Sermon Tone Analysis

11:2–3 At last mention, John the Baptist was taken into custody (4:12).

This event prompted Jesus to begin his kingdom ministry (4:17).

How much time has elapsed between then and the present episode is uncertain, but it was long enough for uncertainty to take hold of the imprisoned prophet.

Apparently John needed reassurance about the messiahship of Jesus.

Was John’s faith beginning to waver as he crouched for long hours in the shadows of his cell?

Was he, like many of his Jewish contemporaries, hoping for a militant messiah who would deliver Israel from Roman rule?

Or was it that John envisioned his successor to be the agent of divine judgment, the one who would fell the wicked like fruitless trees and hurl them into the flames (3:7–12)?

The text does not tell us.

Whatever thoughts were churning in John’s mind, it seems that the works of the Messiah did not quite match his expectations.

John thus sends disciples to Jesus with the question: Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?

The question takes our minds back to 3:11, where John announced the arrival of one who was “coming” after him.

There is also reason to think that “the one who is to come” was a messianic title in Jesus’ day.

Its background is the Greek Septuagint version of Ps 118:26, which reads: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”

Both Jesus and the Jerusalem crowds quote this verse verbatim later in the Gospel (21:9; 23:39).

11:4–5 Most people prefer a simple answer to a simple question.

It is fair to ask, then, why Jesus responds to John’s question with a news bulletin about current events connected with his ministry.

Why not return a simple yes?

Presumably it is because Jesus wants to give John what he needs to steady his wavering faith.

Jesus’ response is basically a resume of his achievements up to this point in the story.

That the blind have regained their sight is documented in 9:27–31.

That persons once lame are now walking is verified by 9:1–8.

Evidence of lepers being cleansed can be found in 8:1–4, and perhaps the droves that flocked to Jesus with infirmities in 4:23 and 9:35 included individuals who were deaf.

Furthermore, a resurrection of the dead is recounted in 9:18–26, and the poor hear the good news of the kingdom in 5:3, among other places.

By any reckoning this is an impressive report for John to ponder.

It is hard to deny that God was powerfully at work in this holy man from Galilee.

But there is more in Jesus’ answer than appears at first glance.

Read with one eye on the Old Testament, one can see connections to the book of Isaiah.

Throughout Isaiah we find prophecies of the final age, when God will bring healing into the hurting world of men and women.

Among the events foreseen are the dead coming to life (Isa 26:19), the blind and deaf seeing and hearing again (Isa 29:18; 35:5; 42:18), the lame leaping for joy (Isa 35:6), and the poor hearing the glad tidings of the Lord delivered by his anointed one (Isa 61:1).

Assuming that John picked up on these allusions, he must have understood the answer loud and clear.

Jesus was indeed affirming his messianic identity.

Even more, he was strengthening the Baptist’s faith by grounding it in the Word of God.

Everything was proceeding according to God’s plan as envisioned by Isaiah.

11:6 Then follows a closing beatitude: blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.

The declaration is pronounced of the person who is not scandalized by Jesus.

John is thereby encouraged to faith, to see in the ministry of Jesus the “works of the Messiah” (11:2).

John, More than a Prophet (11:7–15)

7 As they were going off, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John, “What did you go out to the desert to see?

A reed swayed by the wind? 8 Then what did you go out to see? Someone dressed in fine clothing?

Those who wear fine clothing are in royal palaces.

9 Then why did you go out?

To see a prophet?

Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.

10 This is the one about whom it is written:

‘Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you;

he will prepare your way before you.’

11 Amen, I say to you, among those born of woman there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

12 From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent are taking it by force.

13 All the prophets and the law prophesied up to the time of John.

14 And if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah, the one who is to come.

15 Whoever has ears ought to hear.”

OT: Exod 23:20; Mal 3:1; 23

NT: // Mark 1:2–3; Luke 7:24–28; 16:16

Catechism: John the Baptist, 523, 717–20

Lectionary: 11:2–11: Third Sunday of Advent (Year A); 11:11–15: Second Week of Advent, Thursday

Verses 7–15 are the mirror opposite of verses 2–6.

