and said to him, “Are you he who comes, or should we look for another?”
Parallel Translations
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and said to him, “Are you he who comes, or should we look for another?”
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and sayde vnto him. Arte thou he that shall come: or shall we loke for another.
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Art thou he that shoulde come, or shall we looke for another?
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Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (35)
Passages linked to Matthew 11:3 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Malachi 3:1 “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me; and the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, behold, he comes!” says Yahweh of Armies.
- John 11:27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, God’s Son, he who comes into the world.”
- Deuteronomy 18:15-18 Yahweh your God will raise up to you a prophet from among you, of your brothers, like me. You shall listen to him. This is according to all that you desired of Yahweh your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, “Let me not hear again Yahweh my God’s voice, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I not die.” Yahweh said to me, “They have well said that which they have spoken. I will raise them up a prophet from among their brothers, like you. I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I shall command him.
- Hebrews 10:37 “In a very little while, he who comes will come, and will not wait.
- Micah 5:2 But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, being small among the clans of Judah, out of you one will come out to me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings out are from of old, from ancient times.
- Genesis 3:15 I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.”
- Amos 9:11-12 In that day I will raise up the tent of David who is fallen, and close up its breaches, and I will raise up its ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old; that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and all the nations who are called by my name,” says Yahweh who does this.
- Zephaniah 3:14-17 Sing, daughter of Zion! Shout, Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem. Yahweh has taken away your judgments. He has thrown out your enemy. The King of Israel, Yahweh, is among you. You will not be afraid of evil any more. In that day, it will be said to Jerusalem, “Don’t be afraid, Zion. Don’t let your hands be weak.” Yahweh, your God, is among you, a mighty one who will save. He will rejoice over you with joy. He will calm you in his love. He will rejoice over you with singing.
- Zechariah 9:9 Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King comes to you! He is righteous, and having salvation; lowly, and riding on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
- John 6:14 When therefore the people saw the sign which Jesus did, they said, “This is truly the prophet who comes into the world.”
- John 7:31 But of the multitude, many believed in him. They said, “When the Christ comes, he won’t do more signs than those which this man has done, will he?”
- John 7:41-42 Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “What, does the Christ come out of Galilee? Hasn’t the Scripture said that the Christ comes of the offspring of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?”
- Genesis 49:10 The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs. To him will the obedience of the peoples be.
- Numbers 24:17 I see him, but not now. I see him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob. A scepter will rise out of Israel, and shall strike through the corners of Moab, and crush all the sons of Sheth.
- Psalms 2:6-12 “Yet I have set my King on my holy hill of Zion.” I will tell of the decree: Yahweh said to me, “You are my son. Today I have become your father. Ask of me, and I will give the nations for your inheritance, the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron. You shall dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” Now therefore be wise, you kings. Be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve Yahweh with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Give sincere homage to the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish on the way, for his wrath will soon be kindled. Blessed are all those who take refuge in him.
- Psalms 110:1-5 Yahweh says to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool for your feet.” Yahweh will send out the rod of your strength out of Zion. Rule among your enemies. Your people offer themselves willingly in the day of your power, in holy array. Out of the womb of the morning, you have the dew of your youth. Yahweh has sworn, and will not change his mind: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.” The Lord is at your right hand. He will crush kings in the day of his wrath.
- Psalms 118:26 Blessed is he who comes in Yahweh’s name! We have blessed you out of Yahweh’s house.
- Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin will conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
- Isaiah 9:6-7 For a child is born to us. A son is given to us; and the government will be on his shoulders. His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end, on David’s throne, and on his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from that time on, even forever. The zeal of Yahweh of Armies will perform this.
- Jeremiah 23:5-6 “Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that I will raise to David a righteous Branch, and he will reign as king and deal wisely, and will execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely. This is his name by which he will be called: Yahweh our righteousness.
- Ezekiel 34:23-24 I will set up one shepherd over them, and he will feed them, even my servant David. He will feed them, and he will be their shepherd. I, Yahweh, will be their God, and my servant David prince among them. I, Yahweh, have spoken it.
- Daniel 9:24-26 “Seventy weeks are decreed on your people and on your holy city, to finish disobedience, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy. “Know therefore and discern that from the going out of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem to the Anointed One, the prince, will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. It will be built again, with street and moat, even in troubled times. After the sixty-two weeks the Anointed One will be cut off, and will have nothing. The people of the prince who come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end will be with a flood, and war will be even to the end. Desolations are determined.
