Author: Bill Hall

Luke 7:23 “And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”

   This also was to be told to John the Baptizer to answer his concern. And, it is a good word of encouragement for a whole host of those who have taken the message of Christ under consideration. Many have been offended. They have questioned the ways and means of Christ. They have wondered about His timing, questioned His teachings, and belittled His miracles. Indeed, it seems it is always easier for humans to critique a savior than to depend upon one.
   Also this is a fulfillment of prophecy, from Isaiah 8:14-15. Jesus was a trip hazard for the Jewish nation. This is not intended to cause confusion. But, upon a careful reading of the later part of the Old Testament we come to understand that the work of God with man would no longer be as focused upon the Hebrews. Instead, as a nation, Israel would reject their own coming King, the Lord Jesus Christ. This obviously does not at all mean that no Jews can, did, or will accept Christ. Quite on the contrary, the Jews championed the gospel and the church at the very first. But, as a nation they did not recognize and accept Him in the way that they claimed they would, and orthodox Jews still claim they will. And this failure was foretold, and the ministry of Jesus and the circumstances of it fall perfectly in line with this prophecy. Any pretender would not have done the same.

   Heavenly Father, make us Your people. We must come in humility regardless of our nationality. May we not miss the wonderful blessings that are to be found in Christ. And may we never forget what a mercy it is that You have made Yourself known to us. How could we have any hope otherwise? Never will we ever know just how awful we could become without the work of Your Spirit in our world. Give us love for each other and make us holy we pray! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 7:22 “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.”

   The things Jesus here mentions are all fulfillment of prophecy. However, in the same passages where we find many of these, there is also a theme of the release of prisoners. It may be that John was hoping Jesus would get him released from prison.
   But, this would require a direct intervention in the political machine. During His earthly ministry Jesus did not directly influence the politics, but allowed all to run its course. This ultimately led to His crucifixion. So to be sure it was difficult for John, just as for Christ’s other disciples, to understand the plan as it unfolded. The expectation they were working off of was that Jesus would at that time set up His earthly kingdom. And this would get John out of prison and relegate him to a place of honor.
   We need not be hard on John. Jesus wasn’t. He knew what John was going through and encouraged him. John was the first great preacher of Christ, but he was also the first to suffer for Christ’s sake.

   Heavenly Father, You alone know the end from the beginning. You know the plans You have for us. You have everything figured out. We need not worry about tomorrow, or ten thousand years from now, You are in both and have control over it all. We can trust You with the future, even when the present seems cloudy. You have brought to our lives the light of Your Son. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 7:21 “And that very hour He cured many of infirmities, afflictions, and evil spirits; and to many blind He gave sight.”

   The miracle ministry of Jesus was unmatched by any previous prophet of God. His works were many and very unique in their extent and power. But, more than that, as we see here, they were a fulfillment of prophecy. It had already been predicted by the prophets that the Christ would work many miracles.
   It is important for us to understand the role of miracles in connection with belief. Many of us today have the idea that seeing Christ perform countless miracles would automatically make us and everyone we know believe in Him. However, we discover a different dynamic upon reading the gospels. Miracles did not guarantee belief. They garnered popularity, and created an attachment between many people and Christ. But, they could not bring folks to the right conclusion about the identity of Christ all by themselves. Yes there were exceptions to this. But in the case of such exceptions the persons involved were already prepared for belief by other means.
   Thus, it is important to understand that the miracles of Christ served primarily as a fulfillment of prophecy. They stood as testimony to the veracity of Christ’s claims. But Jesus didn’t expect people to believe only on the basis of miracles. He offered the miracles as a bolster to His teaching. And it was His teaching concerning Himself that He put forth primarily as the thing to believe.

   Heavenly Father, thank You for each day that You give to us. May we never forget that we belong to You. Your world stands in darkness in so many ways, and yet the light of the gospel of Christ has made it altogether a different place than it would otherwise be. Give us great understanding, Lord, that we may know Your wisdom in what You have done in this world. We praise You for Your great faithfulness, and Your perfection. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 7:20 “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?'”

   Even today we may ask the same question and find good reason to answer it in favor of Jesus as all that He claimed to be. Indeed, the message of Christ is still believed these two thousand years later. There is not a person or event in history to overshadow the reality of Christ Jesus. His life, death, resurrection, and all that has followed are abundant evidence that He is Someone altogether different from what this world always produces.
   Consider for a moment the cold facts of the situation. With Jesus you have a man, and He is compared all the time to other men. And yet people still recognize that there is something different about Him. With Him you are presented with a narrative about resurrection, and yet thinking, intelligent people accept the narrative as the honest truth. With Him your have the Jewish people, which have yet to be stopped or stamped out, in spite of wishes for their extinction from many directions. You have the church, which has grown worldwide and marches on without anything giving it cause to stop.  You have then the fact of the Bible. It is an ancient book, and yet it is so modern in its application as to still be challenging us to prove or disprove its claims in our new technocracies. And, in spite of all claims from pop science theories, good science cannot refute the enduring belief in the creation of the cosmos by God, just as the book of Genesis reports it.
   In short, everyone must ask themselves, “Is Jesus the One, or do we need to look for something or someone else?”

