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Luke 7:18–23
“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” (vv. 22–23).
Earlier in Luke’s gospel, we read much about John the Baptist, since chapters 1 and 3 contain details about this forerunner of Jesus. We have not heard about John for several chapters, probably because Luke reports that John was imprisoned near the beginning of our Lord’s ministry in Galilee (Luke 3:18–20). John the Baptist reappears in today’s passage, however, as Luke reports on some questions that John had for Jesus.
John the Baptist had disciples of his own (Luke 5:33), and at one point in Jesus’ ministry, these disciples of John reported to him what they had seen and heard from Jesus (Luke 7:18). On hearing this, John sent two disciples to Jesus to ask if He was the One to come or if there was to be another (Luke 7:19–20). Essentially, John the Baptist was asking Jesus whether He really was the promised Messiah.
This question may seem strange, especially since the Gospels make clear that John believed that Jesus was Messiah and Savior when he baptized the Lord (e.g., Matt. 3:13–17). Things make more sense when we consider John’s situation when he asked this question. Matthew 11:1–3 reports that John sent the messengers to inquire into Jesus’ messianic identity after he was imprisoned by Herod Antipas. John, suffering for the truth of God, surely felt that something might be wrong because he was not being treated as the forerunner of the Messiah should be. Likely he wondered whether he had been mistaken, whether he had misunderstood his commission and that he was really not the forerunner and that Jesus was not the Messiah (Luke 1:67–80). Apparently, Jesus was not living up to John’s messianic expectations. Remember that John proclaimed a Messiah who was about to come and bring final judgment (Luke 3:15–17). Yet Jesus had not brought final judgment, and in fact the world continued to be upside down, for righteous men such as John were suffering and wicked men such as Herod were prospering.
Jesus did not rebuke John for his doubt, but He told John’s disciples to report to him the various miracles He was performing, all of which characterize the Messiah’s ministry according to the prophet Isaiah (Luke 7:21–23; see Isa. 42:1–9; 61:1–2). In doing this, Jesus was telling John that yes, He is the Messiah and will set all things right but that the messianic judgment was not yet. His miracles proved His identity, and John was called to wait in patient faith for all to be accomplished.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
We live long after John the Baptist, but the call for us to wait in patient faith for Christ to complete His work remains. We are still waiting for the return of Jesus to consummate His kingdom, and sometimes this means that the world is upside down, with the righteous suffering and the wicked prospering. That will not last forever, for Jesus is coming again to judge the living and the dead. By faith we wait for that day.
for further study
- Psalm 37:1–11
- Habakkuk 2:4
- Hebrews 6:1–12
- James 5:7–8
the bible in a year
- Judges 15–17
- Luke 10:1–24