Why John the baptist doubted Jesus?

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It remains a mystery to me as to why John the baptist doubted whether Jesus was indeed the redeemer to come (M11-3,L7-20) even after witnessing the holy spirit coming down on Jesus and hearing the voice from heaven cofirming that Jesus is the son of God(M3-16&17) ? Any clear cut answers or it remains a mystery ?
 
It remains a mystery to me as to why John the baptist doubted whether Jesus was indeed the redeemer to come (M11-3,L7-20) even after witnessing the holy spirit coming down on Jesus and hearing the voice from heaven cofirming that Jesus is the son of God(M3-16&17) ? Any clear cut answers or it remains a mystery ?
The advent of Redeemers just aren’t everyday occurrences you know :), and controversy and misunderstanding existed over the very nature of the messiah’s coming to begin with. Jesus had to prove Himself. John, as with the later disciples at times and even ourselves today, had to digest and sort things out.To be honest, it was and is a lot to deal with for a mere human being.
 
It remains a mystery to me as to why John the baptist doubted whether Jesus was indeed the redeemer to come (M11-3,L7-20) even after witnessing the holy spirit coming down on Jesus and hearing the voice from heaven cofirming that Jesus is the son of God(M3-16&17) ? Any clear cut answers or it remains a mystery ?
Maybe he like the Apostles thought the Messiah was supposed to reestablish the Kingdom of Israel ?

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Israel_(united_monarchy
 
The advent of Redeemers just aren’t everyday occurrences you know :), and controversy and misunderstanding existed over the very nature of the messiah’s coming to begin with. Jesus had to prove Himself. John, as with the later disciples at times and even ourselves today, had to digest and sort things out.To be honest, it was and is a lot to deal with for a mere human being.
About the true identity of Jesus,it was John the baptist who got the unmistakable and positive proof from heaven itself at the time of his baptism.Even then he doubted.My thinking is what then about the ordinary people of that time and also of now ?
 
About the true identity of Jesus,it was John the baptist who got the unmistakable and positive proof from heaven itself at the time of his baptism.Even then he doubted.My thinking is what then about the ordinary people of that time and also of now ?
Now we have the Church, which has had much time to ponder, digest, and clarify the revelation given, even as this is an ongoing process. We still, as individuals, must come to an understanding of it all for ourselves, but we, too, are aided by the HS in various ways. In any case God simply does not completely overwhelm our faculties, but rather *draws *us towards a recognition of the truth, of Himself. We already sort of know it, having been created in His image, and justice, apparently, demands that humans should recognize true divinity when confronted with it. But it takes time to overcome doubt, ignorance, pride, the state of being lost, the overall consequences of original sin. JMO
 
It remains a mystery to me as to why John the baptist doubted whether Jesus was indeed the redeemer to come (M11-3,L7-20) even after witnessing the holy spirit coming down on Jesus and hearing the voice from heaven cofirming that Jesus is the son of God(M3-16&17) ? Any clear cut answers or it remains a mystery ?
John the Baptist NEVER doubted that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. The verses you are quoting refer to John helping his OWN disciples come to the fullness of FAith in Jesus. His way of doing it is as you see in those verses. IOW, he tells them, go ask Him yourself if He is the One. Jesus replies to them AS IF it were a question from the Baptist, BUT AGAIN, he is telling them these things for THEIR OWN benefit, not John the Baptists.

John the Baptist was THE PROPHET, whose duty was to point out Jesus as the expected One, and the Messiah. That is why we see several different ways in the Bible whereby he Pointed Out Jesus for everyone, and just his own disciples as well.

Clear your mind of any doubts. John the Baptist KNEW when he saw the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove come and rest on Jesus. John the Baptist was already fairly certain BEFORE he baptized Jesus, which is why he protested that it was Jesus who should be baptizing him!
 
I don’t know if he doubted as much as he wanted to be sure. Or maybe he already was sure, but wanted Jesus to confirm it for the benefit of his (John’s) followers. Many thought that John was the messiah (and still do actually!) and this may have been a confirmation to pass the torch on to Jesus.
 
It remains a mystery to me as to why John the baptist doubted whether Jesus was indeed the redeemer to come (M11-3,L7-20) even after witnessing the holy spirit coming down on Jesus and hearing the voice from heaven cofirming that Jesus is the son of God(M3-16&17) ? Any clear cut answers or it remains a mystery ?
He was human. It is possible that he knew that King Herod was going to eventually kill him and wanted to hear from Jesus. He also knew that he would decrease and that his disciples would leave him and follow Jesus. He accepted this, but still, it must have been a sad time and difficult time for him.

Even when we know something, it is important to hear, “Yes, you are right and I am right here beside you.”
 
John the Baptist NEVER doubted that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. The verses you are quoting refer to John helping his OWN disciples come to the fullness of FAith in Jesus. His way of doing it is as you see in those verses. IOW, he tells them, go ask Him yourself if He is the One. Jesus replies to them AS IF it were a question from the Baptist, BUT AGAIN, he is telling them these things for THEIR OWN benefit, not John the Baptists.

John the Baptist was THE PROPHET, whose duty was to point out Jesus as the expected One, and the Messiah. That is why we see several different ways in the Bible whereby he Pointed Out Jesus for everyone, and just his own disciples as well.

