Luke 7:18-35
Our reading today is from Luke’s
gospel, chapter 7, verses 18 to 35. This may be one of the
longest stretches of verses we’ve encountered in some time. You’ll
see that John the Baptist asked Jesus a question. And if you
ask Jesus a question, you always get more than you bargained for.
And so we’ll take note of that in today’s study of Luke’s gospel. Let us hear from God’s word.
beginning at verse 18 in Luke chapter seven. The disciples
of John reported all these things to him. And John calling two
of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord saying, are
you the one who is to come or shall we look for another? And
when the men had come to him, they said, John the Baptist has
sent us to you saying, are you the one who is to come or shall
we look for another? In that hour, he healed many
people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits. And on many
who were blind, he bestowed sight. And he answered them, go and
tell John what you have seen and heard. The blind received
their sight. The lame walk. Lepers are cleansed
and the deaf hear. The dead are raised up. The poor
have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is
not offended by me. When John’s messengers had gone,
Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John. What did you
go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see?
A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are dressed
in splendid clothing and live in luxury are in king’s courts. What then did you go out to see?
A prophet? Yes, I tell you and more than
a prophet. This is he of whom it is written. Behold, I send my messenger before
your face who will prepare your way before you. I tell you, among
those born of women, none is greater than John. Yet the one
who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. When
all the people heard this. and the tax collectors too, they
declared God just, having been baptized with the baptism of
John. But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose
of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him. To what
then shall I compare the people of this generation and what are
they like? They are like children sitting
in the marketplace and calling to one another. We played the
flute for you and you did not dance. We sang a dirge and you
did not weep. For John the Baptist has come
eating no bread and drinking no wine. And you say he has a
demon. The son of man has come eating
and drinking and you say, look at him, a glutton and a drunkard. and a friend of tax collectors
and sinners, yet wisdom is justified by all her children. Let us pray
together. Lord, this is your word and without
the Holy Spirit, we could not hear it or understand it or believe
it or put it into practice in our lives. So we pray now. As
we rely on you for your grace, your strength, your spirit, give
us eyes to see, ears to hear, hearts that understand, and most
of all, give us hands and feet that are willing to serve you,
not in our own way, but in the way which you expect of us. We pray this in the name of Christ
our Savior. Amen. The Lord’s servants often suffer
for Jesus’ name. If you preach, if you teach,
If you minister and if you serve on behalf of God, whether in
professional ministry or as a layman, as we might distinguish, you
will suffer for Jesus name. Among your own crowd, among other
Christians, being in ministry or ministering to others is very
often a thankless job. But at the hands of wicked leaders,
at the hands of wicked rulers, many Christians do suffer. I was reading just today an account
of our brothers and sisters in the country of China. They are
under great persecution now. Ministers, their families, their
children, they are under great persecution. Not only can they
not worship, but they cannot live normal everyday lives. They are being evicted from their
houses. Their bank accounts are frozen.
They are followed. They are harassed. And they are
discouraged from calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so sometimes being a Christian,
sometimes ministering to others is just that it’s it’s thankless. That’s in our own circles. But
sometimes those around us who do not call on the name of the
Lord, they cause us greater suffering. And here we find in our passage
today that John the Baptist has been picked up by the wicked
Herod. Now, there are a bunch of Herod’s
and I won’t spend the time explaining which one, but John the Baptist
has been picked up and imprisoned by one of the Herod’s who was
active in the land of Palestine. And John, before his death, which
we know of from the Gospels, will spend about two years in
a notorious prison. He’ll be imprisoned in a fortress
up on the top of a mountain, looking down over the Sea of
Galilee. This named prison, the Machairos,
the fortress was dark. It was a daunting prison, a difficult
place. He could receive friends, but
his doom was sure. And we know how the story goes.
John will lose his head. His life will go from one which
was heralded even before his birth, that he would be the great
one, the great prophet. His voice, his ministry, his
words, his life would open the way for King Jesus to come into
this world. and to save sinners, but he would
end his life literally having his head as a party favor for
Herodias, the daughter of the king. She requests, as we know,
at a party, I want the head of John the Baptist on a platter. And sometime before his death,
sometime before that awful event at the hands of these wicked
ones who know not the Lord or esteem his servants. John is
in prison and he gets to wondering about Jesus. He gets to wondering
about who is Jesus? What has he come to do? And has
it been accomplished? His life, his ministry, his accomplishments
are before him. know how it goes. You want to
know, did my work really matter? Some of you are retired. Some
of you maybe did the same thing for a really long time and you
scratch your heads and you wonder, is it worth it? What did I accomplish? Did I mean anything to anyone?
