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Jesus and John the Baptist Luke 7:18-35 Key Verse 7:22 “So he replied to the messengers, "Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.” Are you proud of your identity as a Christian? Do you have a firm assurance that God called you to be a shepherd and a Bible teacher? Probably yes. But sometimes probably no. God doesn’t promise us to be always prosperous and successful if we believe in God. In the course of our pilgrimage we sometimes face failure or despair or exhaustion. That is because we don’t see how Jesus is working in us. Jesus showed the messengers from John the Baptist how Jesus was working. Jesus gave them the chance to witness how Jesus worked. From today’s passage, let’s see how Jesus is working. May God open our spiritual eyes to see Jesus’ ministry of life. First, Jesus showed how he was working(18-23) Look at verse 18. “John's disciples told him about all these things.” The time was when the age of John the Baptist faded away, and the age of Jesus had come. Now John was in prison. He rebuked King Herod for his taking his brother’s wife Herodias as his wife. It was not easy to rebuke the tyranny’s sins. That meant death. But John the Baptist didn’t care about his life. He spoke straightforwardly what God wanted him to say. He didn’t shrink away from any dangers and intimidations. He was full of God’s word. He thought only about his mission – speaking about the baptism of repentance. He thought of himself as a voice of one calling in the desert. He risked himself to prepare the way for the Lord. He cried out to make straight paths for the Messiah. Here we can learn that the object of our missionary work spread to all kinds of people. UBF ministry focuses on disciple-making. So we are more likely to seek for potential and perspective disciple candidates, who look handsome and decent with spiritual desire. If you see someone who is chewing gums or smoking a cigarette with a despising face, do you really want to make them your Bible student? It seems as if Jesus started a conversation with the immoral Samaritan woman. When you fish campus sheep, you probably worry about their showing the cold shoulder to you. So we are likely to be very considerate picking sheep. But John the Baptist did not do so. He wasn’t picky in doing God’s work. Whoever they are, he spoke the word of God – even violent King Herod. Look at verse 19. “he sent them to the Lord to ask, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?"” John the Baptist called two of his disciples and sent them to Jesus. He wanted to ask a question of Jesus – "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?" Why did John ask that question? First, he was doubtful about Jesus’ ministry. John was now in prison. He had a problem with his spiritual condition. He struggled so much against people’s sins. He became weary and exhausted. He was so much concerned about God’s ministry. He felt that the sin of the world went rampant and evildoers like King Herod prospered. He thought if God is the God of justice, Herod should have perished earlier. God looked like he was asleep or acquiesced in the world’s unrighteousness. It seemed that the wicked was more powerful than God-believers. He thought to himself, “God is not fair.” He sighed to see his efforts in vain. Here we can see that he had a wrong viewpoint of messianism. He thought of Jesus as the political Messiah. He believed that Jesus would be given the throne of David and restore his nation. He expected the Messianic kingdom to come soon. He worked hard for the kingdom of the Messiah to come. He dreamed of his kingdom where justice rolls like a river and righteousness flows like a never-failing stream(Amos 5:24). But the reality was the opposite as he had expected. The Roman Empire seemed to grow more powerful; his nation was fading away. Of course, he heard and knew Jesus was working on his own, but it wasn’t the thing he had dreamed of. He was doubtful of Jesus and his ministry. He thought Jesus would visited him to talk about the kingdom. But Jesus was doing his own ministry by telling about the gospel of the heavenly kingdom. Jesus didn’t talk about any political topics. So John had a question – “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?” Second, John wanted to help his disciples spiritually. John felt his disciples were in spiritual danger. While he was popular, their popularity became as much. But when John was arrested, his popularity became less and his disciples fell behind as extras. They envied Jesus’ disciples. On the other hand, they were afraid to be arrested like his teacher. They had to seek for their future security. They wandered here and there with doubt and fear. John understood the feelings his disciples had. He wanted to help them to find life direction. He believed that Jesus would help them better than himself. To the end, John tried to lead them to Jesus, who is the main character of God’s redemptive history. Look at verse 20. “When the men came to Jesus, they said, "John the Baptist sent us to you to ask, 'Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?'"”At that very time Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind(21). This was a great work of God. They were amazed at the sight. They felt God was working mightily. The idea they had that God is asleep disappeared. All doubt and fear had gone! They were amazed with their eyes wide open. They saw the kingdom of God in Jesus. At this, Jesus gave an answer using Isiah’s prophecy. Look at verse 22. “So he replied to the messengers, "Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.” Jesus answered the question by quoting the passage prophesied in the book of