Matthew 11:7

Mat_11:7-9

What went ye out into the wilderness to see?

The attractiveness of John the Baptist

What is it in human character that exerts the most powerful influence over the hearts of men?

1. Is it what is generally called amiability? Is it a reed shaken by the wind? a character that bends at the first expression of adverse opinion? Is this the character that wins the human heart? That which really draws us to itself is the man who is strong enough to resist with tenderness.

2. Are we, then, generally attracted by the attributes of high station? Clothed in soft raiment. Few people are insensible to the attraction of high station; it has often the charm of old associations and achievements. But does it draw our hearts? His life may contradict the high ideal his position would lead us to expect; and these decorations are outside the man.

3. Is it mental power which most powerfully affect us? Many a man bows down to intellect who would not to wealth. Intellect is attractive, but its attraction is not universal; it is not powerful; there are large regions of heart in our nature where it does not touch. Intellect may forfeit its power by being divorced from goodness-More than a prophet.

4. The feeling which is always inspired by a great religious soul of whose consistency we are well assured, but which we only half understand. Such a character lives before us evidently in constant communion with God while shrouding from the public eye much which our curiosity would fain explore. Without analyzing their feelings, the multitude felt that in coming near to the Baptist they were like men who stood at the base of a mountain which buries its summit in the clouds of heaven. John was not discredited by his imprisonment; he was a prophet still; so our Lord would have them understand. (Canon Liddon.)

Conceptions of religion

I. There are those whose idea of religion is a weak, vacillating, or vague principle. It has no strong hold in their minds or hearts. To how many is religion hardly more than a mere curiosity, or a transcient excitement, like wind blowing among reeds. But these words are meant to describe the preconceptions of the multitude respecting John. For, after all, it may be said of the mass of men that their feeling in regard to religion is not one of curiosity; there is a deep sense of something in the thing itself, and not in the mere manner of presenting it; but it is not held to be a strong principle, fitted for maturity, or, if they do not conceive it to be vacillating and weak, they hold it fitfully, or else it is merely in a traditional way that men hold religion; or perhaps religion is held by them because it is respectable.

II. That there is a class to whom religion is merely an affair of sentiment. They are represented by those people who expected to see the Baptist clothed in soft raiment. There are those to whom religion is a matter of aesthetic beauty. In another view, religion is to some a matter of soft raiment, from the idea that it is merely a matter of comfort and consolation. Others do not like a religion that has anything to do with agitation or reform. There are some who do not like to hear hard, sharp epithets from the preacher.

III. There are those who regard religion in its supernatural character, They look for nothing less remarkable or worthy than a prophet. They view religion solely in its connection with miracles. The supernatural is not the exclusive element in religion; religion touches our common daily life. What is religion to you? (E. H. Chapin.)

The only real moral power influencing the world is courage in acting up to our convictions

Those who have not this are reeds. They may be classified thus:-

1. The irresolute; the soul which never can be got to take a decided line. But it puts off this necessary reformation; and so, although it has got a full flowery head of good intentions, they all blow away in the wills.

2. The backsliding; sincere in its weak, watery way, desiring to do what is right, but never able to stand alone-always falling for want of a prop.

3. The frivolous; unable to form a serious purpose, or take a grave view of its responsibilities. The frivolous mind is a mind outside the person; there is only emptiness within, and the mind is occupied only with externals. It is a more mischievous reed than the preceding; the winds that blow it about are fashion, folly, pleasure.

4. The timorous; a weak little rush, harmless, not noxious. It will not undertake a duty, lest it should not have strength to carry it on. (S. Baring-Gould, M. A.)

A reed is

1. A light man, inconsistent, tossed to and fro; at one time, impelled by the words of flatterers, he asserts something; again, being driven by detractors, he denies it, as a reed is blown in different directions by different winds.

2. A man devoid of truth, virtue, and consistency-without stamina.

3. One who has no fruit of good works to show.

4. He who is delighted with, and feeds upon, the fluctuating pleasures of the world. For a reed is dry, yet it grows beside the waters. (Lapide.)

The ends of the Sacrament

Based on the expression, What went ye out for to see? When we are going to an ordinance, we should consider our aim, and what we are going about. In every action we should reflect upon the principles and ends, the reasons that move us to any duty. The ends of the Lords Supper are-

I. To be a badge of profession. Profession is a great matter for two reasons.

1. Cases may happen in which profession is like to cost us dear.

2. We are bound to a profession, not in word only, but in deed. He is not a professor whose life is not a hymn to God. What are the excellences of the Christian profession? Sure principles of trust, or commerce, between us and God, for mercies of daily providence, pardon, and life, excellent rewards, and holy precepts of purity and charity. Now if we transgress any of these, we dishonour our profession.

II. To be a seal of the covenant. On our part an obligation to obedience; God bindeth Himself to be our God, and we bind ourselves to be His people.

III. To be a pledge of heaven.

IV. To be a sign, means, and pledge of our communion with Christ.

V. To be a means of our spiritual growth and nourishment.

VI. To be a memorial of Christs death. VII. To be a pledge of his coming. If these be the ends of the sacrament, you see what need there is of preparation. (Thomas Manton.)

How may we give Christ a satisfying account why we attend upon the ministry of the Word?-

I. Those that attend upon the ministry of the word should propose unto themselves some end why they do it.

1. Some propose no end at all.

2. Some propose ends downright sinful.

3. Some propose ends frivolous and trifling.

II. Those that propose a good end must call themselves to a strict account how that end is obtained or lost.

1. He must give such an account as a scholar to his teacher, of what he learns.

2. As a steward to his master.

3. As a debtor to his creditor (Mat_18:23-24).

4. As a malefactor to a judge (Mat_12:36-37).

III. The strict account we take of ourselves must be frequent. Inferences:

1. It is not the bare hearing of the best preachers that will save you.

2. Remove those hindrances which prevent any soul business.

3. Call yourself to account before and after hearing the Word of God.

4. Christ asks thee here in this world, that thou mayest stand at the last day, when there will be no time to rectify.

5. If you do not give Christ an answer which He will accept, it is vain to expect relief from any other. (S. Annesley, D. D.)

Christ praising the Baptist

The time to praise:-Due praise is to be given to the good parts and practices of others; but rather behind their backs than before their faces, lest we be suspected of flattery, than which nothing is more odious. Aristobulus, the historian, wrote a flattering book of the brave acts of Alexander the Great, and presented it to him. He read it, and then cast it into the river, telling the author that he deserved to be treated as his book was. (John Trapp.)

Men see wheat they go out to see

A geologist and a botanist take a walk together. They go over the same country, but the geologist sees the lie of the strata, the botanist sees the wild flower under the hedge. So it is in the world of the moral and the spiritual. What we are spiritually all goes into our vision. (J. Brierley, B. A.)

The reed of the Jordan

Mr. Macgregor, known as Rob Roy, gives the following precise description of this reed. There is first a lateral trunk lying on the water and half submerged. This is sometimes as thick as a mans body, and from its lower side hang innumerable string-like roots, from three to five feet long, and of a deep purple colour. On the upper surface of the trunks the stems grow alternately in oblique rows; their thickness at the junction is often four inches, and their height fifteen feet, gracefully tapering until a: the top is a little round knob, with long, thin, brown, wire-like hairs, eighteen inches long, which rise, and then, recurving, hang about it in a thyrsus-shaped head.

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat 11:7-10. And as they departed — Or, as Luke has it, when they were departed, Jesus began to say concerning John — What he would not say concerning him in the hearing of these his disciples, lest he should seem to flatter him, or to compliment him into an adherence to his former testimony. To avoid all suspicion of this kind, he deferred his commendation of him till the messengers were gone: and then delivered it to the people, to prevent all imaginations as if John were wavering in his judgment, and had sent the two disciples for his own rather than their satisfaction. What went ye out into the wilderness, in which he preached, to see? A reed shaken by the wind — That is, a man of an unstable disposition, of a weak and cowardly conduct? In this question, which implies a strong negation, the invincible courage and constancy of the Baptist are applauded. His imprisonment for reproving King Herod showed that he was not afraid of men; and as for his constancy, though it might seem a little shaken by the message which he sent, it was not impaired by it in the least. For his faith in Christ could not but remain inviolable, as it had been founded on a particular revelation, and on the visible descent of the Holy Spirit, accompanied by a voice from heaven, declaring him to be the Son of God. A man clothed in soft raiment — An effeminate courtier, accustomed to fawning and flattery? You may expect to find persons of such a character in palaces, not in a wilderness. In this question, the austere and mortified life of the Baptist is praised, and the spiritual nature of the Messiah’s kingdom insinuated. His forerunner did not resemble any of the officers who attend the courts of earthly princes, and consequently Christ himself was in no respect to be like an earthly prince. A prophet? yea, and more (Luke, much more) than a prophet — John justly deserved to be called a prophet, because he excelled in every thing peculiar to a prophet. He was commissioned by God, and had immediate communication with him, Joh 1:33; he foretold that the kingdom of heaven, spoken of by Daniel, was at hand. He pointed out the Messiah by revelation. He declared the terrible judgments that were to befall the Jews on account of their impenitence, their unbelief, and their rejecting the Messiah, Luk 3:17. And he was more than a prophet, inasmuch as he was the Messiah’s harbinger, sent to prepare the way before him, (see note on Mal 3:1,) an office which clothed him with a dignity superior to that of a simple prophet; not to mention that he had the honour of baptizing the Messiah himself.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

§ 39. — JOHN’S POSITION AND CHARACTER, Mat_11:7-15.

Our Lord now, to the people, takes occasion to discriminate the precise character of John, both in its greatness and its infirmities. Not being in the kingdom of God, John does not know its King, but asks of the heir apparent, “Do we look for another?”

7. What went ye out into the wilderness — The wilderness of Judea, bordering on the Jordan, where John preached and baptized. Our Lord asks in effect what was their expectation in regard to the true character of John, to whose preaching and baptism they had resorted. Reed shaken with the wind? — Did you expect, what John now appears to you, a trembling vacillator, shivering in every breeze of doubt and difficulty? Such is not John’s true character. And here our Lord, with singular beauty, borrows his illustration from the reeds which lined the banks of the Jordan, and shivered in the breezes that swept it.

Both Watson and Stier argue that John could not have sent his message to relieve his own doubts, because our Lord here denies that he was a reed shaken by the wind, or a soft, pliant man. Very true. But what suggested those particular denials? Plainly, the understanding that John’s mind is now apparently wavering; which understanding is based upon the assumption that the inquiry is his own. Our Lord admits the assumption, but denies the inference; and then he proceeds (10-14) to state John’s real case, with all its greatness, its littleness, and its palliations.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CRITICAL NOTES

Mat_11:7. And as they departed, etc.—Dr. Plumptre holding that the Baptist himself was really in doubt, and sent his disciples to Christ for his own satisfaction, remarks on this verse: “There was an obvious risk that those who heard the question of the Baptist, and our Lord’s answer, might be led to think with undue harshness, perhaps even with contempt, of one who had so far failed in steadfastness. As if to meet that risk, Jesus turns, before the messengers were out of hearing, to bear His testimony to the work and character of John.” A reed.—The imagery drawn from the rushes that grew upon the banks of the Jordan.

Mat_11:8. Clothed in soft raiment.—Like the Roman officials in the palace, which, in those degenerate days, were Jerusalem’s pride (Gibson).

Mat_11:9. More than a prophet.—Other prophets foresaw the Messiah, the Baptist beheld Him, and ushered in His kingdom; he was the herald of the King. Further, John was himself the subject of prophecy (Carr).

Mat_11:10. Which shall prepare Thy way.—It is remarkable, that both St. Matthew and St. Luke, as well as St. Mark in another place (Mar_1:2), cite this prophecy of Malachi with the substitution of “Thy way before Thee.” In the original God is represented as speaking of Himself; in the citation He addresses the Messiah. The Lord thus, in applying the prophecy to Himself as Messiah, asserts His own Deity, as one with the Lord of Hosts who speaks through the prophet. The fact that this verse is quoted by all the three Evangelists in the same form—a form which does not correspond either with the LXX. or with the Hebrew—cannot be explained on the theory of quoting from memory. There is clearly some principle of quotation. Compare Lee’s “Lectures on Inspiration,” p. 358, ed. 2 (Mansel).

Mat_11:11. Least.—But little (R.V.).

Mat_11:13. Prophesied until John.—John was “the last representative of those who belonged to the prophetic period of expectancy” (Wendt). John may fairly be regarded as the clasp of the two Testaments (Reynolds).

Mat_11:14. Elias.—See Mal_4:5. John was the personal duplicate of Elijah. There was in him the reproduction of the spirit and power of the Old Testament prophet (Morison).

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Mat_11:7-15

Undiscerning faith.—From the language found in the end of Mat_11:5 it seems probable that a good many “poor” heard the reply of the Saviour to John. We know of these, as a rule, that they held John as a prophet, and had accepted his baptism (cf. Mat_21:26; Mat_21:32; Luk_7:29-30). Possibly, in now speaking to these same “multitudes” “concerning John,” the Saviour has this in His mind; and directs Himself, therefore, to teaching them, first, to think very highly indeed; and yet, secondly, not to think too highly of John the Baptist.

