Sep 23
24
Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 35
“The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus; it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the LORD, the majesty of our God. Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who have an anxious heart, ‘Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.’ Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down, the grass shall become reeds and rushes. And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray. No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. And the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” (Isaiah 35, ESV)
New Testament Reading: Luke 7:18-23
“The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, 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?’ 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?’’ In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight. And he answered them, ‘Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.’” (Luke 7:18–23, ESV)
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Please excuse any typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church but without the benefit of proofreading.
Introduction
“Blessed is the one who is not offended by me”, Jesus says. To be offended by Jesus is to fall back from him. To be offended by Jesus is to recoil from him. To be offended by Jesus is to stumble over him. Many, as I am sure you know, are offended by Jesus.
And people are offended by Jesus for many different reasons. Some fall back from him because he opposes their way of life and exposes their sinfulness. Others recoil from him because of who he claims to be – the Son of God incarnate, and the only way to the Father. And others stumble over him because he was so lowly and humble in his incarnation. He claimed to be the promised one, the King, the Messiah, and yet he was poor, despised, and rejected by men. He suffered in this world, and he calls his followers to suffer in this world too. These are only a few examples of reasons that people are offended by Jesus.
Now to be clear, Jesus was not an offensive person in the way that we typically use that word – never was he obnoxious or rude. But in another sense, Jesus is the most offensive person ever to live. When men and women are told about Jesus – his person and work – when they are exposed to his teachings and confronted with his claims – they are forced to make a decision. They must choose to either receive him or reject him, to run to him or recoil from him, to follow him, or to fall back from him. And we know that Jesus is offensive to many.
Good friends, we should remember that if God were to leave us to ourselves, we would all reject, recoil, and fall back from Jesus. Left to ourselves we would all be offended by him. The Apostle John explains why. In John 3:19, he speaks of Jesus, saying, “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed” (John 3:19–20, ESV). Again I say, if God were to leave us to ourselves in the darkness of our sin, we would all run from Jesus, just as darkness runs from light. But God, by his grace, has determined to call some to himself by his word and Spirit through faith in Jesus the Messiah. This is what Jesus refers to when he says in John 6:44, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:44, ESV). Left to ourselves, we would all be offended by Jesus. But God, by his grace, draws some to himself through Christ, and these will be raised up on the last day.
When the disciples of John the Baptist came to Jesus to ask if he really was the one, he sent them back with these words: “Blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” I take this to be both a statement of fact and an exhortation. First, it is a statement of fact. Those who are not offended by Jesus are blessed of God. God has shown mercy to them. God has called them (externally by the word, and internally by the Spirit). God has opened their eyes to see that Jesus is indeed precious and beautiful, so they are drawn to him. It is a fact that those not offended by Jesus are blessed. But these words are also an exhortation or a warning. It is as if Jesus had said to these disciples of John, be careful that you are not offended by me. Do not fall back from me. Do not recoil from me. Draw near to me instead. Friends, this is a message that you and I need to hear, for I would imagine that many who follow after Jesus are, from time to time, tempted to be offended by him. We must remember the words of our Lord, “Blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
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The Question: Jesus, Are You The One Who Is To Come, Or Should We Look For Another?
So the question is, why did Jesus say this to these two disciples of John the Baptist? The answer must be that some who followed John the Baptist were tempted to pull away from Jesus. How could this be?
We should remember that John the Baptist was a pretty big deal. Luke tells us about his ministry in chapter 3 of his Gospel. It was “during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, [that] the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Luke 3:2–3, ESV). Luke tells us that this was in fulfillment of things written by Isaiah the prophet. Crowds of people came to be baptized by him. He called them to repentance and preached good news to them. They even wondered if he was the Messiah. He insisted that he was not, but that Jesus of Nazareth was, and so he directed the people to follow Jesus. At one point he spoke of Jesus, saying, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30, ESV). And finally, in Luke 3:18 we read, “So with many other exhortations [John] preached good news to the people. 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, added this to them all, that he locked up John in prison” (Luke 3:18–20, ESV). So John the Baptist was in prison when, looking now at Luke 7:18, “The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, 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?’” (Luke 7:18–19, ESV). This is a very important fact to remember as we seek to understand why there was doubt amongst the disciples of John. In a very short time, John and his disciples were thrust from extreme popularity into obscurity.
