lectionary.com

Advent Season · Third Sunday of Advent · Year A

Matthew 11:2-11

Are You the One to Come

December 14, 2025

Saint John the Baptist in Prison Visited by Two Disciples, Giovanni di Paolo
Saint John the Baptist in Prison Visited by Two Disciples, Giovanni di Paolo, c. 1455–1460Art Institute of Chicago
A Sienese panel from a series on the Baptist's life, with the prison drawn as a pink stone box and the disciples leaning in at a grille.This is the scene the reading describes: John, locked up, sending to ask whether he was right about who Jesus was.Giovanni di PaoloA Sienese painter who ignored the Florentine Renaissance entirely and kept gold grounds and strange colour into old age.Art Institute of ChicagoFounded in 1879 as both a museum and a school, and the home of American Gothic and of a famous Impressionist collection.Art Institute of Chicago
Roman Lectionary
GospelMatt. 11:2-11Mt 11:2-11
Second ReadingJas. 5:7-10Jas 5:7-10
First ReadingIsa. 35:1-6a, 10Is 35:1-6a, 10
Responsorial PsalmPs. 146:6-7, 8-9a, 9b-10Ps 146:6-7, 8-9a, 9b-10

Overview & Insights

“Blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.” (Matthew 11:6)

John is in prison, a detail Matthew has mentioned in passing at 4:12 and will narrate at 14:3-12, and his question sits awkwardly beside his own earlier certainty at the Jordan (3:14). Jesus does not answer with a title but with a list of works drawn in its wording from the prophets, and adds a beatitude with a warning inside it. The second half of the reading reverses direction and speaks about John rather than to him. The two rhetorical questions carry political edge, since a reed shaken by the wind was stamped on the coinage of Herod Antipas, in whose fortress John was held, and soft clothing belongs in a palace. Malachi 3:1 is then quoted with its pronouns altered so that John becomes the messenger sent ahead of Jesus (v. 10). The final verse is the hinge: John is the greatest born of women, and the least in the kingdom is greater still.

From Sermons.com: Join Today to access the most scholarly & well written preaching resources anywhere.

Take it further: Matthew 11:2-11

Commentary

Commentary on Matthew 11:2-11Commentary on Mt 11:2-11 workingpreacher.org

Argues Jesus's reply to John's prison question neither flatly confirms nor denies messiahship, pointing instead to kingdom deeds as the answer, with special weight on verse 11's reversal of greatness.

Matthew 11:2-11 CommentaryMt 11:2-11 Commentary cepreaching.org

Reads John's doubt from prison as an Advent invitation to sit honestly with our own unfulfilled expectations of who Jesus is and how he saves.

Visible Joy: SALT's Commentary for Advent Week Three saltproject.org

Frames the passage as 'Visible Joy,' tracing how Jesus's answer to John (healing, good news to the poor) fulfills Isaiah's promised age and centers rejoicing as Advent's third-week theme.

Third Sunday of Advent, Cycle A loyolapress.com

Catholic Sunday-wide overview connecting Isaiah 35, Psalm 146, James 5:7-10 and Matthew 11:2-11 to the Gaudete Sunday theme that salvation is already present yet still to be fulfilled.

Background & Word Study

JTB: Faithful Inquirer leftbehindandlovingit.blogspot.com

Greek-level exegetical notes on Matthew 11:2-11, working through the vocabulary and syntax of John sending his disciples to ask Jesus the question.

The paradoxical invitation of Jesus in Matthew 11The paradoxical invitation of Jesus in Mt 11 psephizo.com

Argues the lectionary's truncation of the passage obscures its setting, and reads Jesus's answer as redefining greatness against John's own expectations.

Matthew 1-13 (Overview Video)Mt 1-13 (Overview Video) bibleproject.com

Overview video mapping the literary design of Matthew's first half, situating the John-the-Baptist doubt scene within the Gospel's larger argument for Jesus's identity.

The Church Fathers

Matthew 11 CatenaMt 11 Catena catenabible.com

Aggregates patristic comment verse-by-verse on Matthew 11, including how the early church read John's question from prison.

Sermons & Reflections

Has It All Been for Nothing? The Third Sunday in Advent journeywithjesus.net

Reflects on John's prison-cell doubt as every believer's Advent question when God's promises seem delayed.

Worship & Prayers

Matthew 11:2-11Mt 11:2-11 Sacred Space

Irish Jesuit guided prayer on John's question from prison, "Are you the one who is to come?"

Podcast

The Third Sunday of Advent, Year A Catholic Productions

Brant Pitre's video/audio walkthrough of the Sunday's readings, including the Gospel's John-the-Baptist scene.

Art & Music

The Sermon of St John the BaptistThe Sermon of St Jn the Baptist Web Gallery of Art (Bruegel)

Pieter Bruegel the Elder's 1566 painting of John preaching to the crowds who become his disciples and messengers.

Study Hub

Advent, Third Sunday, Year A Agape Bible Study

Full-Sunday Catholic study page covering the Gospel's question from prison alongside the other readings.

Prep at sermons.com

Ready to write?

  • Full sermons on Matthew 11:2-11
  • Illustrations cleared for use in worship
  • Commentary, quotes, and Bible dictionary
Open it at sermons.com →

Trusted by pastors since 1995.

Free every Tuesday

Illustrations & Sermon Prep in your inbox

The coming Sunday’s readings, a cleared-for-use illustration, and a sermon-prep head start. One email, free.