Mat 11:11 Truly I say to you, Among those that are born of women there has not risen a greater [one] than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

"Risen" is egeiro, which means "to arouse from sleep," "to raise up," and "to produce."

"Greater" is meizon, which means "greater," "larger," "elder," and "stronger."

"Least" is really mikros, which means "small" and "little" applied to anything, size, power, age, quantity, rank, or influence.

"Kingdom of heaven" is basileia (kingdom, rule) ouranos (heaven, sky, universe) that we have discussed extensively on this site. Our favorite version of this idea is "universal rule" or "rules of the universe."

I really like the fact that Christ describes John the Baptist as egeiro here, which communicates that idea that he was among those who had awakened from sleep. Prophets and apostles are those who are in touch with God and arisen from sleep, away to the nature of reality. This is often how I feel when I get caught up in the day-to-day stuff of life, that I am asleep. Then, when I get in touch with my consciousness and connection with God, everything that I have worried about seems so small and unimportant.

Christ doesn't actually say that John is less than the least of those in heaven, but he says that the small in heaven are greater than he. This first very much with what we see as Christ's explanation of the evolution of spirit that Christ describes in the Beatitudes. Even the great at this stage of our earthly existence are less than those who have gone onto a spiritual evolution. "The meek" inheret the earth, but those who are greater go onto make a spiritual climb that starts at the hunger for perfection.

This type of spiritual progress beyond earth is not addressed by Christian churches who see heaven as an end point, but there are numerous places where Christ's words seem to contradict this idea AND the idea that heaven is static. Christ makes this point in the Lord's Prayer about God's will coming into existence both on Earth and in the Universe.

Mat 11:10 For this is [he], of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who shall prepare your way before you.

"Send" is apostellô, which means "to send away" or "to dispatch." It is the source of the word "apostle."

"Messenger" is angelos, which means "messenger" and "envoy." It is the source of our word, angel. It is almost always translated as "angel" in the NT. Hear is one of the few exceptions.

"Face" is prosôpon, which "face," "contenance," "front," and "person."

"Prepare" is kataskeuazô, which means "to equip," "to furnish fully with," "to build," "to prove," "to construct," and "to prepare oneself."

"Way" is hodos, which means literally, "a threshold," but has all of the same meaning of "way" in English. It means "a road," "further along the road," "a journey," "a manner of doing things," and "a system."

The reference here is to Mal 3:1, where "messenger" is the Hebrew mal'ak, which is also usually translated as "angel." However, the message is much more detailed.

Mal 3:1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way
before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even
the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith
the LORD of hosts.

In reading this, Christ is telling us a lot of stuff between the lines. First, the verse in Malachi clearly refers to the coming of God. Christ is describing John as messenger and himself as the coming. Second, there is an important revelation about the connection between men, angels, and people's past lives that come together here. John was a man, but Christ is saying that he was also an angel. In a few verses, he will tell us more.

Mat 11:9 But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet.

"More" is perissoteros, which is a form of the word perissos, which means as an adjective when applied to people, "extraordinary" and "remarkable."

"Prophet" is prophetes, which means "one who speak for God and interpretes His will." It has the general sense of an interpreter, fortune-teller, and a herald.

Here Christ is saying that John was different and more than other prophets. Interestingly, he doesn't infer that he is the last or final prophet, in the Old Testament sense.

Mat 11:8 But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, those that wear soft [clothing] are in kings' houses.

"Clothed" is amphiennumi, which means "to put on" or "to put around." It is also used to mean "to dress oneself in."

"Soft" is malakos, which means "fresh plough," but it was used for a lot of ideas for gentleness and softness such as sleeping softly, sitting on a soft pillow, and soft grass. It is used for the idea of faint-hearted, and cowardly and lacking self control. It was used specifically to describe men as effeminate and morally debased.

"Garment" is himation, which refers to any type of outer garment.

The idea here is that those who are soft and spoiled are in government, living by the productive work of others. This statement makes it clear that Christ thought little of those who chose a "soft" life. The purpose of life is not seeking physical comfort and John the Baptist (the context here) was a good example of that while the elites and rulers with the counter-example.

