Hermeneutics - Lesson 1

I. Introduction to the Course and the Hermeneutical Exercise

To begin this course, I’m going to ask you to do something that I would ordinarily not ask anyone to do. That is, I’m going to deliver to you a bit of a homily or a devotion or a mini sermon, if you will. I think there’s very solid biblical content in it, and hopefully, it will be helpful, encouraging, inspiring, challenging. But what I want you to do primarily is to evaluate what I’m doing with the Bible. I want you to think as I work through this: How is Todd interpreting the Bible? What techniques is he using? What skills is he practicing? Because as you do that, I think it’s really going to set the agenda for everything that we do in this hermeneutics class.

So, if you have a Bible, turn to Matthew 11. Matthew 11. And before we begin, I’m going to pray. Father, would you open your word up to us and open us up to your word that we might behold the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ? Please bless us to that end. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

In Matthew 11, Matthew writes by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, verses 1–3. He writes, “When Jesus had finished giving instructions to his 12 disciples, he moved on from there to teach and preach in their towns. Now, when John heard in prison what the Christ was doing, he sent a message through his disciples and asked him, ‘Are you the one who is to come? Or should we expect someone else?’” All right. It seems to me that in order to understand what’s going on here, we need to ask and answer two questions. The first one is: Who is John, and why is John in prison? And if we ask and answer those questions, I think we’ll be off and running in understanding this passage of Matthew.

II. The Identity and Role of John the Baptist

A. John as the Forerunner and the Prophecy of Isaiah

Well, John here refers to John the Baptist, and John the Baptist is the forerunner to Messiah. He is the one who was to prepare the way for the Lord. And we know this because Matthew has already introduced us to John already. Remember, we’re starting this in Matthew 11. But Matthew doesn’t assume that we’re just going to pick up and read, starting in Matthew 11. He assumes that we started at the beginning. And so, with that background in mind, when we get to chapter 3, that’s when we first encounter John. And if we look at Matthew 3:1–12, we are introduced to John.

“In those days, John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, ‘Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near!’ For he is the one spoken of through the prophet Isaiah, who said: A voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Prepare the way for the Lord; make his paths straight! Now, John had a camel-hair garment with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then people from Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the vicinity of the Jordan were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. When he saw that many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, ‘Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Therefore produce fruit consistent with repentance. And don’t presume to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our father.” For I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones. The ax is already at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. I baptize you with water for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is more powerful than I. I am not worthy to remove his sandals. He himself will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing shovel is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn. But the chaff he will burn with fire that never goes out.’”

B. John as the Elijah Figure and the Prophecy of Malachi

So, that is Matthew’s introduction to John. And so, John is this forerunner to Messiah. He’s the one prophesied by Isaiah. He’s the one prophesied even in Malachi, the last words of the Old Testament; the latest prophecy tells us what this special person is to do. In Malachi 3:1, we read, “See, I am going to send my messenger and he will clear the way before me.” Skip down to 4:5, “Look, I’m going to send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes, and he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and the hearts of children, to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse.”

So, John appears to be this Elijah character who is foretold by the ancient prophets as one who would come at just the right time to prepare the way for the coming of Messiah, prepare the way for the Lord. Again, if we were to go back to Matthew 3:4, where John is described: “John had a camel-hair garment with a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.” Matthew includes that because he’s comparing John to Elijah himself. Don’t think he’s just giving us trivia about the weird clothing and the weird diet of John. No, he tells us that because that’s what Elijah looked like, that’s how he dressed. You can read about that in 2 Kings 1:8. John the Baptist is at least playing the part of one of the greatest Israelite heroes and prophets, Elijah.