I. Very highly.—Very highly, first, as being a man of unusual force of character. This was felt about him from the beginning. No one, in going out to hear him, had expected to look on a “reed”—a man easily moved and shaken—and, as it were, without a will of his own—nor had they found him so. This was allowed; and, indeed, insisted on, too. To ask such a question was to answer it in the judgment of Christ. The same was true, in the next place, as to his signal independence of life. Who expected to find such a man in the “soft raiment” of a “court”; looking daily for the favour of “kings,” and not able, without it, to live? To ask such a question about this dweller in the wilderness was to answer it too. No man content with “locusts and wild honey” (Mat_3:4) could be very easily bribed. He was to be thought of very highly, once more, on account of his most distinguished prophetical gifts. Was he a prophet? He was very much more (Mat_11:9). He was the immediate “messenger” of Jehovah Himself (Mat_11:10)—the last figure in a long procession of such anticipators—the last to move forward of all such inspired predictors of Christ. No one before, in fact, had been greater than he in this question of prophetical gift. God had never spoken before by any human lips greater than his (Mat_11:11).

II. Not too highly.—Not too highly, first, with regard to his position. After all, if he was at the summit of one set, he was beneath the feet of another. Previous inspired ones had, as it were, shown the door of life afar off. He had put his hand on its latch. Yet even this attainment, great as it was, was not greatest of all. It was not so great a thing as to open the door and pass in. It was not, therefore, in this sense, to be so great as was the very least of those who had really done this (end of Mat_11:11). Not too highly, next, in regard to his message. His message had been to tell men of One who was coming. As it were, with all “the law and the prophets” behind him (Mat_11:13) he had pointed still forward to Christ. His work had been, therefore, to prepare men for what that Coming One should declare. But, since then—perhaps, since his practical silencing—that fuller Light had appeared (Mat_4:12-16). In other words, since that time “the kingdom of God had been preached” (Luk_16:16); and was “amongst” men (Luk_17:21) even now, with all its fullest mercy declared (see above Mat_9:2). What had been the result? Why, that men had “pressed into it” (Luk_16:16), even “with violence” (Mat_11:12), giving up “all for its sake” (Mat_19:27); not excluding even, in some cases, the teaching of John (Joh_1:35-39). Let them remember this, therefore, in seeking to estimate rightly “the teaching of John.” Its chief glory lay in preparing for what was more glorious still. Even so, moreover, had it been taught in spirit in the mystical language of old. For what, in fact, was this great “messenger,” when he appeared, to be? Was it not, in fact, to be another “Elias” (Mal_4:5-6)—an Elias “in spirit and power” (Luk_1:16-17)—an Elias in turning them back to the God of their fathers (1Ki_18:37; 1Ki_18:39), and preparing them for His truth? That is, therefore, “if ye will receive it,” how ye are to think of this man. That will teach you the exact truth both about him and Myself. That is, therefore, to be listened to by you—if anything is (Mat_11:15).

This to the “multitudes” as they stood by at that time. This to us, also, who look on from afar. We have much in the Bible which is preparatory to the gospel. Taught by this passage, let us never dare to set it on one side; let us, rather, always seek to use it in that preparatory way. This is giving proper honour to all. The Saviour was able to say, “I have greater witness than that of John” (Joh_5:36). Yet He would have men think of it and use it, for all that, just as it was. It is thus, therefore, He would now have us make use of all the teaching which He has given to men in the past. The more correct we are about that, the more correct we shall be also about the fuller Light of the present. Even so we find to be true, in fact, in the researches of science. The “life” that is before our eyes is to be understood better—if we may not say indeed is to be understood only—by understanding the “life” of the past. This is true, moreover—perhaps most signally true—even of the “fossil life” of the past. For there is a sense in which all such “fossil life” lives in the life of to-day.

HOMILIES ON THE VERSES

Mat_11:7-11. Absent friends.—I. Should be spoken of kindly by their friends.

II. Should be defended in their character.

III. Should be truly represented.—Biblical Museum.

Mat_11:11. The greatness of John.—

1. Singular predictions were of him, more than of any of the prophets.

2. His bringing into the world had more extraordinary passages of providence than any of the prophets.

3. His authority and office to bring in a new sacrament were singular.

4. Besides the baptising of our Lord and converting of such multitudes, his ministry was countenanced with the clearest vision, and revelation of the ministry of the Trinity that ever was.

5. The sanctification of his person, from the womb to his martyrdom, was singular.

6. The clearness of his knowledge of the way of righteousness by Christ, and of the application of types of the Messiah unto Christ, as the true Lamb of God, was singular.—David Dickson.

The greatest.—A Christian is the highest style of man.—Pope.

Mat_11:12. The storming of the kingdom.—In employing words suggesting the idea of violence, Jesus, though certainly not intending to express personal disapproval, did mean to point at features of the new movement which made it an object of a version, astonishment, or at least of doubt, to others. It may be well to particularise some aspects of the work of the kingdom which would, not unnaturally, wear an aspect of violence to minds not able to regard them with Christ’s eyes, though to Christ Himself they were the bright and hopeful side of an evil time.

I. We may mention, first, that which most readily occurs to one’s thoughts, viz. the passionate earnestness with which men sought to get into the kingdom, heralded by John and preached by Jesus; an earnestness not free from questionable elements, as few popular enthusiasms are; associated with misconceptions of the nature of the kingdom, and, in many cases, fervent rather than deep, therefore likely to prove transient—still a powerful, impressive, august movement of the human soul Godwards (see Luk_16:16, R.V).

II. From the volcanic bursting forth of religious earnestness in the popular mind, we may naturally pass to speak of another respect in which the kingdom of heaven may be said to have suffered violence, viz. the kind of people that had most prominently to do with it.—Publicans, sinners, harlots, the moral scum and refuse of society, such were the persons, who, in greatest numbers, were pressing into the kingdom, to the astonishment and scandal of respectable, “righteous,” religious, well-conducted and self-respecting people. Why, it was a revolution, society turned upside down; as great an overturn in principle, if not in extent, as when in France, in the eighteenth century, bishops, aristocrats, princes and kings were sent adrift, and sans-culottism reigned triumphant, believing itself to be in possession of a veritable kingdom of God. What wonder if wise and prudent ones looked on in wistful, doubting mood, and sanctimonious men held up their hands in pious horror, and exclaimed, Call you this a kingdom of God? Blasphemy!

III. The kingdom of God as it actually showed itself in connection with the work of Christ, differed widely from, did violence, we may say, to preconceived notions of what it would be—Not a few of those who actually entered the kingdom, in so far as they understood its true character, had to do violence to their own prejudices before they took the step. There were conversions, not unaccompanied with inward pain, not merely from sin to righteousness, but from ideal mistaken to rectified notions of the kingdom of God, from political dreams, noble, but destined never to be fulfilled, to spiritual realities.

IV. The kingdom of heaven may be said to have suffered violence in so far as its coming was promoted by the use of irregular methods and agencies.—In this respect John and Jesus were themselves stormers, though in different ways, to the scandalising of a custom-ridden generation. Let us make one or two reflections, suggested by the saying we have been studying, concerning Him who uttered it.

1. It is very evident that one who spoke thus had a very clear conception of the deep significance of the movement denoted by the phrase “the kingdom of heaven.” Christ knew well that a new world was beginning to be.

2. How calmly He takes it all.

3. Yet how magnanimously He bears Himself towards the doubters. “Violence”—the very word is an excuse for their doubts.—A. B. Bruce, D.D.

The kingdom of heaven taken by force.—The ministry of John contained these characteristics:

1. The preaching of repentance.

2. Wonderful directness and simplicity.

3. He bore clear testimony to the Lord Jesus Christ. Proposition: People who would enter into the kingdom of heaven must use violence; they must take it by force, or not have it at all. In proof of this I must refer:—

I. To the testimony of the sacred Scriptures.—“Work out your own salvation,” etc. “Strive to enter in,” etc. “Fight the good fight,” etc.

II. To the forces opposed to us.—

1. The spirit of human society.

2. Philosophies, falsely so called.

3. Forces within ourselves;

(1) self-will;

(2) self-righteousness;

(3) self-indulgence.

4. Spiritual wickedness in high places.

III. To the analogy of the departments of life.—I will make three other verses. The kingdom of wealth suffereth violence, etc. The kingdom of knowledge suffereth violence, etc. The kingdom of fame and honour suffereth violence, etc.

IV. To the grandeur of the reward.—The spiritual athlete stretches every sinew and at last heaven’s door is gained, a flash of glory meets the eye, and the faithful servant enters into the joy of his Lord.—Thos. Jones.

Peace by power.—This is to most readers a puzzling saying. Doubtless there is more than one line in which its truth runs.

I. This saying passes judgment on the state of mind in which a great many respectable people are too content to live.—They live like the luxurious heirs who take their ease upon the fortune which their hardworking grandfather amassed by a frugal and strenuous life.

II. It passes judgment also on the state of mind which many respectable people entertain towards energetic reformers.—What becomes of things that are let alone—your garden, your roof, your drain-pipes? But the reformer, without whom we should all be heathen savages to-day, is well scolded while doing his work, and well praised when his work is done. As Jesus said, one generation stones the prophets and another generation decorates their tombs. Fifty years ago William Lloyd Garrison was dragged through Boston streets with a rope around his neck, but now he forms an imposing statue in Boston’s noblest avenue.

III. It passes judgment, further, on the failure of moral force to work towards God’s kingdom.—Here the story of that tragic Thirty Years’ War, which well-nigh destroyed Germany, brings in its lesson. There was not enough moral force then in Germany to establish the fundamental truth of the kingdom of heaven, that men must respect each other’s consciences—the Catholic not to vex the Protestant, nor the Protestant the Catholic. The moral force failing, the physical force came in to do the necessary work. So came the Roman sword to put an end to the iniquities which, forty years before, when John and Jesus called for a reform, there was not enough moral vigour in the nation to abolish. Especially to every young man I would repeat the lesson of the poet Whittier’s life, as given in his own words, and illustrated by his own career: “Identify yourself actively with some righteous but unpopular cause.” “For the kingdom of heaven is forcibly won, and forceful are they that secure it.”—J. M. Whiton, D.D.

Pressing into the kingdom.—By the clearness of John’s preaching the gates of heaven and the way of the church were made so patent that men did not stand upon the bar and partition of ceremonies, or upon any orderly way of the proselytes coming into the church; but multitudes did leap over all the Levitical ceremonies, so that publicans, sinners, heathen, Levitically unclean, and the naturally loathed lepers did thrust themselves all in upon the company of converts, and upon the grace manifested by John’s doctrine; and, indeed, obtained grace to enter into the kingdom of Christ, by this their pressing themselves upon Him. Hence learn:

1. That the Levitical ceremonies were never appointed to hinder people from Christ, but to lead them to Him, and that, therefore, when the observance of these ceremonies might be a hindrance of people coming to Christ (as, e.g. so many days ought to pass ere a leper were legally purified, that he might come in the company where the word of God was preached); in such a case, God was not displeased that men violently ran over these impediments to come to God’s grace manifested in Christ.

2. Yea, the doctrine of grace being clearly revealed, no impediment of bygone sins or sense of unworthiness present, should hinder a humbled soul from entry into the kingdom of God. If we cannot remove impediments, let us set foot on them, and make stepping-stones of them, thrusting ourselves so much more on Christ’s grace, as we find ourselves unworthy; laying hold so much more on His offered salvation, as we find ourselves otherwise to be lost.—David Dickson.

Religious excitement.—Jonathan Edwards, speaking apologetically of the religious movements of his own time, remarks: “A great deal of noise and tumult, confusion and uproar, darkness mixed with light, and evil with good, is always to be expected in the beginning of something very glorious in the state of things in human society or the church of God. After nature has been shut up in a cold dead state, when the sun returns in the spring, there is, together with the increase of the light and heat of the sun, very tempestuous weather before all is settled, calm and serene, and all nature rejoices in its bloom and beauty.”—Works, vol. i., p. 372.

Mat_11:15. Attention and obedience.—This was a favourite saying of our Lord’s.

I. It is an appeal for attention.—If we want to hear, not only must we have ears, but we must “give ear,” as the old English phrase runs; we must make some effort. We may be where there are loud noises constantly going on, and yet not hear them at all. A miller is said not to hear any of the noise inside his mill. He gets so accustomed to the continuous clamour that he never heeds it. In fact, there is a story told of a miller who slept night after night entirely undisturbed by this noise, but when his mill suddenly ceased working he was aroused by the complete silence! Have you not yourselves sometimes been reading quietly at home, and the clock on the mantelpiece has struck the hour, and so deeply interested have you been in your book, that you have not heard it at all, though you are sure the clock has been going all the time, and must have struck quite loudly? Thus we see that if attention is not given, but turned away, we do not hear, though we have ears. The first order of command that is given to soldiers after they have “fallen in” and stand in order is “Attention!” It is as much as to say, “Listen! Be ready for the next order!” “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear!” It is sad to think what is lost, at the time, by inattention; sadder still to think of the trouble we bring upon ourselves by it afterwards. Sometimes we miss what we can never regain.

II. Attention should be followed by obedience.—Christ requires us not only to hear His sayings, but to do them.

1. What vexation and unhappiness disobedience to parents causes in a home.

2. Obedience is a simple thing; you have but to listen to what you are told, and do it. The general in a battle has many things to think of, but the common soldier has only to do what he is told.

3. Yet, after all, obedience is not so very easy. Luther said, “I would rather obey than be able to work miracles.” This shows that he knew what a hard and yet noble thing it is to obey.

