Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Matthew 11:6

"And blessed is he, whosoever shall find no occasion of stumbling in me." — Matthew 11:6 (ASV)

Jesus’ answer briefly summarized his own miracles and preaching, using the language of Isa 35:5–6; 61:1 (with possible further allusions to 26:19; 29:18– 19). At one level the answer was straightforward: Isaiah 61:1 is an explicit messianic passage, and Isa 35:5-6, though it has no messianic figure, describes the return of God’s people to Zion with accompanying blessings (e.g., restoration of sight). Jesus definitely claimed that his messianic visions were being fulfilled in the miracles he was performing, and that his preaching the Good News to the poor was fulfilling the messianic promises of Isa 61:1–2 (cf. Lk 4:17-21). The powers of darkness were being undermined; the kingdom was advancing (cf. v.12).

But there is a second, more subtle level to Jesus’ response. All four Isaiah passages refer to judgment in their immediate context: e.g., “your God will come... with vengeance; with divine retribution” (35:4); “the day of vengeance of our God” (Isaiah 61:2). Thus Jesus was allusively responding to the Baptist’s question: the blessings promised for the end time have broken out and prove it is here, even though the judgments are delayed.

Verse 6 is then a gentle warning, applicable both to John and his disciples: “Blessed” is the one who does not find in Jesus and his ministry an obstacle to belief and therefore reject him. The miracles themselves were not irrefutable proof of who Jesus was (see comments on Mk 8:11–12); faith was still required to read the evidence against the background of Scripture and to hear in Jesus’ claim the ring of truth.