C. John’s Primary Mission: Pointing to Jesus

What was John supposed to be doing? Well, very simply, he’s to point out Jesus. John had been given the unique responsibility and honor of preparing the people for the imminent coming of Messiah and then pointing him out when he came. And we know that John did this, even at a very young age. If we move to another gospel account in Luke 1:39–45, we read about Mary, the mother of Jesus, going to visit her cousin Elizabeth, who was John’s mother, while both of them were pregnant; and while in the womb, John points out Jesus. Elizabeth cries out that her baby kicked within her when she saw the mother of her Lord. So, John isn’t even born yet, and he’s already doing his job: “Mom, this is the One. This is the One we’ve been waiting for.”

And then in John 1:29, another gospel account, upon seeing Jesus, John does what he has been destined to do. He proclaims to the masses, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” This is Him. This is the One we’ve been waiting for. So then if we were to go on in Matthew 3:13, we see that all of John’s preaching was preparatory for that one moment when he could point out Jesus and proclaim: There he is. And that’s what happens in 3:13 of Matthew, “Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. But John tried to stop him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and yet you come to me?’ Jesus answered him, ‘Allow it for now, because this is the way for us to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then John allowed him to be baptized. When Jesus was baptized, he went up immediately from the water. The heavens suddenly opened for him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.’”

So, John is there at this inaugural point of Jesus’ ministry, at a spectacular moment in history when all three members of the Trinity are manifest at once. It’s like the triple point of the Trinity. Jesus is baptized, the Spirit descends upon him fulfilling all sorts of messianic prophecies, and the Father declares to all who are there the Sonship of Jesus, and the fatherly affection that God the Father has for his Son. So, who was John? The forerunner to Messiah. He was the one who was uniquely gifted, destined to prepare the hearts of the people for the coming of Messiah. And then, more importantly, when Messiah arrives on the scene, he points him out: “There he is. This is the One we’ve been waiting for.”

III. The Crisis of Faith: John in Prison

A. The Circumstances of John’s Imprisonment at Machaerus

So now we get to our second question: Why on earth is John in prison? If he’s the forerunner to Messiah, if he is the Elijah who is to come, if he’s the one uniquely gifted and destined to do this incredible task, why is he in prison? And this is important because knowing why John is in prison gives us insight into why he asked the question, “Are you the one that we’re actually waiting for?” In order to answer that question raised in Matthew 11, where we find out that John is in prison, we need to actually skip ahead in the Gospel of Matthew to answer the question: Why is John in prison?

In chapter 14:1–5 we read this: “At that time, Herod the Tetrarch heard the report about Jesus. ‘This is John the Baptist,’ he told his servants. ‘He has been raised from the dead, and that’s why miraculous powers are at work in him.’ For Herod had arrested John, chained him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, since John had been telling him, ‘It’s not lawful for you to have her.’ Though Herod wanted to kill John, he feared the crowd since they regarded John as a prophet.”

Now we know from history that Herod the Great, the Butcher of Bethlehem, the great architect of so many fantastic buildings and structures throughout the Holy Land, Herod the Great—that Herod the Great—had three sons: Philip, Antipas, and Archelaus. And John apparently is being held in prison in a place called Machaerus. Machaerus was in the Transjordan area, on the east side of the Jordan River. This was a site that had originally been fortified as a desert retreat by Herod the Great and it was a convenient place for the son of Herod, Herod also in our passage, to put political enemies to kind of get them out of the hot spot of Jerusalem.

B. The Tension Between Messianic Prophecy and John’s Reality

And John, we find out here, is in trouble because he had been calling out Herod. Basically, John was standing up for righteousness and why shouldn’t he? Apparently, Herod had taken his brother’s wife and was committing adultery with her. It was not an affair. It was not a fling. It was not a misunderstanding. It was, according to John, in the eyes of God, an adulterous, vile relationship. And so, he called him out. He called him out publicly for this. And we might ask: Why wouldn’t John do this? He’s the forerunner to Messiah, after all. And John, of all people, would have known his Old Testament prophecies.