4. The first sin in the world was a sin of disobedience, the hateful forerunner of untold evil.

5. Christ set us an example of perfect obedience.

6. He described the fate of the obedient and the disobedient man in Mat_7:24-27.—W. J. Foxell, M.A.

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

2. The authority of the Baptist as preparing for way for the Messiah vindicated. Mat_11:7-15

7And as they departed,7 Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see?8 A reed shaken with [by] the wind? 8But what [What then] went ye out for9 to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. 9But what went ye out for10 to see? A prophet?11 yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. 10For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. 11Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding, he that is least12 in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence [is assaulted by storm],13 andthe violent take it by force. 13For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John 14 And if ye will receive it, this is Elias [the Elijah], which was for to come [who was to come]. 15He that hath ears to hear,14 let him hear.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Mat_11:7. Jesus began to say.—The Lord hastened by His commendation to restore the authority of the Baptist, which he himself by his embassy had endangered.

A reed.—The figure is derived from the lower banks of Jordan, where reeds grew in abundance; referring to a person wavering and easily influenced by outward circumstances (Olshausen, Meyer). With special allusion to what had just taken place: John will not waver in his faith, though on this occasion he seemed to do so. Some critics have taken the word in a negative sense: Surely ye would not see a reed, etc. (Grotius, de Wette, etc.). This, however, were not only idle, but would weaken the pregnant expression, “shaken by the wind.”

Mat_11:8. What then.—̓Α λλά, but, implies a silent negation.

In soft raiment.—The μαλακὰ ἱμάτια, or only μαλακά, according to B., D., Z., etc., are a mark of effeminate and luxurious persons. Under the first simile, Christ shows that John was not wavering in his faith; by the second, He proves that he had not dispatched his embassy from selfishness, or cowardly fear for his life. Both similes presuppose the fact, that His hearers had formerly regarded John as a person entirely inaccessible to such motives. The Saviour would now recall their former feelings of veneration for the Baptist. The antithesis, they that wear soft clothing, alludes to the enemies of John at the court of Herod Antipas, who were the occasion of his imprisonment.

Mat_11:9. One who is more than a prophet, περισσότερον.—Fritzsche takes this as masculine; Meyer, as neuter, which seems to agree better with the context John was more than the prophets, as being the precursor of the Messiah. The meaning is, You have seen one who is greater than the prophets, although you have not understood his character.

Mat_11:10. Of whom it is written, Mal_3:1.—In the original: “Behold, I will send My messenger, that he may prepare the way before Me: and suddenly cometh to His temple the Lord whom ye seek, and the Messenger of the Covenant, whom ye desire: behold, He cometh, saith the Lord of hosts.” In the Hebrew, Jehovah identified Himself with Messiah when announcing the forerunner; while in Matthew a distinction is made, and the text is presented as embodying a promise of God to the Messiah.

Mat_11:11. Among those born of women.—Job_14:1, etc., יְלוּד אִשָּׁה, a general designation of man, more especially with reference to mankind before the coming of Christ. We must not overlook the use of the plural number. Gal_4:4 is not a parallel passage, but rather indicates the contrast. The expression, “born of a woman,” differs from that, “born of women,” just as “Son of Man” from “man.” The former expression is specially intended to refer to the human limitations of Christ, to His humiliation in the form of a servant.

There hath not risen a greater.—Not merely a greater prophet (Rosenmüller, etc.), but, in general, none greater than he. As preparing the way for the Messiah, John represented the highest perfection of the Old Covenant. The antithesis which follows: “He that is least in the kingdom of heaven,” etc., shows that the expression refers to superiority not in respect of moral righteousness, but of theocratic development and dignity. Hence it is needless to make an exception in favor of the patriarchs, as Olshausen proposes.

He that is less [least], ὁ δὲμι κρότερος.—Meyer: Not he that is least, as the comparative is never used for the superlative. See Winer’s Grammar (p. 21815). De Wette entertains a different opinion, and translates least. But the passage is so important, that unless forced by the use of the language, we are not warranted in deviating from the literal expression, though we do not deny that the rendering, he that is least, gives good sense. The meaning is, he who is comparatively less in the kingdom of heaven, according to the standard of that kingdom (Cyrill, Theodoret, and others), or who occupies a lower place in it, is greater than John, in respect of the development of his faith and spiritual life. Maldonatus [quotes the logical axiom]: “Minimum maximi majus est maximo minimi.” Even the least in the kingdom of the New Testament enjoys what John could not have had, viz., peace in the finished work of Christ, and, with it, patience in suffering and death, and quiet expectation of the second coming of Christ, when every wrong shall be righted. Other commentators have applied the expression, “less,” to Christ Himself (Chrysostom, Luther, Melanchthon, etc.). “The less,” who at the time was eclipsed by the glory of John, will in the kingdom of heaven be greater (the punctuation of the verse being changed), or will as the Messiah excel him. But this interpretation is evidently untenable, as there could be no comparison of the kind between Jesus and John, certainly not without express limitation.16

Mat_11:12. And from the days.—The days of John’s great usefulness were past. Jesus intimates in passing the coming calamities. He also indicates the immense contrast between the days of the Baptist and His own advent.

Suffereth violence, is assaulted by storm, βιάζεται.—Explanations: 1. It is violently persecuted by the enemies, and the violent take it from men (Lightfoot, Schneckenburger, and others). But this is opposed to the context, which is evidently intended to explain the greatness of John, the contrast between the days of the Baptist and those of Christ, and the manifestation of the kingdom of heaven.—2. As referring to the advancement of the kingdom of heaven by violent means: (a) Taking βιάζεται in the middle sense, as meaning, it forcibly introduces itself, breaks in with violence (Melanchthon, Bengel, Paulus). But this is incompatible with the expression βιασταί which follows. (b) Passively: Magna vi prœdicatur (Fritzsche); but this is arbitrary, (c) It is taken by violence, or intense endeavors—in the good sense (Hesychius: βιαίως κρατεῖται).—The expression is evidently metaphorical, denoting the violent bursting forth of the kingdom of heaven, as the kernel of the ancient theocracy, through the husk of the Old Testament. John and Christ are themselves the violent who take it by force,—the former, as commencing the assault; the latter, as completing the conquest. Accordingly, this is a figurative description of the great era which had then commenced.

Mat_11:13. For all the prophets.—Proof of what had just been stated. Difference between the character of the old period and the new era. All the prophets prophesied of that era, or predicted it; but they could not call it into existence. [The emphasis lies on prophesied, i. e., they only predicted the kingdom of heaven, as something future; while now, since the coming of Christ, it is an actual reality. In the Greek, the words, until John, precede the verb, and are connected with δνόμος. John still belonged to the dispensation of the law, but on the very threshold of the dispensation of the gospel, whose advent he proclaimed. “Usque ad Johannem lex, ab eo evangelium.” Comp. Luk_16:16.—P. S.]

Mat_11:14. And if ye will receive it.—The antithesis with the preceding verse—the prophets have prophesied—is here hinted at: now is the time of the fulfilment. The idea itself was before expressed as the kingdom of heaven suffering violence. This then furnishes an explanation of the manner in which it suffereth violence. John was the Elijah who was to come as the precursor of Messiah, according to Mal_4:5. The expression was metaphorical, and referred to the character of the precursor of Jesus as that of a prophet of judgment, even as the mission of Elijah had been symbolical of the coming judgment. The Jews, however, understood the passage literally, and expected that Elijah would arise from the dead, and actually appear among them (Wetstein, Lightfoot, Schöttgen). Jesus removed this mistake (comp. Mat_17:12), by acknowledging John as the Elijah of whom Malachi had spoken. In one sense only may the prophecy have been still partially unfulfilled, as the second coming of Christ would also be preceded by judgments. But even then the character and mission of Elijah could only be metaphorical, not literal.

Mat_11:15. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.—Comp. Mat_13:9; Mat_13:43; Rev_2:7. A proverbial expression to evoke attention, or to mark a conclusion from certain premises. In the present instance, the inference was obvious. If the time of the first βιαστής was past, the second and greater must be at hand. Thus Christ complied as far as possible with the request of the Baptist to pronounce Himself the Messiah. Those who knew the Scriptures, and believed them, would be able to recognize Him; while at the same time He would not assume the title before the people, since in their minds it was still connected with ideas of rebellion and carnal conquest.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. This passage affords a fresh view of the greatness of Jesus as compared with John, whom He first restores, and then acknowledges before the people, in whose presence John had almost reproved Him. The contrast appears most clear and distinct between John and Christ, between the Old and the New Testaments, between calm development and a stormy era. And as John had first testified of Christ, so Christ now bears testimony of John.

2. In truth, the Baptist himself was a sufficient reply to his own inquiry—Art Thou He? His being offended implied a doubt in his own mission. Hence also it could only be transient.

3. The violent manifestation of the kingdom of heaven upon earth was brought about by the holy violence of John and Jesus, who ushered this kingdom into a sinful world.

4. [Dr. Thomas Scott: “In every age, ‘the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.’ … They who are determined at all adventures, to find admission, will surely succeed: but such as postpone the concerns of their souls to worldly interest, pleasures, and diversions, will be found to come short of it; as well as those who seek salvation in any other way than by repentance toward God and faith in his beloved Son.” Matthew Henry: “The kingdom of heaven was never intended to indulge the ease of triflers, but to be the rest of them that labor.” Comp. Luk_13:24 : “Strive (ἀγωνίζεσθε) to enter in at the strait gate.”—P. S.]

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

The glory of the Lord as it appears by the side of John.—Entire freedom from all jealousy in its full majesty (John and Christ).—The commendation of the Baptist as reflecting greater glory upon the Lord than even on John 1. As exalting the Baptist; 2. still more the Lord (uttered at such a moment, after such experience, in such terms, with such reservations as to His own person).—In what sense those who are least in the New Covenant are greater than the greatest under the Old.—Every fresh manifestation of the kingdom of heaven requiring heroism of faith.—Christ bringing the kingdom of heaven to this earth and at the same time taking the kingdom of heaven by force for this earth.—The kingdom of heaven passing from its typical form into reality through the faithfulness of His witnesses.—Holy violence.—Christ’s perfect suffering constituting His perfect violence.17—Clearness of the Old Testament testimony about Christ.—He that hath ears to hear, let him hear: the loudest call to a life of faith: 1. As pointing to our original calling, to hear; 2. as condemning the sin, that man has ears, yet does not hear; 3. as an admonition to come to the knowledge of Christ by our hearing.—Properly to understand the Scriptures, is to know Christ.—Every call of God is at the same time both general and special.

Starke:—Does it become a servant of the cross of Christ to imitate the pomp of the world, or to trim his sails to the wind?—Wavering preachers cannot expect stable hearers.—They who are under the influence of the love of the world, will scarcely prove fit to root it out of the hearts of others, Luk_10:30.—Hedinger:—We must be thoroughly in earnest if we are ever to reach heaven.—As the substance exceeds the shadow, so the grace of the New, that of the Old Testament, Col_2:17; Heb_8:5; Heb_10:1.—Gerlach:—Knowledge of Christ is the sole standard for measuring spiritual greatness.

Heubner:—Jesus commends John after his disciples have left His presence. Let this serve as an example.18—Jesus knew the Baptist better than the latter knew himself.—Human opinions are like the wind: beware of being their weathercock.—Independence a high honor and glory.

Footnotes:

[7] Mat_11:7.—[Lit.: And as these were departing, τούτων δὲ πορευομενων.—P. S.]

[8] Mat_11:7.—[Conant and the revised N. T. of the Am. Bible Union: behold, for see, to express more fully the meaning of θεάσασθαι, to gaze, to look upon, as a public spectacle.—P. S.]

[9] Mat_11:8.—[For is unnecessary; ἀλλὰ τί ἐξήλθετε ἰδεῖν.]

[10] Mat_11:8.—[Correct as to the sense. The text rec. (with Cod. Alex, as edited by Cowper) reads ἱματίοις after μαλακοῖς, probably from Luk_7:25. Codd. Sinait., Vaticanus, the Latin Vulgate (mollibus), and other ancient authorities omit it. So Tischendorf, Tregelles, and Alford. Lachmann retains the noun, but in brackets.—P. S.]

[11] Mat_11:9.—[After an ancient reading of Cod. B.: But why went ye out? to see a prophet? ἀλλὰ τί ἐξήλθατε; προφήτην ἰδεῖν; Lange, with Tischendorf Meyer, and Alford (who, however, omits the punctuation after ἐξήλθατε, regarding the whole as one sentence) adopt this reading, which has now the additional weight of the Cod. Sinaiticus; but Lachmann and Tregelles defend the usual reading: ἀλλὰ τί ἐξήλθατε ἱδεῖν; προφήτην; the only real difference is as to the position of ἰδεῖν.—P. S.]

[12] Mat_11:11.—[Lit.: less, or the lesser, δ μικρότερος. So Lange, van Ess, the Latin Vulgate (minor), and all the older English versions. Wiclif’s, Tyndale, Cranmer, Geneva (less), the Rhemish (the lesser). But Luther (der Kleinste), de Wette (der Geringste), and the authorized English version (least) render the word in the superlative. Dr. J. A. Alexander ad loc. calls this “one of the few groundless innovations introduced by the translators of King James’ Bible.” But this is too hasty. The translation depends on what we supply to the comparative ὁ μικρότερος. If we supply: than John the Baptist, less or the lesser is the proper translation; but if we supply: than all others (τῶν ἅλλων) which is likewise allowable (see Winer, p. 218) and even preferable, the English idiom seems to require he that is least, or the least. See Exeg. Notes.—P. S.]

