In the beginning of His report, Luke kept going back and forth between John the Baptist and Jesus the Christ. After a few chapters with no reference to John, He brings him back in for a cameo appearance:
18 The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, 19 calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” 20 And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’” 21 In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight. 22 And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. 23 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”
What things were John's disciples reporting to Him? Jesus' preaching on the plateau, His healing the servant of the centurion, and raising the widow's son - all the things large crowds had witnessed and were talking about. John himself had proclaimed Jesus to be the Lamb of God, but he made one last check, sending two disciples to check it out. When they ask Jesus "Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”, notice that Jesus does not answer at first. Instead, He let's them observe miracle after miracle, and then tells them to take John their eyewitness report. His last statement says it all: blessed is the one who is not offended by me. John was not to see Jesus as competition, but a fulfillment of what God had sent Him to do. John would be blessed, truly content, have his life in order, if he responded that way. Jesus was sure he would. Do you view Jesus as an intrusion on your life and happiness, or is He just what you need to make your life all it can be?
No comments:
Post a Comment