- Hosea 3:5 Afterward the children of Israel shall return, and seek Yahweh their God, and David their king, and shall come with trembling to Yahweh and to his blessings in the last days.
- Joel 2:28-32 “It will happen afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; and your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams. Your young men will see visions. And also on the servants and on the handmaids in those days, I will pour out my Spirit. I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood, fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes. It will happen that whoever will call on Yahweh’s name shall be saved; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who escape, as Yahweh has said, and among the remnant, those whom Yahweh calls.
- Obadiah 1:21 Saviors will go up on Mount Zion to judge the mountains of Esau, and the kingdom will be Yahweh’s.
- Haggai 2:7 and I will shake all nations. The precious things of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory, says Yahweh of Armies.
- Malachi 4:2 But to you who fear my name shall the sun of righteousness arise with healing in its wings. You will go out, and leap like calves of the stall.
- Matthew 2:2-6 “Where is he who is born King of the Jews? For we saw his star in the east, and have come to worship him.” When King Herod heard it, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he asked them where the Christ would be born. They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for this is written through the prophet, ‘You Bethlehem, land of Judah, are in no way least among the princes of Judah: for out of you shall come a governor, who shall shepherd my people, Israel.’ ”
- Matthew 21:5 “Tell the daughter of Zion, behold, your King comes to you, humble, and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
- Matthew 21:9 The multitudes who went in front of him, and those who followed, kept shouting, “Hosanna to the son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”
- Mark 11:9 Those who went in front, and those who followed, cried out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
- Luke 19:38 saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest!”
- John 4:21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour comes, when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, will you worship the Father.
- John 12:13 they took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet him, and cried out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel!”
- John 16:14 He will glorify me, for he will take from what is mine, and will declare it to you.
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 3 And said unto him, Art thou he that…
3 And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?
Ver. 3. Art thou he that should come, &c.] This question the Baptist moved not for his own sake (for he was well assured, and had sufficiently testified, Joh 3:27-36), but for his disciples’ better settlement and satisfaction. This, while Tertullian observed not, he hath done the Baptist palpable injury in three different places; as if himself had doubted of the person of Christ. Let not us be troubled to be in like manner mistaken and misjudged.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And said unto him,.... By the disciples he sent;…
And said unto him,.... By the disciples he sent; this was the message they came with, and this the question they were to ask, and did,
art thou he that should come? A "periphrasis" of the Messiah, well known to the Jews; for he had been spoken of frequently in the prophecies of the Old Testament, as the Shiloh, the Redeemer, the Prophet, and King that should come; particularly, by this circumlocution, reference seems to be had to Hab 2:3. "It shall surely come", , which may be rendered, "for he that cometh", or "is to come, shall come". So that the question in plain terms is, whether he was the Messiah? John could not be ignorant of this, who had seen the Spirit of God descending on him at his baptism, heard a voice from heaven, declaring him the Son of God; and had so often pointed him out to others, and had borne frequent testimonies that he was the Lamb of God, and bridegroom of his church: wherefore this question was put, not upon his own account, but his disciples, that they might have from the mouth of Christ a full and satisfactory answer, which would remove all their doubts and scruples, and attach them to Christ, now he was about to die, and leave them, than which nothing was more desirable to him. Though some have thought, that John's faith was somewhat slackened; and through his long imprisonment, he began to doubt whether he was the Messiah or not: and others have been of opinion, as particularly Dr. Lightfoot, that the reason of this message was, neither the ignorance and unbelief of John, or his disciples; but that John, with the rest of the Jews, having a notion of a temporal kingdom, and hearing of the mighty works of Christ, wonders that he himself was not delivered out of prison by him, grows impatient upon it, and asks, if he was the Messiah? And if he was, why did he suffer his forerunner and chief minister to lie in prison?
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or do we look for another, to release me, and set up this kingdom?
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain He that is to come - The Messiah.
He that is to come - The Messiah.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 3. Art thou he that should come] ο…
Verse 3. Art thou he that should come] ο ερχομενος, he that cometh, seems to have been a proper name of the Messiah; to save or deliver is necessarily implied. See Clarke on Lu 7:19.
