Questions About Jesus From John The Baptist. EXPOSITION ON THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE study #59 (Luke 7:18-23)

We come into this section of Scripture understanding that many people are continually following Jesus as He travels throughout the region of Galilee. We looked at in our last study that Jesus has shown His deity even more by the fact that He raised the widow’s son in Nain. The crowd had followed Him there and had witnessed this miraculous event. Along in this crowd we will see through our text in our study that some of John the Baptist’s followers was in this crowd as well. Of course we remember that several of Jesus’ 12 Apostles were formerly John’s disciples as you can read about in John 1.

As we dive into this study we will look into the context and setting of John the Baptist’s circumstances. This will help us in seeing why John prompts the questions that he does concerning who Jesus is. So let’s look now at our first point.

1.Questions from the messengers of John the Baptist.
Look with me at Luke 7:18-20 The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, ¹⁹ 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?” ²⁰ 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?’” As we open up this section of the Scripture we must look back to understand the reason why John the Baptist sends messengers and is not available to speak to Jesus face to face.

We can look back at the beginning of Jesus’ Galilean ministry and see that Mark 1:14 says Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God.

We can also look at Matthew 4:12 that says Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God.

It is clear that about the time Jesus began His Galilean ministry that John had been arrested and he is still imprisoned at this point. According to Mark 6:17-18 we read For it was Herod who had sent and seized John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because he had married her. ¹⁸ For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”

We know Luke 3:18-20 tells us even more about this situation which says So with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people. ¹⁹ But Herod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias, his brother’s wife, and for all the evil things that Herod had done, ²⁰ added this to them all, that he locked up John in prison.

To get a good understanding of the seriousness of the situation of what John reproved Herod for I want to quote from John MacArthur’s sermon titled Why The Believer Doubts part 1 concerning this situation. I quote:

Now you’ve got to know this. Herodias was a woman married to Herod’s brother.  This is Herod Antipas.  Now Herod Antipas, as he was called, the tetrarch, had lots of half brothers.  He had one half brother named Philip who had this wife named Herodias. When this wife was married to Philip, Herod Antipas, the one here, seduced her and stole her and married her.  Now what makes it even more bizarre is that she was the niece of Philip, so he married his niece and she was also Herod’s niece. So they’re just passing around incestuous relationships. No matter how you look at this, it was wicked. Multiple marriages, seduction, divorce, incest, and when John had the occasion to meet Herod, he pointed it all out. And that wasn’t all, it says in verse 20, he also talked to him about all the wicked things which Herod had done. He just hit him right between the eyes with all the wickedness he had done. END QUOTE.

So it is this setting that gives us the reason we see in Luke 7:18-19a The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, ¹⁹ calling two of his disciples to him.

John was unable to see with his own eyes what was going on and this often times brings even the best of people to a place of questioning exactly what is going on. This is what we will see in this passage of Scripture here. The two disciples of John reported to him what they had been seeing. No doubt these two disciples would have heard John proclaim that Jesus is the Lamb of God as he did on a number of occasions. So these two disciples go to him and speak to him about all that they have seen. Even though John had proclaimed Jesus as the Lamb of God, even though he had direct conformation from God that Jesus was the Lamb of God, John still had questions concerning all that was going on.

We must remember that even though John was a great prophet, he was also human. He sinned, he doubted and seeing that he was sitting in prison, there could have easily been some wonder at how all of this was going to play out. So he sends these two disciples to Jesus with his question we see from Luke 7:19b Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”

As they were sent for the purpose to ask Jesus this question, verse 20 records that in fact they do ask Jesus this very thing. This prompts Jesus to answer, so before He gives an answer Jesus puts on display His power to show who He really is. This will be what we look at in our next point.

2.Jesus displays who He is to the messengers of John.
Look with me at Luke 7:21-23 At that very time He cured many people of diseases and afflictions and evil spirits, and He granted sight to many who were blind. ²² And He answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have the gospel preached to them. ²³ Blessed is he who does not take offense at Me.” To set up the answer Jesus does not just tell the messenger a simple yes but displays His power as He has been doing all along His journeys to different cities. Here this seems to be a direct display for the purpose of showing John’s disciples with visible proof of what He wanted to convey to John. We see nothing different than what we have seen already but we can not down play the miraculous power and authority we see Jesus display as He cured many people of diseases and afflictions and evil spirits, and He granted sight to many who were blind.

