Was St. John the Baptist Senile?
Q. Matthew 3:14 quotes St. John the Baptist saying to Jesus, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?” This seems to indicate that John knows who Jesus is and is paving the way for Jesus by his preaching. John 1:29–30 also quotes John saying, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. He is the one of whom I said, ‘A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me.’” This seems to indicate that John certainly recognized Jesus. However, Matthew 11:3 quotes John asking Jesus, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” Is John suffering from senility? Is there an explanation for how, at the time of Jesus’ baptism, he so clearly identified Christ and his own role in Christ’s mission, yet in prison he has no clue as to who Christ is? My commentary has nothing to say about this. — R.B., via email A. Here’s a reply from TCA columnist Father Ray Ryland, Ph.D., J.D.: We may assume at the outset that when John the Baptist sent questione
