Luke 7:18-35
Text: Luke 7:18-35
Verses 18-20
Luke 3:20 lets us know that John the Baptist (not John the apostle) was in prison at this time. He must have had a loyal following for his disciples to report to him in prison and send questions out to other people from him.
Verses 18-20 are a little bit sad to think about. It looks like things had turned out not quite like John was expecting. He was the forerunner to the Messiah, but now here he was in prison and the kingdom hadn’t come yet. Not but a few months to a year ago, John saw Jesus approaching and said “behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!” Jesus was baptized and a dove descended upon Him and a voice from heaven declared Him to be the Son of God.
But here we are sometime later. There is still no kingdom on earth. And now John is in prison. It looks like the certainty that John once had about Jesus has given way to confusion over time.
Application:
I think most of us can probably relate to what John is going through here. We can relate to how trying periods of waiting and hard circumstances can be for our faith. It really doesn’t take a lot of waiting or very difficult circumstances for most of us to begin to have our doubts about something.
Sometimes we wait for a long time suffering from an illness, and we don’t know why.
Sometimes we wait for a stressful situation to go away and it doesn’t, and we don’t know why.
Sometimes we pray for the salvation of a loved one for a long time, and nothing seems to come of it, and we don’t know why.
Many Christians over the centuries have faced imprisonment as John did, and that can be hard.
Jenni and I expected our home to sell by now – and well, we do know part of why that is! We have a new realtor now and I’ll let you figure it out from there. But still, such a situation can be trying for a person’s faith.
A lot of people had their doubts about Jesus. I think a big part of that came down to the expectations they had developed for the Messiah. To them, the Messiah meant that an earthly kingdom was going to be established on the earth with Jerusalem as its capitol.
But months went by, and then a year, and then another year, and another year. At one point, in John 7:4 Jesus’ brothers said to Him “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” For not even his brothers believe in him. Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come…”
They wanted Jesus to go into the heartland of Israel and show Himself there to be the Messiah, but He wouldn’t do it, and they didn’t know why.
And Jesus said some very unexpected things – He told people they had to eat His flesh and drink His blood to have eternal life. That one really didn’t go over very well with most people.
Well, there are still years left to go in Jesus’ ministry on the earth, but already John is beginning to wonder if Jesus is the one who is to come or if they should look for another. Things just aren’t quite turning out how he originally expected them to.
Link: And then Jesus responds to John’s question. But he doesn’t really answer the question. Not directly at least. Jesus loved to choose more interesting and memorable methods of answering questions.
Verses 21-23
It looks as though, initially, Jesus actually chose not to answer the question. Instead, He had them stay around for an hour during which He healed many people of diseases, plagues, and evil spirits. He also restored sight to the blind.
After He performed many awesome miracles, He then gave them an answer: he says, Go and tell John about all that you have heard and seen. All of the awesome miracles and good works. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.
As I’ve said many times, Jesus authenticated His message with His miracles and He does so here too. He did and showed all of these things to authenticate what is His real answer in verse 23. He says “blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
The Greek word behind “offended” there is σκανδαλιζω. Skandalizo, from which the English word “scandal” is ultimately derived. As happens as languages evolve, the English word scandal today doesn’t quite mean the same thing that skandalizo did long ago, but it’s very close. Skandalizo means to stumble, to be shocked, to be offended, to feel repugnance. See the similarity? The fact that Jesus did not mesh with people’s expectations of the Messiah, did and said unexpected things, caused them to wait, and then He ultimately was murdered on a cross – people could and very often were shocked, offended, repulsed, and stumbled over Jesus, His ways, and His teachings.
But He reminds John and His disciples first by His actions and says, Hey, look: you are seeing blind people receive their sight again, lame people are now walking again, people with leprosy are being cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life again, and poor people are hearing good news. This is all good. This is all very good. You know this. Maybe things aren’t working out how you expected, but don’t be offended by Me. The one who is not offended by Me is blessed.
Application:
And that’s often the answer we must consider when we have our periods of waiting, trials, and doubts. Often we won’t ever have an answer on the earth for why things don’t work out just how we expected them to. But perhaps that is just it – God isn’t under our control and our understanding is pretty limited. Pastors are no exception, John the Baptist even is no exception. Sometimes things don’t line up with our expectations – but Jesus says “good and awesome things are happening – you know and have seen it. Blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
Link: Still on the subject of expectations, Jesus begins to tell people about John the Baptist.
Verses 24-26
The people who went out to see John the Baptist were going out to see a prophet. As you recall, John lived in the wilderness and wore camel’s hair. They knew they weren’t going out to see a refined and wealthy nobleman. If you want to see one of those, you go to the kings’ courts to find them. Plenty of people in nice clothing there. And nobody travels way out into the wilderness just to observe reeds being moved about by the wind – this could be a reference to literal reeds being moved by literal wind, or it could be a reference to a mentally unstable person. But either way it applies – people don’t go out into the wilderness to watch reeds move in the wind or to be around a crazy person.
Link: They went out there to see a prophet. That was their expectation. But what they found was someone who was even more than a prophet. Jesus tells them:
Verses 27-28
John the Baptist was the promised forerunner – the one who would go before the Messiah and prepare the way for the Messiah’s path. John gathered many disciples Himself, but then turned them over to Jesus saying “He must increase, and I must decrease.” John was a prophet, but he was even more than one. As far as human birth goes, John the Baptist was the greatest to have ever been born, humanly speaking. Naturally, that does exclude Jesus who is greater still than John. But humanly speaking, John the Baptist was above all the other humans.
