Look at the Evidence

Hello everyone. 

Today, I will continue looking at Luke 7, going over verses 18-23.  In verse 19, after hearing reports of what Jesus was doing, he sends two of his disciples to question Jesus as to whether he was the Messiah or not.  

There are differing ideas about why John did this. The one that seems likeliest to me is that John, while sitting in prison (Matt. 11:2), was having doubts about Jesus, for if he was the Messiah, why was John being left to languish in prison. After all, wasn't the Messiah coming to set the captive free?

If this is the case, I can understand where John is coming from. He has lived his whole life for God, and now he has been put in prison.  Since God is all-powerful, shouldn’t He do something about John’s situation.  It makes sense, but God’s plan doesn’t always make sense to our thinking.  And when things don’t go the way that we think they should, we can begin to doubt God.  (I don’t know that this is what is happening with John, but it is a possibility.)  

It is impossible to know what John’s understanding of the Messiah was.  Certainly Jesus did not fit the idea of Messiah that most people held.  Many were expecting a political figure that would come and rescue Israel from Roman oppression.  Jesus was not that kind of Messiah. 

Jesus hears John’s question and responds by pointing out the various things he is doing.  Rather than saying, ‘Yes, I am the One,’ he lists off the things he has been doing.  He gives evidence that he is the Messiah, and tells them to go back to John and tell him what they had seen and heard.  The evidence should be enough for John to see that Jesus was indeed the Messiah:

• The blind can see. 
• The lame can walk. 
• The lepers are cleansed. 
• The deaf can hear.
• The dead are raised.  
• Good news is being preached to the poor. 

Of the list of six things that Jesus mentions to John’s disciples, five of them are healing of some sort.  The one that is different is the last one, good news is preached to the poor. The evidence that Jesus shows is reminiscent of Luke 4:18, quoting the prophet Isaiah.

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

         For He has anointed me,

         To bring the good news to the poor.

      He has sent me to declare deliverance for the captives

          And to restore sight for the blind. 

      To release those living in oppression

19 And to declare the year of the Lord’s favor.

Jesus was the Messiah and the evidence was all there. 

When Jesus finished pointing out his evidence in verse 23, he says,  "Blessed is the one who does not stumble because of me." One of the greatest of all-time, John, has apparently stumbled just a little.  John was in prison for coninuing to preach God's message, and would eventually be beheaded. This is a challenging circumstance. 

After sharing the evidence of his Messiahship, Jesus tells his listeners that those who do not stumble because of Him are blessed. We will find ourselves in difficult circumstances, but when we keep Jesus as the focal point of our faith, we will be blessed if we never waver.

Tom