6. This passage seems a bit confusing, given that John had already declared Jesus to be the Messiah upon baptizing him. It could be that, locked up in prison, John had begun to have his doubts, expecting a different type of Messiah, one with a political objective, as did many of the Jews. Still another possibility is that John wished to know whether this Jesus who is doing the miracles was the one whom he had baptized. But the statement "John had heard in prison of the works of Christ" doesn't seem to jive with either interpretation--he was already aware of Christ's growing ministry earlier and his being impressed by the works would lend to the idea that he was convinced of Jesus's Messiahship rather than doubtful. Then, having heard all that Christ had done, he told his disciples to go seek an answer. This would lend credence to another possibility: that John wanted his disciples themselves to see what Christ was doing in order to confirm their faith, given John's own confinement and decreasing role in the work of God.