   Heavenly Father, as we think over Your Word, and the history of this world, we cannot ignore the amazing veracity of the gospel message. It calls us to repentance, and gives us hope for the days ahead. May we never forget all that has come before and go into tomorrow with the lessons of yesterday upon us. We will give You the glory for it all, Father! You are worthy of all honor and praise! You are the Perfect God! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 7:19 “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?”

   This is, very honestly, one of the most difficult passages in Scripture. However, it is one of many that lend much credence to the veracity of Scripture. And how so? Because this is such a human event, it is so realistic. Someone making up a story would surely drop this, or never come up with it to begin with, or try to provide some explanation. But, since it is included just as it is, it lends authenticity to the account.
   One might object, “If even John doubted Jesus, why should anyone believe Him?” But this objection is not valid when one studies the situation carefully. In fact, John’s doubt itself also lends credence to the gospel message because it highlights the difficulty the Jews had in accepting the particulars of the gospel message.
   And how so? Well, the Jewish believers, John included, expected that the Christ would overthrow the Romans and establish His kingdom on earth. And this is understandable given there are many prophesies of the Old Testament foreshadowing just such a scenario. But, as with many prophesies of Scripture, the fulfillment can come at unexpected times. Thus, Jesus in this passage mentions many prophecies concerning things He was indeed doing in fulfillment of prophecy. But, He omits many other things which He had not come to fulfill at that time. These are then in regard to yet future events, and those prophecies will be fulfilled at the Second Coming of the Messiah. So, Christ will indeed fulfill all of the prophecy concerning Himself, but not with the timing that the Jews expected.
   This is no where more evident than in the first chapter of Acts. The disciples asked Jesus, “So, are you going to set up the kingdom now?” They saw His suffering and witnessed His resurrection, and were beginning to maybe understand atonement, so they saw the kingdom on earth as the next step. And indeed it is a step to be taken, but not even at that time. And why wait? Because Jesus wanted to gather in the Gentile sheep, also a concept that was difficult for the Jews to swallow.
   Thus, when this is all taken into consideration, this particular event is quite a good pillar to the gospel. Here, though we have doubts expressed by the forerunner of Christ, his doubts are those of a man in prison, and they are not inconsistent with what all of the Jews felt at this time. The reality of this difficulty explains why there were few of the scribes, Pharisees, and other Jewish leaders who were converted to Christ early on. It puts much of the actions of the very early church, such as Peter’s ministry to Cornelius, in a better light. It is really and truly a very authentic human action that arose from the growing understanding of the gospel and all that it would mean for this world.

   Heavenly Father, as we look at Your Word we may test it in any way we like and yet we always come to the same conclusion. It cannot be dismissed. It is no joke or fairy tale to be taken lightly. It hits us squarely right where we live if we will but read it with a view to taking it as it presents itself. I cannot help but wonder at Your wisdom in providing it to us. For the man who never hears it is the silent partner to what he can see quite evidently in Your creation, and that explains his existence and purpose, though he remain ignorant of it. And, for the rest of us, who know that it stands here to inform, it serves as the signpost to point the way around the bottomless pit. Even if we chose to ignore it, wishing to be ignorant of it, it condemns our disinterest in such a way that it is difficult for us to argue. In short we have to embrace it, or fight it. Oh God give us the power to preach the gospel as comes to us! Let us not make it what it never was, but present it just as it is. May we bring to this world a book that reads the reader. May we help them to see that this is the only way that all of this could be done. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 7:18 “Then the disciples of John reported to him concerning all these things.”

   John was locked away in prison at this time. His disciples kept him abreast of all the happenings in Jerusalem, and especially concerning Christ. John had quite a large following, and continued to have one even after the beginning of the church. The most notable of the late disciples of John was Apollos. John had been faithful and many had repented and made their hearts ready to receive the Christ.

   Heavenly Father, may we be ever faithful to You! In all things You have been so merciful. Your faithfulness is perfect. You are ever the same, and Your love holds true at all times. We will look to You in the midst of it all. Thank you for Your grace in making righteousness possible in Christ. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 7:17 “And this report about Him went throughout all Judea and all the surrounding region.”

