Luke 7:21-23

Luke, chapter 7, begin with verse 18, reading through verse 23. Focus on verses 21 through 23. And the disciples of John showed him all these things. John calling unto him two of his disciples sent them to Jesus, saying, art thou he that should come or look we for another? when the men were come unto him, under Jesus, they said, John the Baptist have sent us unto thee, saying, art thou he that should come, or look we for another? And in that same hour, he cured many of their infirmities and plagues and of evil spirits, and unto many that were blind he gave sight. and Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard. How that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf here, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached. and blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me. May God bless to us his sacred and holy word this morning. When Christ was arrested, Peter eventually showed up on the palace grounds of the high priest, warming, warming himself, with many others by the fire that was outside. His Galilean accent caused one of the women that were there to publicly declare, are now not one of his disciples. But Peter, however, denied it I am not, and he was offended by his relationship with Christ. A little later, a realerer, relative of the servant of the high priest, whose ear Peter had come off in the garden, said to him, did I not see thee, in the garden with him? Peter denied it again, this time with an oath. I don’t know the man. How could Peter deny Christ when he had earlier stated that he would die for Christ. He was offended by Christ, which our text warns against this idea of being offended by Christ. Peter, of course, repented tearfully of this afterwards. As Jesus continued his public ministry, he was performing many wonderful miracles. Some of John the Baptist disciples heard about the miracles that he had performed, such as the raising of the widow of Nain’s son from the dead. And so they report this back to John the Baptist, to your call, who is in prison at this point. Verse 18 tells us this. There seems to be, as we saw last week, some doubt in the minds of John and his disciples about Christ’s messiahship. Perhaps they expected a different type of messiahship. Maybe they expected an earthly kingdom, maybe something of putting away their enemies. Maybe John expected to get out of prison. We’re not told exactly the reason why there was some doubt or some questioning at this point. So two of the disciples of John are sent to Christ to ask him specifically this question. Are you the Christ? Or should we look for another one to come? As verse 20 indicates to us. Our text here is Christ’s response to this question. and he adds then a warning in verse 23 about being offended. Don’t be offended by me. Something we all, I think, should take heed with regard to. I want to talk about being offended by Christ. But let me begin by saying this. You have scriptural proof here of Christ being the Messiah. and verses 21 and 22. We see the power of Christ’s miracles was prophesied in the Old Testament. We see first acts of divine power. It’s interesting that Jesus does not directly answer the question of the disciples of the disciples of John the Baptist. You recall when Jesus answered the woman at the well in Samaria, when she spoke of the Messiah coming. What did Jesus say? He straightforwardly and very clearly declared, I that speak unto you, am he. I am the Messiah. I am the Messiah. Very straightforward statement about it. Here, the Lord proceeds to work a variety of miracles in the midst of John the Baptist disciples while they were present. Verse 21. And this was done to lay the foundation for his answer, for we would provide a very convincing proof of who he was. He points them to what they saw, and they heard. him say and do. Christ’s miracles were done openly. They were done publicly for all to witness. Now before John disciples, these individuals that followed John disciples, heard of the rumor, as we saw. They heard the rumor of what he did. But now they see it firsthand the miracles of Jesus Christ. and our Lord directed them to tell John about the miracles he performed in their presence and he lists them here the blind sea the lame walk the lepers are cleansed the deaf here the dead here the dead are raised referring back to name evidently here with that these miracles testified to the fact that the fact that Jesus was sent by God. You recall that Nicodemus said this when he met Jesus at night. We know that thou art a teacher said from God, for no man can do these miracles that thou do is except God be with him. True miracles are evidence of a divine commission. That Christ’s doctrine came from above. Remember what they said in John 7. many of the people believed on him and said when Christ cometh will we do more miracles than these which this man had done look at the miracles Jesus says this is proof of who I am so we have acts of divine power but in these miracles we see the accomplishment of divine prophecy Christ did not just randomly list these miracles but he listed them in a way that would remind people of a passage of scripture from the book of Isaiah he carefully listed these things and the passage that he is referring to here is from the book of Isaiah chapter 35 which I direct your attention to this morning let’s look at the first six verses of this chapter chapter. Isaiah chapter 35 in verses 1 to 6. Now when Isaiah speaks of the time of the Messiah, he puts it in a very picturesque way, as if what is barren and dry is going to blossom. It’s going to flourish because Christ is going to be present. The land that right now and spiritually is in a very dry state, very dead state if you would. It’s going to flirt. There’s going to be a great sort of revival in a sense. Many people are going to come to know the Lord through the work of John the Baptist and Christ of course presence. And that’s what’s mentioned here in this passage. He says the wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose. it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice even with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it. The Excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord and the Excellency of our God. Strengthen ye the weak hands. Confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are a fearful heart, be strong. Fear not be strong. Behold your God will come with vengeance. Even God with a recompense, he will come and he will save you. They are in a low state, but he will deliver them. