Post by M.R. Hagerty on Aug 18, 2023 12:50:23 GMT -7
Luke 7:11-28, Matthew 11:2-15, Luke 7:29-30
11 Soon afterwards He went to a city called Nain; and His disciples were going along with Him, accompanied by a large crowd. 12 Now as He approached the gate of the city, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a sizeable crowd from the city was with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, He felt compassion for her, and said to her, "Do not weep." 14 And He came up and touched the coffin; and the bearers came to a halt. And He said, "Young man, I say to you, arise!" 15 The dead man sat up and began to speak. And Jesus gave him back to his mother. 16 Fear gripped them all, and they began glorifying God, saying, "A great prophet has arisen among us!" and, "God has visited His people!" 17 This report concerning Him went out all over Judea and in all the surrounding district.
18 The disciples of John reported to him about all these things. 19 Summoning two of his disciples, John sent them to the Lord, saying, "Are You the Expected One, or do we look for someone else?" 20 When the men came to Him, they said, "John the Baptist has sent us to You, to ask, `Are You the Expected One, or do we look for someone else?' " 21 At that very time He cured many people of diseases and afflictions and evil spirits; and He gave 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."
24 When the messengers of John had left, He began to speak to the crowds about John, "What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 25 "But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Those who are splendidly clothed and live in luxury are found in royal palaces! 26 "But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and one who is more than a prophet. 27 "This is the one about whom it is written, `BEHOLD, I SEND MY MESSENGER AHEAD OF YOU, WHO WILL PREPARE YOUR WAY BEFORE YOU.' 28 "I say to you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he." (Luke 7:11-28)
12 "From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force. 13 "For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John. 14 "And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come. 15 "He who has ears to hear, let him hear”
(Matthew 11:12-15)
29 When all the people and the tax collectors heard this, they acknowledged God's justice, having been baptized with the baptism of John. 30 But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected God's purpose for themselves, not having been baptized by John. (Luke 7:29-30)
_____________________________________________________________
Commentary
Luke 7:11-13-16
11 He went to a city called Nain; . . 12 . . a dead man was being carried out, . .
Jesus is now about to demonstrate that He was not a mere magician as Janis and Jambres were in Pharaoh’s court, but was in touch with unfathomable power. Miracles of healing could always be explained away as they are today – the person wasn’t as sick as they appeared; they just needed some “mind over matter” encouragement.
But death was a barrier that no one had crossed and come back. It was irreversibly permanent. When our loved ones die, it is the reality that they are in fact gone from all the places we used to see them and not somewhere hiding that brings home that they are gone indeed. This miracle was not going to be done in private. There was a considerable crowd who could then validate what they were about to see. In a private setting like that of the daughter of Jairus, there could be some doubt that magic may have been used instead, or that she was only in a coma.
13 He felt compassion for her,
We at first need to appreciate the situation of this mother. This was her only child. Due to the inferred age of her son (he was a man) in addition to the fact that she was a widow, the opportunity to have perhaps another child was long past and she faced a life not only without her son, but without the traditional hopes of how she would be taken care of. This death was inordinately tragic.
As believers familiar with this passage on many occasions, we accept the story uncritically and the additional questions skeptics like to probe seldom arise – why did He not have compassion on all the others?
We have to face the truth that though Jesus had the power He did not heal everyone, which can be seen in the atheist’s eyes as a breach of moral responsibility. But the argument must then be pursued back to its logical ends – why is there any evil or sickness in the world if God is all powerful and all loving? Clearly it is His will that we deal with adversity rather than being perpetually freed from it. C.S. Lewis deals with this in The Problem of Pain.(MacMillan, Oxford, 1962) It is ultimately the necessity of having some contrast in life from which to appreciate blessing. God is more interested in showing the world what the believer can do by faith in the midst of adversity than making it easy to be happy with all misfortunes removed.
So then why did Jesus heal any at all?
This is truly a mystery with God. He prefers strength in adversity by faith, but extends grace in healing here and there by the pleasure of His will. The healing acts of Jesus did have one important purpose – to demonstrate power. And the conclusion is that He got it from the Almighty. But these acts were also demonstrations of real not feigned compassion for the plight of those suffering. So it is a mystery.
As such, we are prevented from forming a systematic understanding, a set of formulas, in predicting what He will do, which keeps us ever in a mode of faith rather than axiomatic expectation.
15 The dead man sat up and began to speak . . . 16 Fear gripped them all, and they began glorifying God, saying, "A great prophet has arisen among us!" and, "God has visited His people!"
