Charles Ellicott Commentary Matthew 11

He departed from there—that is, from the place where He had sent out the Twelve. Matthew does not tell us where this was, but Matthew 9:36 makes it probable that it was not in Capernaum or any other city, but from some spot in the open country where He had rested with them.

Their return is described, or at least implied, in Matthew 11:25. From this, we must infer that the Baptist’s messengers arrived while Jesus was carrying on His work without the disciples. The phrase Their cities might seem, grammatically, to refer to the towns where the Twelve had been or to which they belonged. However, it is probable that the term was used here as a general reference to the cities of Galilee.

When John had heard in the prison — John's situation in prison was, to a large extent, that of a prisoner treated with respect. Herod himself paid attention to him and gladly listened to him. Herodias had not yet found an opportunity for revenge. His disciples came and went freely. We have already seen some of these disciples present when our Lord was teaching (Matthew 9:14), and they would certainly have heard of such wonders as those narrated in Matthew 8:9.

He himself, in the prison of Machaerus, was languishing with the sickness of hope deferred for the Messianic kingdom he had proclaimed. His disciples reported back what they had seen and heard (Luke 7:18), yet everything continued as before. There was no deliverance for him or for Israel. Under the influence of this disappointment, he sent two of his disciples with the question recorded in the next verse.

Are you the one who is to come? — There are no adequate grounds for assuming, as some have, that the Baptist sent his disciples only to remove their doubts. The question comes from him; the answer is sent to him. We should not distort the plain meaning of the history, despite the difficulty of imagining how doubt could enter the Baptist's mind after the testimony he had given and the reports he had heard.

The meaning of the question is not hard to find. The sickness of deferred hope can turn the full assurance of faith into something like despair. So, in the bitterness of his spirit, Jeremiah had complained that the LORD had deceived him (Jeremiah 20:7).

In the same way, as week after week passed without the kingdom appearing as he expected, the Baptist felt as if the King was deserting the forerunner and herald of His kingdom. The very wonders he heard about made this feeling more grievous, for they seemed to prove that the power was present, leaving him to conclude that the will was lacking. And so he sent his disciples with a question born of impatience rather than doubt: "Are you the coming One of whom the prophets spoke (Psalms 40:7; Psalms 118:26; Malachi 3:1)? If so, why do the wheels of your chariot delay? Are we still to look for another—a different Christ?"

Go and show John again —There is no Greek adverb corresponding to the last word. St. Luke adds that in that same hour Jesus cured many of their infirmities and plagues, and of evil spirits (Luke 7:21), and they were therefore to carry back their report as eyewitnesses.

The blind receive their sight — Apparently, no new facts were stated that might not have already reached John the Baptist. At least one instance of each type of miracle had already been recorded by Matthew: the blind (Matthew 9:27), the lame (Matthew 9:6), the leper (Matthew 8:2), and the dead (Matthew 9:25). The raising of the widow’s son at Nain, which in Luke follows closely after the healing of the centurion’s servant, must also have occurred before the events described here.

What the Baptist needed was not the knowledge of new facts, but a different way of looking at the ones he already knew. These works were signs that the coming One had indeed arrived.

But above all signs and wonders, our Lord reserves another spiritual mark of the kingdom as the last and greatest: Poor men have the good news proclaimed to them. They are invited into the kingdom and told of peace and pardon.

It is as if our Lord knew that the Baptist, whose heart was with the poor, would recognize that One who united such power with tenderness could be none other than the expected King.