Isiah 35:5,6 and 61:1,2. Jesus had been doing the life-giving work in the world based on that prophecy. Here, we can learn two points. First, Jesus is the promised Messiah prophesied through the prophets. If you look at John 5:31-39, Jesus talks about many proofs that he is the promised Messiah. The very work that Jesus did testifies that Jesus is the Messiah. The blind’s seeing, the lame’s walking again, the leprosy patients being cured, the deaf’s hearing, and the dead’s being raised alive – they are all beyond human ability. That’s the great work of the Creator God. We can see through his amazing work that Jesus is the son of God. Second, the work of God is still working mightily. John was arrested and sent to prison just because he devoted himself to the work of God passionately. The reason we devote ourselves to something is to gain some reward. In our life of faith, reward is very important. It gives us energy, strength, courage, and momentum to do something worthy. If we found nothing after our strenuous effort, we would fall into despair with a big sigh, “All is vanity. My goodwill, passion for Jesus, my sacrifice, struggle for pure and sincere life – they are all in vain!” John the Baptist had nothing but being in prison in spite of his special passion for God’s work. That made him feel desperate and miserable. But Jesus wanted to tell him that God is working mightily in those desperate situations. Jesus opened the blind; likewise, Jesus opened their spiritual eyes. Jesus made the lame walk; likewise, he made spiritual lame walk to live for God’s glory with independent faith. Jesus cured leprosy patients; in the same way, he cured spiritual leprosy patients with sin-sickness. Jesus gave the deaf hearing; in the same way, Jesus gave the spiritually deaf hearing of God’s voice. Jesus preached the good news to the poor, which means the good news is preached to all spiritually poor people. Without knowing Jesus, all people would be spiritually blind, spiritually deaf, sin-sick with spiritual leprosy, and spiritually poor. If you accept Jesus as your Savior, Jesus will give you spiritual blessing – spiritual insight, spiritual sensitivity, spiritual ears, pure heart with Jesus’ image, ability, boldness, courage, driving force to do something new for his glory. This was how Jesus was working mightily in those spiritually dark situations which John the Baptist had been concerned about. Wherever Jesus went, life-giving work happened. Whoever Jesus met was restored fully and wholly. Whatever Jesus touched, it became cured. Whenever Jesus talked to someone, he or she shouted with joy, “I met Jesus! I see the Messiah promised in the Scripture!” Jesus told John’s disciples to report this to John. He didn’t mention John’s release to come. He didn’t mention he would visit soon. He just talked about the work of life God was doing. That was the only thing Jesus could give to John as a comfort from heaven. It meant that the labor John did in the Lord would not be in vain. Nothing we are doing in the Lord is not in vain. So we must stand firm and let nothing move us. Always give ourselves fully to the work of the Lord. John’s disciples might have been comforted and encouraged. He felt that they were in the mainstream of God’s redemptive history. They witnessed God’s mighty work in those who were sick, lame, blind, deaf, and poor. The living God’s work strongly impressed their brains and hearts. Nowadays, when we look around us, we are likely to be trapped in doubt and despair like John the Baptist and his disciples. On looking around you, you would be choked in your heart. No hope found. No vision seen. Future security not guaranteed. Looks like unfair society. Universities or companies request us for more qualifications. Students are busy preparing for them. This dog-eat-dog society weakens our spirituality. Reality lurks bigger; the word of God fades away from our heart. Our labor for campus evangelism is not fruitful. It is not easy to find Bible students. Less students are interested in Bible study. When we look around reality, we find nothing we put our hope on. But in Jesus, we find hope. In the word of God, we see God’s mighty work. When we draw nearer to the word of God, God opens our spiritual eyes. In the time of Jesus, the region of Samaria was spiritually barren. Jesus wants to go there to preach the good news of life to Samaritan people. Jesus met a woman by the well of Jacob. He conversed with her for a long time. Then the woman came to life. Her life changed wholly. She found the promised Messiah and shouted for joy and went back to report about Jesus to the town people. Many people came to Jesus to listen to the word of God and accepted Jesus as their Savior. This looked like a slight scene, but in the eyes of Jesus, that was a big event. Jesus told his disciples, “Open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.”(Jn4:35) In the eyes of Jesus, Samaria was ripe for spiritual harvest. Jesus had hope for Samaritan people. Jesus saw a vision of Samaritan evangelization through one woman who met Jesus. God wants us to have spiritual eyes to see his vision through our seemingly slight ministry. God helps us to open our spiritual eyes to see his life-saving ministry arising in the campuses. The Bible says that God’s ministry is remnants ministry. In the time of Elijah, idol worships were prevalent everywhere in the nation. Elijah fought against idolatry by himself. He won a great victory in the Mt. Carmel battle. God revealed his glory and honor though a man of prayer – Elijah. 