothers!

⁵⁰“For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother.”