[13] Mat_11:12.—[In Greek: βιάζεται, Lange: wird mit Sturm angelaufen; Luther: leidet Gewalt (suffers violence). All English versions from Wiclif to that of King James have: suffereth violence after the Vulgate: vim patitur. See Exeg. Notes—P. S.]

[14] Mat_11:15.—The verb ἀκούειν is omitted by Tischendorf [and Alford] after Codd. B., C., etc. [But Cod. Sinait. has it.—P. S.]

[15][Sixth German ed., Leip., 1855 (§ 35). The original quotes p. 280, which is no doubt an error of the printer. Winer says that we must supply to μικρότερος either (τῶν) ἅλλων, or ̓Ιωάννου τοῦ βαπτιστοῦ. Meyer (Com., p. 247) prefers the latter and explains (p. 248): “He who shall occupy a lower standpoint or degree of value and dignity in the kingdom of the Messiah, than John the Baptist now occupies in the old theocracy, is greater than he, of whom I have just said such great things.” I much prefer to supply των ἅλλων, and explain: John being nearest to Christ and standing at the very threshold of His kingdom is quoad statum the greatest of all Old Testament prophets and saints; but the least or humblest Christian who has actually entered into the gospel dispensation is quoad statum or as to his standpoint (not as to personal merit) greater than he. It is not denied, however, that John may hereafter enter into the kingdom of the Messiah, and then occupy a much higher position than millions of Christians. The comparison refers only to his present position in the αἰὼν οὑτος.—P. S.]

[16][Dr. Wordsworth, from respect for the fathers, endeavors to combine the interpretation of Chrysostom, Enthymius, Theophylact, with the other, but at the expense of clearness Alford declares the former to be entirely adverse to the spirit of the whole discourse, and agrees substantially with Meyer. Alexander is here very unsatisfactory, and weakens the force of this profound passage by reducing it simply to this: “All that is really asserted is, that one inferior to John in some respect is greater in another.” But a what respect?—P. S.]

[17][So also on the part of his disciples. Ambrose in Luk_11:5 (as quoted by Wordsworth): Vim facimus Domino, non compellendo, sed flendo; non provocando injuriis, see lacrymis exorando. O beata violentia! Hœc sunt arma fldei nostrœ.—P. S.]

[18][Comp. the remarks of Matthew Henry: “Christ spoke thus honorably of John, but as they departed, just as they were gone, Luk_7:24. He would not so much as seem to flatter John, nor have these praises reported of him. Though we must be forward to give to all their due praise for their encouragement, yet we must avoid everything that looks like flattery, or may be in danger of puffing them up. Pride is a corrupt humor, which we must not feed either in others or in ourselves.”—P. S.]

Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CHAPTER 22.

JOHN THE BAPTIST THE GREATEST PROPHET

Mat 11:7-15, & Luk 7:24-30. “And the messengers of John having gone away, He began to speak to the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?” Well did the multitude remember the thrilling scenes two years ago, when they all left their employments and went away to hear the wonderful prophet of the wilderness; and the waving of the tall reeds growing in the rich alluvial soil on Jordan’s bank, moved by the sighing zephyrs, hither and thither, were vivid in their memories. Those reeds are there now, fifteen feet high. My comrades, a few days ago, brought away some of them as souvenirs. “But what went ye out to see? A man clothed in soft raiments? Behold, those who are in gaudy and soft apparel are in king’s houses.” No, they never went to see a royal dude or a leader of the hon tons. A great man of the world could never have attracted that multitude, away into the wilderness, to run a camp-meeting six solid months. He was the very opposite, dressed like a tramp, and living like a soldier who proposed to conquer or die. “But what went ye out to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it has been written, Behold, I send My messenger before Thee, who will prepare Thy way before Thee. Mal 3:1 For I say unto you, That among those who have been born of women, no prophet is greater than John; but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” That John the Baptist was a transcendent intellectualist and climacterically spiritual, actually filled with the Holy Ghost from his infancy, the greatest of the prophets and peerless in his dispensation, no one can call in question; yet the smallest saint in the Pentecostal age is dispensationally greater than John, the prince of prophets, and even more than a prophet, as he was the precursor of our Lord. While the Bible is preeminently spiritual, yet it is the most intellectual Book in the world, exhibiting many specimens of the highest mental culture the ages have produced, among those who have given themselves world-wide notoriety as hornines unhts libri, “men of one book.” Our Savior frequently indulges in terse, enigmatical statements of truth, in order to sharpen our wits, develop our intellects, and superinduce profound and exhaustive research. If John the Baptist were living now, he would be the sensation of the world, as he was in his day; yet, dispensationally, he lived and died under the Law. Hence all the sons of gospel grace stand on a plane superior and more luminous, and richer in privileges and opportunities, than the brightest and the best enjoyed under the old covenant. “And all the people hearing, and the publicans justified God, having been baptized with the baptism of John; but the Pharisees and theologians rejected the counsel of God against themselves, not having been baptized by him.” While the rank and the of the Jewish nation, and especially the poor, were melted and convicted by the preaching of John, gladly receiving baptism at his hands, the Pharisees (i.e., the influential and official members of the Church) and the lawyers — Greek, nomikoi, from nomos, “law;” i.e., the law of Moses — who were the learned exponents of the Old Testament Scriptures, and not lawyers in the modern sense, but theologians (i.e., the learned preachers), took gross offense at the stern rebuke of John, calling them “generation of vipers,” and demanding of them satisfactory evidence of repentance, and consequently they were not baptized by him. (Mat 3:7.)

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11:7 a weak reed, swayed by every breath of wind: An unstable person. The implied answer to Jesus’ rhetorical question is no.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Mat 11:7. Πορευομένων, as they departed) Otherwise they might have become puffed up. The world praises to the face, reviles behind the back. Divine truth does the opposite.—ἤρξατο, began) The multitude would not have begun, had He not done so first.—περὶ Ἰωάννου, concerning John) The state of John is described in Mat 11:7-9, with reference to men, to himself, to God.—θεάσασθαι, to see as a spectacle) idly. See Joh 5:35.—κάλαμον, a reed) The ford of Jordan abounded with them. They would have wished John to be such in conduct as they liked to be themselves, and as they are described in this verse and the following. They sought a man of easy disposition, and one ready to second their desires, whom they would not themselves style a reed; but Jesus calls a reed, a reed. For often does truth attribute to man a speech, not such as he frames himself, but such as expresses the reality. See Jer 18:12. The people themselves did not sufficiently know why they had gone forth. On the other hand, the character of John is described (cf. Mat 11:18), and at the same time the stumbling-block is taken away, which might have arisen from the imprisonment of our Lord’s precursor.—ἀνέμου, by the wind) of favour (by his having been supposed to be the Messiah) or persecution.—σαλευόμενον, agitated) The word is here in the middle voice, and signifies permitting himself to be agitated. This opinion is not refuted like those which follow, because it refutes itself.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat_11:7. The answer to Johns question has been given; the disciples are withdrawing; but just as they are going away (πορευομένων) Jesus turns to the multitude that was present, and with some emotion proceeds to set forth to them, in the plainest way possible, the sacred character and the whole position of the Baptist, and by this means seeks to anticipate or correct any false opinion that might be formed regarding him.

The mark of interrogation should be placed after θεάσασθαι (in answer to Paulus and Fritzsche, who put it even after ἔρημον); according to the correct reading (see the critical remarks), the animated style of the passage does not change till Mat_11:9, so that ἀλλὰ τί ἐξήλθετε forms a question by itself.

ἐξήλθετε] at the time that John appeared in the wilderness. Observe that here stands θεάσασθαι, to behold, and immediately after the simple ἰδεῖν, to see. The more earnest expression is in keeping with the first question.

κάλ. σαλ.] figuratively, in allusion to the reed growing on the bank of Jordan, and meaning: a fickle and irresolute man. Others (Beza, Grotius, Wetstein, Gratz, Fritzsche, de Wette) understand it literally: non credibile est, vos coivisse, ut arundines vento agitatas videretis. This is not in keeping with the qualifying expression, ὑπὸ ἀνέμου σαλευόμενον. And how meaningless the question would be alongside the parallels in Mat_11:8-9! Comp. 1Ki_14:15; Eze_29:6.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat 11:7-15 . Judgment of Jesus concerning the Baptist (Luk 7:24-30 ). Characteristically magnanimous, while letting it be seen that He is aware of John’s limits and defects.

Mat 11:7 . τούτων δὲ πορευομένων : while John’s messengers were in the act of going, Jesus began at once, without any delay, to make a statement which He deemed necessary to prevent injurious inferences from the message of the Baptist, or the construction He had put on it as implying doubt regarding Himself. τοῖς ὄχλοις : the interrogation had taken place in presence of many. Jesus was always in a crowd, except when He took special steps to escape. The spectators had watched with interest what Jesus would say about the famous man. Therefore, more must be said; a careful opinion expressed. τί ἐξήλθετε … θεάσασθαι : it might be taken for granted that most of them had been there. The catechetical method of stating His opinion of John lively and impressive to such an audience. They had gone to see as well as hear and be baptised, curiosity plays a great part in popular religious movements. κάλαμον . Plenty of reeds to be seen. “What a vast space of time lies between the days of the Baptist and us! How have the times changed! Yet the stream flows in the old bed. Still gently blows the wind among the sighing reeds.” Furrer, Wanderungen , 185. Many commentators (Grot., Wet., Fritzsche, De W.) insist on taking καλ . literally = did ye go, etc., to see a reed, or the reeds on the Jordan banks shaken by the wind? This is flat and prosaic. Manifestly the individualised reed is a figure of an inconstant, weak man; just enough in John’s present attitude to suggest such a thought, though not to justify it.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

What agreement, and what difference is betwixt the ministry of the Prophets, the preaching of John, and the full light of the Gospel, which Christ hath brought.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

We have here the high encomium which our Lord Jesus gave of John the Baptist; not only to revive his honour, but to revive his work. Some of Christ's disciples might perhaps take occasion from the question John sent, to reflect upon him, as weak and wavering, and inconsistent with himself, to prevent which Christ gives him this character. Note, It is our duty to consult the reputation of our brethren, and not only to remove, but to obviate and prevent, jealousies and ill thoughts of them; and we must take all occasions, especially such as discover any thing of infirmity, to speak well of those who are praiseworthy, and to give them that fruit of their hands. John the Baptist, when he was upon the stage, and Christ in privacy and retirement, bore testimony to Christ; and now that Christ appeared publicly, and John was under a cloud, he bore testimony to John. Note, They who have a confirmed interest themselves, should improve it for the helping of the credit and reputation of others, whose character claims it, but whose temper or present circumstances put them out of the way of it. This is giving honour to whom honour is due. John had abased himself to honour Christ (Joh 3:20, Joh 3:30, Mat 3:11), had made himself nothing, that Christ might be All, and now Christ dignifies him with this character. Note, They who humble themselves shall be exalted, and those that honour Christ he will honour; those that confess him before men, he will confess, and sometimes before men too, even in this world. John had now finished his testimony, and now Christ commends him. Note, Christ reserves honour for his servants when they have done their work, Joh 12:26.

Now concerning this commendation of John, observe,

I. That Christ spoke thus honourably of John, not in the hearing of John's disciples, but as they departed, just after they were gone, Luk 7:24. He would not so much as seem to flatter John, nor have these praises of him reported to him. Note, Though we must be forward to give to all their due praise for their encouragement, yet we must avoid every thing that looks like flattery, or may be in danger of puffing them up. They who in other things are mortified to the world, yet cannot well bear their own praise. Pride is a corrupt humour, which we must not feed either in others or in ourselves.

II. That what Christ said concerning John, was intended not only for his praise, but for the people's profit, to revive the remembrance of John's ministry, which had been well attended, but which was now (as other such things used to be) strangely forgotten: they did for a season, and but for a season, rejoice in his light, Joh 5:35. "Now, consider, what went ye out into the wilderness to see? Put this question to yourselves." 1. John preached in the wilderness, and thither people flocked in crowds to him, though in a remote place, and an inconvenient one. If teachers be removed into corners, it is better to go after them than to be without them. Now if his preaching was worth taking so much pains to hear it, surely it was worth taking some care to recollect it. The greater the difficulties we have broken through to hear the word, the more we are concerned to profit by it. 2. They went out to him to see him; rather to feed their eyes with the unusual appearance of his person, than to feed their souls with his wholesome instructions; rather for curiosity than for conscience. Note, Many that attend on the word come rather to see and be seen, than to learn and be taught, to have something to talk of, than to be made wise to salvation. Christ puts it to them, what went ye out to see? Note, They who attend on the word will be called to an account, what their intentions and what their improvements were. We think when the sermon is done, the care is over; no, then the greatest of the care begins. It will shortly be asked, "What business had you such a time at such an ordinance? What brought you thither? Was it custom or company, or was it a desire to honour God and get good? What have you brought thence? What knowledge, and grace, and comfort? What went you to see?" Note, When we go to read and hear the word, we should see that we aim right in what we do.

III. Let us see what the commendation of John was. They know not what answer to make to Christ's question; well, says Christ, "I will tell you what a man John the Baptist was."