This is the object in the mind of Christ – that they glorify His Father. The scene of the dead man sitting up, getting out of his bed and walking home with his amazed mother is beyond comprehension. Resuscitations in medical terms have always merely brought people back into some form of consciousness, but back also to the frailty of their weak and ailing condition; not to the state of sitting up, speaking and being given to his relatives to take home.
a great prophet
Today we would conclude a faith healer not a prophet. But in ancient times there were no faith healers with healing ministries. If healing did take place it was usually in the hands of a prophet of God (Elisha and the son of the starving woman – 2 Kings 4:18)
Luke 7:18-23
18 The disciples of John reported to him about all these things. 19 Summoning two of his disciples, John sent them to the Lord, saying, "Are You the Expected One, or do we look for someone else?"
As the report of this is spread (v.17) news arrives from his own disciples to John in prison.
The question asked by John. “are you the expected one?” seems so out of place for a man like John who was seen earlier to have figured things out by faith and had confirmation in the vision of the dove that Jesus was this person indeed.
We must remember that John was human despite his faith. Deprivation and misery in an ancient prison could cause any man to wonder if he had heard God correctly about certain things. Thoughts about his whole ministry and calling would certainly be reviewed in his mind in the face of his sufferings; and the place of his kinsman, Jesus. He was not in prison because of his association with or declarations about Jesus. He was there because of his charges against Antipas and Herodias.
But that Jesus was roaming free and still preaching and he was in prison may have spawned a desire to confirm who Jesus was, not from doubt but from a desire to renew that he had at least been right about that. So his disciples convey his question to Jesus, who interestingly does not comment in any way that this is a problem in John’s faith.
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.”
Jesus provides Messianic markers from the OT in answering John. Isaiah 35:5 and 61:1 were clearly known to the Jews as earmarks of Messiah when He comes. The deaf are also mentioned in 35:5 but since they are not quoted as specifically written, the NASB does not show them as a direct OT quote.
Isaiah 61:1 comes from an unquestioned Messianic passage. The poor are there called the afflicted. Jesus did not vaunt himself to John but allowed Scripture to affirm Him.
23 "Blessed is he who does not take offense at Me."
This seems strange here because John would not have taken offense at Jesus. But John’s words in terms of confirmation are often ironically the words of those who are skeptical and in some way find Jesus an offense to their own lives and wills.
As to offense at all, we find that we can view Jesus from two discrete vantage points that often do not intersect in our minds. He is lovely, tender-hearted, caring, and merciful. But He is also one with a hard doctrine and tough expectations. He says He represents the Father’s love for you and me, but He also said that if we love family more than Him we can’t be His disciple.
So there is an attraction to His love and a recoiling from His sense of the commitment, and this can cause men to be offended.
Luke 7:24-28
24 . . "What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 25 "But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Those who are splendidly clothed and live in luxury are found in royal palaces!”
The expressions here are difficult in helping us understand the point being made. Jesus is essentially asking what they expected to see when they went out to John?
They did not travel the considerable distance on foot to see merely a reed shaking in the wind. If so, they ought not to complain when something extraordinary was seen. They did not come to see a man dressed as though he lived in comfort in town or in his palace. They should not be surprised that they saw the odd look and appearance of John. It added to the curiosity that brought them out to see him.
Then he focuses in on the problem of why some did not engage the message of John –
26 "But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and one who is more than a prophet.”
A prophet was someone to rally behind and also someone from which to hide. Jesus now focuses on their desire to see a real prophet but their naivite at possibly being the target of his prophecies.
27 "This is the one about whom it is written, `BEHOLD, I SEND MY MESSENGER . .28 . . among those born of women there is no one greater than John;”
Jesus confirms that John’s own claim for the role of Messenger was right as rain. He was dead on - the very one pictured hundreds of years earlier in prophecy. ”No one greater” is not technically true because it must be tempered with Jesus Himself, who was born of woman but certainly greater than John.
But barring that case, is John in truth greater than any other human being? We would have to include Abraham, and Moses. In terms of thought is he greater than Socrates and Aristotle? In terms of accomplishments, greater than Alexander or Caesar? When we think of this crudely dressed, itinerant preacher we have to wonder how this could be true? But as great as all those other men are, they pale in comparison to what Jesus came to do. His work exceeds in scope and power anything done by those men, including parting the sea.
Hence, the forerunner, the herald, shares in the greatness of the one announced because he had to do this by faith not by sight. So to have that kind of faith and commitment is extraordinary.
“. . yet he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he."