Just as John, by asking a question, brought to light the true identity of Jesus, so now it is Jesus who poses a series of questions in order to reveal the true identity of John.

And just as Jesus explained his messianic mission by alluding to Scripture, so now he explains the preparatory mission of John by referencing Scripture.

The parallels are significant, for each in his own way is described as “one who is to come” (Jesus, 11:3; John, 11:14).

11:7–9 Once the messengers set off with an answer for John, Jesus questions the crowds about their interest in John.

The reader must remember that John had drawn people out to the wilderness from miles around (3:1, 5).

This was no small feat.

Many traveled great distances; the terrain was difficult; provisions had to be hauled along; and for most, the trip home was a grueling uphill climb out of the Jordan valley.

Something more than mere curiosity brought people out to see this desert preacher.

But what?

Jesus presses for an answer by probing the crowds directly.

First, he asks whether pilgrims came to see a reed swayed by the wind.

Many think this refers to a people pleaser, to someone who is easily swayed by the opinions of others and who tells them whatever they want to hear.

But this would not be an accurate characterization of John.

He was thrust into prison for speaking the truth when it was unpopular and dangerous (see 14:3–4).

Likewise, John hardly fits the description of a pampered prince who lounges around in fine clothing.

On the contrary, John wrapped his body in rough animal hide, and his meals were insects and wild honey (3:4).

John knew nothing at all of worldly luxury.

The third question asks if John was perceived as a prophet.

This is a description that fits quite well, yet Jesus declares him to be more than a prophet.

Why?

Because John not only prophesied the coming of the Messiah but was himself a fulfillment of prophecy.

11:10 Jesus demonstrates this by quoting the Old Testament.

The citation consists of two separate verses cut and pasted together.

The first—Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you—is taken verbatim from the Septuagint translation of Exod 23:20.

The second—he will prepare your way before you—is a rendering of the Hebrew text of Mal 3:1.

Both passages tell us that John played a crucial role in readying Israel for the Messiah.

The Exodus quote, which concerns Israel’s march to the land of Canaan, suggests that John was leading Israel to a new promised land of messianic redemption.

The oracle of Malachi indicates that John was preparing his people to meet the Lord.

In fact, the context of Malachi’s declaration suggests that the one who prepares the way will be Elijah come again (see Mal 3:23).

Matthew’s readers will not be surprised to hear this, for they have already seen John dressed like Elijah (compare 3:4 with 2 Kings 1:8), and they first encountered John at the Jordan River, which is the very place where Elijah was last seen centuries earlier (compare 3:6 with 2 Kings 2:6–12).

But just in case these hints are too subtle, Jesus comes out and tells us that John is Elijah, the one who is to come.

The point is not that John is Elijah himself but that his prophetic mission is like Elijah’s.

Luke’s Gospel captures this by saying that John comes “in the spirit and power of Elijah” (Luke 1:17).

LIVING TRADITION

St. Robert Bellarmine on John the Baptist

“John, who came from a priestly family of moderate means, could have had many things, but he despised the world, living in isolation in the desert, deprived of even the necessities of life.

He was poor in spirit, and for that reason inflexible in virtue.

There are many who stray from the path of virtue through love or through fear.

He loved only God and feared nothing except to offend God.

“All those who, within the Church, have the office of preparing the way of the Lord, such as preachers, fathers of families, and even the individual, so far as the salvation of his own soul is concerned, must imitate the Baptist.

Firm and incorruptible, they must teach truth and correct error.”

11:11–15 These verses are difficult to interpret.

First, Jesus tells us that among those born of woman there has been none greater than John.

John the Baptist is both the latest and the greatest of the prophets; no one in the long ages that came before him surpasses him, for his role was to be the forerunner of the Messiah.