Mat 11:7 What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind?

"Go out" is exerchomai, means "to go out," "to march out," and "to exceed all bounds."

"The wilderness" is erêmos, which is an adjective meaning "desolate," "lonely," and "solitary."

"To see" is theaomai, which means to "gaze at" or "behold." It has the sense of viewing something as a spectator. Of the mind, it means "to contemplate."

"A reed" is kalamos, which means "a reed" or anything made of reed, specifically a reed staff, a measuring reed, a reed you write with, a fishing pole, a shaft of an arrow, or a reed pipe.

"Shaken" is saleusô, which means "to cause to rock," "to vibrate," and "to wave to and frow." It also means "to stir" and "to reel" as in shaking a fishing rod.

"Wind" is anemos, which means "a wind" or "a gale."

Here, Christ refers to John the Baptist. In saying this, he is asking if people went out to see John because as a spectator sport. The image I get from "a reed shaking in the wind" is a preacher gesticulating. However, in recognizing the way Christ parses the world into physical, social, and spiritual, I think he also means to unite the idea of shaking before the forces of nature and shaking before the powerful in society.

Mat 11:6 And blessed is [he], whoever shall not be offended by me.

"Blessed" is makarios, which means "happy," "blessed," and "prosperous."

"Offended" is skandalizô, which means "to cause to stumble" or "to give offense" in the active and "to stumble" or "to be offended" in the passive. Here, it is in the passive. It is the source of our word, "scandalize."

So Christ is saying that anyone is who not offended by him is happy and blessed. This is part of the proof of his validity, but this can be taken two ways, like so much of what Christ says, both interesting.

First, the obvious is that those who agree with his teaching are blessed and happy, that is, that his teaching is a blessing. This is the way this is usually interpreted. However, what Christ actually says is something different. He says that those who are happy are not offended by what he says. In other words, he is saying that those who have problems with him are unhappy people.

In the previous verse, he points out everything that he is doing to make people happy by bringing them good news. Here he extends that idea by saying that unhappy people don't want to hear good news and are offended by it.

Mat 11:4 Go and show John again those things which you hear and see:
Mat 11:5 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.

This verse is important because it encapsulates a number of double meansings and because of what it does not say.

"The blind" is tuphlos, which means both physically and mentally blind. It also means all things that are obscure.

"Recover their sight" is anablepô, which means "to look up," "recover sight," "open one's eye's" and "revive."

"Lame" is chôlos, which means both "limping" and 'defective."

"Walk" is peripateô, which means both "to walk up and down," "to walk around while teaching," and metaphorically, "to live."

"Leper" is lepros, which "scaly," scabrous," and "rough" and is used to describe the leperous.

"Cleansed" is katharizô, which means "to make clean," "to prune away," and "to purify."

"Deaf" is kôphos, which means "the blunt," "the dull," and "the obtuse" and is a metaphor for the "deaf."

"Hear" is akouô, which means "to hear," and "to understand."

"Dead" is nekros, which means "a corpse," "the dying," and "the dead."

"Raised up" is egeirô, which means "awaken," "rouse," and "stir up."

"The poor" is ptôchos, which means "a beggar" and "beggarly" and it a metaphor for being poor in anything.

"To have the Gospel preached to them" is euangelizo, which means "to bring good news" and "to proclaim good tidings."

Christ uses these statements both to describe his miracles and to describe his teaching on those who are morally and spiritually handicapped or dead. He makes it clear that the miracles we are seeing are just metaphors for the bigger miracle that affects everyone.

However, there is something else important here, something that Christ did not do during his ministry. Today, many people portray Christ as a "social activist," whose teaching was designed to make society more "fair." However, we must notice that this is no part of Christ's ministry.

There were slaves in Christ's time, but did Christ try to free them or speak against slavery. There was certainly racism, sexism, and a thousand forms of unjust social persecution, but Christ did not address this directly. The only "social" ill that he addressed was "poverty" and his cure was not social reform, but "the good news."

