Matthew 11–12

Jesus and John the Baptist

11After Jesus finished telling these things to his twelve followers, he left there and went to the towns in Galilee to teach and preach.

²John the Baptist was in prison, but he heard about what the Christ was doing. So John sent some of his followers to Jesus. ³They asked him, “Are you the One who is to come, or should we wait for someone else?”

⁴Jesus answered them, “Go tell John what you hear and see: ⁵The blind can see, the crippled can walk, and people with skin diseases are healed. The deaf can hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is preached to the poor. ⁶Those who do not stumble in their faith because of me are blessed.”

⁷As John’s followers were leaving, Jesus began talking to the people about John. Jesus said, “What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed ⁿ blown by the wind? ⁸What did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes live in kings’ palaces. ⁹So why did you go out? To see a prophet? Yes, and I tell you, John is more than a prophet. ¹⁰This was written about him:

‘I will send my messenger ahead of you,

who will prepare the way for you.’

¹¹I tell you the truth, John the Baptist is greater than any other person ever born, but even the least important person in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John. ¹²Since the time John the Baptist came until now, the kingdom of heaven has been going forward in strength, and people have been trying to take it by force. ¹³All the prophets and the law of Moses told about what would happen until the time John came. ¹⁴And if you will believe what they said, you will believe that John is Elijah, whom they said would come. ¹⁵Let those with ears use them and listen!

¹⁶“What can I say about the people of this time? What are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace, who call out to each other,

¹⁷‘We played music for you, but you did not dance;

we sang a sad song, but you did not cry.’

¹⁸John came and did not eat or drink like other people. So people say, ‘He has a demon.’ ¹⁹The Son of Man came, eating and drinking, and people say, ‘Look at him! He eats too much and drinks too much wine, and he is a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is proved to be right by what she does.”

Jesus Warns Unbelievers

²⁰Then Jesus criticized the cities where he did most of his miracles, because the people did not change their lives and stop sinning. ²¹He said, “How terrible for you, Korazin! How terrible for you, Bethsaida! If the same miracles I did in you had happened in Tyre and Sidon, ⁿ those people would have changed their lives a long time ago. They would have worn rough cloth and put ashes on themselves to show they had changed. ²²But I tell you, on the Judgment Day it will be better for Tyre and Sidon than for you. ²³And you, Capernaum, ⁿ will you be lifted up to heaven? No, you will be thrown down to the depths. If the miracles I did in you had happened in Sodom, ⁿ its people would have stopped sinning, and it would still be a city today. ²⁴But I tell you, on the Judgment Day it will be better for Sodom than for you.”

Jesus Offers Rest to People

²⁵At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the people who are wise and smart. But you have shown them to those who are like little children. ²⁶Yes, Father, this is what you really wanted.

²⁷“My Father has given me all things. No one knows the Son, except the Father. And no one knows the Father, except the Son and those whom the Son chooses to tell.

²⁸“Come to me, all of you who are tired and have heavy loads, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Accept my teachings and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in spirit, and you will find rest for your lives. ³⁰The burden that I ask you to accept is easy; the load I give you to carry is light.”

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath

12At that time Jesus was walking through some fields of grain on a Sabbath day. His followers were hungry, so they began to pick the grain and eat it. ²When the Pharisees saw this, they said to Jesus, “Look! Your followers are doing what is unlawful to do on the Sabbath day.”

³Jesus answered, “Have you not read what David did when he and the people with him were hungry? ⁴He went into God’s house, and he and those with him ate the holy bread, which was lawful only for priests to eat. ⁵And have you not read in the law of Moses that on every Sabbath day the priests in the Temple break this law about the Sabbath day? But the priests are not wrong for doing that. ⁶I tell you that there is something here that is greater than the Temple. ⁷The Scripture says, ‘I want kindness more than I want animal sacrifices.’ ⁿ You don’t really know what those words mean. If you understood them, you would not judge those who have done nothing wrong.

⁸“So the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath day.”