450 Baal prophets and 400 Asherah prophets were killed, so Elijah expected no more idol worshipping throughout the nation. But the result was vice versa. Queen Isabel put Elijah on the wanted list throughout the nation. Elijah ran away, but he was so exhausted that he asked God to take his life. Then God said that he reserved seven thousand in Israel – all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal. God reserved 7,000 in Israel. Elijah thought he was left alone, but God reserved 7,000. They were God’s remnant. So too, at the present time, there is a remnant chosen by God(Romans 11:5). Surely there is God’s remnant around us. We are not left alone. There is a remnant chosen by God in the campuses. We need to be ready to find them. We need to pray that we put them together to work for the work of life in this generation. God wants us to have spiritual eyes to see God’s remnant. When the Roman Empire was on the wane, people thought Christianity will fade away, too, because Christianity was the national religion of the Roman Empire. But then, St. Augustine wrote a book titled “the City of God”, which says that worldly nations would perish, but the kingdom of God would never perish. As he said, the Roman Empire perished, but the kingdom of God has been expanding throughout the world. Have you read the speech of Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. titled “Loving Your Enemies”? He had a firm assurance of the kingdom of God still expanding. In his speech he mentioned the conqueror Napoleon’s saying, “Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have built great empires. But upon what did they depend? They depended upon force. But long ago Jesus started an empire that depended on love, and even to this day millions will die for him.” Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. closed his assurance in his speech, saying: “And I’m proud to stand here in Dexter this morning and say that that army is still marching. It grew up from a group of eleven or twelve men to more than seven hundred million today. Because of the power and influence of the personality of this Christ, he was able to split history into a.d. and b.c. Because of his power, he was able to shake the hinges from the gates of the Roman Empire. And all around the world this morning, we can hear the glad echo of heaven ring: Jesus shall reign wherever sun, Does his successive journeys run; His kingdom spreads from shore to shore, Till moon shall wane and wax no more. We can hear another chorus singing: "All hail the power of Jesus name!" We can hear another chorus singing: "Hallelujah, hallelujah! He’s King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Hallelujah, hallelujah!" God doesn't want us to look at ourselves or other people or situations around us, because it gives us doubt and despair. God wants us to look at Jesus’ life-giving work. Then how? We can see him working mightily when we study the Bible. In the Bible there were stories about Jesus’ amazing work. While studying the Bible, we can open our spiritual eyes to see his great work of life. Jesus showed John’s disciples how he was working – the blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Likewise, he wants to show us how he is working in this generation through Bible study and give us assurance of our campus ministry. May God open our spiritual eyes to see how he is working among us. Second, Jesus’ warning(23) Look at verse 23. “Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.” This is Jesus’ warning. Through this verse, we can see that anybody may fall away on account of Jesus. This tells us that we may face negative results while we follow Jesus. Many of Christians have a wrong perspective about God’s blessing. They says that when we believe in God, God blesses us abundantly. That is sometimes right; however, that is sometimes wrong. They have a wrong perspective about God’s blessing. The blessing they are talking about is materialistic and concerning prosperity and success. We must not focus only on prosperity and success. This causes us to fall away from Jesus. This verse doesn’t mean, “Don’t fall away on account of me.” This means, “Don’t fall away on account of your wrong perspective about blessing.” If you fall away from Jesus, you lose everything. But if you hold on to Jesus and his word, you will be blessed. God gives eternal life to you who believe in Jesus to the end. And also God blesses you to be used in his everlasting redemptive history. Third, John the Baptist and the kingdom of God (24-28). After John’s disciples left, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John. Look at verses 24-26. “What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind? If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear expensive clothes and indulge in luxury are in palaces. But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.” It was to bring the crowd back to their senses. They had once flocked to see John the Baptist and recognized him as God’s servant. But now they were not sure about John. Jesus affirmed the fact that John was the forerunner of the Messiah who came in fulfillment of God’s word. Then Jesus said, “I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John....” What great recognition Jesus gave to John: the greatest of those born of women! It means he was greater than even Moses or David. It was because John had a great and holy mission and he lived up to God’s calling for him. He was born of elderly parents who were both descendants of the priestly line. He was the fruit of their lifelong prayer. He was set apart from birth by God and given the name John and the specific mission to be the forerunner of the Messiah. He lived a pure and poor life, first with his parents and then in the desert. He ate locusts and wild honey and wore clothing made of camel’s hair. He never had a single girlfriend