ACC ~ Matthew 11 v3

ARE YOU HE WHO IS TO COME?

JEROME: John asks this not because he is ignorant [1] but to guide others who are ignorant and to say to them, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” [2] And he had heard the voice of the Father saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” [3] Rather, it is the same sort of question as when the Savior asked where Lazarus was buried. The people only meant to show him the tomb, but he wanted them to be brought to faith and see the dead man return to life. Similarly, when John was about to be killed by Herod, he sent his disciples to Christ, intending that when they met him, the disciples would observe his appearance and powers and believe in him, and they would tell this to their teacher when he questioned them. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 2.11.3. [4]

[1] These words of John the Baptist suggest that he was unsure of the identity of Jesus, but in the Gospel of John he immediately demonstrates his knowledge of Christ’s superiority. In the following passages various interpretations are proposed that aim to resolve this difficulty.

[2] Jn 1:29.

[3] Mt 3:17.

[4] CCL 77:77.

FORERUNNER EVEN INTO HELL

GREGORY THE GREAT: It seems almost as if John did not know the one he had pointed out, as if he did not know whether he was the same person he had proclaimed by prophesying, by baptizing, by pointing him out!

We can resolve this question more quickly if we reflect on the time and order of the events. For when John is standing beside the river Jordan, he declares that this is the Redeemer of the world. But when he has been thrown into jail, he asks whether they were to look for another or whether he had come. This is not because he doubts that he is the Redeemer of the world. John now wants to know whether he who had personally come into the world would also descend personally into the courts of hell. For John had preceded Christ into the world and announced him there. He was now dying and preceding him to the nether world. This is the context in which he asks, “Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?” But if he had spoken more fully he might have said, “Since you thought it worthy of yourself to be born for humanity, say whether you will also think it worthy of yourself to die for humanity. In this way I, who have been the herald of your birth, will also be the herald of your death. I will announce your arrival in the nether world as the One who is to come, just as I have already announced it on earth.” FORTY GOSPEL HOMILIES 6.1. [1]

[1] PL 76:1095-96; CS 123:28-29** (Homily 5). Why did John send his disciples to ask a question he was already able to answer? John was rather asking more specifically about whether he was destined to precede Jesus in his ministry into the nether world.