‘Now when John heard in the prison the works of the Christ, he sent by his disciples, and said to him, “Are you he who is coming, or should we look for another?” '
In his prison John heard of ‘the kind of works that the Messiah was doing', but what he heard did not fit in with his conception of the Messiah. That Jesus was the Messiah has already been stated in Matthew 1:1; Matthew 1:16-17. Thus this may be just Matthew's interpretive comment, showing that he feels that he has by now quite definitely demonstrated that Jesus was the Messiah, and expects his readers to appreciate the fact. But it is quite possible that he wants us to know that that was also how John thought of Him, for John certainly saw Him as an ‘end day' (apocalyptic) figure, ‘the Coming One' (Matthew 3:11; compare Matthew 21:9; Matthew 23:39; John 6:14; John 11:27). But that was the point. He could not in that case quite understand what He was doing. (This was not the first time that John had been taken by surprise by Jesus (Matthew 3:14), revealing that he continually did not completely comprehend what the Coming One would be all about, and was required to respond in faith). So he sent his disciples to ask Jesus about Himself. Was He the Coming One, or should they be looking for someone else? That was the question. Could he expect instant action or had he to wait for another of a different kind from Jesus? He was not offended with Jesus. He just wanted to know. Perhaps he had been mistaken in his assumptions?
‘Another.' The word indicates another of a different kind. What Jesus was doing did not quite fit in with his expectations.
What then was causing John's difficulty? Perhaps it arose because he felt that it was time that Jesus commenced recruiting followers out of the great crowds that followed Him, so as to establish His Kingly Rule, something that He appeared not to be doing. On the other hand he had not even prepared in that way himself, which is against that suggestion. Even more possibly there may be a hint of what was in his thoughts when we consider what Jesus said later about the crowd's view of Him, that he was an ascetic. Jesus had previously joined him in the wilderness. Perhaps John found it difficult to understand a prophetic figure Who now seemingly ate and drank with outcasts and sinners, held lightly to ritual (John was a priest from a priestly family), and discouraged His disciples from fasting. He had had no opportunity of discussing this with Him and it may well all have appeared to him very strange, for Judaism was a religion that took such things very seriously, and none more seriously than he had himself. Could such behaviour really reveal God's Coming One? Perhaps there was even a hint in his words that he felt that Jesus should consider whether He was behaving quite as He should.
All this may have played a part, but Jesus' reply suggests that He knew that his main problem lay in his misunderstanding of His ways. Thus Jesus knew that the way in which to satisfy him was to show him that, while not perhaps doing what John had expected, He was fulfilling what the Scriptures had promised, and what was more, Scriptures which were also connected with judgment.
‘He Who is coming.' By this John may have meant the Messiah, or the Prophet of Deuteronomy 18:15 or Isaiah 61:1-3, or the coming Elijah (Malachi 4:5-6), all of whom were expected figures (see John 1:20; John 1:25). Or he may have had in mind some other expected figure. Some have traced the idea to Habakkuk 2:3 which speaks of something or someone who ‘will surely come', and that ‘at the appointed time'. Others have thought of Genesis 49:10 and the ‘coming of Shiloh' to gather the people, or of the Coming One of Psalms 118:26 Who will come in the name of the Lord. And still others of the Redeemer Who would come to Zion to turn away transgression from Jacob (Isaiah 59:20), which would tie in with the earlier citation of Isaiah 40:3 (see Matthew 3:3). But the fact that he expected the Coming One to pour out ‘Spirit and fire' seems to point either to the Messiah (which could include some or all of the above), or alternatively to another, but more powerful, Elijah (compare 2 Kings 2:9-10; 2 Kings 2:15; 2 Kings 1:10; 2 Kings 1:12, and see also Revelation 11:5). He may indeed have combined the two ideas in the light of Malachi's prophecies (Malachi 3:1 b, Malachi 3:2; Matthew 4:5-6), and even have included some of the other concepts. For while Jesus saw John as the coming Elijah (Matthew 11:14), it was not how John saw himself (John 1:21), although we should remember that that was a reply to people who were thinking literally of Elijah returning (something which Jesus did not believe either). He saw himself as the one who was sent to prepare the way for God to act (Matthew 3:3; John 1:23; compare Malachi 3:1 a), with a Greater yet to come. And Matthew will shortly make clear to his readers precisely Who that Coming One is (Matthew 12:17-21).
We should note that, contrary to popular opinion, Jesus was already ‘drenching' His Apostles in Holy Spirit as is evidenced by His giving to them the power to heal, cleanse lepers, raise the dead and cast out evil spirits (Matthew 10:8), which they could not have done without the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:28). But John might not have appreciated that, and he probably felt that the fire just did not appear to be on the horizon at all.
‘The disciples of John.' We know almost nothing about the ‘disciples of John'. We do know that they fasted, and especially so because of what had happened to their leader (Matthew 9:14). It would appear therefore that they formed a recognised grouping similar to that of the Pharisees (and of the Essenes), loose but definite. And they possibly sought to pass on the teaching of John, and even to preach that the Kingly Rule of Heaven was coming. Of course those who like John the Baptist himself had come to believe that Jesus was the Messiah would transfer their allegiance to Jesus, as Peter, James, John and Andrew had done, although these particular ones who now came to Jesus may have been waiting to see first what would happen their leader. But there would be many disciples of John who had responded to his message when they had come to Jerusalem for the feasts, and who were now scattered around the world, and back in their own homes. And many of them probably continued to look ahead and hope for what John had promised, without necessarily believing that Jesus was the fulfilment of what John had taught, or indeed knowing much about Jesus (for many of them Palestine was far away). Certainly there appear to have been largish numbers of disciples of John around the world with whom the later church came into contact (e.g. Acts 19:1-6).