Q: In Matthew 11:3, John the Baptist sends messengers to ask Jesus Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? If John the Baptist wasnt sure about Jesus Messiahship, after seeing the Holy Spirit descend on Jesus like a dove, and after hearing God declare that Jesus is His Son, then how can we be expected to be sure that Jesus is the Messiah?
A: John was having a bad day. After maintaining a man-of-the-wilderness lifestyle, John had been caged in Herods prison -- Machaerus, if Josephus account is accurate -- and such a drastic shift of his environment was probably condusive to some anxiety. Also, John may have expected the Messiahs actions to be different than what Jesus was doing. Earlier in Matthew (in 3:10-12), John foresaw that the Messiah would thoroughly cleanse his threshing-floor, gathering the wheat into his barns and burning the chaff with unquenchable fire. He probably expected Judgment Day right away. So when news about the nature of Jesus ministry as primarily one of teaching and healing became known to John, he may well have thought, Um wheres the fire and brimstone? Remember, Jesus Himself didnt have detailed knowledge about the date of the earths harvest-day (i.e., Judgment Day) during His ministry, so theres no strong basis to think that John was fully informed about the Gods divine plan involving Jesus.
Plus, it seems that the Essenes, whose headquarters at Qumran was not far from the area where John lived and preached, expected two Messiahs (or one Messiah and one very important assistant) -- a governmental Anointed One from the tribe of Judah, and a priestly Anointed One from the tribe of Aaron. John may have thought that this idea was worth, at the very least, a question.
One more thing -- I think its worthwhile to notice that John, despite knowing Jesus and seeing extraordinary signs of divine power at work in His life (specifically, when He was baptized), had questions. From his prison cell, things did not add up. Jesus was not, it seems, doing what John expected the Messiah to do. And Jesus did not reply, Dont ask questions; surrender your intellect and adopt a blind, deaf faith. Instead, Jesus tactfully instructed John to re-think his ideas about what the Messiah should be doing, and what the Scriptures prophecies were capable of meaning, and pointed him to things which had been seen and heard and reported by trustworthy witnesses.
Yours in Christ,
Waterrock
A: John was having a bad day. After maintaining a man-of-the-wilderness lifestyle, John had been caged in Herods prison -- Machaerus, if Josephus account is accurate -- and such a drastic shift of his environment was probably condusive to some anxiety. Also, John may have expected the Messiahs actions to be different than what Jesus was doing. Earlier in Matthew (in 3:10-12), John foresaw that the Messiah would thoroughly cleanse his threshing-floor, gathering the wheat into his barns and burning the chaff with unquenchable fire. He probably expected Judgment Day right away. So when news about the nature of Jesus ministry as primarily one of teaching and healing became known to John, he may well have thought, Um wheres the fire and brimstone? Remember, Jesus Himself didnt have detailed knowledge about the date of the earths harvest-day (i.e., Judgment Day) during His ministry, so theres no strong basis to think that John was fully informed about the Gods divine plan involving Jesus.
Plus, it seems that the Essenes, whose headquarters at Qumran was not far from the area where John lived and preached, expected two Messiahs (or one Messiah and one very important assistant) -- a governmental Anointed One from the tribe of Judah, and a priestly Anointed One from the tribe of Aaron. John may have thought that this idea was worth, at the very least, a question.
One more thing -- I think its worthwhile to notice that John, despite knowing Jesus and seeing extraordinary signs of divine power at work in His life (specifically, when He was baptized), had questions. From his prison cell, things did not add up. Jesus was not, it seems, doing what John expected the Messiah to do. And Jesus did not reply, Dont ask questions; surrender your intellect and adopt a blind, deaf faith. Instead, Jesus tactfully instructed John to re-think his ideas about what the Messiah should be doing, and what the Scriptures prophecies were capable of meaning, and pointed him to things which had been seen and heard and reported by trustworthy witnesses.
Yours in Christ,
Waterrock
