Luke 7:24-30 (3)

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Invite to Turn back to Luke 7

Before we begin, I want to thank you all...

…for the sacrifices that you make...

…that afford me the time to delve, as deeply...

…as is needed, into a text like this...

…and that enable me to expound it to you...

…with a clear conscience.

That really is an inestimable privilege...

One that I hope never to take for granted!

Thank You!

-We began looking at this event last week.

In verses 18-23 we saw the disciples of John the Baptist...

…being sent to Jesus to ask Him...

…if He was, IN FACT, who John had said He was...

…i.e., the One that was coming after him, who would:

Bring salvation to God’s People

Bring about the defeat of God’s enemies.

Jesus, had responded by performing a plethora of miracles...

...All of which fulfilled Messianic promises and prophecies.

Then, He told them to “go and tell John what you’ve seen and heard...”

And He added that little post script in verse 23:

Luke 7:23 (ESV)

23 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

What we saw in that, was that...

…Jesus Himself was the only path to Covenant Blessing...

…He was the the stone that was laid, for either:

The building up

The tearing down.

…A persons response to Him...

…would determine whether they are ultimately:

Blessed

Condemned

We’re going to jump back in in Verse 24.

Luke 7:24–30 (ESV)

24 When John’s messengers had gone, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?

25 What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are dressed in splendid clothing and live in luxury are in kings’ courts.

26 What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.

27 This is he of whom it is written, “ ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’

28 I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

29 (When all the people heard this, and the tax collectors too, they declared God just, having been baptized with the baptism of John,

30 but the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.)

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Pray

Let’s read that first part of Verse 24 again.

It helps us to understand the sequence of these events:

Luke 7:24 (ESV)

24 When John’s messengers had gone, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John...

So, understand what’s going on, here.

In front of large numbers of people...

(Many who had undergone John’s Baptism)

…John’s disciples come to Jesus on John’s behalf...

…questioning the validity of Jesus’ Messianic Identity!

-Now, if you’re in this crowd, and you’re:

Believing on Jesus

Witnessing His attesting signs...

…What is this going to do...

...for your estimation/opinion of John?

-It would appear that Jesus is intending to head this off.

Rather than discrediting John for his confusion...

Jesus esteems him as the greatest of men!

Look at what He says (asks) at the end of:

Luke 7:24 (ESV)

24… “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?

What does he mean by that?

Well, remember:

…They’re most likely going to view John’s questioning of Jesus...

…as a vacillation (wavering) in his commitment to the cause of Christ.

So, Jesus is saying to them:

“Is this what you saw out in the wilderness?”

“A weak, frail, unsteady, uncommitted man?”

Was John, as James says:?

James 1:6–8 (ESV)

6 ...one who doubts … like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind...

8 ...a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Was he, as Paul says:?

Ephesians 4:14 (ESV)

14 ...tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

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Did he seem like “a reed” . . .

…being helplessly and powerlessly commanded by the winds?

-The question is (of course) rhetorical.

The point in asking it is to imply the answer...

And, the answer here is a resounding “NO!”

-We can see that clearly in verse 25.

He asks a similar question:

Luke 7:25 (ESV)

25 What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? . . .

Was John a delicate, fickle man?

Was John a “soft,” effeminate man?

We know the answer to that ourselves don’t we?

Matthew told us:

Matthew 3:4 (ESV)

4...John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.

This is the type of man you’d expect to see...

…out in the wilderness!

Whereas, Jesus says in verse 25:

Luke 7:25 (ESV)

25 ...Behold, those who are dressed in splendid clothing and live in luxury are in kings’ courts.

But, they hadn’t gone to the palace to hear John, had they?

What’s Jesus’ point here?

I think Sproul sums it up pretty well:

Jesus understood the agony of the attack of the enemy on John; Jesus understood what loneliness and solitude could do; Jesus understood that John the Baptist was perhaps a bit impatient for Jesus to get on with his Messianic agenda.

He also understood that John was not a cowardly weakling who blew hot and cold with every wind of public opinion. — R.C. Sproul

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Jesus is pointing out what they already knew...

...John was NOT:

A Spineless Reed

Some Effeminate Opportunist!

So, what was he?

Jesus tells them in the next three verses.

Look at:

Luke 7:26 (ESV)

26 What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes...

That’s exactly what he was!

Jesus affirms John’s status a legitimate...

…messenger of the Lord!

But, He goes further than just...

…affirming what John had declared about himself...

He says:

Luke 7:26 (ESV)

26 … A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.

How can he be a prophet...

…and yet MORE than a prophet too?

To begin with, John is both:

A source of prophecy

A fulfillment of it!

He was indeed an OT prophet...

…But he was so much more than that.

Jesus explains:

Luke 7:27 (ESV)

27 This is he of whom it is written, “ ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’

Do you recognize that language?

It shows up in several places in the Scriptures.

Primarily, it stems from:

Malachi 3:1–2 (ESV)

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.

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You see, John was indeed a prophet.

But, he wasn’t an ordinary prophet.

He was announcing Yahweh’s Day of visitation...

And, John himself, would go before Him...

…heralding his arrival in human flesh!

John was the forerunner to the Messiah.

He would fill up and finish the O.C. preparatory revelation...

