Are You Waiting for Jesus?
Text: Luke 7:18-28 Speaker: Pastor Matthew Ude Festival: Advent Passages: Luke 7:18-28
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Luke 7:18-28
Messengers from John the Baptist (Listen)
18 The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, 19 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?” 20 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?’” 21 In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight. 22 And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers1 are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. 23 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
24 When John’s messengers had gone, Jesus2 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.”
(ESV)
Advent is a time of waiting and preparation, but waiting for what? For many people they are only waiting for the chance to eat a lot and open presents. We however proclaim that we are waiting for something more. Is Jesus the one we are waiting for? The answer is probably not.
Jesus is probably not the one we are waiting for. Not because Jesus is not the Messiah, he most certainly is, but because we are most likely waiting and expecting for the wrong thing. Jesus doesn’t come for the purpose of fulfilling our expectations, and that is the problem for a lot of people. How many times have you heard someone say, if God were real . . . That phrase is as much as to say, God doesn’t act the way I think he should therefore he must not be real. With this phrase God is dismissed because he doesn’t live up to our expectations.
Jesus did not come to fulfill our expectations. Jesus comes to fulfill the scriptures. If we look for the one who will act and say what we think he ought to do and say, then Jesus is not that one. If however, we look for the one who will act and speak according to scripture than Jesus is the one we are waiting for.
Jesus is the coming one, the one coming according to the scriptures not according to our expectations.
18 Then the disciples of John reported to him concerning all these things. 19 And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to Jesus, saying, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?” 20 When the men had come to Him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to You, saying,`Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?'”
There are those who insist that John had no doubts himself that he only sends his disciples because of their doubts. Such people might argue that John is the great voice in the wilderness, the baptizer, the one whom himself gave witness that Jesus was the Christ. He is the one who Jesus in our text calls the greatest prophet, how could he have doubts?
The simplest reading of the text, however, suggests that he did indeed have some doubts. The text says that he called the disciples, they didn’t come to him. They also told Jesus John sent us.
What a wonderful comfort it is for us that John did doubt. In our own doubt, in our own questions and confusion, in our own struggles, we not only know that even John struggled, but more importantly we have the comfort of Jesus answer.
As we see in our text, doubt and confusion are not necessarily a lack of faith. They can stem from a weak faith. They might come from sinful thinking. However, often they are simply the result of our limited sight. We can’t see as God sees, and what we do see doesn’t look right to us, therefore we are confused.
1 Corinthians 2:9 Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.
Just as so often happens in our life so too it happened to John. Things don’t look right to him. If Jesus is the Messiah, why am I in prison? And so, he asks that same question we might ask as well. Are you the one promised, the Messiah? Was I wrong to believe in you?
So too we might ask are we wrong to wait for Jesus? Is he really coming back? Is he really the one?
Let us see what answer Jesus gives not only to John but to us as well.
21 And that very hour He cured many of infirmities, afflictions, and evil spirits; and to many blind He gave sight. 22 Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them.
At this point it is easy to get distracted by the miracles. If we are going to correctly apply this account to our own lives we have to recognize that what Jesus does is not as important as what he says. Or to say it another way: The miracles may be a small proof that he is the Messiah but the fact that he fulfilled the scriptures is a much better proof of who he is.
Jesus answers John’s question with a demonstration not only of his power but more importantly a fulfillment of the OT scriptures. There are many occasions in which Jesus is asked to give a similar demonstration of his power, and he does not do it. Herod demands it of him and he will not.
The Jews after the feeding of the five thousand demand that Jesus give them a sign and Jesus refuses.
We find one reason in the prophet Isaiah
Isaiah 42:3 3 A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth.
There is a big difference between those like Herod who just want Jesus to put on a show, and those like John the Baptist who have put their trust in Jesus but are struggling. Jesus has compassion on us in our weakness, he had compassion on John, but he is not a circus. He did not come then, nor does he come now to put on a show.
There is another reason however and that is only seen when we correctly understand Jesus’ response to John. His response to John was to point him back to the prophet Isaiah. I am fulfilling the OT prophecies. In this way his response to the Herod, the people or Nazareth, and the Jews was not significantly different than his response to John. In each case he pointed them back to the Old Testament. The proof that Jesus is the Coming one, that is the Messiah, is not found in the miracles by themselves, but in the fact that he fulfilled the OT prophesies
The signs in and of themselves are not the proof that Jesus is the Messiah. It is the signs as fulfillment of the OT prophecies which prove that Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus quotes from the OT prophet Isaiah. Jesus is not the Messiah that even John was expecting. He is, however, exactly the one that was foretold.
On that account we have more proof than John the Baptist received not less. He saw only the lesser fulfillments, the healing of the sick, the cleansing of the leapers, etc. Although John did not see them himself but only heard about them. We have heard about the greater fulfillments, that Jesus died according to the scriptures, that he was raised from the dead according to the scriptures, that he ascended on high.
Those who test Jesus according to their own understand of what he should do or say will find that Jesus does not fit. If however, you test Jesus according to what the scriptures say he will do you will find that he passes the test perfectly.
Jesus is not the one we are expecting, he is the one the scriptures foretold.
23 “And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”
Remember that the word offend in the bible does not mean the same thing as the way we generally use it. We say we are offended when someone does something we don’t like. In the scripture someone is offended when they are lead into sin. If I regularly go out to the bars and get drunk, someone might say they are offended by that lifestyle. That is the way we use the word. Another, however, might decide that if the pastor lives like that, so can they. That person would be offended in a biblical way.
Jesus words here then mean this: He does not appear the way we expect him to appear. He does not do things the way we expect God to do things. Do not allow this to lead you into thinking that therefore he is not the Messiah.
In the remainder of our text Jesus continues to say the same thing about John the Baptist. He does not appear to be great in the eyes of the world but in the eyes of God he is the greatest prophet.
Jesus does not act in accordance with our expectations, but he does act in accordance with the scriptures.
The same thing is true in our lives. When we expect Jesus to act in the way that we think he ought, we will often be disappointed and maybe even be offended, but when we look to Scripture and expect Jesus to act in accordance with His word then we are not disappointed.
When we view Jesus according to our expectations of what we think a Messiah and the God ought to be and how he ought to act, there is good reason to doubt. Jesus does not come to fulfill our expectations. When however, we compare him to the OT then there is no doubt. Jesus does in every way live up to the prophecies of the OT.