Luke 7:19-23; John's Question

So we come to Luke 7 today. We're going to

begin in verse 19 and we're going to read down

through verse 23. So, In Luke 7, 19 through 23,

we have the disciples of John coming to Jesus. In

24 through, I don't know, we'll say 30. 24 through 30,

they leave, but Jesus begins to tell us about John.

So we're going to save that for next time. Today,

just 19 through 23. And I think I'm going to

change the title of the sermon today. On the spot,

on the fly. That's just how flexible I am. Is

Jesus the one? But I think I'm just going to

change it to John's question. Because that's really what dominates

this entire passage, is John's question. So why don't we

read chapter 7. 19-23 And John calling unto him two

of his disciples sent them to Jesus saying, Art thou

he that should come or look we for another? And

when the men were come unto Jesus they said, John

the Baptist hath sent us unto thee saying, Art thou

he that should come or look we for another? And

in that same hour he cured many of their infirmities

and plagues and of evil spirits and and unto many

that were blind he gave sight. And Jesus answering said

unto them, Go your way and tell John what things

you have seen and heard, how the blind see, the

lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the

dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached.

And blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me. Father,

help me to rightly divide the word today Guide my

thoughts and my words and do the same for my

hearers today, Father. Strike the rock and let the water

flow that the rivers may run in dry places today.

We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. So the question

that John's disciples asked in this passage is still being

asked today. I'm sure that... You say, well, yeah, sure, Pastor,

that's right, because we can hear it still today being asked.

And the problem is the answer to the question is

that they're teaching, some people are teaching just the opposite

of what Jesus gives John's disciples. They wanted to know,

are you the one? Are you the Messiah? Or should

we look for someone else? That's the question. It's at

the heart, really, of a lot of religious movements today. Marcionism,

begun by a fellow named Marcion in the 3rd century,

taught the weakness and the uselessness of the Old Testament.

So they didn't believe that Jesus was the Messiah because

such a belief depended on the Old Testament. the prophecies

of the Old Testament. Such a denial of the role

of the Old Testament is found yet today principally in

the teaching of Andy Stanley at North Point Church who

said we must unhitch ourselves from the Hebrew Scriptures. He

has nothing to do with the Old Testament. That is

just nothing more than Marcionism revived in our day. Current

heresies are always ancient heresies just revisited Gnosticism, of course,

taught that Jesus was a spiritual entity and therefore the

Messiah could not come in human form because, remember, flesh

is bad, spirit is good. And there's a whole lot

of spiritism that is going on today, both paganistic and

Gnostic spiritism. People say, well, I'm not a Christian, but

I'm spiritual. You recently heard that about Dolly Parton, her confessions.

was I'm not Christian, I'm spiritual. Well, what exactly does

that mean? Do you follow Christ or not? Well, probably

not Dolly, and I don't know Dolly or any of that,

but perhaps she was just being very Gnostic about it all.

So Sinianism, which you still find today taught in Unitarian

churches and Universalism, says that Jesus was just a man

with a deeper sense of divinity than most. Maybe that's

where the people who talk about being spiritual go. Jesus

was just a guide. He was just a man. And

he knew just a little bit more. So that's what

Socinians teach. And, of course, the Unitarians would never say, yes,

we have Socinian doctrine in our churches. But they do.

That's who they are. And then you have groups like

you know, the wild-eyed unification church, the Moonies, Sun Young

Moon's cult. And they claimed that Jesus was an incomplete

or partial Messiah. Can you believe that? And he was

incomplete because he never married and had children. He died

before he could do that, and so he didn't fulfill

the role of Messiah. And, of course, Mr. Moon decided

that that's a role that he would fill And he

claims to be Messiah, or claimed, he's no longer with us.

