Third Sunday in Advent: The Question of John the Baptist

When John the Baptist heard in prison of the works of the Christ, he sent his disciples to Jesus with this question, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?”

Jesus said to them in reply,“Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them. And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.”

As they were going off, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John,“What did you go out to the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind? Then what did you go out to see? Someone dressed in fine clothing? Those who wear fine clothing are in royal palaces. Then why did you go out? To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written: Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way before you. Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”

The question that John the Baptist had his disciples ask was not an insignificant one. But why did John the Baptist have his disciples ask it? Did it mean that John the Baptist had doubt that Jesus was who he said he was? Or did he somehow forget that Jesus was the same person he had baptized not long before?

Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. John tried to prevent him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me? Jesus said to him in reply, "Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he allowed him. Matthew 3:13-15.

To answer the question of why John had his disciples act in such a manner, one first needs to understand the situation which was taking place at the time. John had already been imprisoned by Herod Antipas (Tetrarch--"ruler of a quarter"--of Galilee and son of the infamous King Herod the Great who ordered the slaughter of the Holy Innocents). Antipas had imprisoned John because John had denounced Antipas' marriage to Herodias, who had previously been married to Antipas' half-brother, Herod Philip. John's denouncing of Antipas' marriage to Herodias struck a chord with the Jewish population, not only because the marriage was seen as being contrary to Jewish law but also because there were signs of God's displeasure with the union.

Antipas' first wife, Phasaelis, was the daughter of King Aretas. Antipas and Phasaelis had been married for a number of years when Antipas when to Rome and stayed with his half-brother Philip. While Antipas was there, he fell in love with Philip's wife, Herodias. Herodias agreed to divorce Philip, leave Rome and marry Antipas only if he agreed to divorce Phasaelis.

Antipas returned home but unbeknownst to him, his wife Phasaelis had learned of his plan to divorce her. Upon his return, Phasaelis convinced Antipas to let her go to Machaerus, a fortified hilltop palace Antipas had built on the edge of the Dead Sea and on the border of territory of Antipas and her father Aretas. Once she had left, she instead went directly to her father and told him what Antipas was planning to do, which caused Aretas to raise his army and began a war with Antipas. Ultimately, Antipas' army was destroyed. Adding insult to injury, much of the reason for the loss was due to the assistance of individuals sympathetic to his half-brother Philip. This prompted Antipas to write and complaint to Tiberius, the Roman Emperor, who in turn wrote to his general in Syria to destroy Aretas' army and either capture him alive or send Tiberius Areta's head.

As noted by the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus in Chapter 5 of The Antiquities of the Jews:

Now some of the Jews thought that the destruction of Herod's army came from God, and that very justly, as a punishment of what he did against John, that was called the Baptist: for Herod slew him, who was a good man, and commanded the Jews to exercise virtue, both as to
righteousness towards one another, and piety towards God, and so to come to baptism; for that the washing [with water] would be acceptable to him, if they made use of it, not in order to the putting away [or the remission] of some sins [only], but for the purification of the body;
supposing still that the soul was thoroughly purified beforehand by righteousness.

Now when [many] others came in crowds about him, for they were very greatly moved [or pleased] by hearing his words, Herod, who feared lest the great influence John had over the people might put it into his power and inclination to raise a rebellion, [for they seemed ready to do any thing he should advise,] thought it best, by putting him to death, to prevent any mischief he might cause, and not bring himself into difficulties, by sparing a man who might make him repent of it when it would be too late. Accordingly he was sent a prisoner, out of Herod's suspicious temper, to Macherus, the castle I before mentioned, and was there put to death. Now the Jews had an opinion that the destruction of this army was sent as a punishment upon Herod, and a mark of God's displeasure to him.

It was during this time of his imprisonment at Machaerus, that John sent his disciples to Jesus to ask him the question. "When John the Baptist heard in prison of the works of the Christ, he sent his disciples to Jesus with this question, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?”"

A footnote to the verse in the New American Bible explains that the question probably expresses a doubt of the Baptist that Jesus is the one who is to come because his mission has not been one of fiery judgment as John had expected. Even Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, in Life of Christ (p. 128) remarks that:

For months John was kept in the dark dungeon of Machaerus. Did this enforced inactivity cause him to doubt the Messiah and Lamb of God of Whom he had spoken? Did his faith waver a little in the darkness of the dungeon? Perhaps he was impatiently longing for God to punish those who had refused to receive His message.

I think that John had his disciples ask Jesus the question not for his own benefit, but for their own. This is evident in the second part of the question:  or should we look for another? As disciples, their very nature is to follow someone. They were following John, who himself was insistent that the one who is coming after him is mightier than he was. (See last Sunday's gospel). Even shortly before his death, John continued to carry out his mission by pointing to the coming of the Lord.