Matthew 11
2 Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples
3 and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”
4 And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see:
5 the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.
6 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
General
Matthew shows John asking Jesus whether He is the coming One, leaving the impression that John may be despairing in prison. Jesus answers in verse with Scripture.
The blind receive their sight,
and the lame walk!
Lepers are cleansed,
and the deaf hear!
The dead are raised up,
and the poor have good news preached to them!
And blessed is the one who is not offended by Me.
The three couplets are taken from various places in the prophet Isaiah. Examining their original contexts is a rich study.
Isaiah 29:18In that day the deaf shall hear
Isaiah 35:4–6
the words of a book,
and out of their gloom and darkness
the eyes of the blind shall see.Say to those who have an anxious heart,
Isaiah 42:6–7
“Be strong; fear not!
Behold, your God
will come with vengeance,
with the recompense of God.
He will come and save you.”
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
then shall the lame man leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.
For waters break forth in the wilderness,
and streams in the desert….…I will give you as a covenant for the people,
Isaiah 61:1
a light for the nations,
to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
from the prison those who sit in darkness.The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound….
The final verse (and seventh line) of Jesus's response to John also refers to Isaiah.
Isaiah 8:11–15For the LORD spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: “Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. But the LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken.”
Thus, the response of the Lord Jesus to John is to take hope and comfort in the Scriptures. God is accomplishing His will, even if we ourselves suffer.
Peter also speaks about this passage in Isaiah. When we read his comments (below), we get a preview of what Jesus will say about John to His disciples in the next episode.
1 Peter 2:4–10As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.