Jesus Heals a Man’s Hand

⁹Jesus left there and went into their synagogue, ¹⁰where there was a man with a crippled hand. They were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they asked him, “Is it right to heal on the Sabbath day?” ⁿ

¹¹Jesus answered, “If any of you has a sheep, and it falls into a ditch on the Sabbath day, you will help it out of the ditch. ¹²Surely a human being is more important than a sheep. So it is lawful to do good things on the Sabbath day.”

¹³Then Jesus said to the man with the crippled hand, “Hold out your hand.” The man held out his hand, and it became well again, like the other hand. ¹⁴But the Pharisees left and made plans to kill Jesus.

Jesus Is God’s Chosen Servant

¹⁵Jesus knew what the Pharisees were doing, so he left that place. Many people followed him, and he healed all who were sick. ¹⁶But Jesus warned the people not to tell who he was. ¹⁷He did these things to bring about what Isaiah the prophet had said:

¹⁸“Here is my servant whom I have chosen.

I love him, and I am pleased with him.

I will put my Spirit upon him,

and he will tell of my justice to all people.

¹⁹He will not argue or cry out;

no one will hear his voice in the streets.

²⁰He will not break a crushed blade of grass

or put out even a weak flame

until he makes justice win the victory.

²¹In him will the non-Jewish people find hope.”

Jesus’ Power Is from God

²²Then some people brought to Jesus a man who was blind and could not talk, because he had a demon. Jesus healed the man so that he could talk and see. ²³All the people were amazed and said, “Perhaps this man is the Son of David!”

²⁴When the Pharisees heard this, they said, “Jesus uses the power of Beelzebul, the ruler of demons, to force demons out of people.”

²⁵Jesus knew what the Pharisees were thinking, so he said to them, “Every kingdom that is divided against itself will be destroyed. And any city or family that is divided against itself will not continue. ²⁶And if Satan forces out himself, then Satan is divided against himself, and his kingdom will not continue. ²⁷You say that I use the power of Beelzebul to force out demons. If that is true, then what power do your people use to force out demons? So they will be your judges. ²⁸But if I use the power of God’s Spirit to force out demons, then the kingdom of God has come to you.

²⁹“If anyone wants to enter a strong person’s house and steal his things, he must first tie up the strong person. Then he can steal the things from the house.

³⁰“Whoever is not with me is against me. Whoever does not work with me is working against me. ³¹So I tell you, people can be forgiven for every sin and everything they say against God. But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. ³²Anyone who speaks against the Son of Man can be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, now or in the future.

People Know You by Your Words

³³“If you want good fruit, you must make the tree good. If your tree is not good, it will have bad fruit. A tree is known by the kind of fruit it produces. ³⁴You snakes! You are evil people, so how can you say anything good? The mouth speaks the things that are in the heart. ³⁵Good people have good things in their hearts, and so they say good things. But evil people have evil in their hearts, so they say evil things. ³⁶And I tell you that on the Judgment Day people will be responsible for every careless thing they have said. ³⁷The words you have said will be used to judge you. Some of your words will prove you right, but some of your words will prove you guilty.”

The People Ask for a Miracle

³⁸Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law answered Jesus, saying, “Teacher, we want to see you work a miracle as a sign.”

³⁹Jesus answered, “Evil and sinful people are the ones who want to see a miracle for a sign. But no sign will be given to them, except the sign of the prophet Jonah. ⁴⁰Jonah was in the stomach of the big fish for three days and three nights. In the same way, the Son of Man will be in the grave three days and three nights. ⁴¹On the Judgment Day the people from Nineveh ⁿ will stand up with you people who live now, and they will show that you are guilty. When Jonah preached to them, they were sorry and changed their lives. And I tell you that someone greater than Jonah is here. ⁴²On the Judgment Day, the Queen of the South ⁿ will stand up with you people who live today. She will show that you are guilty, because she came from far away to listen to Solomon’s wise teaching. And I tell you that someone greater than Solomon is here.

People Today Are Full of Evil

⁴³“When an evil spirit comes out of a person, it travels through dry places, looking for a place to rest, but it doesn’t find it. ⁴⁴So the spirit says, ‘I will go back to the house I left.’ When the spirit comes back, it finds the house still empty, swept clean, and made neat. ⁴⁵Then the evil spirit goes out and brings seven other spirits even more evil than it is, and they go in and live there. So the person has even more trouble than…