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened. The ears of the death shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as a heart and the tongue of the dumb sing. For in the wilderness shall waters break out and streams in the desert. The living water that Christ spoke about in John 4. So here are the things that he mentions. You’ll notice how closely what Jesus says here corresponds to this passage of scripture when God’s presence is going to be among them. When the Messiah comes, this is the messianic passage. And so we see here that Jesus is saying, I am fulfilling this passage of Scripture. This is proof, scriptural proof. Messiah is present. If Jesus has simply said, yes, I am the promised Messiah, some might say with the Pharisees said, thou bearest record of thyself, thy record is not true. But we know that whatever Jesus said is, always true, as John 814 indicates, but our Lord avoids all that. He declares, this is what the scripture says about the Messiah. You see it happening before your very eyes, therefore you have proof that I am indeed the Messiah. So the power of Christ’s miracles was divinely prophesied. Also, the preaching of the gospel by Christ’s miracles. Christ to the poor was divinely prophesied as well. Verse 22, to the poor, the gospel is preached. Personally, and even by his disciples, he would send out preaching, Christ proclaimed the good news of salvation to all men, all kinds of men. However, it was frequently the poor of society, who flocked. who flocked to hear his ministry. The higher classes generally kept a distance from it. The claws may be rendered the poor are evangelized. The Greek seems to convey the idea of not merely preaching, but effectively preaching, that they are brought to salvation through this preaching. The poor frequently were converted by Christ preaching. They received the God. gospel message by faith. Scripture says, Mark 1237, the common people heard him gladly. James declares, in James 2.5, hath not God chosen the poor of the world? Rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which heath promised to them that love him. Christ himself spoke of the gospel’s success in Matthew 1125 when he prayed this, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hid these things from the wise and the prudent, and hast revealed them on the babes. Now the poor, having the gospel effectively preached under them, or being evangelized in large numbers, was evidence then of the Messiah’s presence. Our Lord himself taught this. You remember when he went to his own synagogue at Nazareth in Luke chapter 4, look at be at verse 16 through 21 of Luke 4. Notice what he says here, and how he puts this, and he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up. As his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah’s, and he, when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the broken hearted, to preach, deliverance to the captains, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty, them that are bruised, to preach the acceptance, year of the Lord, and he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister and sat down, and the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue, were fastened on him, and he began to say it unto them, this day, is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. I am fulfilling this scripture, which was, again, a messianic, passage. And Jesus, again, here, by preaching the gospel effectively to the poor, is demonstrating that he is indeed the promised Messiah. Isaiah 61, verse 1, where he quotes this passage, actually says, to preach glad tidings under the meek, or those poor in spirit, as well as materially poor. But I want you to say, see, once again that Christ uses Scripture to prove who he is. The preaching of the gospel by Christ to the poor who is divinely prophesied. Now let me make this practical observation. What you believe about Christ, or anything else for that matter, ought to be based upon the Scripture. Jesus provides, I think, an important principle to follow here. He fulfills the scripture and therefore it’s true. The Holy Scripture, given by inspiration of God, is to be the basis of your faith for whatever you believe. Look at the importance and the authority that Christ attaches to the Scripture just in this passage of Scripture itself. Do you want to know that if? If Jesus Christ is the promised Messiah, then what does Jesus tell you? Search the Scriptures. For in them you think you have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me. The Greek word for search and search the scriptures in that passage in John 539, I just quoted, is used in connection with hunting. The hunter is maybe out there in the woods. He’s stalking a deer or a bear, let’s say. And he discovers some tracks in the ground. And he follows these tracks with intense concentration. He studies remarks that will lead him to where he can find the animal. In a similar way, you are to search God’s word. gain any insight provided there concerning the person and the work of Jesus Christ. Search the Scriptures, they are they which testify of me, Jesus indicates. Men may say many things about Jesus Christ, but what you must believe is what the Scriptures teach. Seek a scriptural foundation for all that you. you believe. Be like the Braians who heard Paul preach. They received the word with all readiness of mind and they searched the scriptures to see whether these things were really so. As Acts 1711 indicates. That’s the way we ought to be. When the truth about anything is told us, let’s make sure that it is found in the Word of God. Let’s make sure that it’s exactly what the scripture is teaching. And then we have assurance of what we believe. So you have scriptural proof