Well, you begin to figure what John is going through here. He’s
got lots of time on his hands, lots of thoughts, lots of doubts,
lots of hardships. He’s heard reports about the
work of Jesus. His disciples have been out there
in the mountainside when Jesus has done his work of the ministry. And they’ve returned to John,
they visited with him. And John says to two of his disciples,
you go and ask Jesus, are you the one who is to come or shall
we look for another? You see the weight of what he’s
asking. Jesus, are you the one or are
you a one? Are you the Messiah or are you
just a Messiah? Are you really Jesus, the full
and final prophet, priest and king of Almighty God? You see
why John was confused, though, for his ministry was one of preaching
repentance. And if you did not repent, judgment
would soon come. And you can imagine John as he’s
sitting in prison, he’s wondering, when will judgment come on Herod? When will judgment come on the
Jewish people who do not believe in Messiah? When will judgment
come on all the wicked around me who keep me imprisoned, who
have me in chains and who hold me unjustly? You see, John was
praying the kingdom prayer before it was ever penned. Before Jesus
even taught it to his disciples, he and his mind and his heart
had been preaching and praying, thy kingdom come. But he thought
it was something different. He thought Jesus should rise
up and in strength and in might, he should overthrow the Romans.
He should get rid of all the sinners and he should usher in
a kingdom of peace and in judgment. But he’s got it backwards. That
comes later. First comes Jesus and his ministry
of helps. His ministry of healing, his
ministry of preaching and being compassionate to those who are
dark and dying and who are caught in the trap and the death of
sin. You know what it is to go through
a crisis. If any of you has some age on you and some emotion in
you, for sure you have had the circumstances of life so overwhelm
you. That maybe you’ve awakened in
the morning and you’ve picked open one eye and you’ve said,
oh, God, if I get out of this bed, it is not going to be good. Life will not go well. In fact,
it cannot go well. And so in our circumstances,
in our weakness, in our humanity, we come to these crisis points
where we need a word from Jesus. or we will despair, we will fall
apart and we’ll wonder, was it worth it all? We’ll wonder, can
Jesus really deliver on his promises? You see, John is in that place
now. He’s in a dark place, a hard
place, a miserable place, a place maybe some of us have been before
in our thoughts and in our emotions and in our circumstances of life.
And where else could Jesus or could John better go? than to
Christ. And he can’t physically go. So
he sends two of his disciples, take my concern to Jesus and
bring me back a word from him. And so that’s what our passage
does for us today. It shows us the word of Jesus
back to John. But there’s not just a word to
John. There’s a word about John. There’s
a word to skeptics, but there’s also a word to each and every
one of us. who need to hear the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ. So first, a word to John. We all know about doubting Thomas.
Remember after Jesus’ death and resurrection, Thomas said, unless
I see your hands and your side and your feet, I won’t believe.
So what did Jesus do? He showed him his hands. He showed
him his sides. He showed him his feet. I think
it’s very interesting as we make our way on Sunday nights through
the book of Revelation, when we get to chapters four and five
and you see into the throne room of Jesus, guess what is there? There’s Jesus and he is a lamb. And the word of God says he is
a lamb looking as though he had been slain. It’s a reminder to us those five
bleeding wounds he bears for us. It’s a reminder he is our
savior. He is our sacrifice. And so we
have doubting Thomas in the gospel, but here’s doubting John. Doubting
John is in the throes of doubt and weakness and languishing
in prison. And he sends his disciples to
Jesus. Are you the one who is to come
or should we expect another? Are my hopes dashed? Have I put
my hopes in something that wasn’t to be? Well, gentle Jesus does
something wonderful for doubting John. He sends his disciples
back to him with a message. And it’s not just a message of
words, but it’s a display of actions which they will bear
witness to. It’s proof that, yes, he is the one and there
is no other to come. He works miracles. He heals.
He restores sight. He cures. He mends what is broken
and bruised and bent and destroyed by the fall of man into sin.
Remember, that’s what Jesus has come for. He’s come to make his
blessings flow as far as the curse is found. And so Jesus works these miracles
and he says to John’s two disciples, now go back and tell him what
you have seen. And you catch the benediction.
Blessed is the one, verse 23 says, who is not offended by
me. What a great message to send
back to John, who is surrounded not only by stone walls and chains,
but he’s surrounded by pagans. who hate the kingdom of our Lord
Jesus Christ. You’re going to face death. You’re going to face persecution.
