Matthew 11 Bible study: Come to me

"Now when John heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples" (11:2) (tap Christ), "and said to him, “Are you he who comes, or should we look for another?”" (11:3) (tap comes). Here is what almost everyone misses: Jesus's answer has no yes or no in it. "Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them." (11:4-5). Then he adds, "Blessed is he who finds no occasion for stumbling in me." (11:6) (tap stumbling). Matthew has already told of a leper made clean (8:2-3) and of two blind men whose "eyes were opened" (9:30). Matthew says John sent when he heard of the works of Christ (11:2); he doesn't say what John thought, or what John made of the answer. Favor's Matthew 3 asks whether John knew who Jesus was, sets 3:11 and 3:13-14 beside John 1:31 and 1:33 and 11:2-3, and doesn't say what John knew or thought beyond what each verse says; these notes don't ask it again. Favor's Isaiah 35 sets Jesus's answer beside Isaiah 35:5-6 and 29:18, and says Jesus doesn't name Isaiah; these notes call nothing in his answer fulfilled.

Exodus 5:5→leads toMatthew 11:28

Pharaoh complains, "you make them rest from their burdens" (5:5), and answers with "heavier work" (5:9). Jesus says, "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28), and "my yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:30). Jesus doesn't cite Exodus 5, so setting the two side by side is a reading: some hear the contrast between the two masters; others read Jesus's words on their own.

ἔρχομαιerchomaisay ER-khom-ahee

Strong's: "to come or go (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively)". John's question is "Are you he who comes, or should we look for another?" (11:3). Jesus uses the same verb of John and of the Son of Man: "this is Elijah, who is to come" (11:14), "For John came neither eating nor drinking" (11:18), and "The Son of Man came eating and drinking" (11:19). It is also the verb of John's own words at the Jordan, "he who comes after me is mightier than I" (3:11). Matthew's Greek has the verb 119 times (counted in RP2018, the Greek text the WEB translates), so it is a common word; these notes say only where it stands in these verses. The Come of "Come to me" (11:28) is another Greek word.