There is some difficulty in what is here spoken of John. Some have thought he was utterly ignorant of our Lord's Divine mission, and that he sent merely for his own information; but this is certainly inconsistent with his own declaration, Lu 3:15, c. Joh 1:15; Joh 1:26; Joh 1:33; Joh 3:28, c. Others suppose he sent the message merely for the instruction of his disciples that, as he saw his end approaching, he wished them to have the fullest conviction that Jesus was the Messiah, that they might attach themselves to him.
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A third opinion takes a middle course between the two former, and states that, though John was at first perfectly convinced that Jesus was the Christ, yet, entertaining some hopes that he would erect a secular kingdom in Judea, wished to know whether this was likely to take place speedily. It is very probable that John now began, through the length of his confinement, to entertain doubts, relative to his kingdom, which perplexed and harassed his mind; and he took the most reasonable way to get rid of them at once, viz. by applying to Christ himself.
Two of his disciples] Instead of δυο, two, several excellent MSS., with both the Syriac, Armenian, Gothic, and one copy of the Itala, have δια, by; he sent by his disciples.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Art thou he that should come? - That is,…
Art thou he that should come? - That is, Art thou the Messiah, or the Christ? The Jews expected a Saviour. His coming had been long foretold, Gen 49:10; Isa 9:1-6; Isa 11:1-5; Isa 35:4-6; Isa 53:1-12; Dan 9:24-27. See also Joh 6:14. Compare Deu 18:18-19. In common language, therefore, he was familiarly described as “he that was to come.” Luke adds here Luk 7:21, that at the time when the messengers came to him, Jesus “cured many of their infirmities, and plagues, and of evil spirits.” An answer was therefore ready to the inquiries of John.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Art thou he that is to come?{1] (Greek, who…
Art thou he that is to come?{1] (Greek, who cometh?) i.e. the Messias. John the Baptist had already, on several occasions, declared that Jesus was the Messias. (John i). He could not then doubt of it himself, but sent his disciples to take away their doubt. (Witham) --- St. John the Baptist sent his disciples not to satisfy his own doubts, but for the sake of his disciples, who, blinded by the love they bore their Master, and by some emulation, would not acknowledge Christ to be the Messias. (St. John Chrysostom in Baradius) --- This expression of St. John is much taken notice of, as conveying with it a very particular question. "Tell me, says St. John, now that I am departing out of this world, whether thou art coming to redeem the patriarchs and holy fathers; or wilt thou send another?" (St. Thomas Aquinas) --- And St. Chrysostom also explains it thus, Art thou he that art to come to limbo? but the Baptist omitting this last word, sufficiently indicated to our Saviour what was the purport of this question. St. Jerome and St. Gregory say, that by his death, he was going to preach to the holy fathers that Christ, the Messias, was come. John does not here propose this question as ignorant of the real case, but in the same manner as Christ asked where Lazarus was laid. So John sends his disciples to Jesus, that seeing the signs and miracles he performed, they might believe in him. As long, therefore, as John remained with his disciples, he constantly exhorted them to follow Jesus; but not that he is going to leave them, he is more earnest for their belief in him. (St. Thomas Aquinas)
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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]
Qui venturus es, Greek: o erchomenos, qui venit, who cometh.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 3. Art thou he that should come — Here…
3. Art thou he that should come — Here is no doubt a reference to Mal_3:1, where it is said: “Jehovah whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his temple.” The slowness of our Lord to develope the glory of his kingdom seemed to John not to agree with the suddenness ascribed to the Messiah. Do we look for another — John here seems to be running into the same train of reasoning as that which induced the later Jews to adopt the theory of two Messiahs, one of whom (called by them the Son of Joseph) should fulfil the humiliations described by the prophets as belonging to the Messiah; and the other (whom they called the Son of David) should fulfil the glorious part of the prophecies. I do not mean that John adopted or was acquainted with this Jewish theory; but that the same idea (namely, the contrast lying between the humble suffering Messiah and the glorious Messiah, Prince of the kingdom of God) which prompted that theory prompted his question.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 3. he that should come] Literally, He that cometh.…
3. he that should come] Literally, He that cometh. One of the designations of the Messiah; in every age the prophet said “He cometh.”