Why wasn't Christ a social reformer? Was it fear of the Romans and powerful? Not too likely. He knew that he was destined to die. This is something that the Jews of the time really expected because of Roman occupation. Their "social injustice" wasn't slavery or racism, but Roman domination, and yet, Christ never addressed it, why?

Christ clearly divides the world into three parts: the physical, the social, and the spiritual. His miracles were all physical because God alone controls physical reality. Christ's goal was spiritual reformation. However, his view of society is that it is ALWAYS flawed one way or another. society is a human creation and everyone who think that society is perfectible or that people can be reformed through social change has it exactly backward. Christ taught that society is changed one spirit at a time. This is why the kingdom of heaven or universal rule is always coming but never here. Heaven's battles must be won one soul at a time in a battle against the pressures of society. It is the changing of individuals that changes society, not the other way around.

This is what Christ was telling the followers of John. The physical was a sign of the spiritual. Social reform only comes from changing people's hearts through the preaching of the Gospel.

Mat 10:42 And whoever shall give to drink to one of these little ones a cup of cold [water] only in the name of a disciple, truly I tell you, shall mever lose his reward.

"Give to drink" is potizo, which means "to give a drink," "to water," "to moisten," and metaphorically "to saturate one's mind.

"Little ones" is mikros, which means "small" or "little." It is also used to mean "the least" of a group.

"Cup of cold" is poterion (cup) psuchros (cold).

"The name of a disciple" is onoma (name) mathetes (learner, disciple). Methetes is not the words used in the previous verse to describe either a "prophet" or a "righteous" man, which were terms used to describe one connected to God and one connected to society.

"Lose" is apollumi, which means "to destroy."

"Reward" is misthos, which means "wages" in the sense of compensation for work done.

A more literal translation would be "Whoever waters the least of these with a cold cup in the name of a learner. I tell you truly shall never lose his reward."

I think the telling terms here are potizo in the metaphorical sense of "to saturate your mind" and mathetes, which means "learner." This verse connects with the previous verse's description about people acting as conduits. Christ connects to God and when we connect with Christ, we connect to God. People who connect to God get rewarded for that. "Water" is also Christ's metaphor for spirit and life. Here, people act as a physical conduit for water, connecting people to learning and knowledge. This is how they earn their compensation, that is, repay their debt to God.

The simple meaning here is that anyone who passes on learning to the least among humanity in the name of being a fellow learner earns an indestructible reward, that is, a spiritual or eternal reward.

Mat 10:41He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward; and he that receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward.

This verse combines two forms of the word for "take." First, we have dechomai, translated here as the first "receive" which means "to take" in the sense of "to receive" or "to welcome." Then we have lambano, which means "to take" in the sense of getting something. These words were both used in two preceding verses.

"A prophet" is prophetes, which means "an oracle," one moved by the spirit of God.

"Award" is misthos, which are "wages paid for hire," the benefits of work, not something given as a prize.

"A righteous man" is dikaios, which means "civilized," "observing customs and rules," and "well-ordered."

The sense he is that those that welcome those connected to God get one type of reward while those that welcome those who conform to social standards get another form of reward.

This idea follows what Christ said in the previous verse about the connection that links us to God. Those that are connected to God, the prophets, get rewarded by God. This is contrasted with those who are connected to the social order, the righteous, who are rewarded by the society. Being rewared by society isn't necessarily bad, but being rewarded by God is better.

Mat 10:40 He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives him that sent me.

"Receives" is dechomai, which means "to take," "to accept," "to receive," "to take upon oneself," and "to welcome." This is not the same take as used to describe "taking up the cross" just a few verses ago.

Personally, I like the last translation, the idea of welcoming, but much more important than the word used is the larger equation here.

Welcoming Christ's Followers = Welcoming Christ = Welcoming God.

Christ is attacked several times in the Gospels for equating himself with God, but here he extends that idea to his followers. This blurring of the lines is very important and very different than the OT view of God. In the Old Testament, God was separate, the ultimate "other." Christ redefined our view of God. God is not the other, he is "the father," not separate, but the source, the base of what we are and what the universe is.

