Matthew 11:4

ἀπαγγείλατε Ι.: go back and report to John for his satisfaction. ἃ ἀκ. καὶ βλέπετε, what you are hearing and seeing, not so much at the moment, though Luke gives it that turn (Matthew 7:21), but habitually. They were not to tell their master anything new, but just what they had told him before. The one new element is that the facts are stated in terms fitted to recall prophetic oracles (Isaiah 35:5; Isaiah 61:1), while, in part, a historic recital of recent miracles (Matthew 8:9). Probably the precise words of Jesus are not exactly reproduced, but the sense is obvious. Tell John your story over again and remind him of those prophetic texts. Let him study the two together and draw his own conclusion. It was a virtual invitation to John to revise his Messianic idea, in hope he would discover that after all love was the chief Messianic charism.