…and announce the advent and inauguration of the New...

He would proclaim the long-awaited arrival...

…of the promised Kingdom of God/Heaven.

In Luke 16:16, Jesus said this:

Luke 16:16 (ESV)

16 “The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached...

You see, John’s ministry (like the whole Old Covenant)...

...was one of preparation.

Preparation for the arrival of the King...

And with the King, the Kingdom!

We’ve seen that many times already

His father (Zechariah) said:

Luke 1:76–77 (ESV)

76 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,

77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins,

And remember that Gabriel had said:

Luke 1:15–17 (ESV)

16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God,

17 and 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.”

You see, John’s message was essentially this:

Matthew 3:2 (ESV)

2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

-Now, if that wasn’t enough to validate John to the crowds...

Jesus goes on to say this:

Luke 7:28 (ESV)

28 I tell you, among those born of women NONE is greater than John...

Think about what that means.

Think about who all that includes:

Noah

Abraham

Moses

Joshua

David

Isaiah

Daniel

Elijah!

Great men of God!

Jesus says, “John’s position/status is greater than all of theirs!”

That’s quite the affirmation, isn’t it? . . .

Of natural-born men, NO ONE has...

...a more esteemed position before God than John!

How do you top that?

Well, look at the rest of Verse 28:

Luke 7:28 (ESV)

28 I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

This tells us so many things:

1.) The Kingdom of God was not established through the Old Covenant.

Remember what we read before?

Luke 16:16 (ESV)

16 “The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached...

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2.) John himself was not (at that time)...

…a part of that Kingdom.

It hadn’t been inaugurated

Its King was yet to be enthroned

3.) The entrance into that Kingdom...

…does not come through natural generation!

Remember what Jesus said to Nicodemus:

John 3:3 (ESV)

3 . . . “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Hence, the contrast with “those born of women.”

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4.) There is a qualitative and positional superiority...

…of those who are in the New Covenant Kingdom.

There are countless reasons why this is true.

The most fundamental is this:

John 1:11–13 (ESV)

11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.

12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,

13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

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The very thing that brings you into the Kingdom of God...

…is the very thing that sets you (positionally) above...

…even Moses himself!

The New Birth!

Where we are:

Dead to Sin

Alive to God

Released from Adam’s headship, and the Law of Moses

Circumcised unto Christ!

-You see brethren, the lowest pauper...

…who is in Union with Jesus Christ...

…Has privileges and blessings that King David...

…could only dream of!

Remember what Peter wrote?

1 Peter 1:8–12 (ESV)

10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully,

11 inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories.

12 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.

Verses 29-30 affirm this interpretation for us.

Luke tells us (notice the parenthesis):

Luke 7:29 (ESV)

29 (When all the people heard this, and the tax collectors too, they declared God just, having been baptized with the baptism of John,

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Why is that?

Why did Jesus making this assertion...

…cause them to vindicate the righteousness of God?

Well, Remember what John’s ministry was for?

Announcing the coming Kingdom

Preparing men’s hearts for the arrival of the King.

Soldiers, tax collectors, and sinners...

...had responded appropriately to that call...

…while the outwardly righteous...

…who confided in their own law-keeping...

…and consequently felt no need to repent...

…Did NOT!

Here Jesus is affirming:

The validity of John’s preaching

The validity of their confession and repentance.

The effectiveness of John in preparing their hearts for Him.

The JFB Commentary explains:

The meaning is, They acknowledged the divine wisdom of such a preparatory ministry as John’s, in leading them to Him who now spake to them (see Lu 1:16, 17) — JFB Commentary

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The least of those whom God had chosen to be in his Kingdom...

…delight in the fact:

They need an alien righteousness

God has provided that righteousness in Christ!

But the “great ones” of the Old, preparatory way...

…had a very different response...

…and it shows that what should have...

…plowed the soil of their hearts in preparation...

…only served to harden them!

Luke 7:30 (ESV)

30 but the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.)

Why?

John was so popular among the lower classes of the people.

Why did these men...

…who so desired the praise of men...

…refuse something so popular?

I think Sproul explains it well:

Those people who submitted to John’s baptism, who acknowledged their need to be cleansed, were those who recognized the just call of God to them to repent.

It was the Pharisees and other religious leaders who steadfastly refused to submit to the baptism of John the Baptist, assuming that they were far too righteous to need to be cleansed in the river by this wild fanatic from the wilderness. — Sproul

He goes on to conclude this:

So here again we find the conflict between pride and grace.

If any one is to be justified in the presence of God that person must first recognize that God is just in demanding that we need a Saviour, that we come to that Saviour for our justification.

The one who seeks to justify himself on the basis of his own righteousness is like the lawyers and Pharisees who refused to admit that they needed to be cleansed. — Sproul

Jesus told the Chief Priest and The Elders:

Matthew 21:31–32 (ESV)

31 . . . “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you.

32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.

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We too, today, must also believe and heed John’s preaching.

Not, by undergoing his baptism...

But, by:

Recognizing and confessing our sin

Turning away any hope in our own righteousness

And looking to Christ in faith to provide for us...

…what the Law (weakened through our flesh)...

…was unable to provide.

If we really, truly humble ourselves to the status of least...

He will exalt us to the status of a son.

Let’s pray