You’re going to face hardship. And he’s sending a way of grace,
a token of his love for John. Here’s your disciples. And not
only they have a word for you, they have witness, eyewitness
testimony to, yes, I came to do what the prophets said I would
come to do. And I came to do that which you
preached about in the wilderness to the people. And isn’t that
like our Lord Jesus? Isn’t that like our Lord Jesus?
He knows our weakness. He knows our infirmities. He
knows our doubts. He knows our struggles. He knows
our frailty. He knows our humanity. And he gives us the Lord’s Supper.
He gives us baptism. He gives us preaching. He gives
us worship. He gives us one another. He gives
us fellowship. And so when life deals its dirty
hand, we have Christ and we can run to him, to his people, his
church, his ordinances, his word. And we can say, oh, my doubts
are mounting up. My emotions have dragged me down
to the depths. I’m almost at the point of death.
And Jesus says, look at what I’ve done. It’s laid out in the
word. Here’s who I am. I don’t change. I am the same
yesterday, today and forever. That’s in a sense what we’re
looking at on Sunday nights in the book of Revelation. It’s
the revelation of Jesus Christ. We can’t make it through this
world, through persecutions and hardships and struggles without
keeping our eyes on Jesus. And so the more often We lift
Jesus up and we look at him. We will live. So there’s a word
to John. There’s also a word about John. Jesus sends away these two disciples,
sends them back to the prison, but there’s a crowd gathered
and Jesus speaks to this crowd a word about John. Now, I can
see that you’re all living today. And I can see that, or I can
guess that probably most of you have not had the eulogy about
your life written. But here, Jesus is in a sense,
giving a eulogy before John’s death. Now in this life, when
someone eulogizes us and we’re living, we call it a roast, right? We get roasted. What Jesus is
doing here is he is honoring John. He is honoring John before
the people to whom he had preached and ministered for those seasons
before Jesus came and preached and ministered. And he’s issuing
here a eulogy, a good word about John before his death. And he
does it by asking questions. What did you expect when you
went out in the wilderness? Who did you expect to see? A softy? A pushover? A reed that is snapped or shaken
by the wind? No. You went out to see the greatest
prophet of all. He’s greater than Moses. He’s
greater than all the major prophets. He’s greater than all the minor
prophets. Why? Well, one is they spoke of his coming. But John
spoke of my coming, Jesus indicates. And he’s saying to all who just
heard about John’s doubts and fears, John has worn his heart
on the sleeve. He probably didn’t expect for
this crowd to hear all this. And so Jesus is honoring him.
He’s eulogizing him in front of these crowds. John was the
greatest prophet of all, of the old covenant, of the old regime. There is no greater prophet than
John. You know, isn’t it interesting
how Jesus vindicates his people? Isn’t it wonderful how Jesus,
our big brother, Jesus, our high priest, he ever lives above to
intercede for us. If any one of us sins, we have
an advocate with the Father, even Jesus Christ. And John here
has an advocate, Jesus Christ, and he is our advocate. And we can know before our deaths,
we can know before our departure of this world. We can know we
can know of our standing with Jesus. Yes, the doubts may mount.
Yes, our emotions may sink us low. We may hit rock bottom,
but the truth of God’s word always stands. And just as Jesus has
given a word about John, Jesus can give a word about you. You
are my child. You are my beloved. You are my
righteous one. I lived and died for you. None can snatch you from my hands. I will never leave you or forsake
you. It’s not what your hands have
done, but what my hands have done, Jesus says. And the good
work that I have begun in you, I will be faithful to complete
it. What a wonderful Savior we have
as we see Jesus stand up for John. But he stands up for us. And he stands up for us and he
upholds us in his righteousness. And so no matter what we are
enduring, what we are going through, no matter what the world is doing
to us or saying about us, or even if we suffer at the hands
of our fellow Christians, Jesus speaks a good word about
us. And he says, notice about John,
he is the greatest in the old covenant. There is none born
of woman greater than John the Baptist in the old Testament,
in the old covenant. But notice what he says, as we
open up the new covenant, as we open up the new way, as Jesus
opens up the new covenant, which will be shed in his blood, the
least of the kingdom, the least of the new covenant is greater
than John. Isn’t that encouraging to we who sit here today? Yes,
John was great. But the least of us in the kingdom
of the new covenant are greater than he. What an encouragement
that ought to be to us. There’s a word to John, a word
about John, now a word to skeptics as the crowd is still standing
there getting more than they bargained for from Jesus. He speaks to the skeptics. None of us likes to be exposed,
none of us likes to have our words that we’ve said
in the past brought back to light and put before the tribunal and
judge. But that’s what Jesus is about
to do. I can’t help but think we’ve all been watching the news
and, you know, I don’t like to be political in my sermons and
I don’t intend to be, but we’re watching two years of speculation
about our president, two years of speculation about the last
presidential election and what scandal he was embroiled in.