It is often disputed whether John sent this message (1) from a sense of hope deferred and despondency in his own soul; he would ask himself: (a) Is this the Christ whom I knew and whom I baptized? (b) Are these works of which I hear, the works of the promised Messiah? or (2) to confirm the faith of his disciples, or (3) to induce Jesus to make a public profession of His Messiahship. (1) The first motive is the most natural and the most instructive. In the weariness and misery of the prison the faith of the strongest fails for a moment. It is not doubt, but faith wavering: “Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief.” (2) The second has been suggested and found support rather from the wish to uphold the consistency of the Baptist’s character than because it is the clearest inference from the text. (3) The third motive would have been hardly less derogatory to John’s faith than the first. And would not our Lord’s rebuke Mat_11:6 have taken a different form, as when He said to Mary, “Mine hour is not yet come”?
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (3) Art thou he that should come?—There are no…
(3) Art thou he that should come?—There are no adequate grounds for assuming, as some have done, that the Baptist sent the disciples only to remove heir doubts. The question comes from him; the answer is sent to him. No difficulty in conceiving how the doubt which the question seems to imply could enter into the mind of the Baptist after the testimony which he had borne and that which he had heard, can warrant us in doing violence to what would seem to be the plain meaning of the history. And the meaning of the question is not far to seek. The sickness of deferred hope turns the full assurance of faith into something like despair. So of old Jeremiah had complained, in the bitterness of his spirit, that Jehovah had deceived him (Jer_20:7). So now the Baptist, as week after week passed without the appearance of the kingdom as he expected it to appear, felt as if the King was deserting the forerunner and herald of His kingdom. The very wonders of which he heard made the feeling more grievous, for they seemed to give proof of the power, and to leave him to the conclusion that the will was wanting. And so he sends his disciples with the question, which is one of impatience rather than doubt, “Art Thou the coming One of whom the prophets spoke” (Psa_40:7; Psa_118:26; Mal_3:1)? but if so, why tarry the wheels of Thy chariot? Are we still to look for another and a different Christ?”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain And said unto him. The question was brought from…
And said unto him. The question was brought from John; the answer is sent back to him (ver. 4). This points to the cause of the question lying ultimately, not with his disciples, but with himself. Although John might justly fear that they would follow him rather than Jesus, (cf. Mat_9:14, note) yet he seems to have made this inquiry for his own sake. He who stood on the Jewish side of the threshold of the kingdom (ver. 11) did not understand the methods by which the King was acting, and thus his faith was tried (comp. Tertullian, "Adv. Marc.," 4:18). In this he recalls his great prototype, whose plans seemed to have failed and his boldness to have done no good. (1Ki_19:13, 1Ki_19:14) To both the answer implied that success was assured to quiet spiritual work. Art thou (emphatic) he that should come? he that cometh (Revised Version); oo ercomenov . (comp. Mat_3:11, note) The title was probably derived from Psa_118:26, and would become the more known from the LXX of Hab_2:3, (comp. Heb_10:37) and perhaps also from a directly Messianic interpretation of Gen_49:10. Or do we look for. The word (prosdokwmen) contains no thought of looking about for, but only of earnest expectation. Another? Eteron , and so in Luk_7:19; but allon in Luk_7:20 (where, however, Westcott and Heft margin reads eteron). Observe that in both records the evangelist"s own summary of John"s message speaks of a difference in kind, but that in the form given by the messengers (Luk_7:20) it is only a matter of a second person coming. (comp. Gal_1:6, 7 1Co_12:8, etc.; 1Co_15:39, etc.) John"s disciples, that is to say, are represented as failing to catch the point of their master"s question whether he must look, after all, for a Messiah who acts differently from the way in which Jesus acts.
HOMILIES BY W.F. ADENEY Ver. 3. A prophet"s doubt.
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What is most remarkable about this question is that it was put by John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ. Let us look at the doubt in relation to the prophet who felt it.
I THE SUBJECT OF THE DOUBT. This was most fundamental. Was Jesus the Christ or not? No doubt can be more serious than this. There are many questions which cannot be answered, and people are not to be called sceptics because they do not see all truth. It is impossible to think on the great problems of existence without the most perplexing surmises, and yet while all these unsettled ideas may pass through the mind, it is still possible for faith to be fixed on a rock with a deep conviction of God, and a calm trust in Christ. But we must be clear and decided on these two points not theoretically, but practically. We cannot understand the Trinity, and we may be quite unable to comprehend the Incarnation. Still, it is of vital importance to know whether indeed Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Saviour of the world, whether we can come to God through him and trust him as our eternal Redeemer.