Interestingly, in terms of the kingdom, anyone who comes into it is considered greater than John. This means simply that his joys and experiences in the Kingdom will be far greater than those of any achievements on earth, so any citizen is of greater station and place than those of human efforts.
We can begin here to understand why the first words of both John and Jesus were the good news of the “kingdom.” It was of such importance and the populating of it with the souls of men so important that it was issue No. 1 in all they did.
Matthew 11:12-15
12 "From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force.”
This is among the most difficult verses in Jesus’ teaching because it associates words we would never see as belonging together at all – acquiring the kingdom by violent men and by force.
The verse is explained by commentators as referring to the spiritual fervor that men exercised toward the announcement of the presence of the kingdom and their desire to rush into it. This is not exactly a clear answer to the imagery seen.
But in other ways, we can see some of this in the revivals of modern times. The Great Awakening of the recent past was marked by many episodes of spiritual ecstasy and physical excitement. In the film, Hallelujah (King Vidor, MGM) from the 20’s, the blacks portray the ecstatic moments of revival that are often described as the fearful things evangelicals never want occurring in their churches.
Jesus may be teaching here that among those desiring the kingdom there are some who are notably strong in spirit and stand out as almost too strong in their zeal. And there is insight in that Jesus is pointing to John as an example of what He’s saying. John was of that nature. In Franco Zeferelli’s Jesus of Nazareth, (Incorporated Television Company, 1977), the actor Michael York plays the Baptist and in a way that recalls the fierceness of his spirit in the Lord. A good example of perhaps what Jesus means here.
13 "For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John. 14 "And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come. 15 "He who has ears to hear, let him hear”
Jesus is not saying that John was Elijah who is to come, as in Malachi 4:5. The phrase ”If you are willing to receive it” is an indicator provided by the speaker that an analogy is in play. We are not to take the words literally but as an analogy. John is an image or a reflection of the coming of Elijah again.
Luke 7:29-30
29 having been baptized with the baptism of John. . . 30 . . not having been baptized by John
It is not that the baptism of John performed the kind of spiritual enlightening that comes with Christian baptism – John’s baptism did not save. But the repentant heart of those coming to be baptized opened them to such insights, to be able to see the truths of which John spoke.
The Pharisees are not rejecting because they lack something imparted by the baptism, but because they were unrepentant in the first place, and God resists the proud. It is not impossible that divine wisdom was part of the gift received by those at John’s baptism, but we don’t have knowledge enough to say.
11 Soon afterwards He went to a city called Nain; and His disciples were going along with Him, accompanied by a large crowd. 12 Now as He approached the gate of the city, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a sizeable crowd from the city was with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, He felt compassion for her, and said to her, "Do not weep." 14 And He came up and touched the coffin; and the bearers came to a halt. And He said, "Young man, I say to you, arise!" 15 The dead man sat up and began to speak. And Jesus gave him back to his mother. 16 Fear gripped them all, and they began glorifying God, saying, "A great prophet has arisen among us!" and, "God has visited His people!" 17 This report concerning Him went out all over Judea and in all the surrounding district.
18 The disciples of John reported to him about all these things. 19 Summoning two of his disciples, John sent them to the Lord, saying, "Are You the Expected One, or do we look for someone else?" 20 When the men came to Him, they said, "John the Baptist has sent us to You, to ask, `Are You the Expected One, or do we look for someone else?' " 21 At that very time He cured many people of diseases and afflictions and evil spirits; and He gave 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."
24 When the messengers of John had left, He began to speak to the crowds about John, "What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 25 "But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Those who are splendidly clothed and live in luxury are found in royal palaces! 26 "But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and one who is more than a prophet. 27 "This is the one about whom it is written, `BEHOLD, I SEND MY MESSENGER AHEAD OF YOU, WHO WILL PREPARE YOUR WAY BEFORE YOU.' 28 "I say to you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he." (Luke 7:11-28)
12 "From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force. 13 "For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John. 14 "And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come. 15 "He who has ears to hear, let him hear”
(Matthew 11:12-15)
29 When all the people and the tax collectors heard this, they acknowledged God's justice, having been baptized with the baptism of John. 30 But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected God's purpose for themselves, not having been baptized by John. (Luke 7:29-30)
_____________________________________________________________
Commentary
Luke 7:11-13-16
11 He went to a city called Nain; . . 12 . . a dead man was being carried out, . .
Jesus is now about to demonstrate that He was not a mere magician as Janis and Jambres were in Pharaoh’s court, but was in touch with unfathomable power. Miracles of healing could always be explained away as they are today – the person wasn’t as sick as they appeared; they just needed some “mind over matter” encouragement.