And we watched for two years, people say, oh, for sure he has
done this. Well, now he seems to be vindicated,
at least from the news that I have seen. And so you’ve got all these
people that for years now who have said this is true, that
is true. You just wait and see. They’ve been exposed. And that’s
what that’s what’s taking place here. Jesus is speaking to the
Pharisees, the lawyers, and he’s saying, to what shall I compare
you? To what shall I compare this
generation? You Pharisees, you scribes, you
teachers of the law, what’s the best way for me to be nice, but
to sort of lay you low? He says, you’re like the children
on the playground. You’re like the little ones in
the marketplace. You’re singing your songs and you’re playing
your games. And you know how it is on the
playground. Let’s play chase. We played chase yesterday. Well,
let’s play kickball. We played kickball the day before
that. Well, let’s play freeze tag. We played that three days
ago. And you know how it is with children. You don’t ask them
what they want to play. You tell them, right? That’s
parenting 101. I pity the parent who ask their
children for permission. But that’s another story. He’s
saying, you’re like fickle children. And one day it’s chocolate ice
cream. The next day, it’s vanilla. One day, it’s kickball. The next
day, it’s freeze tag. But for sure, you don’t like
what’s being served. You’re like the children in the
marketplace that said, let’s play ball. Not today. Let’s sing. No, thanks. Let’s mourn. No, that was yesterday. He’s
saying to the Pharisees, you’re fickle. The gospel is in front
of you. you don’t like it. Messiah is in front of you, the
one who has been preached and proclaimed and declared to you
for generations. It goes all the way back through
your aunts and uncles and cousins and great, great, great, great,
great grandparents all the way to Abraham. And you say, not
today. He’s given a word here. to the skeptics. We know about
generations, don’t we? We got boomers. We got busters. We got Generation X. We got Generation
Z. And you can’t keep up with it
now. You’ve got the snowflakes and, you know, not all of these
are terms of an endearment. And what is he saying? In the
end, all will be proven. Wisdom is justified by her children,
Jesus says, at the end of the day, when all the shadows flee,
when the day breaks and it’s time for judgment, we’ll see
who trusted Messiah. We’ll see who believed on Jesus. We’ll see who loved the law. We’ll see who believed the prophecies. But as for today, Jesus is saying,
you’re fickle. You’re indecisive. You can’t
make head or tails of what’s in front of you because you doubt. So there’s a word in this passage
to John. Yes, I am the one to come, he
says. There’s a word about John. He was great. There’s a word
to the skeptics. Here I am, Jesus is saying, believe
in me, quit being fickle. But friends, there’s a word to
each and every one of you. And that word is a simple word. Yes, Jesus is the one who was
to come. He lived and he obeyed and he
died as no one ever could. And at the cross, when all of
the sins of God’s children were placed on Jesus, his sacrifice
was accepted in the sight of Almighty God. He really did die
and he really did die for the sins of those he came to save. And if you have faith in him
and hope in him and you trust in him and you believe in the
Lord Jesus Christ, you will be saved. Yes, you may have highs
in life. You may have lows in life. You
may have doubts. You may have fears. You may have uncertainties.
You may get away from the church for a little while. You may be
entangled in sin and it has dragged you to the bottom of the lake
and you are gasping for air. But Jesus is who he says he is
and he offers himself to you. And so the challenge is for you
to come and to rest in him by faith and to never let go. And yes, your fingers will slip. Yes, doubts will come, but he
never leaves. He never forsakes. And you will
never cry out to him. Are you are you able? Are you
sufficient? Are you the Christ that is in
the Bible? Are you the Christ my preacher talks about? Are
you the Christ I hear about in Sunday school? You’ll never have
to ask because he is, and you simply trust, and he will never
let you go. Let us pray together. Our great
God, our great Savior, we know how weak, how frail, how feeble,
how untrusting, how doubting, wavering and fickle we are. We’re
just like the folks in this passage. We’re unbelieving at times, we’re
doubting at times, we’re sin sick at times, and we need Christ.
We need to be lifted up to the heavens today and to be reminded
of your grace, your mercy and truth, and that it is forever
sure. So help us for our own sake,
but for your glory sake. And we pray it in Jesus name.