Fresh Studies in Mathew, Matthew 11:1-7

--> This chapter is chock full. It begins with the poignant story of John’s doubt.  What other religious document has such a human passage as this?  John had been at the baptism, and had seen the spectacle of the voice of the Father, the bodily manifestation of the Holy Spirit, and the presence of the incarnate Word in one place.  And now he is prison; prison has a way of burning away spectacle and exposing doubt, especially since he was probably able to guess his fate.  Jesus answer is patient but clear: I am doing everything a Messiah is supposed to be doing, cousin John.  His claims are based on the Old Testament prophecies of what the Messiah would do.  But his tone changes in verse 7 and following.  John needs one thing; the crowd who gawked at John needed something else.