Matthew 11:3

_AND SAID UNTO HIM, ART THOU HE THAT SHOULD COME, OR DO WE LOOK FOR ANOTHER?_ No JFB commentary on these verses....

3._Art thou he who was to come? _John takes for granted what the disciples had known from their childhood; for it was the first lesson of religion, and common among all the Jews, that Christ _was to come, _bringing salvation and perfect happiness. On this point, accordingly, he does not raise a doubt, but only inquires if Jesus be that promised Redeemer; for, having been persuaded of the redemption promised in the Law and the Prophets, they were bound to receive it when exhibited in the person of Christ. He adds, _Do we look for another? _By this expression, he indirectly glances at their sloth, which allowed them, after having been distinctly informed, to remain so long in doubt and hesitation. At the same time, he shows what is the nature and power of faith. Resting on the truth of God, it does not gaze on all sides, does not vary, but is satisfied with Christ alone, and will not be tu...

2-6 Some think that John sent this inquiry for his own satisfaction. Where there is true faith, yet there may be a mixture of unbelief. The remaining unbelief of good men may sometimes, in an hour of temptation; call in question the most important truths. But we hope that John's faith did not fail in this matter, and that he only desired to have it strengthened and confirmed. Others think that John sent his disciples to Christ for their satisfaction. Christ points them to what they heard and saw. Christ's gracious condescensions and compassions to the poor, show that it was he that should bring to the world the tender mercies of our God. Those things which men see and hear, if compared with the Scriptures, direct in what way salvation is to be found. It is difficult to conquer prejudices, and dangerous not to conquer them; but those who believe in Christ, their faith will be found so muc...

Verse Matthew 11:3. _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. Luke 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, Luke 3:15, c. John 1:15; John 1:26;...

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, Genesis 49:10; Isaiah 9:1; Isaiah 11:1; Isaiah 35:4; Isaiah 53:1; Daniel 9:24. See also John 6:14. Compare Deuteronomy 18:18. In c

EXPOSITION MATTHEW 11:1 Matthew only. AND IT CAME TO PASS, WHEN JESUS HAD MADE AN END. The same formula recurs in Matthew 7:28; Matthew 13:53; Matthew 19:1; Matthew 26:1. In all five cases it marks the end of important speeches. (1) The sermon on the mount (Mt 5-7:27); (2) the charge to the disciples (Matthew 10:5); (3) the parables ...

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 Habakkuk 2:3. "It shall surely come", כי בא יבא, 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

Matthew 11:1. _And it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding his twelve disciples, he departed thence to teach and preach in their cities. 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? Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them._ These were Christ's seals and proofs: he needed not to seek others. These were the very works of which prophecy had said they would be the marks of the Messiah. If then, these marks were found in him, he left John and his disciples to draw the inference that he was, indeed, the One that was to come. Christ i

8. THE FORERUNNER IN PRISON. THE KINGDOM PREACHING REJECTED. CHAPTER 11 _ 1. John Imprisoned Sends his Disciples. (Matthew 11:1 .) 2. The King's Testimony Concerning John. (Matthew 11:7 .) 3. The King Announces Judgment. (Matthew 11:20 .) 4. The Greater Invitation. (Matthew 11:25 .)_ The first verse of this chapter belongs to the sending forth of the twelve, and should be put to the previous chapter. “And it came to pass when Jesus had finished commanding His twelve disciples, He departed thence to teach and preach in their cities.” He took the work upon Himself once more, and with the disciples He had

JOHN THE BAPTIST (Luke 7:18). In place of Mk.'s narrative of John, deferred to ch. 14, Mt. gives material from Q. MATTHEW 11:2. JOHN'S PERPLEXITY. It is a question whether doubt was supervening upon the Baptist's first faith, or whether Matthew 3:14 f. is unhistorical, and John had all along been uncertain. In 2 Cod. Bezæ reads the works of Jesus. In Matthew 11:5 we have to decide whether Jesus refers the embassy to a series of physical miracles ending with the preaching of good tidings to the poor (Harnack, Plummer), or metaphorically (_cf._ Isai