Matthew 11:4

Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see:

Ver. 4. Jesus answered and said, &c.] Our Saviour rated them not, chased them not away from his presence, though zealously affecting their master, but not well, John 3:3,21, and envying for his sake, Galatians 4:17. The man of God must not strive, but be gentle, apt to teach, patient; in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves, &c.,2 Timothy 2:24. Friar Alphonsus, a Spaniard, reasoning with Bradford, the martyr, was in a wonderful rage, and spake so high that the whole house rang again, chafing with om et cho, &c. So that if Bradford had been anything hot, one house could not have held them.

Go and show John what things, &c.] He gives them a real testimony, an ocular demonstration. This was the ready way to win upon them, who might have suspected a simple assertion, not seconded with such undeniable arguments. Let our lives as well as our lips witness for us: Vivite concionibus, concionamini moribus, saith one. Nos non eloquimur magna, sed vivintus, said the Church of old. This is the way to slaughter envy itself, and to reign in the hearts of the righteous.