Why Did John The Baptist Ask Yeshua If He Was The Messiah

When John the Baptist was in prison awaiting his execution he sent some of his disciples to ask Yeshua a question: “Are You the one who is to come or should we expect another?” Matt. 11:3

Did you ever wonder why John the Baptist did this?

John the Baptist had spent time with the Essenes and they belived in two Messiahs. The Essenes lived in Qumron near the Dead Sea when Yeshua was on Earth. They did not understand the notion of two messianic missions performed by the same God man. The Essenes mistakenly thought that the scriptures spoke of two Messiahs. The first Messiah would come and conquer sin and the second Messiah would come and restore Israel.

To the Essenes Messiah ben Yosef (son of

Joseph) was foreshadowed in the life of Jacob’s son Joseph. There are numerous events in the life of Joseph that are clear models of Yeshua’s first advent.

The Essenes other Messiah was ben Dovid, (son of David) the model of the 2nd Coming prophecies. So Messiah ben Joseph would be the suffering servant and Messiah ben Dovid the conquering King.

The key word in Matt. 11:3 is “another”. It has two meanings in Greek. One means another of the same kind and the other means another of a different kind. It is the second word that John used. John was asking Yeshua to solve the mystery of the two messiahs. John’s real question to Yeshua was “Are you the only messiah who is to come or should we also expect another messiah, different from you?

Yeshua responded in Matt. 11:4-6 with miracles He had performed. Some of His miracles linked Yeshua to prophecies of the first messiah and others to the second one. Yeshua was telling John and the Essenes He was the only Mesiah.

Now do not misunderstand, John knew Yeshua was the only one. John asked Yeshua to clarify this for the benefit of the Essenes.

As for “End Times” I believe it is more likely the Jews will see the anti-christ as messiah ben Dovid, the one who conquers their enemies and brings them peace. I say this because one of the most frequent reasons the Jewish people give for not accepting Yeshua as their Messiah is that He did not fulfill any of the prophecies that we associate with  the second coming. At least in the beginning of "End Times" the anti-christ will act like ben Dovid.