Church Fathers Commentary Matthew 11:2-6

"Now when John heard in the prison the works of the Christ, he sent by his disciples and said unto him, Art thou he that cometh, or look we for another? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and tell John the things which ye hear and see: the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good tidings preached to them. And blessed is he, whosoever shall find no occasion of stumbling in me." — Matthew 11:2-6 (ASV)

Glossa Ordinaria: The Evangelist had shown above how Christ's miracles and teaching instructed both His disciples and the multitudes. He now shows how this instruction reached even John's disciples, so that they seemed to have some jealousy toward Christ. John, when he had heard in his bonds of the works of Christ, sent two of his disciples to say to him, Art thou he that should come, or look we for another? ¹

St. Gregory the Great: We must inquire how John—who is a prophet and more than a prophet, who made the Lord known when He came to be baptized, saying, Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the world!—would, after being cast into prison, send his disciples to ask, Art thou he that should come, or look we for another? ²

Did he not know Him whom he had pointed out to others? Or was he uncertain whether this was He, whom by foretelling, by baptizing, and by making known, he had proclaimed to be He?

St. Ambrose of Milan, Ambros., in Luc 7:19: Some understand it this way: It was a great thing that John was enough of a prophet to acknowledge Christ and to preach the remission of sins. But, like a pious prophet, he could not think that He whom he had believed to be the One who was to come was to suffer death. He doubted, therefore, not in faith, but in love. So Peter also doubted, saying, This be far from thee, Lord; this shall not be unto thee (Matthew 16:22).

St. John Chrysostom: But this seems hardly reasonable. For John was not ignorant of His death, but was the first to preach it, saying, Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the world. By calling Him the Lamb, he plainly reveals the Cross, for in no other way than by the Cross did He take away the sins of the world. Also, how is he a greater prophet than others if he did not know those things which all the prophets knew? For Isaiah says, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter (Isaiah 53:7).

St. Gregory the Great: This question may be answered better if we consider the order of events. At the waters of the Jordan, he had affirmed that this was the Redeemer of the world. After he was thrown into prison, he inquires if this was the One who was to come—not because he doubted that this was the Redeemer, but because he asks to know whether He who had come into the world in His own person would also descend in His own person to the world below.

St. Jerome: Therefore, he frames his question this way: Art thou he that is to come? Not, Art Thou He that hast come? The meaning is, “Direct me, since I am about to go down into the lower parts of the earth, whether I should also announce You to the spirits beneath; or whether You, as the Son of God, will not taste death but will send another to this sacrament?”

St. John Chrysostom: But is this a more reasonable explanation than the other? For why, then, did he not say, “Are you the One coming to the world beneath?” and not simply, Art thou he that is to come?

And the reason for his seeking to know—namely, that he might preach Him there—is ridiculous. For the present life is the time of grace; after death come judgment and punishment. Therefore, there was no need of a forerunner there. Again, if unbelievers who came to believe after death were to be saved, then no one would perish; all would then repent and worship, for every knee shall bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth (Philippians 2:10).

Glossa Ordinaria: It should be noted, however, that St. Jerome and St. Gregory the Great did not say that John was to proclaim Christ's coming to the world beneath so that the unbelievers there might be converted to the faith, but so that the righteous who waited in expectation of Christ would be comforted by His near approach. ³

St. Hilary of Poitiers: It is indeed certain that a man who, as a forerunner, proclaimed Christ's coming; as a prophet, knew Him when He stood before him; and as a Confessor, worshiped Him when He came to him, could not fall into error from such abundant knowledge. Nor can it be believed that the grace of the Holy Spirit failed him when he was thrown into prison, since the Spirit would later minister the light of His power to the Apostles when they were in prison.