Let us also pay close attention to the question asked by John’s disciples so that we are clear concerning the meaning. The question asked of Jesus was, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” A more literal translation of the Greek is, are you the coming one? This language of “the coming one”, or “the one who is to come”, should remind us of the preaching of John the Baptist. He said, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Luke 3:16, ESV, emphasis added). And this language of “the coming one” also reminds us of the Old Testament prophesies that use this language in reference to the promised Messiah. For example, in Malachi 3:1-2 the Lord says, “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. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap” (Malachi 3:1–2, ESV). So, the Messiah was the one who “is coming”. Listen also to Psalm 118:26 which speaks of the Messiah when it says, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD!” (Psalm 118:26, ESV). Based upon these prophesies, you can see why the promised Messiah was called “the coming one” or “the one who is to come.” When the disciples of John asked Jesus “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”, they meant, are you really the Messiah, or should we keep looking?
So then, it is clear that some doubts had arisen amongst the disciples of John regarding Jesus, and it is not difficult to imagine some of the possible reasons.
One reason could be that Jesus and his disciples lived a differnt lifestyle than John and his disciples. Luke 5:33 hints at this when some critics approached Jesus saying, “The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink” (Luke 5:33, ESV). Matthew also mentions this disagreement in his Gospel, but from a slightly different vantage point. In Matthew 9:14 we read, “Then the disciples of John came to [Jesus], saying, ‘Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?’” (Matthew 9:14, ESV). John and his disciples lived an ascetic lifestyle. They lived simply in the wilderness and devoted themselves to fasting and prayer, but Jesus and his disciples lived amongst the people. They ate and drank even with tax collectors and sinners. It seems clear that some of John’s disciples were troubled by this. There question was, why don’t you live like we live? And so some were offended by Jesus.
Another reason could be that Jesus did not live up to their Messianic expectations. John said Jesus was the Messiah. John said, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30, ESV). But it is possible that many of John’s disciples were expecting the Messiah to be a strong King who would conquer the Romans, etc. Perhaps many of them did not expect the Messiah to be a lowly, humble, meek, and mild servant who would suffer. We know that many were offended by Jesus because of this. They were ready to follow him so long as he would feed them and meet all of their needs in an earthly way. But when it came time for him to suffer, they fell back. It is certainly possible that there were many among the disciples of John who were struggling to follow Jesus because he was not turning out to be the kind of Messiah they were expecting.
I’ll mention one other possible explanation for the doubting of John’s disciples: John was in prison. Jesus did not seem interested in setting him free but allowed him to suffer there. And we know that John’s death was near. This must have been a great disappointment to the disciples of John. They knew that Jesus was to increase and John was to decrease – but this? Would Jesus allow John to be diminished to this degree?
And so I imagine that it was for all these reasons (and possibly more) that the disciples of John began to question if Jesus was really the one. Many of them were perplexed, disappointed, and discouraged.
One question I have is, was it only the disciples of John who were questioning if Jesus was the Messiah, or did John have doubts too? In previous sermons, I suggested that John had doubts too. I must have been taught this at some point and assumed that this was the case – it was John who was plagued with doubt as he languished in his jail cell with no hope for release, and so he sent his disciples to Jesus to ask this question for his own sake. But as I read commentaries in preparation for this sermon I was struck by how many commentators, ancient and Reformed, took a different view. Many of them insisted that John did not waver in his faith at all, but sent his disciples to Jesus so that their faith in him would be strengthened as they interacted with him.
