---
title: Matthew 11:4
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/matthew-11-4/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/matthew-11-4.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: Matthew 11:4
testament: NT
section: Gospels
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# Matthew 11:4

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see:

## NWT Wording of the Key Phrase

- NWT (2013 revision): "In reply Jesus said to them: 'Go and report to John what you are hearing and seeing:'"

## JW Usage

Matthew 11:4 begins Jesus's answer to John the Baptist: "Go and report to John what you are hearing and seeing." The Watchtower reads vv. 4-5 as a small-scale preview of the future paradise healings, not as fulfilment of Isaiah 35:5-6. The "Coming One" Messianic identification is accepted, but the eschatological framework is still future — the JW reading defers Isaiah's imagery to the coming millennium.

## Protestant Usage

Read v. 4 with v. 5 — Jesus's reply quotes Isaiah 35:5-6 ("the blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news preached to them"). Notice the verb tense: present-tense things "you hear and see." Jesus does not say "this is a preview of what Isaiah spoke about" — he says "go and tell John what you hear and see." The prophecy is being fulfilled in his ministry. Pair with Romans 8:23 and 2 Corinthians 1:22 for the firstfruits framework: Christ's healings are not trailers for a future film but down-payments guaranteeing the full harvest. The "already/not yet" tension is real, but the Watchtower flattens it into "not yet" only — and Jesus's own answer to John refutes that flattening.

## Arguments Using This Verse

- [Isaiah's Healing Prophecy — Fulfilled in Christ's Ministry](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/isaiah-healing-fulfilled-in-christ.md) — Isaiah 35:5-6 / Matthew 11:4-5 [Eschatology]