Luke 7:16 “Then fear came upon all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen up among us”; and, “God has visited His people.”
We rarely use the word ‘fear’ in this way. Rather than meaning simply that these people were afraid, it signifies here awe and respect. Jesus was respected and God was honored as a result of this miracle. Those present that day had no doubt that God was the author of this event.
However, they did not recognize the deity of Christ. Though they said God had ‘visited’ His people, this word too means another thing. We think of visiting as always involving one’s presence with the one visited. But, that is not always the meaning of this word. Here it signifies that God cared about His people and looked upon them. In other words, it is like saying God is checking on us, or God hasn’t forgotten us, or something of that nature.
Many have argued that Jesus never claimed deity, and so that is why people didn’t see Him as God. This argument is completely, and quite obviously, false. Jesus said and did things on multiple occasions that purposely established His deity beyond a reasonable doubt. But, and this is important to see and understand, Jesus wanted people to come to the place of belief. In other words, He always tried to leave in a reasonable faith element. He didn’t just write a note in the sky that said, “Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God.” Remember, God doesn’t always do what we might expect. Time and again we see Jesus, as in this passage, choosing His public acts very carefully. He wanted people to believe because they had considered and come to the conclusion that He was God. He didn’t want to engender a faith based only on experiences of miracles. He wanted people’s faith to be founded on an understanding of the Scriptures. He was looking for strong, resolved, reasoned, substantial faith.
Heavenly Father, thank You for not giving us fairy tales and nursery rhymes. Your Word is authentic, and very human. It isn’t just man’s invention. It goes deeper than that. And we don’t have to take out our brain and lay it aside to believe it either. That is such a comfort! Science, history, sociology, all of these things fall in sync with Your book. And we don’t have to completely re-interpret it to make these things fit either. We can believe even in this very modern world with all of this grand technology. You are so wise! Thank You! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.