Clear your mind of any doubts. John the Baptist KNEW when he saw the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove come and rest on Jesus. John the Baptist was already fairly certain BEFORE he baptized Jesus, which is why he protested that it was Jesus who should be baptizing him!
Yes…he sent his disciples on a, “don’t just take it from me, ask him, yourselves” quest.
 
Yes…he sent his disciples on a, “don’t just take it from me, ask him, yourselves” quest.
He may have been releasing his disciples to Jesus. He knew that his job was done and may have wanted to give his disciple a way of becoming followers of Jesus.
 
Because JB was in prison, and probably his soul was reminding him that his end was at hand; and the Kingdom was nowhere to be seen. To doubt in this situation is human.

ICXC NIKA
 
The two posts above(6&7) opine that ,John was already covinced but it was for the benefit of his followers to convince themselves.A possible argument but quite weak.The verses are very clear to the effect that they were sent for John also to be sure that nobody else need be expected further .Moreover Jesus tells them to convey to John what they are seeing and not that they may get convinced.
Any how it is mysterious, surprising, and unbelievable that the doubt came from none other than John whose mission was to prepare the way for Jesus and who witnessed the proof also.
 
John the Baptist NEVER doubted that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. The verses you are quoting refer to John helping his OWN disciples come to the fullness of FAith in Jesus. His way of doing it is as you see in those verses. IOW, he tells them, go ask Him yourself if He is the One. Jesus replies to them AS IF it were a question from the Baptist, BUT AGAIN, he is telling them these things for THEIR OWN benefit, not John the Baptists.

John the Baptist was THE PROPHET, whose duty was to point out Jesus as the expected One, and the Messiah. That is why we see several different ways in the Bible whereby he Pointed Out Jesus for everyone, and just his own disciples as well.

Clear your mind of any doubts. John the Baptist KNEW when he saw the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove come and rest on Jesus. John the Baptist was already fairly certain BEFORE he baptized Jesus, which is why he protested that it was Jesus who should be baptizing him!
Absolutely correct. 👍 It was the disciples who doubted, not St John the Baptist. He sent them to meet Christ so that “they could see for themselves”, to use a common phrase. Passages like John 1, Mark 1, and “I must diminish, but He must increase” clearly indicate that St John the Baptist, who came “in the spirit of Elijah” (Luke 1), make it impossible to consider that he was the one doing the doubting. (Let’s not forget that even after the Resurrection, there were some who still doubted; Mark 16. :o)
 
Absolutely correct. 👍 It was the disciples who doubted, not St John the Baptist. He sent them to meet Christ so that “they could see for themselves”, to use a common phrase. Passages like John 1, Mark 1, and “I must diminish, but He must increase” clearly indicate that St John the Baptist, who came “in the spirit of Elijah” (Luke 1), make it impossible to consider that he was the one doing the doubting. (Let’s not forget that even after the Resurrection, there were some who still doubted; Mark 16. :o)
Eh. Matthew tells us that John heard the works of the Christ in prison and then sent his followers to Jesus. Jesus’ answer is directed to John.
 
No biblical theology or magistratium can overrule or twist the clear cut meaning of the scripture verses.If ,in this case,there is any theology or magistratium to the effect that the enquiry was not for John himself to get convinced or that Jesus reply was not meant for it, be assured that the holy spirit will cause them to be corrected.
 
I think it was a dark time for John - he was in prison, facing death, and I think he was just seeking confirmation that what he believed was, indeed, true; to know that all he had done was not in vain.

He was human; I think we all seek confirmation in our dark times.
 
No biblical theology or magistratium can overrule or twist the clear cut meaning of the scripture verses.If ,in this case,there is any theology or magistratium to the effect that the enquiry was not for John himself to get convinced or that Jesus reply was not meant for it, be assured that the holy spirit will cause them to be corrected.
The Holy Spirit is not going to correct something that needs no correction just to cater to those who have a faulty biblical exegesis.

We KNOW that St. John the Baptist was the greatest prophet by the lips of Jesus Himself. There was never any doubt in him about Jesus being the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. You can’t take one verse; isolate it; and say because of the way it is worded when isolated from all the other texts, it can only mean such and such. That is not how we read the Bible.
 
It remains a mystery to me as to why John the baptist doubted whether Jesus was indeed the redeemer to come (M11-3,L7-20) even after witnessing the holy spirit coming down on Jesus and hearing the voice from heaven cofirming that Jesus is the son of God(M3-16&17) ? Any clear cut answers or it remains a mystery ?
At the time John was in prison and he wanted to get out of prison. He thought Jesus would rescue him from prison. But instead Jesus makes John bear his own cross.
 
No biblical theology or magistratium can overrule or twist the clear cut meaning of the scripture verses.If ,in this case,there is any theology or magistratium to the effect that the enquiry was not for John himself to get convinced or that Jesus reply was not meant for it, be assured that the holy spirit will cause them to be corrected.
First of all, it’s “Magisterium” and not “Magistratium” (hmm, sounds like a good name for a heavy metal band :))

Second, reading the Bible “literally” without an understanding of what the Church and the Church Fathers have taught is fraught with dangers. Does Jesus want us to hate our parents (Luke 14)? Does God predestine people to damnation (Romans 9)? Did Mary have other children besides Jesus (Matthew 12)? These few examples illustrate that your approach to this question is erroneous. 😛
 
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