All of this has been one of the major things we have seen in Jesus’ ministry. Healing and proclaiming the Gospel was the two things that run all through Jesus’ ministry. The healing is always to display His power to heal that only comes from God and His preaching was to display His authority as the Sovereign Lord. Here it is obvious that Jesus does this to show the disciples of John something to prove His point. Now we know that John’s disciples had already seen this power because that is the message they had given to John but Jesus shows that this is not some trick or something that happens every once in a while but rather that Jesus has the power to heal at anytime.

Jesus goes on after this visual display of His power to tell John’s disciples in Luke 7:22 “Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have the gospel preached to them.

Before these disciples of John may have been only following from a distance or may have only heard of some of these miracles from a secondary source but now they can go tell John what they not only have heard about but have now seen on full display. This of course would take any Old Testament scholar back to messianic prophecies concerning the work of Messiah. This is not a direct quote but definitely has some similarities from Isaiah 35:5-6a that says Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. ⁶ Then the lame will leap like a deer, And the tongue of the mute will shout for joy.

Again we see similar words in Isaiah 42:6-7 concerning the servant God “I am Yahweh, I have called You in righteousness; I will also take hold of You by the hand and guard You, And I will give You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the nations, ⁷ To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the dungeon And those who inhabit darkness from the prison.

How about the very verses that Jesus quoted in Luke 4:18 from Isaiah 61:1-2 that says The Spirit of Lord Yahweh is upon me, Because Yahweh has anointed me, To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim release to captives, And freedom to prisoners, ² To proclaim the favorable year of Yahweh, And the day of vengeance of our God, To comfort all who mourn.

The Messiah would have a ministry of healing and proclaiming as we see in the life of Jesus and it is this that Jesus tells John’s disciples to tell John. Jesus did not condemn John for any doubt that he may have had but only confirmed to John that He is indeed the Promised One, the Messiah of the Lord God that was prophesied about in the Old Testament.

I think it would have been easy to doubt or have a sense of wonder about the things that John had heard even though He was the very one that proclaimed first that Jesus was the Lamb of God. John could have expected his situation to even be different and that may have caused him some doubt but either way, our Lord confirms to John who He is by sending this powerful message back to him.

Then lastly in Jesus’ response he says in Luke 7:23 Blessed is he who does not take offense at Me.

This is a very strong statement concerning the perseverance of the saints of God. The Greek word for offense we see here is skandalizó (skan-dal-id’-zo) which means to fall into a trap or to cause to stumble. Many people are religious, many people profess to be Christians, in fact most surveys will tell you that there are some 2.4 billion professed believers across the world with 205 million of those in the United States. But many of those professed Christians are offended by the very Word of God that we have before us. People are tripped up by the truth of the Gospel and seek to hear messages that make them feel better rather than hear what the Bible teaches. Many of these people seek to hear a message from God in some new revelations or by some emotional connection in a song rather that the very words that are written down for us. People do this because they see the orthodox way of preaching as offensive or irrelevant for our culture. They look to redefine topics in the Bible that has been taught from the first century on.

This word skandalizó (skan-dal-id’-zo) also has the idea of one that apostatizes. This is another category I believe many people that profess to be Christians fall into. They do not believe the teaching of the Bible anymore now that they have come out from under their parents roof. They have looked for Christ and salvation in the ways the world has and because they were not satisfied they left the faith. But that does not reflect on the total of professed Christians we still see.

We have all doubted and to some extent that doubt brings a Christian to seek for the truth. This is what John did and it led him to a path to know and understand what the truth is. But here Jesus warns John’s disciples along with the others that were there that doubt can lead to those that will be offended in a way that they never follow Jesus again. This will be seen in Jesus’ ministry and it is spoken of in passages like we see 1 Peter 2:8 which comes from Isaiah 8:14 that says “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this stumbling they were also appointed.

People walk away from God because of doubt. They do not have faith and therefore when things aren’t going the way they think they should, they walk away from Jesus. 1 John 2:19 says They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.

My hope is that you will not just follow Christ because you think you are going to get on God’s good side or that you hope for some help in life in finding a job, spouse or wealth. I hope you are following God because you trust Him, have faith in Him for salvation, for today, for tomorrow, no matter where you find yourself. This is what true followers will do and this is how we need to be following our Lord everyday.

Bible Passage For The Day 7-31-2023

2 Timothy 1:8-10

Therefore do not be ashamed of either the witness about our Lord or me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, ⁹ who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, ¹⁰ but now has been manifested by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

Bible Passage For The Day 7-30-2023

John 6:37-40; 44-45

All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will never cast out. ³⁸ For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. ³⁹ Now this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. ⁴⁰ For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”

No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. ⁴⁵ It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me.

