Sermon on Luke 7:24–28 for the morning of Sept. 11, 2016.
Last week, we encountered an episode
where the disciples of John the Baptist came and asked Jesus a very pointed
question on his behalf. They asked him, “Are you the coming one, or do we look
for another?” (Lk 7:19–20). This seemed to us to be a very odd question to be
coming from John the Baptist. He faithfully preached of the coming of the
kingdom of God. He faithfully called the nation of Israel to repentance (Lk
3:3–18). He birth was even announced to his father, Zacharias, by the angel
Gabriel (Lk 1:13–17). John even witnessed the Holy Spirit coming down from
heaven alighting on Jesus confirming that Jesus is the Messiah (Jn 1:32–34).
However, when John the Baptist was in prison and began to doubt the ministry
and identity of Jesus, Jesus did call the mind any of these events. He did
remind him of how he witnessed the Holy Spirit descending as a dove upon Jesus.
Jesus instead points to the fact that the words concerning the ministry of the
Messiah were being fulfilled by Jesus Christ. This point is necessary in our
understanding of the text as we continue into the next section in the Gospel of
Luke. This point is going to carry over as we see Jesus identify the ministry
of John the Baptist. The main point of last week and this week are parallel to
each other. Last week we saw that Jesus is fulfilling the passages of scripture
that talk about the Messiah and His kingdom. This week we will see that John the
Baptist fulfills the passages of scripture that talk about the one that will
prepare the way of the Lord (Lk 7:27). These two points are working in tandem
together. Taken together we should see that word of the prophets are being
fulfilled. The words of Isaiah on the Messiah are being fulfilled (Is 26:19;
29:18–19; 35:5–6; 61:1–2). The words of Malachi about the one who prepares the
way of the Lord is being fulfilled (Mal 3:1; 4:5–6). Both of these taking place
and transpiring as the prophets have foretold proves this: God’s program of
salvation is taking place. God has come to bring salvation to His people. God
is doing as He promised. The kingdom of God is at hand. The people of Galilee
were getting to be a witness of the promises of the New Covenant be fulfilled.
They were getting to watch a new dispensation be set up. They got to see how
God was going to save His people. No other generation had, or would see the
same events. They were a unique and blessed generation to see the promises come
to life before their eyes. But we will examine next week how the people reacted
to the words of Jesus.
What They Did Not Go to See (Lk 7:24–25)
Jesus, in His artistic fashion,
helps the crowd to realize the significance of John the Baptist by forcing them
to think through what it was that caused the people to come out in the desert
in the first place. We should recall that the majority of John’s ministry was
done near the Jordan river near the wilderness area. So it not like going to
see John was on the way to the market. Something attracted the people to him.
Jesus starts with some rhetorical questions that imply an obvious negative
answer. The rhetorical questions are supplied to help the people think through
and answer why they went into the desert.
Lk 7:24. The first rhetorical to answer why they went
into the desert is, “A reed shaken in the wind?”. The understanding of this question
can be understood in two separate ways, one as a metaphor, the other in a
literal sense. If we were to understand this as a metaphor, it would be one of
how John was not a wavering, or spineless preacher. John was certain in his
convictions and in his preaching ministry. Marshall explains that, “The shaking
of reeds in the wind was proverbial (1 Ki 14:15), and the metaphor suggests a
wavering or easy-going person.”[1] Matthew
Henry explains how this would be fitting,
He was a man of unshaken self-consistence, a man of steadiness and constancy. He was not a reed shaken with the wind, first in one direction and then in another, shifting with every wind; he was firm as a rock, not fickle as a reed. If he could have bowed like a reed to Herod, and have complied with the court, he might have been a favourite there; but none of these things moved him. [2]
While it is fitting to say that John
was unmoved, this metaphorical sense of the rhetorical question does not seem
to fit the present context. We just saw how John was struggling in faith with
understanding if Jesus really is the Messiah. Also the next rhetorical
question, which is parallel to this one, is meant to be understood in a literal
sense. No one purposely walks into the desert just so they can watch a reed
being shaken by the wind. The thought is ludicrous and absurd. Absurd answers are
typical for rhetorical questions.