St. Jerome: Therefore, he does not ask because he himself was ignorant. Rather, just as the Savior asks where Lazarus is buriedⁱ so that those who showed Him the tomb might be prepared for faith and believe that the dead was truly raised again, so John, about to be put to death by Herod, sends his disciples to Christ so that by this opportunity of seeing His signs and wonders, they might believe in Him and thus learn through their master's inquiry.

John's disciples had some bitterness and jealousy toward the Lord, as their former inquiry showed: “Why do you and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?”

St. John Chrysostom: While John was with them, he kept them rightly convinced concerning Christ. But as he was going to die, he became more concerned for them. He feared that he might leave his disciples prey to some destructive doctrine and that they would remain separate from Christ, to whom he had been careful to bring all his followers from the beginning.

If he had said, “Depart from me, for He is better than I am,” he would not have persuaded them, as they would have supposed he spoke from humility—an opinion that would have drawn them even more closely to him. What, then, does he do? He waits to hear from them that Christ is working miracles.

He did not send all of them, but only two (whom he perhaps chose as more ready to believe than the rest), so that the reason for his inquiry would be unsuspected. He also sent them so that from the very things they would see, they might understand the difference between him and Jesus.

St. Hilary of Poitiers: John, then, is providing not for his own ignorance, but for his disciples'. He sent them to see Christ's works so that they would know it was no other whom he had proclaimed. He sent them so the works themselves would establish what John had spoken, ensuring they would not look for any other Christ than the One to whom His works had borne testimony.

St. John Chrysostom: So also Christ, knowing John's mind, did not say, “I am He.” In this way, He would have put an obstacle before those who heard Him, who would have at least thought to themselves, if they did not say it aloud, what the Jews said to Christ: You bear witness of yourself (John 6:13).

Therefore, He wanted them to learn from His miracles, and so He presented His teaching to them more clearly and without suspicion, for the testimony of deeds is stronger than the testimony of words. He immediately healed a number of blind, lame, and many others—not for the sake of John, who already knew, but for the others who doubted. As it is written: And Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and tell John what you have heard and seen; The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the Gospel preached to them.

St. Jerome: This last point is no less important than the first. Understand it as if it had been said, “Even the poor,” so that between the noble and the lowly, the rich and the poor, there is no difference in the preaching. This demonstrates the integrity of the master and the truth of the teacher: that in His sight, everyone who can be saved is equal.

St. John Chrysostom: The words, And blessed is he who shall not be offended in me, are directed at the messengers; they were the ones offended in Him. But He, not publicizing their doubts and leaving it to their own conscience, privately introduced a refutation of them.

St. Hilary of Poitiers: This saying—that blessed are those who would not be offended in Him—showed the disciples what John had guarded against by sending them. For John, fearing this very thing, had sent his disciples so that they might hear Christ.

St. Gregory the Great: Alternatively, the minds of unbelievers were greatly offended by Christ because after He performed many miracles, they saw Him finally put to death. This is why Paul says, We preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumblingblock (1 Corinthians 1:23). ⁴

What, then, does Blessed is he who shall not be offended in me mean, if not a direct allusion to the humiliation of His death? It is as if to say, “I do indeed perform wonderful works, but I do not disdain to suffer humble things. Therefore, because I too will die, people must be careful not to despise My death in Me, even as they revere My wonderful works.”

St. Hilary of Poitiers: In these events concerning John, there is a deep store of mystical meaning. The very condition and circumstances of a prophet are themselves a prophecy.

John signifies the Law, for the Law proclaimed Christ, preaching the remission of sins and promising the kingdom of heaven. When the Law was on the point of expiring—having been, through the sins of the people which hindered them from understanding what it spoke of Christ, shut up as it were in bonds and prison—it sends people to the contemplation of the Gospel, so that unbelief might see the truth of the Law's words established by the Gospel's deeds.

St. Ambrose of Milan: And perhaps the two disciples who were sent represent two peoples: the Jews, and the Gentiles who believed.

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2. Hom in Ev. vi. 1
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4. Hom in Ev., vi. 1