John Calvin represents this commonly held view in his Commentary On A Harmony Of The Evangelists:
“The Evangelists do not mean that John was excited by the miracles to acknowledge Christ at that time as Mediator; but, perceiving that Christ had acquired great reputation, and concluding that this was a fit and seasonable time for putting to the test his own declaration concerning him, he sent to him his disciples. The opinion entertained by some, that he sent them partly on his own account, is exceedingly foolish; as if he had not been fully convinced, or obtained distinct information, that Jesus is the Christ… It is very evident that the holy herald of Christ, perceiving that he was not far from the end of his journey, and that his disciples, though he had bestowed great pains in instructing them, still remained in a state of hesitation, resorted to this last expedient for curing their weakness. He had faithfully laboured… that his disciples should embrace Christ without delay. His continued entreaties had produced so little effect, that he had good reason for dreading that, after his death, they would entirely fall away; and therefore he earnestly attempted to arouse them from their sloth by sending them to Christ. Besides, the pastors of the Church are here reminded of their duty. They ought not to endeavour to bind and attach disciples to themselves, but to direct them to Christ, who is the only Teacher. From the beginning, John had openly avowed that he was not the bridegroom, (John 3:29.) As the faithful friend of the bridegroom, he presents the bride chaste and uncontaminated to Christ, who alone is the bridegroom of the Church. Paul tells us that he kept the same object in view, (2 Cor. 11:2,) and the example of both is held out for imitation to all the ministers of the Gospel.” (John Calvin and William Pringle, Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists Matthew, Mark, and Luke, vol. 2 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010), 7–8)
The common interpretation which is found here in Calvin is that it was not John who was doubting, but some of his disciples. Being confined to a prison cell, and being near the end of his life, the best thing that John could do for his disciples was to send them to Jesus so that they might speak with him and witness his deeds. And you will notice that Jesus, after performing many miracles in the sight of these disciples of John, and after speaking with them, sent them back to John, so that John could exhort them further to follow after Jesus the Messiah. I must admit, I like this view and find it compelling. I was always a bit troubled by the thought that John, the one who was set apart from conception to be the forerunner to the Messiah, would be so easily shaken near the end of his life.
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The Answer: Yes, For The Sick Are Healed, The Dead Are Raised, And The Poor Have The Good News Preached To Them
Whether it was John who was doubting, or the disciples of John only, is somewhat beside the point. The point is that there was some doubt amongst the band of John’s disciples and the solution was to run to Jesus and ask, “are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And you would do well to notice that Jesus did not answer in word only, but first through deed, and then through word.
Verse 21 says that in the hour after the disciples of John asked their question, “he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight” (Luke 7:21, ESV). In other words, Jesus answered their question by first performing signs and wonders. And only after this did he answer them with his words, saying, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me” (Luke 7:22–23, ESV).
These miracles performed by Jesus were signs that he was indeed the Messiah. He performed these miraculous deeds to confirm that his claims were true. These miraculous deeds were not random but were carefully chosen to fulfill Old Testament Scriptures, particularly Isaiah 35 and 61.
We read Isaiah 35 at the beginning of this sermon. That prophesy is about the Messiah and what he will accomplish, especially at the consummation. There God speaks to the prophet saying, “Say to those who have an anxious heart, ‘Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.’ Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert…” (Isaiah 35:4–6, ESV). These things will be accomplished in full at the consummation when Christ returns to judge and to make all things new, but you would do well to notice that Christ gave sight to the blind, made the lame to walk, cleansed lepers, made the deaf to hear, and even raised the dead, to demonstrate that he was the one of whom Isaiah spoke. And perhaps you noticed the language of “coming” in that prophesy too. The Lord spoke through the prophet saying, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you” (Isaiah 35:4, ESV). The disciples of John asked, “Are you the one who is to come”. Jesus answered in the affirmative, not by saying “yes”, but by performing the very miracles mentioned in that same prophesy.
Isaiah 61 also stands behind Jesus’ answer. “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me” (Luke 7:22–23, ESV). Isaiah 61 is about the Messiah. It says, “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified” (Isaiah 61:1–3, ESV). When Jesus said, “Go and tell John what you have… heard… the poor have good news preached to them”, this was a reference to Isaiah 61. Clearly, Jesus was claiming to be the one Anointed by the Spirit (the Messiah) of whom Isaiah 61:1 spoke.
What an incredible answer to the question, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” I suppose Jesus could have simply said, “Yes, I’m the one.” But he gave the disciples of John so much more. In that very hour, he performed miracles before their eyes. And they were not random miracles, but the very miracles mentioned in Isaiah 35. And not only this, he mentioned the proclamation of the gospel to the poor using the language of Isaiah 61. So in this way, he sent these disciples of John back to the evangelist with an exhortation to compare what they had seen with their own eyes and heard with their own ears with the word of God delivered to the prophets long ago. God promised through the prophets that the Messiah would come, and Jesus demonstrated by his actions and his words, that he was the one who was to come.
