John Asks a Question^(A)

¹⁸ John’s ·followers [disciples] told him about all these things. He called for two of his ·followers [disciples] ¹⁹ and sent them to the Lord to ask, “Are you the ·One who is to come [the Expected One; ^Cthe Messiah], or should we ·wait for [look for; expect] someone else?”

²⁰ When the men came to Jesus, they said, “John the Baptist sent us to you with this question: ‘Are you the ·One who is to come [Expected One], or should we ·wait for [look for; expect] someone else?” ²¹ At that time, Jesus healed many people of their sicknesses, diseases, and ·evil [defiling; ^Lunclean; 4:33] spirits, and he gave sight to many blind people. ²² Then Jesus answered John’s ·followers [disciples], “Go tell John what you saw and heard here. The blind can see, the ·crippled [lame] can walk, and ·people with skin diseases [^Tlepers; see 5:12] are ·healed [^Lcleansed]. The deaf can hear, the dead are raised to life, and the ·Good News [Gospel] is ·preached [announced; proclaimed] to the poor [^Csigns of God’s restoration of creation, predicted by the prophet Isaiah; Is. 29:18–19; 35:5–6; 61:1–2]. ²³ Those who ·do not stumble in their faith [are not offended] because of me are blessed.”

² John the Baptist was in prison, but he heard about ·what Christ was doing [or the deeds/actions of the Messiah]. So John sent some of his ·followers [disciples] to Jesus. ³ They asked him, “Are you the ·One who is to come [Expected One; ^Cthe Messiah], or should we ·wait for [look for; expect] someone else?”

⁴ Jesus answered them, “Go ·tell [report to] John what you hear and see: ⁵ The blind can see, the ·crippled [lame] can walk, and ·people with skin diseases [^Tlepers; see 8:2] are ·healed [^Lcleansed]. The deaf can hear, the dead are raised to life, and the ·Good News [Gospel] is preached to the poor [^Csigns of God’s restoration of creation, predicted by the prophet Isaiah; Is. 29:18–19; 35:5–6; 61:1–2]. ⁶ Those who ·do not stumble in their faith [are not offended] because of me are blessed.”