Luke 7:18-35

Applebury's Comments

About John the Baptist
Scripture

Luke 7:18-35 And the disciples of John told him of all these things. 19 And John called unto him two of his disciples sent them to the Lord, saying, Art thou he that cometh, or look we for another? 20 And when the men were come unto him, they said, John the Baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou he that cometh, or look we for another? 21 In that hour he cured many of diseases and plagues and evil spirits; and on many that were blind he bestowed sight. 22 And he answered and said unto them, Go and tell John the things which ye have seen and heard; the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good tidings preached to them. 23 And blessed is he, whosoever shall find no occasion of stumbling in me.

24 And when the messengers of John were departed, he began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to behold? a reed shaken with the wind? 25 But what went ye out to see? a man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they that are gorgeously appareled, and live delicately, are in kings-' court, 26 But what went ye out to see? a prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet. 27 This is he of whom it is written,

Behold, I send my messenger before thy face,
Who shall prepare thy way before thee.

28 I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there is none greater than John; yet he that is but little in the kingdom of God is greater than he. 29 And all the people when they heard, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John. 30 But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected for themselves the counsel of God, being not baptized of him. 31 Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation, and to what are they like? 32 They are like unto children that sit in the market place, and call one to another; who say, We piped unto you, and ye did not dance; we wailed, and ye did not weep. 33 For John the Baptist is come eating no bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a demon. 34 The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold, a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners? 35 And wisdom is justified of all her children.

Comments

And the disciples of John.Matthew informs us that John was in prison when this incident occurred (Matthew 11:2). Luke had referred to the imprisonment earlier in his account (Luke 3:20). He also refers briefly to the death of John at the hands of Herod a little later (Luke 9:7-9).

Art thou he that cometh, or look we for another?There are two views about the reason for asking this question. One suggests that John had become impatient and discouraged as a result of his imprisonment and was actually wondering whether or not Jesus was the Messiah. The otherthis is the view presented hereholds that John sent his disciples to Jesus for their own sakes that their faith might be strengthened and that their loyalty might be centered Him.

This, of course, is a matter of opinion; but it is hard to believe that John's faith faltered in face of persecution. He had seen the Spirit descend and abide on Jesus. He had heard God say, This is my Son. Was John more likely to forget than Peter and John who refused to obey the order of the Sanhedrin in the face of the threat of death? They had seen the Risen Lord and could not forget what they had heard from Him (Acts 4:19-20). John's disciples had been loyal to him to the point of jealousy over the popularity of Jesus. Some of them may have been slow to transfer their loyalty to Jesus. See John 3:22-30.

Go tell John the things which ye have seen and heard.This does not necessarily suggest that John was in doubt about the matter; it may suggest that Jesus was presenting visible evidence of His claim to be the Messiah so that John's disciples could see for themselves. It would relieve John's anxiety over their loyalty to Jesus to have them tell of the proof of His Messiahship.

What Jesus said corresponds to Isaiah's prophecy about the Messiah which Jesus read in the synagogue in Nazareth at the beginning of His ministry (Luke 4:16-20). He could have answered the question with a simple yes, but it was better to present the evidence that permitted the disciples to arrive at the answer for themselves. Jesus not only pointed to the miracles as His credentials but also to the fact that the poor had good tidings preached to themthis was the mark of the Messiah.

And blessed is he whosoever shall find no occasion of stumbling in me.Some were ensnared by what they saw in Jesus, largely because He did not come up to their expectations of Messiah. They saw Him at the feasts where publicans and sinners were gathered. They saw Him doing what they called work on the sabbath day. They heard Him reproach both the Pharisees and the lawyers. He rejected the kingly crown they offered to Him, but later was compelled to wear the crown of thorns in shameful mockery of the fact that He is the King of kings and Lord of lords, He was a stumbling block to Jews who sought signs from heaven, but ignored the works that proved Him to be the Christ (1 Corinthians 1:22-25; John 10:31-38).

This was a word of encouragement, perhaps for John, and certainly for his disciples. And it is also for all who examine the evidence and accept Him as the Christ.

he began to say to the multitudes concerning John.The coming of John's disciples gave Jesus an excellent opportunity to teach the people about true greatness as it was seen in John the Baptist. Was he a reed shaken by the wind, that is, a weakling? Far from it! John was known for his great courage as well as for his humility (Matthew 3:14; John 3:30). Was he a man clothed in soft raiment, that is, one like the pampered sons of the kings of that day? All who had seen him remembered his garments of camel's hair and the leather girdle about his waist. No, John was not a man of luxury and ease.

much more than a prophet.John was a prophet as much so as Elijah or any other Old Testament man of God who spoke God's message to His people under the power of the Holy Spirit. But he was more than a prophet, for he actually presented Messiah to Israel. The others had foretold His coming (Deuteronomy 18:15; John 5:46).

Among them that are born of women there is none greater than John.John was great in dedication to the task God gave him. He was great in humility, gladly serving as the forerunner of the Christ. He was great in courage, boldly denouncing the sin of Herod the tetrarch. He was great in faith, accepting the evidence God gave to prove that Jesus was the Son of God (John 1:29-34).

yet he that is but little in the kingdom of God is greater than he.The contrast is between one born of women and one in the kingdom of God who enters that kingdom by being born of the water and the Spirit (John 3:3-5). The least in the spiritual realm is greater than the greatest of the physical realm. The kingdom of God is spiritual, and those born into that kingdom are the children of God.

justified ... rejected.The people who heard the message of John acknowledged that God was right in condemning their sins. The Pharisees and lawyers rejected God's advice given through John, because they imagined that they were already righteous. Mark 1:4. Whereunto shall I liken the men of this generation?Jesus likened them to children playing in the market place. They were playing two kinds of games, one the exact opposite of the other. One was the wedding game; the other was like a funeral. We piped unto you and you didn-'t dancethe wedding. We wailed and you didn-'t mournthe funeral. These games illustrate the attitude of the Pharisees and others who refused to accept either John or Jesus. John's message was like the mournful funeral game, and the Pharisees and lawyers refused to be baptized by him. Jesus-' message was like the festive wedding game, but they called Him a gluttonous man and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners.

a friend of publicans and sinners.The Pharisees sought to label Jesus and thereby discredit Him in the eyes of the people. In reality, He was the Lamb of God who took away the sins of the people.

The label was intended as an insult, but in reality it became a compliment, for He is the Friend of sinners who died to blot out their sins. The Pharisees said He was blaspheming when He said to a sinner, Thy sins are forgiven.

They had implied that He was a sinner. His answer was, They that are whole have no need of a physician, but they that are sick. He did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repent. Matthew 9:12-13.

And wisdom is justified of all her children.Wisdom's children can see why it was necessary for John to do what he did, and also understand why Jesus ate with publicans and sinners. Folly rejected the counsel of God, refusing to respond to the preaching of either John or Jesus.