Matthew 11:8

11:8 What ¹  did you go out to see? A man dressed in fancy clothes? ²  Look, those who wear fancy clothes are in the homes of kings! ³ 

Matthew 12:44

12:44 Then it says, ‘I will return to the home I left.’ ⁴  When it returns, ⁵  it finds the house ⁶  empty, swept clean, and put in order. ⁷ 

[11:8]  ¹ tn Grk “But what.” Here ἀλλά (alla, a strong contrastive in Greek) produces a somewhat awkward sense in English, and has not been translated. The same situation occurs at the beginning of v. 9.

[11:8]  ² sn The reference to fancy clothes makes the point that John was not rich or powerful, in that he did not come from the wealthy classes.

[11:8]  ³ tn Or “palaces.”

[12:44]  ⁴ tn Grk “I will return to my house from which I came.”

[12:44]  ⁵ tn Grk “comes.”

[12:44]  ⁶ tn The words “the house” are not in Greek but are implied.

[12:44]  ⁷ sn The image of the house empty, swept clean, and put in order refers to the life of the person from whom the demon departed. The key to the example appears to be that no one else has been invited in to dwell. If an exorcism occurs and there is no response to God, then the way is free for the demon to return. Some see the reference to exorcism as more symbolic; thus the story’s only point is about responding to Jesus. This is possible and certainly is an application of the passage.