Are You the Expected One?

Luke 7:11-35 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Soon afterwards He went to a city called Nain; and His disciples were going along with Him, accompanied by a large crowd. ¹² Now as He approached the gate of the city, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a sizeable crowd from the city was with her. ¹³ When the Lord saw her, He felt compassion for her, and said to her, “Do not weep.” ¹⁴ And He came up and touched the coffin; and the bearers came to a halt. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise!” ¹⁵ The dead man sat up and began to speak. And Jesus gave him back to his mother. ¹⁶ Fear gripped them all, and they began glorifying God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and, “God has visited His people!” ¹⁷ This report concerning Him went out all over Judea and in all the surrounding district.

¹⁸ The disciples of John reported to him about all these things. ¹⁹ Summoning two of his disciples, John sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are You the Expected One, or do we look for someone else?” ²⁰ When the men came to Him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to You, to ask, ‘Are You the Expected One, or do we look for someone else?’” ²¹ At that very time He cured many people of diseases and afflictions and evil spirits; and He gave sight to many who were blind. ²² And He answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have the gospel preached to them. ²³ Blessed is he who does not take offense at Me.”

²⁴ When the messengers of John had left, He began to speak to the crowds about John, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? ²⁵ But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Those who are splendidly clothed and live in luxury are found in royal palaces! ²⁶ But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and one who is more than a prophet. ²⁷ This is the one about whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You,
Who will prepare Your way before You.’ ²⁸ I say to you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” ²⁹ When all the people and the tax collectors heard this, they acknowledged God’s justice, having been baptized with the baptism of John. ³⁰ But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected God’s purpose for themselves, not having been baptized by John.

³¹ “To what then shall I compare the men of this generation, and what are they like? ³² They are like children who sit in the market place and call to one another, and they say, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.’ ³³ For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon!’ ³⁴ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ ³⁵ Yet wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”

In Luke 1:41-44 it says:  When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. And she cried out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!  And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy.  In John 1:26-29 it says:  John answered them saying, “I baptize in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know. It is He who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” These things took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.  The next day he *saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!  Matthew 3:16-17 says:   After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, ¹⁷ and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”  Even before he was born, John recognized who Jesus was. He testified to the world who He was and he heard the testimony of God Himself confirming that Jesus was the Son of God.     In today’s text it says:  This report concerning Him went out all over Judea and in all the surrounding district.  The disciples of John reported to him about all these things. Summoning two of his disciples, John sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are You the Expected One, or do we look for someone else?”  When the men came to Him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to You, to ask, ‘Are You the Expected One, or do we look for someone else?’”  At that very time He cured many people of diseases and afflictions and evil spirits; and He gave sight to many who were blind.  And He answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have the gospel preached to them. Blessed is he who does not take offense at Me.”  At the end of his life, John still sought reassurance that he had been right; that Jesus really was the Christ. Jesus could have answered as he did in John 14:6: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”  Instead, He pointed to the evidence of who He is; that He is the One and there is no other.    We too may find ourselves questioning if we have been right in what we have believed and what we have declared. Perhaps as we near the end of our lives we just want to be reassured. Perhaps the circumstances that surround us make us question whether we really have been right all along. If we find ourselves in that place, there very best thing we can do is to ask. We won’t offend Jesus by asking. Then we need to review the evidence. We need to remember, that like John, our first awareness of Christ was through the witness of the Holy Spirit and that at that time, we too inexplicitly leaped for joy. We need to remember the testimony of the Father Himself, both what He has spoken to us and what is recorded in His word. We need to remember what we have seen and what we ourselves have testified that Christ has done. We need to hear the evidence that Jesus Himself gave:   “the blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have the gospel preached to them. Blessed is he who does not take offense at Me.”    Taking into consideration all that we have seen and heard, if we still have doubts, we should not take offense at Christ, but rather like the father of the boy in Mark 9:24, we can cry out:  “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

Look what Jesus says about John, even after he questioned if Jesus was the one.  “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?  But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Those who are splendidly clothed and live in luxury are found in royal palaces! But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and one who is more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You, Who will prepare Your way before You.’ I say to you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”   This again points to the importance of knowing and believing who Christ is. It is not a matter of what great things we have done in the Lord’s name. What matters is that we believe. In Mark 8:36 Jesus says: “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”  To be the greatest in the world is nothing if we are not also at least, the least in the kingdom of God.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit, thank You for the evidence and the testimony that Jesus is the Christ; the One and that there is no other. I believe, and because I believe I will also be a witness and testify of what I have seen and heard. I will declare to others that Jesus is the Christ. If ever I need reassurance I will ask and I will say: Lord I believe, help my unbelief.   Amen.