1. "He was a firm, resolute man, and not a reed shaken with the wind; you have been so in your thoughts of him, but he was not so. He was not wavering in his principles, nor uneven in his conversation; but was remarkable for his steadiness and constant consistency with himself." They who are weak as reeds will be shaken as reeds; but John was strong in spirit, Eph 4:14. When the wind of popular applause on the one hand blew fresh and fair, when the storm of Herod's rage on the other hand grew fierce and blustering, John was still the same, the same in all weathers. The testimony he had borne to Christ was not the testimony of a reed, of a man who was of one mind today, and of another tomorrow; it was not a weather-cock testimony; no, his constancy in it is intimated (Joh 1:20); he confessed and denied not, but confessed, and stood to it afterwards, Joh 3:28. And therefore this question sent by his disciples was not to be construed into any suspicion of the truth of what he had formerly said: therefore the people flocked to him, because he was not as a reed. Note, There is nothing lost in the long run by an unshaken resolution to go on with our work, neither courting the smiles, nor fearing the frowns of men.

2. He was a self-denying man, and mortified to this world. "Was he a man clothed in soft raiment? If so, you would not have gone into the wilderness to see him, but to the court. You went to see one that had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; his mien and habit showed that he was dead to all the pomps of the world and the pleasures of sense; his clothing agreed with the wilderness he lived in, and the doctrine he preached there, that of repentance. Now you cannot think that he who was such a stranger to the pleasures of a court, should be brought to change his mind by the terrors of a prison, and now to question whether Jesus be the Messiah or not!" Note, they who have lived a life of mortification, are least likely to be driven off from their religion by persecution. He was not a man clothed in soft raiment; such there are, but they are in kings' houses. Note, It becomes people in all their appearances to be consistent with their character and their situation. They who are preachers must not affect to look like courtiers; nor must they whose lot is cast in common dwellings, be ambitious of the soft clothing which they wear who are in kings' houses. Prudence teaches us to be of a piece. John appeared rough and unpleasant, yet they flocked after him. Note, The remembrance of our former zeal in attending on the word of God, should quicken us to, and in, our present work: let it not be said that we have done and suffered so many things in vain, have run in vain and laboured in vain.

3. His greatest commendation of all was his office and ministry, which was more his honour than any personal endowments or qualifications could be; and therefore this is most enlarged upon in a full encomium.

(1.) He was a prophet, yea, and more than a prophet (Mat 11:9); so he said of him who was the great Prophet, to whom all the prophets bear witness. John said of himself, he was not that prophet, that great prophet, the Messiah himself; and now Christ (a very competent Judge) says of him, that he was more than a prophet. He owned himself inferior to Christ, and Christ owned him superior to all other prophets. Observe, The forerunner of Christ was not a king, but a prophet, lest it should seem that the kingdom of the Messiah had been laid in earthly power; but his immediate forerunner was, as such, a transcendent prophet, more than an Old Testament prophet; they all did virtuously, but John excelled them all; they saw Christ's day at a distance, and their vision was yet for a great while to come; but John saw the day dawn, he saw the sun rise, and told the people of the Messiah, as one that stood among them. They spake of Christ, but he pointed to him; they said, A virgin shall conceive: he said, Behold the Lamb of God!

(2.) He was the same that was predicted to be Christ's forerunner (Mat 11:10); This is he of whom it is written. He was prophesied of by the other prophets, and therefore was greater than they. Malachi prophesied concerning John, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face. Herein some of Christ's honour was put upon him, that the Old Testament prophets spake and wrote of him; and this honour have all the saints, that their names are written in the Lamb's book of life. It was great preferment to John above all the prophets, that he was Christ's harbinger. He was a messenger sent on a great errand; a messenger, one among a thousand, deriving his honour from his whose messenger he was: he is my messenger sent of God. His business was to prepare Christ's way, to dispose people to receive the Saviour, by discovering to them their sin and misery, and their need of a Saviour. This he had said of himself (Joh 1:23) and now Christ said it of him; intending hereby not only to put an honour upon John's ministry, but to revive people's regard to it, as making way for the Messiah. Note, Much of the beauty of God's dispensations lies in their mutual connection and coherence, and the reference they have one to another. That which advanced John above the Old Testament prophets was, that he went immediately before Christ. Note, The nearer any are to Christ, the more truly honourable they are.

(3.) There was not a greater born of women than John the Baptist, v. 11. Christ knew how to value persons according to the degrees of their worth, and he prefers John before all that went before him, before all that were born of women by ordinary generation. Of all that God had raised up and called to any service in his church, John is the most eminent, even beyond Moses himself; for he began to preach the gospel doctrine of remission of sins to those who are truly penitent; and he had more signal revelations from heaven than any of them had; for he saw heaven opened, and the Holy Ghost descend. He also had great success in his ministry; almost the whole nation flocked to him: none rose on so great a design, or came on so noble an errand, as John did, or had such claims to a welcome reception. Many had been born of women that made a great figure in the world, but Christ prefers John before them. Note, Greatness is not to be measured by appearances and outward splendour, but they are the greatest men who are the greatest saints, and the greatest blessings, who are, as John was, great in the sight of the Lord, Luk 1:15.

Yet this high encomium of John has a surprising limitation, notwithstanding, he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. [1.] In the kingdom of glory. John was a great and good man, but he was yet in a state of infirmity and imperfection, and therefore came short of glorified saints, and the spirits of just men made perfect. Note, First, There are degrees of glory in heaven, some that are less than others there; though every vessel is alike full, all are not alike large and capacious. Secondly, The least saint in heaven is greater, and knows more, and loves more, and does more in praising God, and receives more from him, than the greatest in this world. The saints on earth are excellent ones (Psa 16:3), but those in heaven are much more excellent; the best in this world are lower than the angels (Psa 8:5), the least there are equal with the angels, which should make us long for that blessed state, where the weak shall be as David, Zac 12:8. [2.] By the kingdom of heaven here, is rather to be understood the kingdom of grace, the gospel dispensation in the perfection of its power and purity; and ho mikroteros - he that is less in that is greater than John. Some understand it of Christ himself, who was younger than John, and, in the opinion of some, less than John, who always spoke diminishingly of himself; I am a worm, and no man, yet greater than John; so it agrees with what John the Baptist said (Joh 1:15), He that cometh after me is preferred before me. But it is rather to be understood of the apostles and ministers of the New Testament, the evangelical prophets; and the comparison between them and John is not with respect to their personal sanctity, but to their office; John preached Christ coming, but they preached Christ not only come, but crucified and glorified. John came to the dawning of the gospel-day, and therein excelled the foregoing prophets, but he was taken off before the noon of that day, before the rending of the veil, before Christ's death and resurrection, and the pouring out of the Spirit; so that the least of the apostles and evangelists, having greater discoveries made to them, and being employed in a greater embassy, is greater than John. John did no miracles; the apostles wrought many. The ground of this preference is laid in the preference of the New Testament dispensation to that of the Old Testament. Ministers of the New Testament therefore excel, because their ministration does so, Co2 3:6, etc. John was a maximum quod sic - the greatest of his order; he went to the utmost that the dispensation he was under would allow; but minimum maximi est majus maximo minimi - the least of the highest order is superior to the first of the lowest; a dwarf upon a mountain sees further than a giant in the valley. Note, All the true greatness of men is derived fRom. and denominated by, the gracious manifestation of Christ to them. The best men are no better than he is pleased to make them. What reason have we to be thankful that our lot is cast in the days of the kingdom of heaven, under such advantages of light and love! And the greater the advantages, the greater will the account be, if we receive the grace of God in vain.

(4.) The great commendation of John the Baptist was, that God owned his ministry, and made it wonderfully successful for the breaking of the ice, and the preparing of people for the kingdom of heaven. From the days of the first appearing of John the Baptist, until now (which was not much above two years), a great deal of good was done; so quick was the motion when it came near to Christ the Centre; The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence - biazetai - vim patitur, like the violence of an army taking a city by storm, or of a crowd bursting into a house, so the violent take it by force. The meaning of this we have in the parallel place, Luk 16:16. Since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it. Multitudes are wrought upon by the ministry of John, and become his disciples. And it is

[1.] An improbable multitude. Those strove for a place in this kingdom, that one would think had no right nor title to it, and so seemed to be intruders, and to make a tortuous entry, as our law calls it, a wrongful and forcible one. When the children of the kingdom are excluded out of it, and many come into it from the east and the west, then it suffers violence. Compare this with Mat 21:31, Mat 21:32. The publicans and harlots believed John, whom the scribes and Pharisees rejected, and so went into the kingdom of God before them, took it over their heads, while they trifled. Note, It is no breach of good manners to go to heaven before our betters: and it is a great commendation of the gospel from the days of its infancy, that it has brought many to holiness that were very unlikely.

[2.] An importunate multitude. This violence denotes a strength, and vigour, and earnestness of desire and endeavour, in those who followed John's ministry, else they would not have come so far to attend upon it. It shows us also, what fervency and zeal are required of all those who design to make heaven of their religion. Note, They who would enter into the kingdom of heaven must strive to enter; that kingdom suffers a holy violence; self must be denied, the bent and bias, the frame and temper, of the mind must be altered; there are hard sufferings to be undergone, a force to be put upon the corrupt nature; we must run, and wrestle, and fight, and be in an agony, and all little enough to win such a prize, and to get over such opposition from without and from within. The violent take it by force. They who will have an interest in the great salvation are carried out towards it with a strong desire, will have it upon any terms, and not think them hard, nor quit their hold without a blessing, Gen 32:26. They who will make their calling and election sure must give diligence. The kingdom of heaven was never intended to indulge the ease of triflers, but to be the rest of them that labour. It is a blessed sight; Oh that we could see a greater number, not with an angry contention thrusting others out of the kingdom of heaven, but with a holy contention thrusting themselves into it!

(5.) The ministry of John was the beginning of the gospel, as it is reckoned, Mar 1:1; Act 1:22. This is shown here in two things:

[1.] In John the Old Testament dispensation began to die, Mat 11:13. So long that ministration continued in full force and virtue, but then it began to decline. Though the obligation of the law of Moses was not removed till Christ's death, yet the discoveries of the Old Testament began to be superseded by the more clear manifestation of the kingdom of heaven as at hand. Because the light of the gospel (as that of nature) was to precede and make way for its law, therefore the prophecies of the Old Testament came to an end (finis perficiens, not interficiens - an end of completion, not of duration), before the precepts of it; so that when Christ says, all the prophets and the law prophesied until John, he shows us, First, How the light of the Old Testament was set up; it was set up in the law and the prophets, who spoke, though darkly, of Christ and his kingdom. Observe, The law is said to prophesy, as well as the prophets, concerning him that was to come. Christ began at Moses (Luk 24:27); Christ was foretold by the dumb signs of the Mosaic work, as well as by the more articulate voices of the prophets, and was exhibited, not only in the verbal predictions, but in the personal and real types. Blessed be God that we have both the New Testament doctrine to explain the Old Testament prophecies, and the Old Testament prophecies to confirm and illustrate the New Testament doctrine (Heb 1:1); like the two cherubim, they look at each other. The law was given by Moses long ago, and there had been no prophets for three hundred years before John, and yet they are both said to prophecy until John, because the law was still observed, and Moses and the prophets still read. Note, The scripture is teaching to this day, though the penmen of it are gone. Moses and the prophets are dead; the apostles and evangelists are dead (Zac 1:5), but the word of the Lord endures for ever (Pe1 1:25); the scripture is speaking expressly, though the writers are silent in the dust. Secondly, How this light was laid aside: when he says, they prophesied until John, he intimates, that their glory was eclipsed by the glory which excelled; their predictions superseded by John's testimony, Behold the Lamb of God! Even before the sun rises, the morning light makes candles to shine dim. Their prophecies of a Christ to come became out of date, when John said, He is come.

[2.] In him the New Testament day began to dawn; for (Mat 11:14) This is Elias, that was for to come. John was as the loop that coupled the two Testaments; as Noah was Fibula utriusque mundi - the link connecting both worlds, so was he utriusque Testamenti - the link connecting both Testaments. The concluding prophecy of the Old Testament was, Behold, I will send you Elijah, Mal 4:5, Mal 4:6. Those words prophesied until John, and then, being turned into a history, they ceased to prophecy. First, Christ speaks of it as a great truth, that John the Baptist is the Elias of the New Testament; not Elias in propria persona - in his own person, as the carnal Jews expected; he denied that (Joh 1:21), but one that should come in the spirit and power of Elias (Luk 1:17), like him in temper and conversation, that should press repentance with terrors, and especially as it is in the prophecy, that should turn the hearts of the fathers to the children. Secondly, He speaks of it as a truth, which would not be easily apprehended by those whose expectations fastened upon the temporal kingdom of the Messiah, and introductions to it agreeable. Christ suspects the welcome of it, if ye will receive it. Not but that it was true, whether they would receive it or not, but he upbraids them with their prejudices, that they were backward to receive the greatest truths that were opposed to their sentiments, though never so favourable to their interests. Or, "If you will receive him, or if you will receive the ministry of John as that of the promised Elias, he will be an Elias to you, to turn you and prepare you for the Lord," Note, Gospel truths are as they are received, a savour of life or death. Christ is a Saviour, and John an Elias, to those who will receive the truth concerning them.

