Charles Ellicott Commentary Matthew 11:3

"and said unto him, Art thou he that cometh, or look we for another?" — Matthew 11:3 (ASV)

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?"