He claimed to be Messiah, and he had three wives

and lots of children, and it was, you know, all

that weirdness. So from a seemingly Protestant, Baptistic congregation like

North Point and Andy Stanley's group, to a wild-eyed cult

like the Moonies, men are still asking the question, is

Jesus the one? And they're answering it in lots and

lots of different ways, a variety of ways, most of

which do nothing more than recycle old heresy. So we

come to John and his situation, and we find there

that in verse 19, John called him, So if you

look at verse 18 here in chapter 7, you see

the background. The disciples of John showed him all these things.

So this comes at the end of the raising of

the widow of Nain's son there in the city of

Nain or at the gate of the city of Nain.

So they saw this. And they went back and they

told John about it. So John is inspired now to

ask the question, well, are you the one? But where

did we leave John the Baptist the last time we

saw him? Well, if you go back to chapter 3

in Luke's gospel, verses 18 through 20, John is saying this.

Luke was saying this about John. Many of the things

in his exhortation preached he unto the people... But Herod

the Tetrarch, being reproved by him for Herodias, his brother

Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done,

added yet this above all, that he shut up John

in prison. So John in Luke 3 is imprisoned by Herod.

So he's been there this whole time, from the end

of 3 all the way now through chapter 7. John

was imprisoned in a stronghold, at least most strongholds, most

believe the stronghold Macarius is the place where John was

held Macarius was built into the eastern shore of the

Dead Sea near the northern end of it and so

along that cliff face there were lots and lots of

very rocky and so they actually carved the prisons into

that rocky seascape right there on the coast of the

Dead Sea and then above it built a palace with

a grand hall and all the trappings that you might

think would be in a palace. So you have this

beautiful palace on top of this ugly dungeon that they

built into the rocks below the palace. The tradition says

that these prisons were carved into the rock, and some

would say that that it is there in that palace

ballroom above the prisons, that's where Salome danced for Herod

and where he promised her up to half of his kingdom,

whatever she might ask, and where Herodias influenced her to

ask for John's head. So he's just down in the dungeon.

All they have to go down is a couple flight

of steps and they've got him. So it could be

that place but we're not exactly sure. And you can

imagine being in a prison there in the Dead Sea.

The air there is hot. It's heavier than it is

in other places because You're so far below sea level.

You've got more atmosphere on top of you when you

go down that low. It's very dry. Even though there's

a sea there, you know, that's because of the Jordan

River that you have that sea that just dies there

in that pool. But it's hot, it's oppressive, it's heavy,

and it's dry. And it's not a happy place. So

you can imagine that John is in this prison that's hot.

It's not wet. It's arid. It's dry. And then you've

got all of that extra pressure in that room. It

just must have been a horrible place to be imprisoned.

And John says, calls him two of his disciples and

sent them to Jesus. John, being a prophet, you know,

and we've seen him do this, He had men that

followed him and they were taught by him. They supported him,

no doubt. They helped him during his ministry, I'm sure.

He had helpers that helped him control the crowds and

get people into the water as he was preaching and baptizing.

And while he's in prison, it's very likely that Herod

allowed his disciples to come and minister to him. I'm

sure they brought him food and they brought him comforts

if they could. And they were just there with him.

But it's probably also true that they weren't there with

him the whole time. In Luke's Gospel, we find them mentioned,

these disciples of John, in chapter 5, verse 33. We

have them again here in 7, verse 18. We've already

mentioned that. And then here in 19, they come to Jesus.

And they're also mentioned in John's Gospel, in chapter 1,

verse 35, and in chapter 4, verse 1. John's Gospel

tells us that Andrew... One of Jesus' disciples was originally

a disciple of John. It's one of the two mentioned

there in John 1, verse 35. So him having disciples

John 1:35

is not a new development. He's had disciples. We know that.

So these men are trying to minister to John, and

he sends them with this question. Art thou he that

should come, or look we for another? So John received

the information in 718, and then he had a question.

And don't we understand this? Don't we understand this question?

I mean, we understand, I think, most of us, probably

all of us, we've all lived long enough to understand this.