When we are right with God, we act as God's emissary on earth. We are a conduit for God to others. When people connect to someone who is connected to God, they connect to God. Christ was the primary conduit, but the apostles continued the connection as do we all.

Mat 10:39 He that finds his life shall lose it: and he that loses his life for my sake shall find it.

"Finds" is heurisko, means "to find," "to come upon," "to meet," "to learn," "to discover," and "to find out for one's self."

"Life" is psuche, which means "breath," "life," and "soul." It has the clear sense of the conscous self. It is also used to describe "the spirit" of things.

"Lose" is apollumi , which means "to destroy utterly," "to kill," and "to be lost."

"For my sake" is heneken, which means "on account of" or "for this cause."

The terms used for "find" and "lose" here are not the clear antonyms that they are on English. Heurisko is much closer to "discover" in the sense of meeting someone or learning something. While apollumi is much closer to "destroy."

Even more interesting, the term used for "life" is most often translated in the NY, KJV as "soul."

In the Greek, the meaning of "finds his life" is more like the modern idea of "finding yourself." It has this sense of being self-centered because you are "discovering your consciousness," which comes across as a very "new age" concept, but Christ's turn on it is that if you discover yourself, you are really destroying yourself.

On the other hand, if you destroy your sense of self, you are rally finding your true self.

Mat 10:38 And he who takes not his cross, and follows after me, is not worthy of me.

"Takes" is lambano, which means "to take" and which, as in English, has a wide variety of meanings in Greek. In means everything from "to seize," "to apprehend by the senses," "to understand," and "to receive." Interestingly, in the NT KJV, it is more often translated as "to receive" than as "to take."

"Cross" is stauros, which means an "upright stake" or "pointed stick" and, of course, the term for the instrument of torture, "the cross."

"Follow" is from akoloutheô (akoloutheo), which means "to follow," and "to go with." It also means "to be guided by" and means following a leader as a disciple.

"After" is opiso, which means "backwards," "behind," "back again," and "hereafter." Interestingly, the Greeks considers the past "in front" because we can see it while the future was "behind" because it was hidden. The use here worlds best as "after me in time."

I find it interesting that opiso is the term that Christ uses in Mat. 4:19 when he says "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men." However, in that verse, the term deute, which means "Come."

In the broadest sense, Christ is telling us that we must understand the dangers and still be willing to follow him as a teacher and do as he as done.

Mat 10:37 He who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

"Love" is phileo, which means "to love," "to regard with affection," and "to approve of."

"More than" is huper, which means "for the sake of," "above," "over," and "beyond."

"Worthy" is axios, which means "having weight," "counterbalancing," and "worth" in the sense of one thing balancing another.

In all these discussions of "worth," the idea in Greek is one of balance. What is more important? What has the most weight? In that sense, no one is completely worthy of God, but Christ is saying that those who put God first are worthy of God while those who put the loves of their life first and not worthy of God. In other words, God is more important than our lives, the role that we are cast in.

As an aside, the mention of love here takes me to a larger theme in Christ's words. Generally, Christ divides the world into physical, social, and spiritual (interior, personal). God created the natural physical world. Christ comes to reform the social world, created by man, with the Kingdom of Heaven (universal rule). The Spirit, through the universal rule, privately moves the inner, personal world of individuals.

On an individual level, these three realms translate into our physical needs, intellectual needs, and spiritual needs. All of these needs can be either a source of blessings or burdens. Christ (unlike John the Baptist) seldom speaks against our physical needs. He does, however, often speaks against our "intellectual" needs to be accepted by society. This is clearly a burden. His teaching was meant to relieve us of this burden.

On the spiritual level, Christ always talks about spirit in terms of emotions, here, the emotion of love. These emotions also can be a burden or a blessing. Here, love can take us toward God and is be a blessing. However, if we let our caring for our families become more important than what is good, that same caring becomes burden.