II THE RECEPTION OF THE DOUBT. A doubt as to the end of his work is in the mind of the Baptist. Had he made a mistake in pointing to Christ? Consider this man who entertains such a thought.
1. A prophet. Inspiration does not prevent personal weakness. Advanced knowledge will not secure us against the invasions of doubt. An apostle was a doubter. (Joh_20:25)
2. A good man. John the Baptist was no deceiver of the people. His heart was right with God. Yet he doubted. Doubt is not sinful in itself.
3. A privileged man. John had known Christ, had baptized him. Yet he doubted. It is not enough to know Christ after the flesh.
4. A religious leader. It is possible for a great religious teacher to be in error. Does the pope ever have a doubt? Certainly it is foolish for preachers to assume infallibility. Sympathy with doubters by confession of difficulties would be a tie of union between teacher and learner. Yet the pulpit is not a place in which to air one"s doubts. If the teacher is in serious uncertainty as to his message, is he not a blind leader of the blind?
III THE CAUSES OF THE DOUBT. How dared the black thought venture to roost in the mind of the great prophet?
1. In disappointment. Jesus had not developed into the Messiah John had expected. The promising career of the Nazarene seemed to be passing into a simple ministry of preaching and healing. But John had a mistaken idea of the Messiahship. Sometimes doubts arise from the disappointment of erroneous religious notions.
2. In adversity. John lay in prison he who all his life had lived in the wilderness! We need not be astonished that he was depressed.
3. Without full grounds of assurance. John never had been exactly a Christian. There is much doubt infecting the border-land of Christian faith.
IV THE TREATMENT OF THE DOUBT.
1. Confession. John did not deny it; he did not hide it in shame; on the contrary, he clearly expressed it. We have half conquered our doubts when we have distinctly stated them.
2. Inquiry. John did not rest satisfied with doubt. He sought a solution of his difficulty.
3. Resorting to Christ. John sent to Christ. We can best learn about Christ by going straight to Christ. It is wise to bring our doubts to him. He meets doubt by showing his great works. To-day the answer to doubt is the work of Christ in the world. W.F.A.
The way to deal with our doubts.
Whether the doubts were John"s own, or such as he knew disturbed the minds of his disciples, he certainly took the wisest and most hopeful way in which to secure their removal. If a man is an intelligent man he is sure to have doubts; doubts come in the process of thinking; but everything depends on the way in which a man deals with his doubts. He may foster them; he may indulge them; or he may make earnest effort to secure their removal. He may keep them to himself, and grow proud of them; or he may take them to Jesus, and get them solved and dissipated.
I JOHN DEALING WITH HIS OWN DOUBTS.
1. Thinking them over in his own heart. It is certain that John had occasional glimpses, at least, of the higher and more spiritual aspects of Messiah"s mission; but it is equally certain that he never shook himself quite free from those temporal notions of Messiah which were the characteristic of his age. The teaching and healing, and the very gentle ways, of Jesus, did not at all match the idea of Messiah which he had formed. The Jewish nation was not likely to be delivered from Roman bondage by such a man. Perhaps, after all, the work of Jesus was only preparing work, like his own had been.
2. Talking them over with his disciples. They might well be more puzzled than he, for they had none of those prophetical visions which had been vouchsafed to him. Evidently the talk did not mend matters. It even seemed to increase the uncertainty, and it made John feel that something must at once be done. Neither thinking doubts over, nor talking doubts over, ever helps us very much. Too often they grow big by brooding; and so much de ends on the friends whom we choose for the talk.
II JOHN TAKING HIS DOUBTS TO THE LORD JESUS. He would have actually gone himself, but he could not. So he sent two disciples, that he might see through their eyes and hear through their ears. Our Lord solved the doubts by, in effect, saying, "You find a difficulty in recognizing me because you are hindered by wrong ideas concerning the character of Messiah"s mission." A Messiah who heals, delivers, and saves, exactly fits a forerunner who called to repentance. John"s doubts fled when he learned to say, "He is the Messiah, he must be the Messiah, for I see that his moral and spiritual work is precisely the carrying on, the completion, of that moral work of mine. R.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 3. Art thou he that should come? John the…
3. Art thou he that should come? John the Baptist had predicted the coming One (Matt. 3:11). Perhaps John, impatient of the long delay, hoped to incite Jesus to proclaim his Messiahship.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.