But as far as the kingdom of God goes, which is made up of those who are born again by the Spirit of God, the least of those born again by the Spirit of God is greater than John – reckoned according to the flesh.
Verses 29-30
This declaration by Jesus elicits two very different responses. Those who had received John’s baptism of repentance declared God just in this. And notice who is associated among these people – tax collectors. Tax collectors in the people’s thought at the time basically represented the worst thing. As far as things go humanly speaking, tax collectors were the worst. And yet, they had repented of their sins and placed their faith in the Messiah to come. That meant they were going to be a part of the kingdom of God. They would be greater than John.
And then on the other hand you had the Pharisees and the lawyers. In the thought of the day, they were the very best. They were the best “among those born of women.” Best according to physical birth. But they had rejected the purpose of God for themselves. They had refused John’s baptism of repentance. They did not repent of their sins and would not become a part of the kingdom of God.
The people and the tax collectors were not offended by Jesus. They had their faith in Jesus. They would be blessed and the least of them would become something greater than John currently was in the kingdom of God.
But the Pharisees and the lawyers were offended by Jesus. They didn’t think they needed to repent and they certainly didn’t think they needed Jesus. They rejected the purpose of God for themselves and would not be blessed.
Link: Jesus says “blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
Application:
Things might not work out the way you think they ought to or how you expect. The tax collectors, prostitutes, and sinners will inherit the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God isn’t here yet but will come in the afterlife. This might not fit how you think things ought to be, but Jesus heals the sick, gives sight to the blind, raises the dead back to life – He is clearly good and He clearly has authoritative power. Blessed is the one who is not offended by Him. Don’t be like the Pharisees and lawyers and reject God’s purposes for yourself. Come to Jesus in faith and become a part of the kingdom of God.
Link: Jesus elaborates on the problem of people’s expectations. There is a heart problem there. They aren’t recognizing the good and their hearts are closed to Jesus. Jesus says:
Verses 31-32
Jesus gets right at the heart of the problem here and you can bet it did and will offend. He says “you people are like children who are playing the flue and demanding I dance, singing dirges and demanding I weep.”
Hey, Jesus, I’m playing the flute, why aren’t you dancing? I’m singing a dirge, why aren’t you weeping?
You know why Jesus doesn’t dance when you play the flute and why he doesn’t weep when you sing a dirge? Because He’s not a Genie and neither is the Son of God obligated to obey the whims of children.
Ouch. Boy that smarts. I think all of us in here can probably remember times where we said to Jesus “Hey, Jesus, I did this but you didn’t do the right thing. And I did this, but again you didn’t do the right thing.” Jesus says “I’m not a Genie and I’m not obligated to obey your whims.” I don’t know about you, but I know I’m convicted about that. We have entirely the wrong idea if we think that Jesus is ours to command. To do that is to behave like a child.
I could say “Hey, Jesus, you know I’ve been very good and trying to serve you here in Bourbon, Indiana. How come you haven’t sold my house yet?” To which Jesus replies. “Aaron. I command the dead to arise and the dead obey me. I am not obligated to sell your home at your command. But, know that the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the dead are raised to life again, and blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
To which I must say. Yes, Lord. You are good. I will trust you to work your perfect will according to your perfect plan and in your perfect time. I am sorry I overstepped my bounds.
Link: He elaborates on the problem of these unrealistic expectations in verses 33-35, He says:
Verses 33-35
Here we really see the problem is the heart. It doesn’t matter, in the end, what Jesus does if our heart is in the wrong place. The Pharisees and lawyers hearts were in the wrong place. And so when John the Baptist came along and he practiced a very strict diet of eating no bread at all and not drinking even the least bit of wine – the people said “He has a demon. He’s a demonic person to restrict his diet so.”
And then Jesus comes along and does the opposite. Jesus eats and drinks and has a much less strict approach to His dietary habits and also He is less strict about the people that He spends time with. But do the Pharisees and lawyers declare Him just? Nope. They say “Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!”
This is a fundamental problem with the human heart. We all do this from time to time. We are very aware when other people do it to us, but it is very hard for us to see when we do this to other people. And people do this to Jesus all the time.
If you’ve spent much time evangelizing or talking to unbelievers about why they won’t come to Jesus it shifts and moves. It’s not really about the eating and drinking or not eating and not drinking, is it? The people have already determined to reject Jesus and it’s just a convenient target for criticism. As soon as that gripe is addressed, a new one comes up
“Oh, you mean Jesus doesn’t eat and drink? Well then He must have a demon.”
“Wait, so Jesus eats and drinks? Well then He is a glutton and a drunkard.”
“Oh, so not everyone gets to go to heaven? Well that’s not fair. I think everyone is good and should go to heaven.”
“Oh, so people get to go to heaven just based on faith? Well that’s not fair. I think people should have to earn their way to heaven. It’s not fair that murderers will be there.”
And Jesus says “You can sing as many dirges as you want to, but I’m not going to weep.”
Of course, people like the Pharisees and lawyers are hard to combat and impossible to satisfy, but wisdom is justified by all her children. Jesus’ wisdom and the truth of His statements and teachings are shown to be just by the lives of those who adopt it.
Those who follow Jesus, those who listen to Jesus’ wisdom, have their lives and hearts transformed. They try to do good things. They try to live just lives. They try to walk in wisdom. They try to avoid this kind of behavior described here.
And that Jesus’ ways are wise is proven by those who adopt them. Those who adopt the ways of the Pharisees and lawyers become hypocrites with double and triple standards and are, in the end, shown to be like children in the marketplace.