Lastly, Our Lord Jesus closes this discourse with a solemn demand of attention (Mat 11:15): He that hath ears to hear, let him hear; which intimates, that those things were dark and hard to be understood, and therefore needed attention, but of great concern and consequence, and therefore well deserved it. "Let all people take notice of this, if John be the Elias prophesied of, then certainly here is a great revolution on foot, the Messiah's kingdom is at the door, and the world will shortly be surprised into a happy change. These are things which require your serious consideration, and therefore you are all concerned to hearken to what I say." Note, The things of God are of great and common concern: every one that has ears to hear any thing, is concerned to hear this. It intimates, that God requires no more from us but the right use and improvement of the faculties he has already given us. He requires those to hear that have ears, those to use their reason that have reason. Therefore people are ignorant, not because they want power, but because they want will; therefore they do not hear, because, like the deaf adder, they stop their ears.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 7. What went ye out into the wilderness to see?] The purport of our Lord's design, in this and the following verses, is to convince the scribes and Pharisees of the inconsistency of their conduct in acknowledging John Baptist for a divinely authorized teacher, and not believing in the very Christ which he pointed out to them. He also shows, from the excellencies of John's character, that their confidence in him was not misplaced, and that this was a farther argument why they should have believed in him, whom the Baptist proclaimed as being far superior to himself.

A reed shaken with the wind?] An emblem of an irresolute, unsteady mind, which believes and speaks one thing to-day, and another to-morrow. Christ asks these Jews if they had ever found any thing in John like this: Was he not ever steady and uniform in the testimony he bore to me? The first excellency which Christ notices in John was his steadiness; convinced once of the truth, he continued to believe and assert it. This is essentially necessary to every preacher, and to every private Christian. He who changes about from opinion to opinion, and from one sect or party to another, is never to be depended on; there is much reason to believe that such a person is either mentally weak, or has never been rationally and divinely convinced of the truth.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(7) As they departed.—There was an obvious risk that those who heard the question of the Baptist, and our Lord’s answer, might be led to think with undue harshness, perhaps even with contempt, of one who had so far failed in steadfastness. As if to meet that risk, Jesus turns, before the messengers were out of hearing, to bear His testimony to the work and character of John. But a little while before, almost as his last public utterance, the forerunner had borne his witness to the King (Joh_3:23-36), and now He, in His turn, recognises to the full all the greatness of the work which that forerunner had accomplished.

What went ye out . . .?—The tense points to the time when the first proclamation of the Baptist, as the voice of one crying in the wilderness, drew out crowds to listen to him. Jesus, by His question, bids them recall the impression which had then been made upon them. Had they gone out to see “a reed shaken by the wind?” The imagery was, of course, drawn from the rushes that grew upon the banks of the Jordan, but the use of the singular shows that it was meant to be understood symbolically. Had they gone out to see one who was swayed this way and that by every blast of popular feeling? No, not that; something quite other than that was what they had then beheld.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

7. A reed shaken with the wind] If the first suggestion (Mat_11:3) be adopted, the words have a corroborative force. It was no waverer that ye went out to see—his message was clear, his faith was strong then.

Others give the words a literal sense—the reeds on the banks of Jordan—and observe a climax, a reed—a man—a prophet—more than a prophet—the greatest of them.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But what went ye out for to see?.... Since it cannot be thought it was to see the reeds in the wilderness blow to and fro by the wind, or a man like one of them, either in gesture or doctrine; was it to see

a man clothed in soft raiment? In raiment made of soft materials, as fine wool, cotton, silk, &c. such as Mecaenos wore, and who was therefore called Malacinus (y): one finely dressed, and richly apparelled, draws the eyes of persons to him; but such an one is not to be expected in a wilderness: and if the Jews went to see such a person, they were greatly disappointed; for John's raiment was of camel's hair, undressed, and he had a leathern girdle about his loins; and as for his diet, it was locusts and wild honey: no,

behold they that wear soft clothing, or, as Luke says, are "gorgeously apparelled"; to which he adds,

and live delicately, are in kings' houses, or "courts"; not in a desert, where John came preaching, nor in a prison, where he now was: he was no light, inconstant, flattering person, as generally courtiers are; had he, he would not have been in a prison; it was for his uprightness and faithfulness, in reproving Herod the king, that he was in such a place and condition. Thus from his very garb and diet, his character is vindicated from the charge of levity and change.

(y) Alex. ab Alex. Genial Dier. 1. 5. c. 18.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

7 And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind?

Ver. 7. And as they departed] Due praise is to be given to the good parts and practices of others; but rather behind their backs than before their faces, lest we be suspected of flattery, than the which nothing is more odious. Aristobulus, the historian, wrote a flattering book of the brave acts of Alexander the Great, and presented it to him. He read it, and then cast it into the river Hydaspes, telling the author that he had deserved to be so served as his book was, Tu dignior eras ut eodem praecipitareris, qui solus me sic pugnantem satias.

A reed shaken with the wind] A thing of nothing: a worthless, poiseless person. So the Jews esteemed John Baptist after a while, whom at first they so much admired. But he soon grew stale to them, and then they shamefully slighted him, Joh 5:35. And did not the Galatians do the like by St Paul? Once they could have pulled out their eyes for him; afterwards they would have pulled out his eyes if they could have come at him. "Where is then the blessedness ye spake of?" saith he; q.d. Once you held and professed yourselves a people much blessed in me, {a} how come I am now so fallen out of your hearts? But people are overly soon sated with the heavenly manna, and their affections to godly ministers are as Joab’s dagger, as soon in, and as soon out. Principes farebant Luthero, sed iam iterum videtis ingratitudinem mundi erga ministros, said Melancthon.

{a} Gal 4:15, μακαρισμος, Beatitudinis praedicatio. Beza.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And as they departed ... - Jesus took occasion, from the inquiries made by John’s disciples, to instruct the people respecting the true character of John. Multitudes had gone out to hear him when he preached in the desert Matt. 3, and it is probable that many had been attracted by the novelty of his appearance or doctrines, or had gone simply to see and hear a man of singular habits and opinions. Probably many who followed Christ had been of that number. He took occasion, therefore, by some striking questions, to examine the motives by which they had been drawn to his ministry.

A reed shaken with the wind? - The region of country in which John preached, being overflowed annually by the Jordan, produced great quantities of “reeds” or “canes,” of a light fragile nature, easily shaken by the wind. They were therefore an image of a light, changing, inconstant man. John’s sending to Christ to inquire his character might have led some to suppose that he was changing and inconstant, like a reed. He had once acknowledged him to be the Messiah, and now, being in prison and sending to him to inquire into the fact, they might have supposed he had no firmness or fixed principles. Jesus, by asking this question, declared that, notwithstanding this appearance, this was not the character of John.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Luke repeating the same story, Luk 7:24-26, instead of they that wear soft clothing, saith, they that are gorgeously apparelled, and live delicately, are in kings’ courts. Our Saviour here doth tacitly imply, that the ministers of the gospel should neither be uncertain and inconstant men, nor yet delicate men, affecting splendid apparel or delicate diet, but minding their great work, viz. the revelation of the will of God. But the scope of his present speech here, was to confirm the multitude in their good opinion of John, and to keep them from being scandalized, or altering their opinion of him, because he was now in prison. All men held John as a prophet, Mat 15:5; 21:26. You went out (saith our Saviour) into the wilderness to hear John preach: you did not go out to see some idle, light man, such as a reed shaken with the wind, nor yet to see a man clothed gorgeously, (the wilderness is no place for such persons, they are to be found in the courts and palaces of princes), you went out to hear one revealing the will of God to you. Nor did you mistake. He was a prophet. Not that Prophet of which Moses spake, Deu 18:15. But a prophet; yea, and more than a prophet; one that hath taught you what none of the prophets ever could teach you, that I, the Messias, am come; they could only tell you that I should come.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Vers. 7-15. Jesus" recognition of the greatness of John as herald. Vers. 7-11: parallel passage: Luk_7:24-28.

And as they departed; and as these went their way (Revised Version). Fulfilling his command (ver. 4). It" we may combine the language of St. Matthew and St. Luke ("when the messengers of John were departed"), we may say that they had left the circle immediately round our Lord, but were hardly further than the outskirts of the crowd. What went ye out into the wilderness to see? to behold (Revised Version); yeasasyai (cf. yeatron ). It almost suggests that they went out as though to see a spectacle. They were stirred by no deeper motive. Bengel compares Joh_5:35. A reed shaken with the wind? If the reed referred to by our Lord was the papyrus, which still grows freely in certain parts of the Jordan valley, the description of this plant in "Rob Roy on the Jordan," Mt 17, is specially interesting: "There is first a lateral trunk, lying on the water and half-submerged. This is sometimes as thick as a man"s body, and from its lower side hang innumerable string-like roots from three to five feet long, and of a deep purple colour...These pendent roots...retard much of the surface-current where the papyrus grows On the upper surface of the trunks the stems grow alternately in oblique rows; their thickness at the junction is often four inches, and their height fifteen feet, gracefully tapering until at the top is a little round knob, with long, thin brown, wire-like hairs eighteen inches long, which rise and then, recurving, hang about it in a thyrsus-shaped head." He also says, "The whole jungle of papyrus was floating upon the water, and so the waves raised by the breeze were rocking the green curtain to and fro." This explained "a most curious hissing, grinding, bustling sound, that was heard like waves upon a shingly beach," as "the papyrus stems were rubbing against each other as they nodded out and in." It is, however, much more probable that the reed referred to was "the Arundo donax, a very tall cane, growing twelve feet high, with a magnificent panicle of blossom at the top, and so slender and yielding that it will lie perfectly fiat under a gust of wind, and immediately resume its upright position." It grows especially on the western side of the Dead Sea (cf. Tristram, "Natural History of the Bible," p. 4, 37, edit. 1889). To our Lord"s question no answer was needed. John had rejected the overtures of the nationalists, (Joh_1:19-21) and had not feared to rebuke a king. (Mat_14:4)

Vers. 7-19. The Lord"s testimony to John the Baptist.

I HIS CHARACTER.

1. He was no reed shaken by the wind. The multitudes who had now heard John"s message and the Lord"s answer had once gone into the wilderness to see the Baptist, drawn thither by the powerful attraction of his preaching and character. What had they found there? Were they disappointed? Was he unlike the report which they had heard of him? Was he weak, vacillating, wavering hither and thither like the reeds that grew on the banks of Jordan? No; he was one of the strongest of men. They must not misunderstand him; they must not judge him harshly. He had shown some disappointment, it may be, some impatience. The Christ, whom he had so gladly welcomed, had not in all respects fulfilled his expectations; some doubts had perplexed his soul. But who was there born of women who was always steadfast, absolutely independent of outward circumstances and mental depression? John was a great and holy man, an example of firm and constant courage. We must honour good men; we must not magnify the occasional weaknesses which must appear even in the noblest lives. Envious men exaggerate these little blemishes; the world loves to dwell upon the faults of God"s people. Christ teaches us to admire the beauty of holiness, and not to talk about the imperfections which must be found even in real saints.

2. He was no self-indulgent man. He was not clothed in soft raiment, like those courtiers of Herod Antipas who were persecuting him. They lived in kings" houses; he chose the wilderness for his abode. He was wholly unworldly, a very hero of self-denial.

3. He was a prophet. He was commissioned by God, he spoke for God. But he was more than a prophet, for he himself was the subject of prophecy, and he was (what no other prophet had been) the immediate forerunner of the Christ. He was the messenger of whom that prophet, whose name signifies "My messenger," had spoken. He was the messenger of God, and he prepared the way of God. It is worthy of notice that the words, "Thy way before thee," of the Gospel answer to the words, "The way before me," in the prophecy. In the unity of the Godhead there is a distinction of Personality. The Father sends the Son; the Lord of hosts comes himself; for "in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Therefore John was more than a prophet, standing as he did in such very close relations with the Lord of whom the prophets spoke.

II HIS GREATNESS.

1. There had been no greater man than he. From the beginning, through the long years of the world"s history, no one had surpassed John in all that constitutes real greatness. In loftiness of soul, in singleness of purpose, in disinterestedness, in heroic self-denial, he stands almost alone, seldom equalled, never surpassed. Such was the judgment of the Lord Jesus Christ. It throws a light from heaven upon the confusion of the world, and shows where real greatness is to be found; not always in king"s houses, not always among the rich, the high born, the luxurious. The greatest of men is he who is nearest to Christ, who humbles himself the most, who most denies himself, who is the most steadfast, the most decided in the cause of religion. True greatness is measured by self-denial, by humility, by devotion, by purity of heart and life.

2. Yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater. What encouragement there is in these words! There had been none greater than John; but the humblest Christian is in some sense greater yet greater, that is, in privileges, in advantages, in gifts of grace. The kingdom of heaven is the Church of Christ, and all the members of that Church have very high and holy privileges that fellowship which is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ, the gift of the Spirit, the Word of God, the holy sacraments, all the precious means of grace. "Many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them." John had not seen what the Lord"s disciples saw, he had not heard what we have heard; he knew not the blessed story of the cross. He had not our privileges; he had not the helps which we have. He was not himself a member of the Church of Christ, the kingdom of heaven upon earth. He announced it. Those who are in that kingdom are higher in spiritual privileges than the herald of the kingdom. If they used those precious means of grace as they ought, they might be higher in sanctity even than the holy Baptist. Then to be a Christian, to have those sacred privileges, involves an awful responsibility a very high and holy hope.

III HIS MINISTRY HAD DONE ITS WORK.