here of Christ being the Savior. Look at my miracles. Look at the preaching to the poor, effectively preach to so that they are saved. Secondly, you have a blessing pronounced on those who are not offended by Christ. He calls. closes this out by saying this in verse 23, Blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in you. My friends, many times people, it seems, are offended by Christ. You find some who profess to follow Christ become offended. Sadly, we find your initial excitement with regard to Christ may off. You may hear some earnest preaching. You may be convicted about your sin and you may be fearful even about the eternal danger that awaits you. And you may profess faith in Christ. You may be baptized. You may join the church and so forth. There’s a certain excitement that may be connected with all all this. Jesus spoke in the parable of the soar of those who at first received the gospel with joy. There’s some excitement. There’s some joy, let’s say. All seems well at first. Everything looks promising. But in the end, it proves otherwise. When the initial excitement wears off, when these people, lose their interest and they abandon Christ and they fall away. It’s as if they just had a little taste of Christianity and yet we’re not converted. As one person described it, they jumped into religion like a man into a bath, they have jumped out again, put on their clothes, gone back to the world, to what they were before. This happens a lot more than we’d like to admit. You know, we’d like to count everyone that shows an interest in Christ initially like this is in the kingdom. But we begin to realize that at certain points people are offended by Christ and they fall away. Their profession doesn’t last. It dies. When I was young, maybe eight, to 10 years old of age. The Hulu hoop was a major craze. Everybody, all the kids in the neighborhood had a Hulu. Trying to keep that hoop moving around, moved by twisting your hips around, wasn’t so easy. You know, just you know, keep dropping straight down to the ground and you’re trying to move your hips and get the thing twirling. It looked easier than it really was. And after the novelty wore off, because after a while, you know, keeps falling to the ground. You say, yeah, okay. Go on to something new with something better. So the Hulu Hoop, you know, just laid in the downstairs for, I don’t know how long, and no one ever used it after a period of time. They lost interest. Spiritually, what is initially exciting to people, some people lose interest. And they fall away. Because they’re not truly converted. Your initial excitement wears off and that you’re offended. You’re not prepared for the spiritual warfare demanded, and therefore you were offended. You know, some profess faith in Christ, and they start out on the pilgrimage to the celestial city like Mr. Christian in pilgrim’s progress, but they never imagine all the conflicts that personal struggles. and the trials that they’re going to have to go through. So they’re not prepared for the mortifying of sin. The dying of the lust of the flesh. They thought perhaps they could just sort of merrily skip down the narrow way to the celestial city as if it was an easy thing. Baring a cross was not what they envisioned. And therefore, they never even thought about counting the cost of following Christ. They’re not prepared for the soldier’s life. The battle with sin and the Satan and the world is much harder and much more difficult than they realized. And so they turned back in the day of battle. It’s like someone joined in the military for the glamour, the uniform. I get to see the world, but they’re not prepared or whether they understand that you’re going to be sent into battle. You may be fired upon. You may have to fight some hard fights. So you’re not prepared for spiritual warfare. And therefore, they become offended. You fall away because of the trials of providence. There’s another way people are offended. Part of the problem is, in our society today, people are giving you a message about oh, if you come to Christ, you’ll be happy, everything will be wonderful in your life. The Christian life is not all peaches and cream. If you think that’s the way the Christian life is really, it’s all sweetness, then you are going to be rudely awakened as you go through the Christian life. Some expect God’s providence sort of to make a smooth path for them to walk in. But you become offended as you go along and you come to the hill of difficulty. You become offended when the rocks in the road are rough and your feet get sore. or perhaps there are lions in the way. Or perhaps you come upon the enchanted ground. All these things add up. It’s sometimes very hard to encounter a dark providence in your life and you’re saying, I thought God was a loving God. I thought he loved me. Why has this hard providence come into my life? People become offended that God would bring something difficult into their life if you really love them. And their anger is aroused against God. And they’re offended. And they abandon the way of Christ. They feel mistreated as if they deserve better than this. It can also fall away because you’re offended by Christ’s doctrine. It’s usually those doctrines that are much opposed to personal righteousness and self-acceptance because of it with God. Those things that cut against your flesh and your pride of who you are that disturb people the most. In John chapter 6, there are many who were called disciples of Christ who turned back from following him because of his teaching. They said, these things are hard sayings. But what had he taught about? Man’s, fallen man’s inability to come to Christ. He taught about the doctrine of sovereign election by God. He taught about limited atonement. He taught about irresistible grace. He taught about the perseverance of the saints and some of his disciples were upset. many of his disciples walk no more with him but went back the Bible says they were offended Christ becomes a stumbling block to people sometimes because of his teaching again we have a dangerous situation because a lot of times the Christ that is presented to people that