   Reports about Christ have traveled this world over. News of Him has spread and been discussed, taught, analyzed, and often repeated. The church of Christ has been established and at work for these hundreds of years. The gospel has been preached on every continent, in countless languages, to new peoples, and everywhere that mankind is found.
   As in the time of the ministry of Christ, many millions have been saved. The church is grown to worldwide proportions, and has members from every tribe, tongue, and nation. The walls have been broken down, and new walls fail to block the progress of the gospel. The message is for everyone, and has been considered everywhere.
   And yet, as in the ministry of Christ (especially the latter part of it), there are many turned totally away from Christ. The conception has become that we do not need Him. Man has told himself he has grown beyond the conception of God, and understands the cosmos on a level that need not include God, at least not in any tangible way. We have established ourselves as the masters of all. We have come to think we know everything now that we feel we have some idea of how little we actually know.
   And on we should push. The dichotomy between the Son of Man, and mankind as ‘god’ is inevitable. Our future lies not in some new direction, but an old one. Man will continue to grasp for what Satan offered at the first, to be as gods. But this is ever elusive because it is and always has been a lie. Man was meant to be the bearer of the image of the Eternal Godhead. And it was for envy, spite, and rage that the old devil did his nasty tricks to begin with. Only by Christ can we again discover what glory was meant, for we were made for a mirror, a looking-glass for the Self-Existent One to see His glory in His great work. We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus. The die is cast, the world’s destiny is set, and there is not a thing to stop it. For God is Immutable.

   Heavenly Father, can we ever praise You enough? All we can do is sing of the greatness of Your Person. But, it seems, that is exactly what You have in mind. For, what more could anyone or anything do? What could any person hope to be but one of Your bright ones? Is that not the greatest of hopes, and the highest of ambitions? Here as we live is that not Your will, our abundant life? Each of us is given the joy, though only by life in Christ, to reflect Your glory before this lost world. And does that cause us to devalue our fellow man? No, it makes us seek his help, that he too may take up his eternal work, to show the glory of the Eternal God, and enjoy You forever. May You be honored in all, for You alone are worthy! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

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.

Luke 7:15 “So he who was dead sat up and began to speak. And He presented him to his mother.”

   This miracle was somewhat unique in a few ways. First, it was unsolicited. There is no record of anyone asking Him to do this. Second, the miracle is very clearly for the benefit of the mother. Third, it was very public, there was a very large crowd present for the event. Fourth, it was very provable. In other words, it would be hard to deny the veracity of the story. The man was very clearly dead, and he very clearly was brought back to life.
   It is thus quite revealing that Jesus chose this miracle to be one of His most public acts. This miracle stands with the raising of Lazarus or the feeding of the multitudes as a very immediately publicized item. And why this miracle? Why not? Isn’t this so very consistent with the message of Christ? He came to meet a great need. That theme is seen over and over. He preached to the poor, ministered to the common people, and did a miracle for a widow. Isn’t that what we would expect a Savior of the world to do?
   So we see through this miracle that Jesus was not just some prophet, miracle-worker, or supernatural human. He was much more. He had a very specific message for a very specific purpose. He had every intention for people to make the connection and see that He was the Messiah, and that as such He was the Second Person of the Trinity. He was not simply a messenger from God, He was The Messenger of God. He was one in the same as every Old Testament appearance of Yahweh. He was and is the only link from human kind to the Eternal Godhead.

   Heavenly Father, we thank You for Christ! Without Him we would have no picture of You. Without Him we would be totally blind and unable to see You in any way. Thank You for grace and truth by Jesus Christ! I will praise You forever for the wondrous nature of Your plan. I love it! It is and was and shall always be the best that ever could have been. No better way to handle this world could have been devised. It is Your masterpiece. To You be all the glory in it! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Luke 7:14 “Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.”

  Though a coffin is here mentioned, the word can simply be translated ‘bier’, which is more probable given Jewish burial traditions. In other words, other that a burial shroud, the body was not likely encased in anything, but was only laying upon the bier.
   Why make the statement ‘I say to you’? It seems like a waste of words. Jesus could just say, ‘Arise!’ Right? Jesus says this in this way for two reasons. First, Jesus was being specific. He wanted it to be clear to all exactly who He spoke to. The implication was that, had He simply yelled out ‘Arise!’ more than just this young man might be brought to life. But the second reason is even more notable. By using the phrase ‘I say to you’ Jesus was calling attention to the fact that His spoken word had the power to bring life. Anyone familiar with the Genesis account of the creation of the world will immediately recognize the significance of making a big deal out of the power of Christ’s spoken word. In other words, Jesus is not just another prophet performing a miracle by the grace of God. He is God performing a miracle by His grace. He does this act with the full authority and power of the Divine Son.

   Heavenly Father, You are truly amazing in all of Your aspects. You cannot be compared with anything equally. We only just understand You somewhat because You have revealed Yourself. It is only by Your great grace that we have Your Word in our hands. Grant us understanding that we may see wonderful things each day in Your book. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.