1. The kingdom of heaven was come. John had announced its coming; it was at hand, he said. Now it was come; it was manifested in the world. The preaching and miracles of Christ had excited a wide and deep interest throughout Palestine. He was followed everywhere by eager multitudes. The enthusiasm for a time was boundless, the excitement intense. They sought to take him by force to make him a King. The kingdom of heaven was suffering violence. There may have been something of undisciplined zeal, of unchastened enthusiasm. It may be that many of these violent ones did not continue steadfast when the days of trial came. But now they crowded into the ranks of Christ"s disciples; they offered to follow him whithersoever he went. There was a mighty movement. The kingdom of God was preached, and every man was pressing into it. There is a holy violence, a sacred zeal; but it must be zeal according to know]edge the zeal of St. Paul or St. John, not a troubled wave of popular excitement. However, this enthusiasm, even if not lasting in all men, was better far than indifference; it showed a real interest in Divine things; it showed that the kingdom was come.

2. Prophecy was being fulfilled. The prophets had foretold the coming kingdom; the Law, too, had prophesied through its institutions, its ritual, its sacrifices. All was type and prophecy until John; John was the last of the Old Testament prophets. There was no need of types now that the antitype had appeared. Prophets were no longer raised up to predict the salvation of the Messiah; for he was in the world.

3. It was fulfilled in John the Baptist. John himself was the Elijah of whom the Prophet Malachi had spoken; he had gone before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah. He was not, indeed, the Elijah whom the Jews expected, in their literal interpretation of the prophecy the actual Elijah of the Old Testament, whom Elisha beheld as he went up by a whirlwind into heaven. But he was the Elijah of whom Malachi had spoken; Elijah"s second self, his representative; a reproduction of his character, filled and animated with his spirit.

4. The importance of this warning. Not all would receive it. People expected a literal Elijah; they would not believe that John was the Elijah of prophecy. They expected a Messiah very different from Jesus, a kingdom very different from that kingdom which was not of this world. But let them listen who had ears to hear, whose spiritual senses were not blunted by the tradition and formalism of the Pharisees. The Lord called for fixed, earnest attention. It was a solemn truth which he proclaimed. The kingdom of heaven was in the world; it was come near to his hearers. It was a momentous announcement. To enter into that kingdom was a blessing unutterable; to reject it involved a tremendous condemnation. For that kingdom was from heaven, and its lead was the heavenly King himself. Listen, and come. "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

IV BUT THE JEWS WOULD NEITHER LISTEN TO THE FORERUNNER NOR TO THE KING HIMSELF.

1. Their opposition to the Baptist. The Jews in our Lord"s time were perverse; they were like wilful children who will not be amused. They reproached John with his asceticism; they said it was severe and unsocial. John (they said) separated himself from society; he would not share in its amusements; his austerity was unnatural, ungenial; he had no sympathy with human life. We have piped unto you," they said, "and ye have not danced." They did not understand his lofty character. He was not of the world; he had higher aspirations, holier joys; he did not need the pleasures which so many seek; he had no taste for these things, for his whole heart was given to God and to the world to come. That sensuality which he condemned, those festivities which he shunned, brought him to the martyr"s death.

2. Their opposition to Christ. He lived a social life among men, sharing in their innocent enjoyments. He would have us sanctify the whole life, its business and its recreations, as well as its times of prayer and devotion. Therefore he set us an example in all the relations of life. He worked as a carpenter at Nazareth; he mixed freely with men, accepting invitations from time to time, even when publicans and sinners were to sit at meat with him. His conduct was condemned as well as that of the Baptist. Men called him, in their wicked slander, a gluttonous man and a wine-bibber. It was a cruel falsehood; he was absolutely holy, in all things temperate and self-denying. But his exalted goodness excited their jealousy and malice. They hated it; they writhed under the consciousness of his greatness and their own littleness. And so they set themselves to invent malicious falsehoods. They contrasted his life with the asceticism of the Pharisees and the disciples of John. He and his disciples fasted not as they did. They had mourned unto him, and he had not lamented. The world hates holiness; it will attribute unworthy motives to the best of men; it will misrepresent their conduct and try to blacken their character. Whatever they do, whether they live in society or in retirement, they will not escape censorious criticism. Some will be called self-indulgent, others harsh and puritanical. They must not be distressed. They are not alone in this unkind treatment, these false constructions. They suffer no more than the Baptist, who in the Lord"s judgment was inferior to no one that had been born of women; no more than the Lord Christ himself. The ambition of the Christian must be to please the Lord. The world"s judgment is a very small matter; the judgment of God is of momentous importance.

3. But there were a faithful few. The wisdom of God was justified by the children of God, by those to whom the Lord had given power to become the sons of God. They received the Saviour; they recognized the wisdom of God in his teaching, in his most holy life. They saw that there was wisdom both in the life of the Baptist and in the life of Christ. The mission of the Baptist was not that of Christ. His conduct was suitable for the task assigned to him; so was the life of Christ for his most sacred work. The children of God honour holiness wherever they find it; they recognize true holiness in all its forms, under all its varying aspects. They show in their estimate of others the wisdom which is from above, which is first pure, then peaceable, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Such are children of wisdom, being children of God.

LESSONS.

1. Honour good men; dwell on their excellences, not on their defects.

2. Take the Lord"s estimate of true greatness, not the world"s. The world thought Tiberius great; the Lord, John the Baptist.

3. Try to live up to the responsibilities of the Christian life; it is a high dignity to be least in the kingdom of God.

4. Hate slanderous gossip; you may be speaking ill of one whom God will exalt.

Vers. 7-19. John and Jesus: children in the market-place.

After dismissing the messengers of John, there appeared to our Lord urgent need of indicating with precision the merits and defects of the Baptist"s work, so that the people might understand hew it was the Baptist was disappointed in the Messiah he had so enthusiastically heralded, and what were the relations mutually held by the Baptist, the Messiah, and the people. In doing so our Lord touches on

I THE GREATNESS OF JOHN AND HIS WORK. He is unhesitating in the praise and admiration he bestows. Challenging comparison with any hero of old time, the conclusion still is, "There hath not risen a greater." And the distinctive greatness of his character was only in keeping with the unique importance of his work. This is indicated when he says of John that he was more than a propheta messenger preparing the way, an immediate forerunner. Up to John"s time the prophets and the Law had prophesied; now the kingdom was not pointed at, but stormed and possessed. It is no longer a hope, it is a present reality; the kingdom is come. The land which had seemed very far off to the older prophets was there for whosoever had faith to win it. By the unusual expression he employs, our Lord apparently intends to emphasize the two ideas,

(1) that only men of earnestness and vigour can win the kingdom, and

(2) that in the entrance there is much disorder and tumult.

1. Of the first of these Bunyan is the best expositor, in his picture of the man who with his drawn sword made his way into the palace. Bunyan knew that it is only by the men that can stand blows and the sight of blood that the kingdom is won even now. Many, indeed, are they who still bar the entrance, and they fight with every variety of weapon.

2. In periods when appeal is made to the elementary forces of human nature, much that is indecorous, much that is illegal, is apt to be done. And when the religious life of a community is trying to shape for itself new forms, there always come to the front men of violence, men of the type of Luther, who disgust men of taste like Erasmus, but who are the fit instruments for taking by assault the new stronghold in which faith is to find refuge. The Pharisees were shocked to see the kind of people who crowded after Jesus, and the manner of their following. We are warned, therefore, to judge no movement by its superficial unseemliness and disorderly ways, but by the underlying principles which are really its moving power.

II Diverse as were the types of character exhibited by John and Jesus, and by their message, both were unsatisfactory to the mass of the people. John demanded of them a righteousness which seemed impossible; and Jesus was still more unsuitable, even unintelligible a mere good-natured timeserver, indifferent to the sorrows of his people so long as he could be tolerably comfortable. John has nothing but stern denunciation we have piped unto him, but not a step will he dance. Jesus goes to the other extreme; has no ear for any of our national sorrows, and seems quite able to be happy, though overtaxed and under foreign rule we have mourned unto him, and he has not lamented.

1. There are people who live at feud with their generation because they cannot get their own whim petted, their own idea responded to. They cannot fall in with any of the religious movements of their time, and find in the market-place of life only food for their own disappointed vanity. The children of Wisdom, on the contrary, justify the wisdom which moves religious leaders to adopt differing methods. They see in John a congruity to his work. In one who was impartially to criticize all classes, and be an embodied conscience to the whole community, there was wisdom in showing, even in his outward aspect, that he was prepared to lead the way in stern repression of self-indulgence, and superiority to the influences of fashion and worldly expectation. It is quite true he is extreme, one-sided, a man of one idea, but much of the most important work in the world is effected by men of one idea, who are blind to all else but the one thing they have to do. Similarly, a free, cheerful intercourse with men became him whose work it was, not to reveal one aspect of God, but his whole attitude towards men, and whose nature it was to be every man"s Fellow, the Son of man. If Jesus is not only to convince of sin, but to save his people from their sins, how can he do so save by loving them and moving among them, and giving them his hand to help them?

2. Goodness may manifest itself in various forms of life, and we must judge men"s manner and conduct by the work they have to do. Our heavenly Father is pleased with modes of life as diverse as the natures he has bestowed on us, and we need not condemn ourselves or others on the ground that our goodness does not express itself in a certain conventional form.

3. The man who makes his own tastes and expectations the measure of the religious movements of his time is apt to make mistakes fatal to his own religious growth. He will get no good from any of the movements that stir and advance other people, and he will get all the harm, the hardening of the heart, the self-righteous vanity, the hypocritical blindness to the truth, which must result from opposing the work of God in his own generation. Let us be sure we are giving our serious conviction and fullest energy to some form of life we are persuaded God approves, that we are not playing at religion like children in the market-place. Seek God in the way that commends itself to your conscience, bug be sure it is him and not your own method you adore, and when you have found him try and see him in all and through all and over all. D.

Vers. 7-15. The greatest of the prophets.

Two of John"s disciples came to Jesus with the inquiry, "Art thou he that cometh, or look we for another?" Having replied to this inquiry and sent the men away, Jesus seized the opportunity to discourse to the multitude concerning John. Note: Jesus improved every opportunity. In this, as in everything, we should endeavour to follow him. In the description of John we see

I THE FEATURES OF A GREAT CHARACTER.

1. Deep and earliest conviction.

(1) John was no "reed shaken with the wind." The reed, hollow and pliant, was a fit symbol of levity and inconsistency. (see Isa_36:6)

(2) In the marshes of the wilderness were many reeds; and John was among them, but not of them. Had he been a fickle character, he would not have had his immense following. For, however reed-like the multitude may be, they are led, for good or ill, by the stronger will. Many went out "for to see led by curiosity. So still are there many who attend the ministry of the gospel "for to see" and to be seen.

(3) John was not the creature of circumstances. He made circumstances bend to righteousness. He would not dishonour his conscience to purchase liberty or life; he carried his integrity to the prison and to the block.

(4) His testimony concerning Christ was like himself, decisive and unwavering. "He confessed, and denied not; and he confessed," and still he stuck to it. (cf. Joh_1:20 Joh_3:28) Nor does he now, in prison, waver; for his object in sending his disciples to Jesus was not to settle any doubt in his mind, but to fix their faith.

2. Superiority to vulgar ambition.

(1) Some derive their greatness from their clothes. They affect "soft clothing." They are dependent for their distinction upon the skill of their tailor or dressmaker. Such weakness was not in John, whose raiment was rough and strong camel"s hair and leather. A man"s character may be seen in his dress. The man in the rough clothes may be "great in the sight of the Lord". (Luk_1:15)

(2) Some derive their greatness from their surroundings. "They that wear soft raiment are in kings" houses." The address of the courtier, like his dress, is flattering. John, the son of a chief priest, might have been a courtier had he chosen; but his sphere was in the wilderness.

3. Integrity.

(1) As Elijah behaved before Ahab and Jezebel, so did John, who came in the spirit and power of Elijah, behave before Herod and Herodias. He would not wink at the sin of Herod because he occupied a throne; nor would he conciliate the favour of Herodias by silence when she should be reproved.

(2) Integrity was more to him than meat and drink. "John came neither eating nor drinking" (cf. ver. 18; Luk_1:15). lie was a sell-denying man. Those who live a life of mortification are the less likely to be lured away from the integrity of religion.

4. The favour of God.

(1) This is the surest mark of greatness, for God cannot flatter. Jesus waited until John"s disciples had retired before he pronounced his eulogy upon John.

(2) John when in prosperity bore testimony to Jesus. Jesus now, John being in adversity, bears testimony to John. The judgment of God is not influenced by the judgments of men.

(3) The testimony of Jesus to John came when John had finished his testimony. Judgment comes when our work is done. (Joh_12:26) However consistency may suffer in the running, it will win at the goal.

II THE TOKENS OF A GREAT PROPHET.

1. He was a prophet whose coming was predicted.

(1) He was predicted by Isaiah and Malachi. (see Isa_40:3 Mal_3:1 Mal_4:5) lie was also predicted in the same quality by his father Zecharias, who was instructed by Gabriel. (see Luk_1:17, Luk_1:76-78) As a prophet predicted John stands alone.

(2) John "came in the spirit and power of Elijah," not in his person. The latter he disclaimed. The absence of the article in connection with the name of Elijah (ver. 14) shows this to be an autonomasia, or that he is the typical, not the actual, Elijah.

(3) He fulfilled the character of Elijah as described in prophecy.

