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Responding To Jesus - Luke 7 and 8
Responding To Jesus - Luke 7 and 8
As we read Luke 7 & 8, we see that as people encountered Jesus, they had various reactions and responses. It is interesting to see the variety of responses among the people. It is even more interesting to try and understand why THAT person responded THAT WAY. It really makes me wonder what WE (I) would have done! Notice these reactions:
· Centurion – faith,
· people of Nain – feared & glorified Jesus,
· John – questioned,
· People and tax collectors – acknowledge God’s justice, being baptized of John;
· Pharisees & Lawyers – rejected God’s purpose for themselves;
· Sinful woman – trusted and glorified in our ACTIONS;
· Pharisee – questioned His association with such sinners;
· Women – followed and supported Him;
· His apostles – feared & amazed (8:25)
· Demons – feared, begged, obeyed -
· Demoniac – desired to accompany, but obeyed
· Gerasenes – feared and asked him to LEAVE – 35, 37
· Jairus – trusted
· Bleeding woman – acted on her faith in Jesus –
Fear was one of the common responses, but fear did not always motivate to right action (cp. The demons, the Gerasenes). Others, like the people of Nain, feared and glorified Jesus. Some questioned: John questioned and then sought an answer, the Pharisee questioned the character of Jesus and responded in doubt. The sinful woman showed her thankfulness and faith by publicly prostrating herself before Him and serving Him.
Faith is a faith that impels to action: to send for Jesus, to come to Jesus, to glorify Jesus, to obey Jesus. It is more than believing ‘THAT’, it is a trust in His very character and being. In all of these, we see them making a conclusion about Jesus from what they see and hear. Some respond in faith, some let their pre-formed opinions to question and reject Jesus. The Pharisees, with all their learning and public piousness, simply could not connect the dots. They heard John, but failing to see the fulfillment of prophecy, they rejected Him and his baptism. They let their prejudice against ‘common people’ cause them to reject Jesus, even though they heard his teaching and witnessed His miracles.
While we can never know how we would have responded to Jesus THEN, we ARE responding to Jesus NOW. As with John’s disciples and John, we have been told what the people THEN ‘heard and saw’. John wrote: “Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:30-31) Jesus prefaced this statement saying: “Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed” (John 20:29)
How are you responding to Jesus? Your eternal destiny is at stake.
Hugh DeLong