Bible Passage For The Day 7-29-2023

Isaiah 64:6-7

For all of us have become like one who is unclean,
And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment;
And all of us wither like a leaf,
And our iniquities, like the wind, carry us away.
⁷ There is no one who calls on Your name,
Who awakens himself to take hold of You,
For You have hidden Your face from us
And have melted us into the hand of our iniquities.

YouTube and Podcast teaching for….Instructions To Masters(Employers) And Slaves(Employees) EXPOSITION ON THE BOOK OF EPHESIANS study #30 (Ephesians 6:5-9)

Bible Passage For The Day 7-28-2023

Ephesians 2:1-3

And you were dead in your transgressions and sins, ² in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience, ³ among whom we all also formerly conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.

Instructions To Masters(Employers) And Slaves(Employees) EXPOSITION ON THE BOOK OF EPHESIANS study #30 (Ephesians 6:5-9)

In many ways people come to this portion of Scripture and look past it because they see terms that do not seem to fit our culture. In reality these terms often times do not fit our culture specifically but as always I believe as we unpack the Scripture that we can find an application for us in our culture. When we come to topics that we think has a cultural viewpoint in mind we must always look to see if there is an application in our culture. To do this we must look at the context, the setting, the actual meaning of what is said. From that we will gather the principle behind what is said and look for a comparison in our culture. In doing this we are careful to not destroy the true meaning of the text but rather find the meaning and teach that meaning in our cultural setting.

In the text we have before us in this study we will see terms like masters and slaves(bondservants). This will lead us to look at what these terms mean and how we apply that to our lives today. Remaining in the context of the Scripture we know that Paul has addressed the wife and the husband in marriage, he has addressed to the children the importance of obedience to the parents and then lastly we looked at how the father is to discipline and instruct the child in the Lord. This moves us to a relationship that is still a close relationship but not directly family. The idea is that as Christians our lives should be changed in every area of our life starting with our spousal relations, to the relationship between the child and the parents and now between the master and the slave. Let’s look at this as we now move along into our first point.

1.Obedience to earthly masters.
Look with me at Ephesians 6:5-8 Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, ⁶ not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, ⁷ rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, ⁸ knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free. Much of our text for this study is seen in this point because often it is the lowly or oppressed person that looks to get away with something that they should not be doing. It is the master that is in control of the slave and therefore could cause this slave to look for opportunities to cheat the master. I know I need to explain this further and to do so let’s look first at the word bondservant we see here. This is the Greek word doulos (doo’-los) which means someone who belongs to another. One without ownership rights because of willingly submitting to the will of the master.

I want us to understand this because in our recent past culturally we have the idea that all slaves are always abused, treated wrongly and destitute but in reality for the most part of history this was not always the case. Yes there are always going to be unfair master that treat the people below them as trash but this is not the idea here. In fact the same idea is even seen all the way back in Exodus. This is what is said in Exodus 21:5-6 But if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ ⁶ then his master shall bring him to God, and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall be his slave forever.

The Hebrew word ebed (eh’-bed) is what is translated here as slave. The idea is seen clearly by the text in that the slave decides to be his master’s slave for life. Now we know that no slave is going to stay with a master that abuses him or treats him bad in some way. This concludes that slaves as we see here is a willing choice to be with that master. In our time this would equivocate to the relationship of an employer and employee or the one that is the representative of the employer like your boss or supervisor. We willingly place ourselves in the positions we do and decide to work for the employer that we do. The setting of these positions may not be the same but the idea is parallel.

Before we get to far I do want to point out that there are at least 5 different words in the Greek that is translated servant but it is only the word doulos (doo’-los) that carries the idea that the slave is committed to the master in the way we have discussed. Some of the others indicate a servant as a hired hand or a military soldier but doulos (doo’-los) shows a relationship that is not just for a wage but rather because of the commitment to the master.

This brings us to look at why Paul says what he says here because we may think that if this slave is willing to be the slave of the master then why would they need instruction to obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling? The thing is that even a willing slave will look for shortcuts, look to get paid for something they haven’t done or get some type of praise because of the outward show they present. It is no different than the other two relationships we have looked at. Most likely no one made you get married to your spouse, you were a willing participant. The parent participates in the act of the conception of a child, even though you may have not been trying to get pregnant you knew the consequences that could happen. Again a willing participant to be a parent. So the slave may be willing but that does not mean there will always be faithfulness.