We understand how hardship and suffering and deprivation and solitude

can erode a soul. The things that we suffer in

this life eat away at us sometimes. Now John was

great and John was good. But he was still a man.

Jesus tells us in the next passage, we'll get to

that next week, that he's the greatest of the prophets.

And yet John, the greatest of the prophets, has this question.

I think that we should understand that if John had

this question, and it's understandable now, that if it's understandable

that men would still have this question. Now, just set

the question aside for a moment and think about what

John has said previously. So John asks the question, are

you the one or do we look for another? But

what had John said previously about Jesus? Luke chapter 3.

Luke 3 · chapter mention

Verse 16, John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed

baptize you with water, but one mightier than I cometh.

Do you remember his question? Are you the one, or

do we look for another? One mightier than I cometh,

the latchet of whose shoes I'm not worthy to unloose,

he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.

Matthew chapter 3, verse 13. Then cometh Jesus from Galilee

Matthew 3:13

to Jordan unto John to be baptized of him. But

John forbade him, saying, I have need to be baptized

of thee, and comest thou to me. That's what he

said to Jesus. In John chapter 1, verses 15 through 18,

John 1:15–18

we have this. John bare witness of him and cried, saying,

This is he of whom I spake. He that cometh

after me is preferred before me. For he was before me,

and of his fullness have all we received, and grace

for grace. For the law is given by Moses, but

grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man hath

seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, which

is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. Wow.

What else did John say of Jesus? Chapter 1 of

John's Gospel, verses 35 and 36. I'm sorry. Chapter 1

of John's Gospel, verses 29 and 30. The next day

John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the

Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

This is he of whom I said, After me cometh

a man which is preferred before me, for he was

before me. And then, chapter 1, verses 35 and 36. Again,

the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples,

and looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold

the Lamb of God. So what happened to John? We

have this evidence of John in Matthew's gospel, in John's gospel,

and in Luke's gospel. We have this message of John

that he's pointing to Jesus as the one. And now

suddenly here we have in chapter 7, he's asking the question,

Are you the one or do we look for another?

You know, questions are okay. It's okay to have questions.

It is. And I think we can ask ourselves, what

happened to John? What could weaken such a strong and

certain confession of Christ? We know that the suffering makes

a man ask questions. Sometimes the man might ask himself

the question, was I right? Was it worth it? And

in this case, he asked Christ to confirm or deny

all this previous, you know, confessions that John had made

about him, pointing people to him, even his own disciples,

telling them, there's the Lamb of God that takes away

the sin of the world. It's okay to have questions.

I think John gives us that permission here. But also,

John shows us where to go with the questions. Now,

in the previous passage, Jesus was in Nain, where he

raises the widow's son, and he's probably still there ministering

to people who lived in the southern portion of Galilee,

probably either was in Nain doing that or in the

area there around Nain. There's lots of open field there.

That's the southern end of the Jezreel Valley, so there's

lots of plain there where he could have Done that work.

It's well watered. It's a beautiful place. So Jesus is there.

Verse 20, chapter 7, verse 20. When the men were

come unto him, they said, John the Baptist has sent

us unto thee, saying, Art thou he that should come,

or look we for another? Isn't it wonderful that these

men were such faithful messengers for the prophets? delivering the

very questions asked by John in the very same way

that John asked them. And these questions are important. And

you'll notice that they're repeated twice. We have John saying

it to his disciples, and then the disciples come to Jesus,

and they say the same thing again. So when something

like that, when we find it repeated like this, we

really need to sit up and pay attention. They're important questions.

They're repeated questions. And because they're so important, they're repeated.

Who are you? Who was Jesus? Who is Jesus? Can

you reliably place your faith in what Jesus said? Can

you reliably trust in who the Bible says that he is?