or drank one drop of alcohol. He devoted his whole life to fulfilling his mission to prepare the way for the Lord through the message of repentance. His ministry stirred the whole nation Israel and prepared their hearts to receive Jesus. He rebuked King Herod to repent his adultery and stop being a bad influence. Then he was arrested and put in prison. Soon he would die a martyr’s death, sealing his lifelong service to God with his own blood. Indeed, John was the greatest of those born of women. However, Jesus also said, “...yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” People respected and welcomed John the Baptist when he was popular. But when he was in prison, he was forgotten. He disappeared like a voice of one calling in the desert. But Jesus gave him a great recognition as a great prophet. Jesus mentioned three kinds of people. First, a person like a reed swayed by the wind. A reed is very weak and easily swayed. When the wind blows, it swayed with noisy sound. A person like a reed is easily swayed by external situations. They don’t have any value or perspective about life so that they act according to their selfish gains. Even if they follow Jesus, they calculate gains they will earn. But in the time of difficulty, they leave without hesitation. They are swayed by the wind of persecution or temptation. They are like Lot who went to the city of Sodom and Gomorah. They are like chaff that is blown away by the wind. God doesn’t bless these people. God keeps in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you(Is.26:3). Second, a person dressed in fine clothes. These kind of people place a high value on their possession, privilege, social position, and person honor. They enjoy a luxurious life. They seek for money and physical pleasure. They like partying with celebrities. They are externally brilliant and prosperous, but internally decay with nasty smell giving off. Third, spiritual people who live a prophetic life. These kind of people seek truth and fight against sin and unrighteousness. They are the people who love the word of God. They are men of mission who spread the word of God. They are the people who do their best to lead unbelieving people to God. They don’t compromise with the evil world. They live a life of faith like Noah who built an ark of salvation. God gives these people a great recognition and heavenly rewards. John the Baptist was a great prophet. He was more than a prophet. Jesus described him, “among those born of women there is no one greater than John.” Why did Jesus give such a recognition? Because John fully finished his mission which was to prepare the way for Jesus. John denied his comfortable life as a son of a priest. He denied himself when his popularity went up and he testified about only Jesus. He was faithful to his mission and lived and died for the mission. Jesus recognized him as the greatest prophet among those born of women. Look at verse 28b. “...yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” This was not to derogate the greatness of John. It was to point them to the kingdom of God. Though John was great, he was simply the forerunner of the Messiah. Now the Messiah had come and the kingdom of God had come through him. Those who accept Jesus as their Messiah are born again by the Holy Spirit as God’s children. Even the least of those born of God is greater than John the Baptist. This tells us how blessed are those born again by accepting Jesus. In this respect, you are greater than John the Baptist, not because you served greater mission than John, but just because you are born again by accepting the Messiah. Fourth, Jesus rebuked the religious leaders(28:9-35). Look at verse 31-32. Jesus said how wicked the generation was by using a parable. The generation was like children who was playing in the marketplace. At that time children usually play “wedding” or “funeral” games in the marketplace. They made two groups; first, one group played the flute, then the other group must dance. But sulky children didn’t respond. They should have danced, but they just watched with arms folded. While playing a funeral game, one group sang a dirge, and the other group should have cried. But they didn’t cry; instead, they burst into laugh. Finally, the game ended up in an argument. Jesus rebuked the generation as sulky and selfish children in the parable. People were indifferent and selfish. They were critical and senseless. When John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine for holy life, they criticized him, saying, “He has a demon.” When Jesus cam eating and drinking, they say, “Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.” They criticized both John the Baptist and Jesus because of different life style. Look at verse 35. “But wisdom is proved right by all her children.” Here, “wisdom” represents “the truth of God” or “Jesus.” “All her children” represents “spiritual fruit.” That verse means “the truth of God” is proved right by “its fruit.” Jesus is never evaluated by their criticism, but by his fruit, which is “God’s children born again by Jesus’ grace.” In conclusion, God wants us to have spiritual eyes about God’s ministry. God helps us to open our spiritual eyes to see God working mightily in this generation. There is a remnant chosen by God in this generation. It is you that God chose as a remnant in the generation. May God give us hope of his kingdom which never perishes but expands throughout the campuses and the world. May God help us stand firm and devote ourselves to the work of God like John the Baptist. Then surely Jesus will give us a great recognition, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” |
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