But death was a barrier that no one had crossed and come back. It was irreversibly permanent. When our loved ones die, it is the reality that they are in fact gone from all the places we used to see them and not somewhere hiding that brings home that they are gone indeed. This miracle was not going to be done in private. There was a considerable crowd who could then validate what they were about to see. In a private setting like that of the daughter of Jairus, there could be some doubt that magic may have been used instead, or that she was only in a coma.
13 He felt compassion for her,
We at first need to appreciate the situation of this mother. This was her only child. Due to the inferred age of her son (he was a man) in addition to the fact that she was a widow, the opportunity to have perhaps another child was long past and she faced a life not only without her son, but without the traditional hopes of how she would be taken care of. This death was inordinately tragic.
As believers familiar with this passage on many occasions, we accept the story uncritically and the additional questions skeptics like to probe seldom arise – why did He not have compassion on all the others?
We have to face the truth that though Jesus had the power He did not heal everyone, which can be seen in the atheist’s eyes as a breach of moral responsibility. But the argument must then be pursued back to its logical ends – why is there any evil or sickness in the world if God is all powerful and all loving? Clearly it is His will that we deal with adversity rather than being perpetually freed from it. C.S. Lewis deals with this in The Problem of Pain.(MacMillan, Oxford, 1962) It is ultimately the necessity of having some contrast in life from which to appreciate blessing. God is more interested in showing the world what the believer can do by faith in the midst of adversity than making it easy to be happy with all misfortunes removed.
So then why did Jesus heal any at all?
This is truly a mystery with God. He prefers strength in adversity by faith, but extends grace in healing here and there by the pleasure of His will. The healing acts of Jesus did have one important purpose – to demonstrate power. And the conclusion is that He got it from the Almighty. But these acts were also demonstrations of real not feigned compassion for the plight of those suffering. So it is a mystery.
As such, we are prevented from forming a systematic understanding, a set of formulas, in predicting what He will do, which keeps us ever in a mode of faith rather than axiomatic expectation.
15 The dead man sat up and began to speak . . . 16 Fear gripped them all, and they began glorifying God, saying, "A great prophet has arisen among us!" and, "God has visited His people!"
This is the object in the mind of Christ – that they glorify His Father. The scene of the dead man sitting up, getting out of his bed and walking home with his amazed mother is beyond comprehension. Resuscitations in medical terms have always merely brought people back into some form of consciousness, but back also to the frailty of their weak and ailing condition; not to the state of sitting up, speaking and being given to his relatives to take home.
a great prophet
Today we would conclude a faith healer not a prophet. But in ancient times there were no faith healers with healing ministries. If healing did take place it was usually in the hands of a prophet of God (Elisha and the son of the starving woman – 2 Kings 4:18)
Luke 7:18-23
18 The disciples of John reported to him about all these things. 19 Summoning two of his disciples, John sent them to the Lord, saying, "Are You the Expected One, or do we look for someone else?"
As the report of this is spread (v.17) news arrives from his own disciples to John in prison.
The question asked by John. “are you the expected one?” seems so out of place for a man like John who was seen earlier to have figured things out by faith and had confirmation in the vision of the dove that Jesus was this person indeed.
We must remember that John was human despite his faith. Deprivation and misery in an ancient prison could cause any man to wonder if he had heard God correctly about certain things. Thoughts about his whole ministry and calling would certainly be reviewed in his mind in the face of his sufferings; and the place of his kinsman, Jesus. He was not in prison because of his association with or declarations about Jesus. He was there because of his charges against Antipas and Herodias.
But that Jesus was roaming free and still preaching and he was in prison may have spawned a desire to confirm who Jesus was, not from doubt but from a desire to renew that he had at least been right about that. So his disciples convey his question to Jesus, who interestingly does not comment in any way that this is a problem in John’s faith.
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.”
Jesus provides Messianic markers from the OT in answering John. Isaiah 35:5 and 61:1 were clearly known to the Jews as earmarks of Messiah when He comes. The deaf are also mentioned in 35:5 but since they are not quoted as specifically written, the NASB does not show them as a direct OT quote.
Isaiah 61:1 comes from an unquestioned Messianic passage. The poor are there called the afflicted. Jesus did not vaunt himself to John but allowed Scripture to affirm Him.
23 "Blessed is he who does not take offense at Me."
This seems strange here because John would not have taken offense at Jesus. But John’s words in terms of confirmation are often ironically the words of those who are skeptical and in some way find Jesus an offense to their own lives and wills.