He knew what Messiah was supposed to do when he comes. He could have turned, say, to Isaiah chapter 61. This is actually Jesus’ favorite messianic prophecy. It’s the prophecy that he turned to when he kickstarted his entire messianic ministry in Nazareth. He turns to this passage, Isaiah 61: “The Spirit of the Lord God is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty for the captives, the freedom to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of our God’s vengeance; to comfort all who mourn, to provide for those who mourn in Zion; to give them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, festive oil instead of mourning, splendid clothes instead of despair. They will be called righteous trees, planted by the Lord to glorify him.”

And the passage goes on. Righteousness will reign when Messiah comes. We could have turned to Isaiah 35:1–10. We could pick any messianic prophecy, basically in the major prophets and minor prophets, and find out that when Messiah comes, righteousness will finally reign, the evil will be punished, the righteous will be vindicated, and things will be wonderful when the kingdom arrives. And so, John is standing up for righteousness. He’s saying, “What you’re doing here, it is wrong and it is vile.” And he has to be wondering, “Why am I in prison then, if the Messiah has come? Where is the rule of the Messiah? Where is the reign of righteousness? Where is the day of the Lord? Where’s the justice that’s supposed to accompany Messiah?” So those are our two questions. Who was John? What was he doing in prison? And now we can go back to our passage in Matthew 11 and continue on.

IV. Jesus’ Response to John’s Inquiry

A. Evidence of Messianic Fulfillment from Isaiah

So, Matthew chapter 11:4–6. Remember verse 3, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” That’s one of the loneliest verses in the entire Bible where John, forerunner to Messiah, has to ask this question. Look at Jesus’ answer: “Jesus replied to them, ‘Go and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor are told the good news, and blessed is the one who isn’t offended by me.’” How does Jesus answer John? Basically, by quoting from those same messianic passages that we just cited and we read in Isaiah. Jesus answers John, basically by quoting from Isaiah 35 and Isaiah 61.

B. The Omission of Judgment and the Necessity of Patience

But it’s interesting that Jesus leaves out the words of judgment. We saw those in Isaiah 61. We could have seen them in Isaiah 35. Judgment is supposed to come when Messiah arrives. We even see Jesus doing that in Luke 4:16–21, when he stands up in the synagogue in Nazareth, and he goes to this very passage, Isaiah 61. But instead of reading all of verses one and two, or even all ten of them for that matter, he stops right before he gets to the words of judgment in the second half of Isaiah 61:2. Where is the “day of the vengeance” of our Lord? Jesus doesn’t mention that. He stops reading, not just in the middle of a verse; he stops reading in the middle of a sentence. He just leaves that out. He leaves out “the day of our God’s vengeance; to comfort all who mourn.” But why would He do that?

Now, John of all people, I suspect, would have known his messianic prophecies. So, there’s no reason to think that Jesus should have stopped speaking right there. Hence John’s wonder. The prophecies in Isaiah and the rest of the Old Testament, they give no reason to think that all the different things Messiah is supposed to do, that they won’t all occur simultaneously or immediately consecutively. But Jesus responds basically to John’s disciples that everything is okay. He tells John, “You can see that what I’m doing is the fulfillment of these biblical prophecies.” And he effectively tells John, “John, you hang in there; the day of judgment is coming, but it’s not here yet. It’s not time. I am the Messiah. But not everything’s going to be done as quickly as you might expect.” Now for us, we live on this side of the cross, but John didn’t. He lived on the other side of the cross. He didn’t really have a full orbed view of all that the Messiah would do, particularly all that the Messiah would suffer.

V. The Greatness of John and the Privilege of the New Covenant Believer

A. Jesus’ Affirmation of John’s Unique Status

Then Jesus responds, affirming the ministry of John in verses 7–11. He says, “As these men,” that is John’s disciples, “were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: ‘What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swaying in the wind? What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothes? See those who wear soft clothes are in royal palaces. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it was written: See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way before you. Truly, I tell you, among those born of women no one greater than John the Baptist has appeared.’”

