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Faith Based Upon Testimony - Luke 7
Faith Based Upon Testimony - Luke 7
Are you the expected one, or do we look for someone else? This was the question that John wanted Jesus to answer. It could easily have been a simple answer: Yes, I am the one. Jesus answers in a different manner. First, he continues to teach and confirm his teaching with the doing of miracles. Only then does he instruct John's disciples to report to John what they had seen and heard. Jesus didn't say: "Yes, I am the one". Jesus let his teachings and actions be the answer. Claims mean very little until they are backed up with actions.
When John's disciples had departed, Jesus turned to the crowd and confronted them with what they had seen and heard in John! Was he the expected forerunner to the Messiah or did they need to look for another? The answer again lay not in the claims of John but in his teaching and doing. Although John did no miracle (John 10:41), yet his manner, life, and teaching showed him to be 'a man sent from God' (John 1:6).
With such evidence clearly demonstrated, people were then expected to respond appropriately. Some did: When all the people and the tax collectors heard this, they acknowledged God’s justice, having been baptized with the baptism of John (vs. 29). Jesus would bring this up again later by asking: "John's baptism, was it from heaven or men?" (Matt. 21:25). The dilemma was profound. They either accepted John as a prophet of God and obeyed by repenting and being baptized, OR they rejected him. It was not a matter of what OTHERS said or thought, but a personal conclusion on the nature and character of John.
Hence, while some acknowledged God's justice, other refused to listen. "... the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected God’s purpose for themselves, not having been baptized by John" (vs. 30).
Jesus challenges these unbelievers. What more could He and John have done? The rejection by these people was NOT based upon what they saw and heard, but upon their own preconceived opinions. They rejected both the teaching and the confirmation that God had provided. Their stubborn hearts walked in their own ways. The 'wisdom' of their choice was to be seen in the fruit of their lives (vs. 35). They rejected God's purpose for themselves.
This then is profoundly illustrated by the account of the 'sinful woman' and the self-righteous Pharisee (vs. 36ff). The woman was forgiven. She saw and heard the same testimony concerning Jesus, but she believed.
Faith doesn't just happen. It is based upon evidence; in particular, the evidence of what was seen and heard. Such can be recounted by others, as with John's disciples, OR in direct seeing and hearing. Either way, one either accepts the evidence and responds positively or rejects the evidence. Truly, faith comes by hearing, and hearing from the word of God.
So, how do YOU answer the question of John? Is Jesus the expected one, or are you yet looking for someone else? Will you justify God, repenting and being baptized in the name of Jesus, or will you reject the counsel of God?
Hugh DeLong