they’re told to trust in is not the true Christ that we have in scripture and therefore they do not know the scriptures as they should and when they actually find out what Christ teaches they become offended but when the doctrines of grace are proclaimed people get upset when confronted by God’s sovereignty and salvation even those who profess faith in Christ can be highly a sense and offended if you don’t think that’s true just try talking to someone who professes faith in Christ about these doctrines see what kind of response you get but Christ did not hesitate to talk about these things so here we have these things could be offensive but notice what Jesus says blessed are those who are not offended you were assured those who faithfully follow Christ regardless of all these kinds of things that come up are indeed blessed. You are blessed of your granted persevering grace. It is a divine blessing to have a grace that is given to you that causes you to cling to Christ no matter what circumstance comes up in your life. If you were not eternally chosen specially redeemed by Christ granted a new heart by the Holy Spirit you would be offended and you would turn back to the world. I guarantee it. But if you are granted persevering grace so that you hold out till the end you have the evidence of being a child of God. For you would not survive if it were not for God’s grace resting upon you. Grace upon grace, as the scripture reveals to us. If you are one who can say by his grace, I will not depart from following Christ, how blessed you are. You are blessed to be granted persevering grace. You are blessed when persecuted by the world. Now this is not an easy thing. When some people are persecuted, we read and we talked about the fact that they turned back and they are offended. But you remember what Jesus said in verses in chapter 6 of Luke that we already studied verses 22 and 23. Blessed are ye when men shall hate you and when they shall separate you from their company and shall reproach you and cast out your name is evil for the son of man’s sake, rejoice ye in that day and leap for joy, for behold your reward is great in heaven for in like manner did they, their fathers under the prophets. Some people are offended because they’re persecuted for their profession of faith in Christ. Others will look upon this as Jesus indicates well this is a blessing. Is it not what Jesus is indicating to us? Perhaps people have jeered at you. Maybe they have treated you with contempt because of your faith. Maybe they even hated you. And that means they recognize you are different from them. That your faith is a reality. That you are blessed because God has separated you from the world and they recognize the separation. Spurgeon once told this story. Somebody pushed good Mr. Kilpin into the gutter and slapped him on the face at the same time and said, take that, John Bunyan. Whereupon the good man took off his hat and said, I would take 50 times as much as that to have the honor to be called John Bunyan. If only you and I could look upon our persecution for Christ’s sake with the same spirit, how much are you willing to bear for the pleasure of being associated with Christ that you’re one of Christ’s children. That is an amazing thing that God would indeed give you the grace to bear that. You are persecuted by the world for Christ’s sake, but it is a blessing he says, if you’re not offended. You have a blessing awaiting you in the future, which is what Jesus talks about here and Luke 6. Why are you blessed? If you’re not offended, because even though the world may hate you and so forth and dark providence comes your way, ultimately, you’re going to heaven. Ultimately, you’re going to be with the Lord. Your best reward is heaven. Come, ye blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom which has been prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Matthew 2534. Where is Paul stated? it. If we suffer, we shall reign with him. If we deny him, he will deny us. If you’re not offended, if you suffer, you’ll reign with Christ. We studied that in the book of Revelation. If you seek your own honor and esteem in this life and deny the one who is professed to be your Lord and master, you will be rejected in the end. What happened to Demas? when he forsook Christ for the world and the pleasures of it. What happened to Judas? When he denied the Lord for 30 pieces of silver and betrayed him and therefore ended up going out and hanging himself? What happened to these men? They perished. They perished. What will happen to the cowardly, the fearful, the unbelieving who are offended by Christ? they will all perish. perish. However, if you faithfully follow Christ, you will reign with Him. You will go to heaven. You will be with him. Jesus put it this way, that they confessed me before men, and now I will confess them before my Father, which is in heaven. These are mine, my father. He owns us. Whatever you may lose in this world by following Christ and you could lose things. You gain so much more superior things in the life to come. Jesus said even in this life that he would provide for us, but there’s something even greater. This light affliction earns for us a greater reward as Paul talked about with regard for the life to come. So you have a blessing promounced on those who are not offended. Let me close this morning by saying this. It was a crucial moment in Peter’s life when he became offended by Christ and he denied him. That moment was crucial because if it had not been for the fact that he was brought to repentance, he would have perished. But God gave him grace and he spared him. People were often offended who claim to be followers of Christ, but the ones who are blessed are the ones who steadfastly follow Christ regardless of what takes place. They’re the ones that have the grace of God resting in your life. How committed are you as a follower of Jesus Christ? Because I think that’s the question. He lays here before John the Baptist and his two men who has been sent to him. How committed are you? Don’t be offended by me. me, believe in me. I am indeed the Messiah that was promised. Let us close.