Jesus affirms John is the one that the prophets foretold. He is the forerunner to Messiah. And then he says that “of those born of women, no one is greater than John the Baptist.” Think about who that would include. John is as great or greater than David, Abraham, Moses—all of the great heroes of the Old Testament. And we might ask: Why? Why would John be as great or greater than all of them? Probably because of the role that he had been given. To John was given the unique responsibility and privilege of pointing out God’s Messiah when he arrived on the scene: “This is him. This is the One we’ve been waiting for.”

And we think now: Why would Jesus call him great for that? Well, consider like Jeremiah 9:23–24, where God asks: Why should anyone boast? What is worth boasting in? What is worth glorying in? “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom; the strong man his strength; the rich man his wealth. But let him who boasts boast in this: that he knows and understands me.” At this point in redemptive history, no one knew the redemptive purposes, the plan of God better than John. No one did. And so, Jesus says, “Of those born of women, no one is greater than John the Baptist.” Of all those born to that time, John could do a better job than anyone else of pointing Jesus, God’s appointed Messiah, to the world. John is the forerunner. He is that Elijah.

B. Why the Least in the Kingdom is Greater than John

But then Jesus says something else and it’s very strange in Matthew 11:11. He says, “No one among those born of women, no one greater than John the Baptist has appeared, but the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” Who would that be? Who’s the least in the kingdom? Christian, that’s you. That is you. Now. And Jesus says that the least is greater than John. How could that be? Well, I would suggest a couple of things. One, the first would be that the New Covenant promise of the Holy Spirit that would come when Jesus sent the Spirit after His death and resurrection, that’s clearly an advantage that New Covenant believers have.

Then we ask well, to go back: What made John great? Greater in privilege? No, not necessarily. I think it would be this: the least, this side of the cross, can point out Jesus more fully and better than even John the Baptist. We can say more truthfully about Jesus and point him out better than Isaiah, better than Moses, better than John the Baptist, by simple virtue of we come after Jesus. Even a brand-new Christian has a better understanding of the ministry and mission, the person of Jesus, than John did. And that’s what makes us great in the eyes of the kingdom. We can point out Jesus better than John the Baptist could.

VI. Conclusion and Practical Lessons

A. Waiting on God in Suffering and Injustice

So where does that leave us? What do we do with this? I think we can take at least two lessons from this text, maintaining the context. First, Jesus effectively told John, “John, you wait. You hang in there. Be patient. Wait on God.” I mean, John had to be frustrated at the time. He didn’t know what was going to happen to him. If he had known that, it would have been even more frustrating. Right. So, a girl is going to have a dance. A very vindictive mother is going to ask for his head on a platter, and an impotent, drunken king is going to grant that wish. And the forerunner to Messiah, the Elijah who was to come, is going to be executed ignominiously. Be patient, though, Jesus told John. Wait on God.

And just like John, we’re to be patient; be patient in our suffering, we’re to be patient in waiting for justice. We know what John didn’t—that Jesus is the Messiah and he will return and make everything right. But in the meantime, not everything is right. We could go to passages like 2 Corinthians 4 where Paul encourages the church in Corinth to hang in there, to be steadfast as they wait. Listen to Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 4:16–18. He writes, “Therefore, we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day. For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory. So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen as temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” We know Jesus will return. We have that hope. And so, we wait and we be patient.

B. The Sacred Trust of Pointing Others to Christ

And then second, just like John, we’ve been granted a sacred trust, a treasure, the grace of place in redemptive history. We live on this side of the cross. We have been born again. We know Jesus. And so, to us has been granted this great privilege, this great responsibility of doing the very same thing that John was asked to do: point out Jesus. But we can do it even better: “That’s him. This is the One we’ve been waiting for. This is the One by whom, for whom, through whom you have been created. This is the answer to every legitimate desire that you have as a person. This is Him.” You can point out Jesus. You can do it better than even John the Baptist could have. So that has to be our task.

Okay, so now what I want you to do is I want you to think about (hopefully you’ve been taking some notes) I want you to think about what I did with the text. And then when we come back, we’ll talk about that a little bit.