Now when John had heard
in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, And said unto
him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?
The question often
arises why John would send his disciples to ask such a question of Jesus. Still
months after the baptism of Jesus and after John’s repeated efforts to persuade
them, John found some of his disciples still reluctant to detach themselves
from him and to follow their true Master. It seems most consistent to identify
John’s motive in sending the two disciples to Jesus as one of persuasion for
them, rather than of reassurance for himself. The question they were to put to
Jesus was for their edification, not for his own. John knew, as no one else
knew, who Jesus was, and he had known it for a long time. He had had revelation
from heaven to this effect: he had seen with his eyes, he had heard with his
ears, and he had the testimony of the Holy Ghost. He even had received the
ministry of angels while in the prison.
The most satisfactory
answer seems to be that John sent his disciples to question Jesus about his
identity so that they themselves would at long last realize the truth of what
John had been testifying for these many months.
With that in mind, what
is our answer to that question? And
when we have our answer, what are we to do about it?
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