7:18-20 "These things"probably include the activities of Jesus that Luke had recorded including the healing of the centurion's servant and the raising of the widow's son. John evidently had second thoughts about Jesus because Messiah was to release prisoners (Isa. 61:1) and Jesus claimed to fulfill that prophecy. However, He had not released John who was in prison (Matt. 11:2; cf. Luke 3:20). Moreover the fact that Jesus was apparently fulfilling the prophecies about Elijah's coming may have made John wonder if Jesus was the Messiah or Elijah. Luke apparently reported John's question twice in these verses to stress that this was the issue at stake.
"Disappointment often calls us to a deeper, less self-focused walk with God."222
7:21-23 Luke recorded and Jesus listed several messianic works that He had done (cf. Isa. 29:18-19; 35:5-6; 42:7; 61:1). Isaiah did not predict that Messiah would cleanse lepers. Perhaps Jesus mentioned that because His ministry fulfilled Elisha's ministry, and he cleansed a leper (cf. 2 Kings 5).
Acts of judgment are conspicuously absent from this list since that was not the time for judgment. Apparently in Jesus' day the Jews believed that Messiah would not claim to be the Messiah before He performed many messianic works.223Jesus pronounced "blessed"those who accepted the evidence that He presented and concluded that He was the Messiah rather than stumbling over it. John was in danger of stumbling, namely drawing the wrong conclusion and thereby falling into a trap (Gr. skandalisthe, cf. Isa. 8:13-14). Stumbling is the opposite of believing here.