This act of obedience starts with a reverence for the master. In our time we respect the position of our boss and know that there could be consequences for our poor behavior or lack of production. In this we should have the attitude that Paul points to here in Ephesians 6:5b where he says that we need to obey our masters with a sincere heart, as you would Christ.

The Greek word for sincere is haplotés (hap-lot’-ace) which means singleness of mind or purity. It carries the idea that our devotion will be pure to the master or to our employer. We are to not be looking to go to work just for a paycheck but rather to work for our employer as we would for the Lord. He goes on to say in Ephesians 6:6-7 not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, ⁷ rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man.

In relation to our service to the Lord, we should not be doing things to just be seen by others but that we do things for God because we love our Lord. In the same way we are to conduct our lives at work. We are to not steal time, steal supplies or look to cut corners just to make ourselves look better than we actually are. We notice in verse 6 that the word bondservants is used in relation to our connection with Christ. Often this is the idea of the Christian relationship with our Lord. The point is that we are willing slaves of His, not abused but blessed and therefore just as we seek to do the will of God from our heart, we too need to conduct ourselves in that way at our workplace.

In the final verse for this point we look at why we are to do this. Look again at Ephesians 6:8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free. I’ve heard and even have been a part of conversations where people are mad because they are not getting paid what someone else is or they feel like they are underpaid. Often this attitude turns the person that is upset into a person that may say that they are not going to do as much because they are worth more than they are getting paid. Sometimes people will look for ways to get back at the company for not paying them what they think or for not giving them a raise. Here Paul stresses that even though we at times do things that go unnoticed, God sees those good deeds.

If God sees the good thing you do then you must trust that He will give to you for what you have done. This reminds me of what Jesus says concerning this in Luke 14:12-14 He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. ¹³ But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, ¹⁴ and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”

The point in all of this is for us to understand that what we are doing in life whether in our marriage, in our parenting or in our workplace we need to be doing things in connection to God’s standards. This leads us to look at this last relational position in our next point.

2.Masters are to operate without partiality.
Look with me at Ephesians 6:9 Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him. Now we come to the kurios (koo’-ree-os) in the Greek which means the master, the lord or the person exercising absolute ownership rights. This person is the owner of the slave or in our setting it would be the employer, owner of a company or one in management. Paul addresses them and then does not go back into everything that he just said to the slave but simply says do the same to them.

This command is a reference to not treat your employee with disrespect. Jesus says in Matthew 7:12 So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

If your desire is that your employee treats you with respect then that is the very way you should be treating them. Jesus teaches His disciples often on the importance of being a servant leader. Jesus teaches this in Luke 22:24-27 A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. ²⁵ And he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. ²⁶ But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. ²⁷ For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves.

Even as a leader or manager of some sort you are not to lead in a way that shows power because of your position. Now I know at times in the workplace that the manager does have to use the authority that he or she has been given but really we are talking about the attitude. The attitude is to treat your employees or the people that you have been tasked to manage with an attitude of servanthood. Treat the slave with respect and do not misuse your authority or position.

Paul continues by bringing to our attention that the reason for this actions goes back to knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.

The point I want us to see as we look to close this study is that God does not treat people with partiality in the sense of rewarding some because of bribery. God looks at the works done and knows who it is that is truly committed to Him and those that aren’t. Romans 2:6-11 says He will render to each one according to his works: ⁷ to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; ⁸ but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. ⁹ There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, ¹⁰ but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. ¹¹ For God shows no partiality.

The master or manager is to be just in his or her actions. They are to remember that they too have masters that they must submit to. If you own a company then you still have the master that rules in the area of the laws, taxes, insurance and things like that. Everyone is under some type of rule of another and needs to remember that ultimately you are under the rule of God therefore we are to treat people fairly and respectfully. This concludes our section of how we are to live within personal relationships and as we move forward we will see that all of this comes together under the point of recognizing the real battle that faces us as we dive into the section of the armor of God in the coming studies.

Bible Passage For The Day 7-27-2023

Genesis 6:5

Then Yahweh saw that the evil of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

YouTube and Podcast teaching for….Jesus Brings The Widow’s Son Back To Life. EXPOSITION ON THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE study #58 (Luke 7:11-17)

Bible Passage For The Day 7-26-2023

Jeremiah 17:9

“The heart is more deceitful than all else, And is desperately sick; Who can know it?