(a) As forerunner to Messiah;

(b) appearing before the destruction of the second temple, to which Messiah was to come;

(c) as preaching repentance to turn the hearts of the wayward children to the faith of the fathers;

(d) all this before the coming of the day of judgment upon the nation.

(4) Elijah in person, however, will yet come to restore all things. Had the Jews received John as the forerunner of Jesus, had they repented to receive the gospel, then John would have been Elijah to them. Gospel truths must be received. Elijah in spirit introduced Jesus in humiliation at his first coming; Elijah in person, as the Jews still expect him, may introduce Jesus when he comes again, or herald his advent in glory.

2. John was the last and greatest of the prophets.

(1) "All the prophets and the Law prophesied." The Law prophesied of the gospel in its types. Christ began from Moses to interpret the Scriptures concerning himself. (Luk_24:27)

(2) "Prophesied until John." John"s testimony was the complement and completion of all the rest. Thence, being turned into history, prophecy ceased to be prophecy.

(3) The Old Testament in Malachi ends with Elijah; the New, in Mark, begins with Elijah again. The fulfilment of prophecy begins with John, who began to unfold, the sublimer system of the gospel. (see Luk_16:16)

(4) John was more than a prophet. He was God"s messenger. He was to go before the face of Immanuel. Our honour lies in our nearness to Christ. John testified to the Person of Christ.

III THE LIMITS OF HUMAN GREATNESS.

1. John was the greatest of all that had arisen.

(1) "Among them that are born of women." A personage was introduced to the first Napoleon as the son of an eminent man. "Nay," said the sagacious emperor, "do not tell me who was his father, but who was his mother.

(2) The expression, "born of women," or naturally born, may be in contrast to the Son of God. Of the kingdom of heaven Jesus is the King.

(3) The superiority of John to his predecessors may be limited to his official distinction as the harbinger of Christ.

2. Yet is he surpassed by the least in the kingdom.

(1) The least in the kingdom of glory surpasses the greatest upon earth. There are degrees of greatness there. Here we are "lower than the angels; "there, "equal unto the angels". (see Psa_8:5 Luk_20:36)

(2) The least of the prophets of the gospel is greater than John. The first preachers of the gospel worked miracles; but "John did no sign". (Joh_10:41) Every gospel minister declares the blessings already come of which John preached only the near approach. (cf. Mat_13:7 Luk_7:28)

(3) The least saint under the gospel, in possessing the higher gifts of the Spirit, has a richer experience than John enjoyed. (cf. Zec_12:8 Joh_3:31-34) The saint is not only "born of a woman," but also "born of God". (Joh_1:13) John did not know all those matters which a catechumen learns now from the Apostles" Creed.

(4) There is a progress in which human greatness evermore surpasses itself.

3. Since John men rush into the kingdom.

(1) Conspicuous in the rush are the poor, the publicans and the sinners those who, according to the scribes, would have little right. "It is no breach of good manners to go into heaven before our betters" (Henry).

(2) He that will enter into the joys of salvation must be in earnest. He has to overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil. Earnestness in such a battle must be violent.

(3) "Since John." His ministry, which lasted about two years, was very successful. The thousands who embraced the gospel were probably roused by the ministry of John. J.A.M.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

As they departed, he said concerning John - Of whom probably he would not have said so much when they were present. A reed shaken by the wind? - No; nothing could ever shake John in the testimony he gave to the truth. The expression is proverbial.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Christ’s Testimony Concerning John.

v. 7. And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind?

v. 8. But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses.

v. 9. But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet.

v. 10. For this is he of whom it is written, Behold, I send My messenger before Thy face, which shall prepare Thy way before Thee.

The purpose of this instruction was not to restore the authority of John the Baptist, which he himself is supposed to have endangered by his embassy to Christ, but to convince the people and especially the scribes and Pharisees of their inconsistency in accepting John the Baptist as a divinely appointed preacher and at the same time rejecting Christ, to whom he had always pointed. An important point: The excellencies of John’s character as herald should even now serve to make his message emphatic. For John had not been a reed shaken by the wind, after the manner of preachers that temper the truth to the sensitive fastidiousness of fashionable hearers, 2Ti 4:3, whom Luther calls reed-preachers, that do not risk life, honor, favor, but are guided by the demands of the people. Neither was John clothed in soft raiment, he did not use his influence, as he might easily have done, in his own interest, for his own benefit. That is the privilege of those that live in kings’ houses. In their case it is not objectionable, their station may even be said to demand it. But refinement, luxury, a life of ease is not the object of the true servant of God, he is not accustomed to wear such fine garments. But if your answer, speaking seriously, is that the object of. your quest was a prophet, then you were right. For John is a prophet and more. All the Old Testament prophets pointed far into the future and sang of a Messiah whose coming was still afar off. But John was the herald of One who was standing in the midst of the people, in regard to whose person he could bear witness. He was the second great Elijah, "whose life-work consisted in preparing the way for the Lord, Mal 3:1; he was the angel, whose message was to make ready the hearts of men for the Savior.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Our Saviour having given satisfaction to John’s disciples, next enters upon a large commendation of John himself.

Where observe, 1. The persons whom he commended him before; not John’s own disciples, for they had too high an opinion of their master already, and were so much addicted to John that they envied Christ for his sake: Behold baptizeth, and all men came unto him. Joh 3:26 It was a great eve-sore that Christ had more hearers and followers than John; therefore not before John’s disciples, but before the multitude; Christ commends John; for as John’s disciples had too high, so this multitude had too low an opinion of him, possibly because of his imprisonment and sufferings. There was a time when the people had high thoughts of John, but now they undervalued him.

Learn thence, The great uncertainty of popular applause; the people contemn today whom they admired yesterday; he who today is cried up, tomorrow is trodden down. The word and the ministers are the same; but this proceeds from the fickleness and inconstancy of the people: nothing is so mutable as the mind of man, nothing is so variable as the opinion of the multitude.

Observe, 2. The time when our Saviour thus commended John; not in the time of his prosperity and greatness, when the people flocked after him, and Herod got him to court and reverenced him; but when the giddy multitude had forsaken him, and he was fallen into disgrace at court, and had preached himself into a prison: now Christ vindicates his innocency, and maintains his honour, proclaims his worth, and tells the people that the world was not worthy of such a preacher as John was.

Learn thence, That Christ will stand by, and stick fast to, his faithful ministers, when all the world forsake them. Let the world slight and despise them at their pleasure, yet Christ will maintain their honour, and support their cause; as they bear a faithful witness to Christ, so Christ will bear witness to their faithfulness for him.

Observe, 3. The commendation itself. Our Saviour commends John

1. For his constancy; he was not a reed shaken with the wind; that is, a man of an unstable unsettled judgment, but fixed and steadfast.

2. For his sobriety and high measures of mortification; he was no delicate, voluptuous person, but grave, sober, and severe; he was mortified to the glory and honour, to the ease and pleasures of the world, John wrought no miracles; but his holy conversation was as effectual as miracles, to prevail with the people.

3. For his humility; he might have been what he would, the pople were ready to cry him up for a Messiah, the Christ of God; but John’s lowly spirit refuses all; He confessed and denied not, saying, I am not the Christ, but a poor minister of his, willing, but not worthy to do him service. This will commend our minstry to the consciences of our people, when we seek not our own glory, but the glory of Christ.

4. Our Saviour commends John for his clear preaching and revealing of Christ to the people. He was more than a prophet, Joh 11:9 because he pointed out Christ more clearly and fully than any before him. The ancient prophets saw Christ afar off; John beheld him face to face; he prophesied of him; he pointed at him, saying, This is he.

Whence learn, That the clearer any ministry is discovering of Christ, the more excellent it is.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

7. What went yet out into the wilderness to see? An allusion to John's ministry in the wilderness, which had been attended by most of Christ's disciples. A reed shaken with the wind. The reed of Egypt and Palestine is a very tall cane, growing twelve feet high, and is easily bent by the wind. John was not like the reed. He could not be bent by every breath of applause or displeasure.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

Connecting Statement:

Jesus begins to talk to the crowds about John the Baptist.

What did you go out in the desert to see—a reed ... wind?

Jesus uses a question to cause the people to think about what kind of person John the Baptist is. AT: "Surely you did not go out to the desert to see a reed ... wind!" (See: Rhetorical Question)

a reed being shaken by the wind

Possible meanings are 1) Jesus mean the literal plants by the Jordan River or 2) Jesus is using a metaphor to mean a kind of person. AT: "a man who easily changes his mind and is like a reed blowing back and forth in the wind" (See: Metaphor)

being shaken by the wind

This can be translated in active form. AT: "swaying in the wind" or "blowing in the wind" (See: Active or Passive)

But what did you go out to see—a man ... clothing?

Jesus uses a question to cause the people to think about what kind of person John the Baptist is. AT: And, surely you did not go out to the desert to see a man ... clothing!" (See: Rhetorical Question)

dressed in soft clothing

"wearing expensive clothing." Rich people wore this kind of clothing.

Really

This word adds emphasis to what follows. AT: "Indeed"

kings' houses

"kings' palaces"

translationWords

Jesus

John (the Baptist)

desert

reed

king

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

7–14. The position of John as a prophet. The message of the Baptist must have made a deep and a mournful impression on the bystanders. It may have caused some of them to lose their faith in Christ or in John, and to ask, like John, whether this was indeed the Christ. Jesus restores their belief in John by an appeal to their own thoughts concerning him. It was no fickle waverer or courtier that they went out to see.

7. Some editors place the interrogative after ἔρημον, but the correction seems harsh and unnecessary.

κάλαμον ὑπὸ ἀνέμου σαλ. If the first suggestion (Mat 11:3) be adopted, the words have a corroborative force. It was no waverer that ye went out to see—his message was clear, his faith was strong then.

Others give the words a literal sense—the reeds on the banks of Jordan—and observe a climax, a reed—a man—a prophet—more than a prophet—the greatest of them.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

7-30.] The discourse divides itself into two parts: (1) vv. 7-19, the respective characters and mutual relations of John and Christ: (2) vv. 20-30, the condemnation of the unbelief of the time—ending with the gracious invitation to all the weary and heavy laden to come to Him, as truly ὁ ἐρχόμενος.

7.] The following verses set forth to the people the real character and position of John; identifying him who cried in the wilderness with him who now spoke from his prison, and assuring them that there was the same dignity of office and mission throughout. They are not spoken till after the departure of the disciples of John, probably because they were not meant for them or John to hear, but for the people, who on account of the question which they had heard might go away with a mistaken depreciation of John. ὁ πολὺς ὄχλος ἐκ τῆς ἐρωτήσεως τῶν Ἰωάννου μαθητῶν πολλὰ ἂν ἄτοπα ὑπενόησεν οὐκ εἰδὼς τὴν γνώμην μεθʼ ἧς ἔπεμψε τοὺς μαθητάς. καὶ εἰκὸς ἦν διαλογίζεσθαι πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς καὶ λέγειν Ὁ τοσαῦτα μαρτυρήσας μετεπείσθη νῦν, καὶ ἀμφιβάλλει εἴτε οὗτος εἴτε ἕτερος εἴη ὁ ἐρχόμενος; ἆρα μὴ στασιάζων πρὸς τὸν Ἰησοῦν ταῦτα λέγει; ἆρα μὴ δειλότερος ὑπὸ τοῦ δεσμωτηρίου γενόμενος; ἆρα μὴ μάτην καὶ εἰκῆ τὰ πρότερα εἴρηκεν; ἐπεὶ οὖν πολλὰ τοιαῦτα εἰκὸς ἦν αὐτοὺς ὑποπτεύειν, ὅρα πῶς αὐτῶν διορθοῦται τὴν ἀσθένειαν, καὶ ταύτας ἀναιρεῖ τὰς ὑποψίας. Chrysostom, Hom. xxxvii. 1, p. 414. And our Lord, as usual, takes occasion, from reminding them of the impression made on them by John’s preaching of repentance, to set forth to them deep truths regarding His own Kingdom and Office.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(L) 7. And as they were going, Jesus began to speak to the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to behold? A reed shaken by the wind? or: Why went ye out into the wilderness ? To behold a reed shaken by the wind?] Lk. has: ἀπελθόντων δὲ τῶν ἀγγέλων Ἰωάνου, for τούτων δὲ πορευομένων.

The reed shaken by the, wind seems to be a metaphor for a commonplace event. But there is probably a side reference to the thoughts of the multitudes concerning John. He had predicted the coming of One mightier than he (3:11). He had recognised in Christ one who honoured him by coming to his baptism. Now his message seemed to show that he was vacillating, doubtful whether after all Christ was the coming mightier One.

θεάσασθαι] does not occur in Mk. The seeing implied is the beholding, gazing at, e.g. a spectacle or pageant. It occurs in 6:1 “to be gazed at by them,” 22:11 “to look at the guests,” 23:5 “to be gazed at by men.”

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

As they departed [τουτων δε πορευομενων] . Rev., more literal and better, as these went their way; or while they, John's disciples, were departing : thus giving the simultaneousness of Jesus ' words with the act of departure.

To see [θεασασθαι] . Rev., to behold. qeasqai, like qewrein, expresses the calm, continuous contemplation of an object which remains before the spectator. Compare Joh 1:14. Another verb is used in Christ 's repetition of the question, vv. 8, 9; iJudein in the ordinary sense of seeing. The more earnest expression suits the first question.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.