John the Baptist was sent by God as a witness to Jesus and to prepare the way for His coming to the Jewish people. Paul spoke later of the Baptist’s ministry, “John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.” John bore a strong witness to the truths that Jesus was both the Lamb of God and the Son of God or Messiah (John 1:29-34), but later began to have doubts about the identity of Jesus as the Christ (Matthew 11:1-6).
While in prison, John sent two of his disciples to ask Jesus, “Are You the Coming One or do we look for another?” Perhaps, John like many in Israel looked for a Messiah Who would throw off the yoke of Rome, bring judgment upon the unrighteous, and restore the kingdom to Israel. But at His first advent, Jesus had come only to inaugurate the kingdom of God, and to begin gathering into it those who believed in Him. Jesus also demonstrated that He had the authority and power to bring about the conditions that will prevail upon the earth when He comes the second time to consummate that kingdom. He alluded to a prophecy of the consummated kingdom in the answer He sent back to John (Isaiah 35:5-6). Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them (Matthew 11:4-5).
We like John may experience hard times and even have doubts. But also, like John we can have our faith in Christ strengthened through the Scriptures!