If John the Baptist was asking these kind of questions,

and they're twice repeated, then surely they're important yet today,

and of course they are. And I want you to

notice something here. Look at verse 21. what's do you

see the answer of jesus yet says that same hour

he cured many of their infirmities and plagues and of

evil spirits and many that were blind he gave sight

jesus did not answer these guys did he he heard

their question and he turned around and he just kept

doing what he was doing He didn't wait to address

the question, but immediately gave them a front row seat

to his work. I would imagine that Jesus, he told Peter, James,

and John, here, take these fellows and treat them well

and put them right here in the front of the

group so that he can see everything I'm doing, so

that they can hear everything I'm doing. They were probably

special guests that day. Maybe even had special chairs that

they set out for him, you know, You know, like

our deacon seats, you know, big back chairs, you know, padded.

You know, something nice for them to sit there so

they could watch. Jesus hasn't answered the question yet. He

just says, hey, have them sit right here so they

can see everything. So, and it's immediate, too. Notice that.

It says the same hour. So he didn't waste any

time with these guys. He just brought them right in

and just kept right on going. Notice what happens. He

cured many of their infirmities, plagues, evil spirits, the blind

he gave sight. Yeah. So Jesus gives them this front

row seat to his work. They are somewhere in the

precincts of Nain. And the thing I want to know is,

which is more convincing to you? If I say I'm trustworthy...

Or if I prove that I'm trustworthy. Yeah, if I

prove it, right? Because anybody could say, oh, you can

trust me. But what happens when you trust somebody and

then they don't follow through? Boy, is that disappointing. Look

at Solomon in the Proverbs. He talks about that, right?

You know, a messenger who doesn't come through is like

a broken foot. or a broken tooth, it's painful. You

trust somebody with something important and then they don't do it. Right?

So Jesus is saying to these men, he's saying it

without saying it, I am the one who should come

because he's performing a work before them. He doesn't just say,

oh yeah, you can go tell John I'm the guy. No,

he shows these men He shows them. Jesus is allowing

them to witness the work. And it's about the works

that prove that he is the son of God. Let's

just do a quick review. And I've got, let's see,

how many have I got? One, two, three, four, five passages.

I want to take you on a little survey here.

Most of this is going to be in John's gospel.

John in his gospel is very certain to demonstrate jesus

and who he is by his works and in john's

gospel let's see it's in chapter five jesus says this

but i have greater witness than that of john for

the works which the father hath given me to finish

the same works that i do bear witness of me

that the father hath sent me the works bear witness

so what are these disciples of john what are they

saying They're seeing the testimony of the Father that Jesus

is the one. John chapter 10, verses 25 and 26.

John 10:25

Jesus answered them, I told you and you believed not.

The works that I do in my Father's name, they

bear witness of me. But ye believe not because you're

not of my sheep as I said unto you. Again

in John chapter 10, just look down in the chapter

John 10 · chapter mention

to verse 37 and 38. If I do not the

works of my Father, believe me not. Again, why are

the disciples of John there? They're witnessing the testimony of

the Father that this is the Son of God. He

says to them in 37, If I do not the

works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do,

though you believe not me, believe the works... That you

may know and believe that the Father is in me

and I in him. And then in John chapter 14,

John 14 · chapter mention

Philip asked that question. Show us the Father and it

satisfies us. And then Jesus in his reply to Philip,

he says this in John 14 verse 10 and 11.

John 14:10

Believest thou not that I am in the Father and

the Father in me? The words that I speak unto

you I speak not of myself. But the Father that

dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that

I am in the Father and the Father in me,

or else believe me for the very works sake. The

very works sake. And then in John 15, verse 24,

John 15:24

If I had not done among them the works which

none other man did, they had not had sinned. But

now they have both seen and hated both me and

my father. Why? They had seen the works, but they

hadn't believed. Now, we don't have the works of Christ

available to us today, do we? It would be impossible

for us to go to the southern end of the

Jezreel Valley and see Jesus doing miracles because he's not

there now. We don't even have the ministry of the

apostles today. going about and preaching and teaching and seeing

the miracles, the few miracles that they did. So is

our lack of those works a weakness of the church

and a reason why men do not believe? Absolutely not.

