Charles Spurgeon Commentary Matthew 11

And it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding his twelve disciples, he departed from there to teach and to preach in their cities.

Whatever he commanded, he himself did. He was always the example as well as the legislator of his people. How well it will be for us who are called upon to teach others, if we can teach them as much by what we do as by what we say! When Jesus had made an end of commanding his twelve disciples, he departed from there to teach and to preach in their cities.

And it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding his twelve disciples, he departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities. Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?

Had John's faith begun to waver? It is possible that it had. Elijah had his times of trembling and depression; then, why might the second Elijah not have the same sort of experience? Possibly, John wished to strengthen the faith of his followers, and therefore he sent two of his leading disciples to Jesus, that they might make the inquiry for themselves as to whether he was the Christ or not.

And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished commanding his twelve disciples, he departed from there to teach and preach in their cities. Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, and said to him, Are you he that should come, or do we look for another? Jesus answered and said to them, Go and show John again those things which you hear and see: The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.

These were Christ's seals and proofs: he did not need to seek others. These were the very works of which prophecy had said they would be the marks of the Messiah. If, then, these marks were found in him, he left John and his disciples to draw the inference that he was, indeed, the One that was to come. Christ is always best known by his works, and especially in his people; he is seen in their lives.

There are two great precepts for the conquest of the world for Christ: the first is, preach the gospel; but the second is, live the gospel. And if we do not live the gospel, we shall not succeed in preaching the gospel.

In fact, those members of our churches who do not live the gospel undo throughout the week what the preacher of the gospel endeavors to do on the Lord's Day.

It is a fine thing to preach with your mouth, but the best thing in the world is to preach with your feet and with your hands—in your walk and in your work. And if you are enabled to do this, the people will be able to say very little against the preaching of the gospel when they see the result of it in those who accept it.

May God grant that we may all be preachers in some way or another.

He arranged their missionary tour and then followed in their wake. It was His plan to send them two and two through the cities of Israel and then to follow them in person and sustain their testimony by His own instruction, for He came to teach and to preach. We are to do our best for people and then to hope that our Lord will be pleased to certify and confirm our teaching by His own coming to people’s hearts.

The term, “their cities,” sounds rather peculiar. Had our Lord given those cities to the twelve? It would seem so. In a spiritual sense, we go first and take possession of the souls entrusted to us, and then the King Himself comes in and takes His own at our hands.

Lord, give me many souls which may be Yours in the day of Your appearing. To this end, I would gladly go at Your bidding and preach Your Word, trusting that I may hear the sound of my Master’s feet behind me.

Here we begin quite another story. The first verse ought to have gone with the preceding chapter, to which it belongs. John was in prison. He did not make a good caged bird—he of the wilderness and the river—and his faith began to flag. So some think.

Was it so? Or was this embassy sent to our Lord for the sake of John’s disciples? Were they wavering so much that John could not reassure them without the aid of Jesus? Or was it that John would intimate to our Lord that there were doubts circulating which would be met by a further proclamation of His mission? Was this all that John now thought himself able to do—namely, to call upon the Lord to state His claims in the most decisive manner? Did John resolve to draw from our Lord a very clear statement, that his disciples might thus be readily transferred to Jesus?

The question about our Lord’s having a mission was surely not for John’s sake. He knew full well that Jesus was the Son of God. But when he heard of all that Jesus did, he may have wondered that he himself was left in prison, and he may have thought that possibly another was yet to come before all things could be rectified. Dark thoughts may come to the bravest when pent up in a narrow cell. It was well that John’s question was put, so that it might receive a distinct reply, reassuring for himself, and instructive for us.