As to offense at all, we find that we can view Jesus from two discrete vantage points that often do not intersect in our minds. He is lovely, tender-hearted, caring, and merciful. But He is also one with a hard doctrine and tough expectations. He says He represents the Father’s love for you and me, but He also said that if we love family more than Him we can’t be His disciple.
So there is an attraction to His love and a recoiling from His sense of the commitment, and this can cause men to be offended.
Luke 7:24-28
24 . . "What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 25 "But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Those who are splendidly clothed and live in luxury are found in royal palaces!”
The expressions here are difficult in helping us understand the point being made. Jesus is essentially asking what they expected to see when they went out to John?
They did not travel the considerable distance on foot to see merely a reed shaking in the wind. If so, they ought not to complain when something extraordinary was seen. They did not come to see a man dressed as though he lived in comfort in town or in his palace. They should not be surprised that they saw the odd look and appearance of John. It added to the curiosity that brought them out to see him.
Then he focuses in on the problem of why some did not engage the message of John –
26 "But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and one who is more than a prophet.”
A prophet was someone to rally behind and also someone from which to hide. Jesus now focuses on their desire to see a real prophet but their naivite at possibly being the target of his prophecies.
27 "This is the one about whom it is written, `BEHOLD, I SEND MY MESSENGER . .28 . . among those born of women there is no one greater than John;”
Jesus confirms that John’s own claim for the role of Messenger was right as rain. He was dead on - the very one pictured hundreds of years earlier in prophecy. ”No one greater” is not technically true because it must be tempered with Jesus Himself, who was born of woman but certainly greater than John.
But barring that case, is John in truth greater than any other human being? We would have to include Abraham, and Moses. In terms of thought is he greater than Socrates and Aristotle? In terms of accomplishments, greater than Alexander or Caesar? When we think of this crudely dressed, itinerant preacher we have to wonder how this could be true? But as great as all those other men are, they pale in comparison to what Jesus came to do. His work exceeds in scope and power anything done by those men, including parting the sea.
Hence, the forerunner, the herald, shares in the greatness of the one announced because he had to do this by faith not by sight. So to have that kind of faith and commitment is extraordinary.
“. . yet he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he."
Interestingly, in terms of the kingdom, anyone who comes into it is considered greater than John. This means simply that his joys and experiences in the Kingdom will be far greater than those of any achievements on earth, so any citizen is of greater station and place than those of human efforts.
We can begin here to understand why the first words of both John and Jesus were the good news of the “kingdom.” It was of such importance and the populating of it with the souls of men so important that it was issue No. 1 in all they did.
Matthew 11:12-15
12 "From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force.”
This is among the most difficult verses in Jesus’ teaching because it associates words we would never see as belonging together at all – acquiring the kingdom by violent men and by force.
The verse is explained by commentators as referring to the spiritual fervor that men exercised toward the announcement of the presence of the kingdom and their desire to rush into it. This is not exactly a clear answer to the imagery seen.
But in other ways, we can see some of this in the revivals of modern times. The Great Awakening of the recent past was marked by many episodes of spiritual ecstasy and physical excitement. In the film, Hallelujah (King Vidor, MGM) from the 20’s, the blacks portray the ecstatic moments of revival that are often described as the fearful things evangelicals never want occurring in their churches.
Jesus may be teaching here that among those desiring the kingdom there are some who are notably strong in spirit and stand out as almost too strong in their zeal. And there is insight in that Jesus is pointing to John as an example of what He’s saying. John was of that nature. In Franco Zeferelli’s Jesus of Nazareth, (Incorporated Television Company, 1977), the actor Michael York plays the Baptist and in a way that recalls the fierceness of his spirit in the Lord. A good example of perhaps what Jesus means here.
13 "For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John. 14 "And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come. 15 "He who has ears to hear, let him hear”
Jesus is not saying that John was Elijah who is to come, as in Malachi 4:5. The phrase ”If you are willing to receive it” is an indicator provided by the speaker that an analogy is in play. We are not to take the words literally but as an analogy. John is an image or a reflection of the coming of Elijah again.
Luke 7:29-30
29 having been baptized with the baptism of John. . . 30 . . not having been baptized by John
It is not that the baptism of John performed the kind of spiritual enlightening that comes with Christian baptism – John’s baptism did not save. But the repentant heart of those coming to be baptized opened them to such insights, to be able to see the truths of which John spoke.
The Pharisees are not rejecting because they lack something imparted by the baptism, but because they were unrepentant in the first place, and God resists the proud. It is not impossible that divine wisdom was part of the gift received by those at John’s baptism, but we don’t have knowledge enough to say.