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The Exhortation: Blessed Is The One Who Is Not Offended By Me
Finally, Jesus sent these doubting disciples of John back to their teacher with an exhortation or warning: “And blessed is the one who is not offended by me” (Luke 7:23, ESV). In other words, Jesus said, do not be offended by me. Do not recoil or fall back. Instead, obey the words of your teacher John, and follow me. If you do, you will be truly blessed.
I think it is worth noting that there is a connection between Jesus’ statement, “And blessed is the one who is not offended by me”, and the Isaiah 61 passage that Jesus alluded to when he said, “the poor have good news preached to them.” As you know, Isaiah 61:1 says, “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor”, etc. (Isaiah 61:1, ESV). But the rest of the passage does speak of the blessing that will come to those who belong to this Anointed One. Verses 8 and following are of particular interest. They say,
“I will make an everlasting covenant with them. Their offspring shall be known among the nations, and their descendants in the midst of the peoples; all who see them shall acknowledge them, that they are an offspring the LORD has blessed. I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up before all the nations” (Isaiah 61:8–11, ESV).
The point that I am attempting to make is that Jesus’ words, “And blessed is the one who is not offended by me”, were filled with a lot of meaning. They were an echo of Isaiah 61:9 and the reference that is found there to “the offspring the LORD has blessed.”
When Jesus sent these disciples of John back to their teacher (whom Jesus regarded as the greatest of all the prophets) he set them up to receive one heck of a Bible lesson. Can you imagine it? The disciples of John returned to him in the prison, and they said, here is what we saw and heard from Jesus: “the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them.” And Jesus also said, “blessed is the one who is not offended by me” (Luke 7:22–23, ESV). I would like to think that John grinned and said, bring me the scroll of Isaiah the prophet, have a seat, and get comfortable. Or to put it in a different way, I would like to think that John used this as an opportunity to do something like what Jesus did with his disciples after his resurrection in the town of Emmaus – “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:27, ESV).
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Suggestions For Application
How then does this portion of Scripture apply to us who live so long after these things were accomplished?
One, this passage should prompt you and me to ask, am I offended by Jesus? Are tempted to put back from him? Are you ashamed of him for any reason? The world mocks followers of Jesus. And it may be that you are tempted to pull away from him for this reason. You must remember the words of Christ, “blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
Two, the way to not be offended by Jesus is to grow ever more certain that he is the promised Messiah – the one who was to come. If Jesus is nothing more than an example to you – if he is simply a teacher or some religious guide, then you will easily pull back from him when following him is unfashionable, when the heat of persecution is turned up, or when life does not go the way you wanted it to go. Why? Because you can easily find another more popular and palatable religious teacher or moral guide. But if you are certain that Jesus is the promised Messiah, the only Savior of the world, the way, the truth, and the life, through whom all must come to the Father, then you will not be so easily offended by Jesus and tempted to turn back. Do not forget that Luke wrote his Gospel for this purpose, “that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught” (Luke 1:4, ESV). Those who are uncertain concerning Christ will easily fall away. Those who are certain will stand.
Three, your certainty will grow in at least three ways. One, your certainly will grow as you consider Jesus’ works – he healed the sick, raised the dead, and was even raised from the dead himself. Two, your certainty will grow as you consider his words. His teachings are full of truth and light. His claims were marvelous indeed – he claimed to be God with us! And do not forget that his claims were confirmed by the miracles he performed. And three, your certainty that Jesus is the promised Messiah – the only mediator between God and man – will grow as you consider Jesus’ words and works in light of the Old Testament Scriptures, for he came in fulfillment to promises and prophesies previously made. Brothers and sisters, we ought to love the Scriptures. We ought to read the Scriptures often and listen attentively when they are read and preached. We should especially love to see the way that Christ is revealed in the Scriptures, first in the Old Testament, and then in the New. The more we know the Scriptures the more certain we will be that Christ is the Messiah. And the more certain we are concerning his person and work, the more blessed will be in him.
