John's question in prison

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The notes in my Bible say:

[11:3] The question probably expresses a doubt of the Baptist that Jesus is the one who is to come (cf. Mal 3:1) because his mission has not been one of fiery judgment as John had expected (Mt 3:2).

So the timeline becomes:

Jesus enters the scene. --> John proclaims that he is the Messiah. --> John Baptizes. --> John is put in prison. --> John expresses doubt because he hears things are not going as he expected them to.

This might have been because John was in some way ill-informed of exactly what was happening, because Jesus sends the following reply:

Matthew 11:4-6
4 Jesus said to them in reply, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them. 6 And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.”

Many of the people closest to Jesus express serious doubts at one point or another -- Thomas in particular comes to mind. (It should be noted, though, that many others, like His Blessed Mother, Mary, never doubt.)

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John probably knew Jesus was the messiah spoken of by Isaiah (7:14) but may have doubted whether he was also the one spoken of by the prophet Zechariah (9:9-12) called the coming King (i.e. the one to come) who was prophecied to release prisoners (i.e. himself).

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[John] probably did not lose his faith in Jesus, what troubled him rather was in the Old Testament - the Messiah is predicted, but also someone called "The Coming One " Malachi 3/Zecharaiah 9 and the Zechariah. Perhaps he was asking, "I know you're the Messiah, but are you the Coming one as well?"

"He will set the prisoners free". John was in prison. Is it possible that he was wondering why he had not been freed?

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Let's start by looking at Luke 4:18-19. It's when Jesus was given the book of prophet Isaiah to read. He found the place written:

Luke 4:18-19

18: The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
19: To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

We can assume that John knew of this Messianic mission.
Then he sent his disciples to ask Jesus:

Are you the Messiah we've been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?

Notice Jesus didn't give them a yes/no answer. He just told them:

From Matthew 11: 4-5

4: Jesus answered and said to them, Go and show John again those things which you do hear and see:
5: The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.

Now, compare Luke 4:18-19 and Matthew 11:5 (Jesus answer).
It's like Jesus is saying "what was written by prophet Isaiah is happening - the blind see, the deaf hear, the gospel is preached to the poor, the sick are healed, the dead are raised. What other proof do you need that I am the Messiah?"

And from this moment, we don't hear John 'doubting' again whether Jesus is the Messiah or not.

Upvote:1

The sentence appears as though John doubts Jesus' identity as the Messiah, but we should also consider that this question could be meant merely to confirm Jesus' identity for John's disciples and to anyone else who might have been doubting; or for a formal and final confirmation for others sake. I think John himself could not have been in doubt when he knew the Messiah even when he was in mother's womb. He was sent for a divine mission hence he must have known this basic truth innately.

(Luke 1:39-45) 39 In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, 40 and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, 42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”

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