Even John the Baptist had doubts about whether Jesus was really the promised Messiah.
"Matthew includes the record of this interrogation for at least two reasons. First, the questioning of Jesus by John, a representative of the best in Israel, points up the misconception of Israel as to the program of the Messiah and His method. He had heard of the works of Jesus (Matthew 11:2), and they certainly appeared to be Messianic. However, Jesus did not suddenly assert His authority and judge the people as John probably had thought He would (Matthew 3:10-12). Because of this misconception he began to doubt. Perhaps his being in prison, a place which was certainly incongruous for the herald of the King, reinforced his doubts. . . .
"The second purpose of these few verses (Matthew 11:2-6) is to reaffirm the concept that the works of Jesus prove His Messiahship."454
11:2-3 Herod Antipas had imprisoned John in the fortress of Machaerus east of the Dead Sea (cf. 4:12; 14:3-5).455There John heard about Jesus' Galilean ministry. Matthew wrote that John heard about the works of "the Christ."This is the only place in Matthew where the name "Christ"standing alone refers to Jesus.456Matthew evidently referred to Jesus this way here to underscore the fact that Jesus was the Christ, the Greek term for Messiah. John had doubts about that, but Matthew presented Jesus as the Messiah in unequivocal terms. The "works"of Jesus would include His teachings and all of His activities, not just His miracles.
John sent Jesus a question through some of John's disciples. This use of "disciples"is another proof that this word does not necessarily mean believers in Jesus. These disciples were still following John. They had not begun to follow Jesus. John questioned whether Jesus was "the coming One"after all (Ps. 40:7; 118:26; Isa. 59:20). "The coming One"was a messianic title.457John had previously announced Jesus as the coming One (3:11), but Jesus did not quite fit John's ideas of what Messiah would do. He was bringing blessing to many but judgment to none (cf. 3:10-12).458
"The same questions of the ultimate triumph of God undoubtedly face everyone in suffering for Christ's sake. If our God is omnipotent, why does He permit the righteous to suffer? The answer, of course, is that the time of God's judgment has not yet come but that the final triumph is certain."459
An old interpretation of John's question is that he asked it for his disciples' sake, but he never doubted Jesus' identity himself. There is nothing in the text to support this view. Rather John, like Elijah, seems to have become discouraged (cf. v. 14). Probably this happened because Jesus did not begin to judge sinners immediately.
11:4-6 Jesus sent a summary of His ministry back to John. He used the language of Isaiah's prophecies to assure His forerunner that He really was the Messiah (35:5-6; 61:1; cf. 26:19; 29:18-19). It is interesting that all of these Isaiah passages contain some reference to judgment. Thus Jesus assured John that He was the coming One, and He implied that He would fulfill the judgment prophecies, though He had not done so yet.
Verse 6 may contain an allusion to Isaiah 8:13-14. It is a gentle warning against allowing Jesus' ministry to become an obstacle to belief and a reason for rejecting Jesus. It assumes that John and his disciple began well, but it warned them against reading the evidence of Jesus' miracles incorrectly.
"It is well to note that if John had an erroneous concept of the kingdom, this would have been the logical time for Christ to have corrected it. But He did no such thing."460