Peter tells us that we have something even more important

and lasting than those works. For he said in 2

2 Peter 1 · chapter mention

Peter chapter 1, For we have not followed cunningly devised

fables when we made known unto you the power and

coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of

his majesty. For he received from God the Father honor

and glory when there came such a voice unto him

from the excellent glory. This is my beloved Son in

whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came

from heaven we heard when we were with him in

the holy mount. We also have a more Sure word

of prophecy, where until you do well that you take

heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark place,

until the day dawn and the day star rise in

your hearts, knowing this first, that no prophecy of the

scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came

not in old time by the will of man, but

holy men of God spake as they were moved by

the Holy Ghost. Again, now, just as an aside here,

You see the Trinity here, right? This is Trinitarian. The

unity of God with the diversity of persons. Three persons.

The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost in Peter's

passage here in 2 Peter chapter 1. So Peter is saying,

2 Peter 1 · chapter mention

we've seen this. We were eyewitnesses of his majesty. We

were there. We heard it. We were with him in

the holy mount. We heard God speak. But you have

a more sure word of prophecy. And where is that found?

In the word of God. The word of God is

more sure than all the works and miraculous moments of

Christ or the apostles. The word of God was inspired

by the Holy Ghost. The word of God is a

light that shines so that no man can say that

God has left us without testimony, direction, or comfort. We

simply must take heed. Now, after Jesus does the works,

men are right there Got a front row seat. Then

he speaks. Verse 22, chapter 7. And notice that this

is only after they witnessed the works that Jesus addressed

their question. Then Jesus answering said to them, go your

way and tell John what things you have seen and heard.

How that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers

are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to

the poor the gospel is preached. Here again, we are

reminded of Jesus in the synagogue in chapter 4. You

remember that? When he took the book of Isaiah, and

when he had opened the book, he found the place

where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is

upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the

gospel to the poor. He hath sent me to heal

the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering

of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them

that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

This passage in Isaiah 61 is kind of like the

execute file in a computer program. You know, I can

remember back when I was first going to seminary, I

had to learn DOS code. Everybody knew DOS code. That

was before Windows came out. And you had to know

DOS code to run the computers. It was, if And

if you compare that to what we have today, it's

so different. It's just night and day different. And that

wasn't that long ago. At least I'd like to pretend

it wasn't that long ago. But once you had everything

ready to go, you just put in that EXE code.

You just hit the button once that was in there.

And then it ran the whole program, the execute. Isaiah

61 is kind of like the execute code. for Jesus' ministry.

Luke reminds us at every turn of Isaiah's prophecy. And

it's almost like the Gospel of Luke is a seek

and find for Isaiah 61. It just shows up over

and over again. So when Jesus said to the disciples

of John, go your way and tell John what things

you have seen, it just wasn't any old thing that

they'd seen. It was exactly what Isaiah said that the

Messiah would do. So he shows them the works... Because

this is the evidence that Messiah has come. And then

he says to them, you go back and tell John

what you've seen. And when John heard that Jesus was

doing these things, John would say, Isaiah 61. He is

the Messiah. Because he's doing exactly what was prophesied by Isaiah.

He's doing exactly that. Go your way and tell John

what things you have seen and heard. He knows John

will connect these things with Messiah's ministry. It's outlined by Isaiah.

Jesus doesn't say, because I said so. He doesn't say that.

He carefully connects his ministry with the word of God,

the very prophecy of Isaiah about the Messiah. For the

benefit of John, and for the benefit of his disciples,

and for the benefit of us. His miracles do not

just show us that he was a miracle worker. No,

they testify to the fact that he was the Messiah,

the very Son of God. And we have it today

written in this word for us, which is inspired by

the Spirit of God given to the church as comfort,

edification and exhortation I remember my son once my granddaughters

were old enough to to challenge his authority this is

Adam I'm speaking of he told them to do something

you know as a father will do. And they said, well, why?

