“In that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll, and out of gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see.”
Isaiah 29:18 (NIV)
When you read Isaiah 29, and Matthew 11 together you wonder how John the Baptist could ever doubt who Jesus was.
Isaiah’s judgment on the Jewish people for false worship in verse 13 is echoed by Jesus in Matthew 15, so we know that Isaiah was looking forward to the time period in which Jesus walked on the face of the earth. And as Isaiah looked forward into this terrible time (for the people were in a dreadful state of spiritual sleep-vs 10) and glorious time (for it was a time of wonder upon wonder being performed -vs14), he could see the deaf hearing and the blind seeing. This could only be the work of God on the earth, as God made clear in His response to the excuses of Moses at the burning bush recorded in Exodus 4.
So how could John the Baptist have any doubts at all about the identity of Jesus of Nazareth? John knew that the his ministry task was to come before the Messiah, so the question he sent to Jesus through the mouths of his disciples, was in essence asking Jesus if He really was the Messiah.
We look at this from our viewpoint in time and wonder who else could Jesus be but the Messiah, and yet the prophet John doubted. It seems from the exchange between Jesus and John’s disciples recorded in Matthew 9:14-17 and our Lord’s description of the differences between His ministry and John’s ministry in Matthew 11:18,19, that the reason for John’s doubts stem from his inability to recognize that Christ’s presence on the earth demanded a change in ministry approach.
Everything changed when the Word became flesh and walked among us!
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