Mat 10:36 And a man's foes [shall be] those of his own household.

kai ("and") anthropos ("man") echthros (hated, enemy) autos (the same, themselves) oikiakos ("house member")

I show the complete phrase because it is nice and short and gives you a sense of how Greek in general is different, much more terse, that the English. In Greek of the Bible, the depth is not found in complex phrasing but within the choice of individual words.

"Foes" is not a noun, but an adjective, echthros, which means "hated" or "hateful." However, adjectives are frequently used to stand for a person or group with that trait. The use of echthros is very specific in Greek literature. It is one who was a friend, but who as been alienated and refuses to be reconciled. It is usually translated as "enemy" in the NT.

"They of his own household" is oikiakos, which means "one of a household." Households in Christ's time were not the temporary associations that they are today. It was the family you were born into, but it was broader than a family since it included everyone that worked together--masters and servants--in the family business. It combined our idea of a family with its idea of lifelong association with a small business where people were not necessarily related.

Christ is saying that his teaching will create divisions within this basic building block of society, that these livelong associations would be destroyed by the coming of his new philosophy.

Mat 10:35 For I have come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.

"To set at variances" is the Greek dichazo, which means "to divide in two." It only appears once in the Gospels, here. The root word, schazo, means "to cut." It is related, but not the same word as dia-schizô, which means "to cleave asunder" and "set at variance" and diakeazô which also means "to cleave asunder."

"Against" is kata, which means primarily "downwards," but in various usages comes to mean "through out," "according to," "along," "against," and "toward." It is most often translated in the KJV as "according to" and "after." It has this sense of downward motion and can mean "descended from" or "divided from." It is often used in compound Greek words.

The Greek term kata-schazô combines the two key words of this verse and means "cut into."

So Christ isn't saying the he has come to set people in opposition to one another, but that he is cutting them off from one another. He is starting something new, something descended from what exists now, but apart from it.

Mat 10:34 Do not think that I have come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.

This is a great verse because it seems to say the opposite of what most people want to think Christ's mission on earth was.

"Do not think" is nomizo me (not). Nomizo primarily means "to use by custom" or "to be accustomed to." Secondarily, it means "to own," "to acknowledge," "to hold in honor," and "to believe."

"I have come' is erchomai, which means "to come or go from one place to another," and "to appear," but metaphorically means "to come into being," "to arise," "to become known," and "to find influence."

"Send" is ballo, which means "to throw to hit," "to let fall without caring where," "to put," or "to caste." The use of ballo might be compared to the way we use "throw" in a phase like "throw into confusion."

"Peace" is eirene, which means "peace," "tranquility," and "harmony." It is the same word Christ uses earlier in this sermon describing apostles blessing the houses that accepted them. It is also the root of the word "peacemaker," eirenopoios, (from poieo "to make") used in the Beatitudes.

"But" is alla, which is a conjunction of opposition, "but" and "except," but stronger than the normal de, which is commonly translated as "but."

"Sword" is machaira, which means a large knife or short sword. It specifically the type of weapon used for making sacrifices, by assassins, bodyguards, and jugglers.

Christ begins this verse with a word (nomizo) that indicates that we shouldn't do what we must customarily, that is, assume that the rise of God's kingdom will miraculously bring peace. He makes it clear here here that the coming of universal rule doesn't happen without opposition. His use of machaira, is especially telling because it was the sacrificial knife. The sense is that he throwing his believers in the path of assassins and body guards who will make sacrifices of them as Christ gains influence in the world.

Mat 10:32 Whoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 10:33 But whoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

"Confess" is homologeo, which means "to agree with" and "to say the same as another.' Homo equals "same." Logos is "words."

"Before" is emprosthen, which means "in front of."

"Deny" is arneomai, which means "to disown" and "to deny."

The larger context here is speaking Christ's words in public and being persecuted for it. Christ has first assured us that we are valuable to God and that God is keeping track of us. Now Christ is saying that he personally will take sides in this context, for those who agree with him and against those who don't agree with him.

This can refer to the last judgment, but it also refers to the use of Christ's words. Christ is saying that his words will stand the test of time, agreeing with those who agree with him and denying those who deny him. We say what we do only before other men, while Christ gives his testimony in front of the divine power that is throughout the universe.