And he said, what welled up in me, dad, was

because I said so. Because I said so. He said,

and in that moment, I heard you every time you

said to me, because I said so. And he said,

and then I understood. I understood. I understood. Because I

have some information that you don't have. Because I know

the dangers that you face that you don't see. And

because I know this is the way it should be done.

And all I could think of, he said to me,

all I could think of was, because I said so.

He said, and then I reconciled all of that stuff

that you said to me with what I just said

to those girls. He said, and I felt in that

moment like a father. Jesus didn't say, because I said so.

He demonstrates the said so. with his works, which connect

to his word, which answers the question of John, are

you the one? And ladies and gentlemen, it still answers

that question today. Is he the one? This stands out.

It's like, and this next piece in verse 23 is

what I mean it stands out. This verse, this 23rd

verse says, It's almost like Jesus turns and faces Luke's

readers and speaks directly to us. John is not offended.

He just asked an understandable question. And Jesus turns to

us knowing that we're going to hear and read this.

And he says, blessed is he whosoever shall not be

offended in me. Who's he talking to? I think he's

talking to all of us. Blessed is he whosoever shall

not be offended in me. The works of Jesus testify

of him, but also can have the opposite effect. There

in John 15 and verse 24, Jesus said, If I

have not done among them the works which none other

man did, they had not had sin. But now they

both have seen and hated both me and my father.

Offense leads to sin. Sin leads to hatred of both

the Father and the Son. And no blessing can be

found there. But Jesus said, blessed is he who is

not offended. And I dare say he's looking down through

the ages into all the hearts that he knows he's

speaking to through the apostle. And he says, blessed is

he that is not offended to me. Sometimes, ladies and gentlemen,

our Questions can gangrene and turn gross and make us

bitter because they don't get answered. Not here. The division

between election and reprobation is a point where offense comes.

Jesus answered them. He said, I told you and you

believed not. The works that I do in my Father's name,

they bear witness of me, but you believed not because

you're not of my sheep as I said unto you.

Even the very works of Jesus did not convince some

that he was the Messiah. They are the catalyst of

both election and reprobation are the works of Christ reported

to us in the word of God. Okay, so I

see I'm past my time. Let me go ahead and

conclude this with a little application. The thing I think

that we need to begin with here, John's question. And

I want to ask you, and maybe not you, but

someone you know, are you suffering and feel doubts arising

about your faith? John gave us a good example. He

was in his lowest moment. prior to his being beheaded,

you can just imagine how they treated him. He was

in a place that was oppressive and cruel, and even

though he had people there to support him, you just

wouldn't want him to have been in that dungeon. But

where does John go for the answer? He went to Jesus.

Now he had to do it through some faithful men,

but they were faithful men, so he went to Jesus.

That's always the place to go. Run to Jesus. Don't

look to the wisdom of the age. Don't look to philosophies.

Go straight to the source. Open your Bibles. Get on

your knees and have that book in front of you

as you pray. And ask him the question. Whatever that

question might be that is weighing on your heart like

a thousand atmospheres. You might say that you don't know

how to go to him. Well, find a trusted Christian

friend who can help you. John couldn't leave his cell,

but his friends became his legs and his voice. Your

friend can take you to the Bible for comfort and

answers because only there will you find answers. Second thing is,

are you being tempted by a teaching that says Jesus

was less than? If so, run away from that immediately.

Listen to the words of Johnson Oatman, Jr. He wrote

these words. My heart has no desire to stay where

doubts arise and fears dismay. Though some may dwell where

these abound, my prayer, my aim is higher ground. Lord,

lift me up and let me stand by faith on

heaven's table land. Mm. Finally, look to the more sure

word of prophecy. The inspired word of God is the

light that shines in a dark place. And friends, who

we have some dark places in this life. The word

is a lamp unto my feet, David said, and a

light unto my path. Father, help us today as we conclude.

We ask that you'd bless now this final song as

we sing it. We pray in Jesus' name.