Lk 7:25. The second rhetorical question asks if they
went into the wilderness to see a man dressed in soft clothing. “The
combination ἱματισμός and ἔνδοξος refers to expensive
clothing, probably made of wool or soft linen.”[3]
This is quite the opposite of John the Baptist. He is described as being
clothed in camel’s hair and a leather belt (Mt 3:4). In fact, Jesus even points
out that the wilderness is the last place to look for a person that is dressed
in glorious apparel. If you want such a person you should look in palaces, not
deserts. Therefore, there is an obvious no to this question. They were not
drawn to the desert to see a man in nice clothes.
What They Did Go to See (Lk 7:26–27)
Jesus offers another rhetorical
question as to why they went into the wilderness but this question anticipates
a positive answer. Jesus even supplies a positive answer for this question.
However, He clarifies that the answer is somewhat insufficient. John is a
prophet, but he is not just any prophet. Jesus even states that John is more
than a prophet. We have should already know this from what has been said about
John in the beginning of Luke’s Gospel. In particular, “He will go before him
in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the
children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the
Lord a people prepared.” (Lk 1:17 ESV). And also, “And you, child, will be
called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare
his ways” (Lk 1:76 ESV). Even John, when he was questioned stated, “I am the
voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’
as the prophet Isaiah said” (Jn 1:23 ESV; cf. Lk 3:4–6; Is 40:3–5).
Lk 7:27. Jesus explains the importance of John the
Baptist by make a loose reference to a different Old Testament passage from the
above quotations. Jesus refers to Malachi 3:1, “Behold, I send my messenger,
and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly
come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight,
behold, he is coming, says the Lord
of hosts” (ESV). Jesus does not make a quotation that is word-for-word with the
LXX. Bock points out several differences between the quotation and referent
source and then states, “These differences show that the LXX is not the source
of Luke’s citation. Rather, he makes a general reference to Malachi, with the
key change being the shift in pronoun” (Luke has “you” in place of “me”).[4]
The book of Malachi goes to explain, “I will send you Elijah
the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their
children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike
the land with a decree of utter destruction.” (Mal 4:5–6 ESV). This causes many
to ask, “Is John the Baptist fulfilling what Malachi says about Elijah. Bock
gives the best answer to this inquiry.
While John did go about preparing
the way of the people to God (Is 40:3–5), John did not come before the “great
and awesome day of the LORD” (Mal 4:5). The “great and awesome day of the LORD”
is still yet to come. (This may have been a part of John misunderstanding of
Jesus’ current ministry. He wanted Jesus to judge the nation.) John the Baptist
is a “proto-Elijah.”
The Position of John (Lk 7:28)
This causes Jesus to give high marks
for John. Jesus calls him the greatest man that has ever lived. This would mean
that John was a greater prophet than Moses, greater even than Abraham. However,
Jesus quickly adds, “but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than
he.” The reason for this is because John belonged to the previous dispensation.
He belonged with, alongside, and is seen as an Old Testament prophet. The
promises of the New Covenant, like the indwelling the of the Holy Spirt, have
not taken place yet. They will be purchased by the blood of Christ at the cross
and will arrive on the day of Pentecost. Jesus is not saying that John is not
going to be a part of the kingdom of God (Lk 13:28), but that he that will get
to receive the benefits of the kingdom will be at a greater advantage than
John. Even the prophets themselves look forward to this time.
Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.” (1 Pe 1:10–12 ESV)
Even Jesus explained this in
Matthew. “But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they
hear. For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see
what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear
it.” (Mt 13:16–17 ESV).
Therefore, we called to believe the word of God so that we
might receive the blessings of salvation. We can receive the salvation that was
spoken by the prophets long ago and desperately wanted to see these things come
to pass. We, who believe, have seen. We have the salvation provided in the
cross of Calvary.
[1] I. Howard Marshall, The Gospel of Luke: A
Commentary on the Greek Text, NIGTC (Exeter: Paternoster Press, 1978), 294.
[2] Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and
Unabridged in One Volume (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994), 1846.
[3]
Darrell L. Bock, Luke 1:1–9:50, BECNT (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic,
1994), 671. For ἱματισμός see BDAG, 475; for ἔνδοξος see BDAG, 332.2.
[4]
Bock, Luke 1:1–9:50, 673; “Luke also adds πρὸ προσώπου σου at the end of the first
line.” Cf. Marshall, Gospel of
Luke, 295–6.
[5]
Bock, Luke 1:1–9:50, 672.
