Luke 7:1-35 "The Power of the Kingdom" Introduction: "Are You the One?" (7:18-23) "Are you the one?" We really have to start with John's question. Because this is a passage where you have to start in the middle! You cannot understand what Jesus is doing in verses 1-17 until you understand John's question in verses 18-23. Jesus has just healed the centurion's servant and raised the widow's son from the dead. But John appears to be in doubt. Are you the one who is to come? Or shall we look for another? Why is John is doubt? Verses 16-17 would seem to suggest that the people were convinced this is the one. A great prophet has arisen among us! God has visited his people! Jesus has just raised a man from the dead! Why would John be questioning whether Jesus is the One? Let's go back to Luke 1 John's father had sung about this day. Zechariah had prophesied about his son, the prophet of the Most High who would prepare the way for the Lord. Zechariah proclaimed that God has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David . . . that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us; to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. (1:69-75) John had grown up hearing from his father that the Son of David would save Israel from their enemies. The Kingdom of God would be restored. To say that a great prophets has arisen is all very nice and good, but John is looking for more than a prophet! (Jesus says in verse 26 that John is more than a prophet if John is more than a prophet, then the one greater than John should be a truly splendid figure!) In short, John is looking for one who will restore the Kingdom of God! John, like his father, Zechariah, understands that Israel is still in Exile. As long as pagan kings are ruling over Israel as long as the Romans are in charge then we are still waiting for the Kingdom of God. Healing the sick and raising the dead are good, but the prophets did that (Elijah and Elisha). Jesus has healed the servant of a Roman centurion (think of Elisha and Naaman, the Syrian general) And Jesus has raised the widow's son (think of Elijah!) Jesus is acting like a prophet, but if Jesus is just a prophet, then we need to look for someone else! Jesus is not the splendid royal figure that John had expected. Then again, for those of you who have been coming on Sunday evening, we've been seeing how David was chased by Saul through the wilderness he didn't exactly look very royal either! The kingdom of God does not come according to the expectations of man! And at first, when John's messengers ask Jesus, "Are you the one?" Jesus doesn't answer in word. He answers in power: In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight. Only then, having demonstrated his power, does Jesus say, 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. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me. (7:22-23) What would this communicate to John? This is why I read Isaiah 35 earlier. John saw himself as the voice in the wilderness preparing the way for the LORD (Isaiah 40). So Jesus responds by couching his response in the language of Isaiah. Isaiah had spoken of the coming blessing of Israel and judgment of the nations. What would be the signs of the coming of the Kingdom of God according to Isaiah? Isaiah 35 says that when God comes with vengeance to judge his enemies and vindicate his people, Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. And what is the conclusion of Isaiah 35? And the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. In other words, Isaiah 35 is all about return from Exile. Jesus is saying to John, I know that you are expecting someone who will restore Israel from Exile. You are looking for the day when the ransomed of the LORD shall return to Zion with great rejoicing. everlasting joy! And that is what I have come to do. Just look at the signs. Isaiah had said that when the blind see, the lame leap, and the mute sing, those are the signs of the coming of the kingdom. But what is more Isaiah 35 had said that "the unclean" would not walk in the Way of Holiness. The highway by which the redeemed would come to Zion, would be a way where the unclean could not walk. The Pharisees believed that! And so they excluded all the unclean never realizing the uncleanness of their own hearts! But Jesus comes not to exclude the unclean, but to cleanse the unclean! What were the three things that Jesus did in chapters 5-6? Calling disciples, cleansing the unclean, confronting the Pharisees! So Jesus tells John, Yes, I am the one. But I am going to fulfill the words of Isaiah in a way that you never dreamed! You see, what Jesus is about is not only physical healing (which was personally very nice!). I would far rather be healthy than sick! But what does physical healing mean to first century Jews? Physical healing means restoration to membership in the covenant community of those who had been excluded as ritually unclean. 1. The Power of the Kingdom in the Healing of the Romans (7:1-10) Now we are ready to go back to the beginning of chapter 7. And we can go pretty quickly through the passage because Jesus has told us how to understand what he is doing! What is Jesus doing in verses 1-10? The centurion is plainly a Gentile. He is a God-fearer which was the name given to Gentiles who were interested in Judaism, but had never been circumcised. He was interested enough in Judaism that he built the synagogue in Capernaum! But when he hears that Jesus is coming to heal his servant, he sends word saying (read verses 6-8). And Jesus responds by saying that he has not found such faith even in Israel. We often focus on the centurion's belief that Jesus could heal from a distance. But that is not Jesus' point. Remember, what is healing about? What is the power of the kingdom for? It is a demonstration that the kingdom is at hand. It is the proof that the restoration from Exile is here. Whose restoration? Israel's. There is nothing remarkable in the centurion's faith that Jesus can heal at a distance. What is remarkable is that this Roman centurion believes that Jesus will heal his servant. And that this Gentile is willing to acknowledge that he is unworthy! Remember, Jesus has been dealing with the Pharisees! who believe that God owes "righteous Israel," because righteous Israel has been faithful to the covenant! Paul is the one who most clearly understood what Jesus was doing with this Roman centurion. Jesus was saying, "there is none righteous!" Jew and Gentile alike are unworthy! Jesus alone is righteous Israel! Jesus demonstrates in the healing of the centurion's servant, that the restoration of Israel will include the restoration of Gentiles as well as Jews. In other words, you whoever you may be, and wherever you may come from you are welcome in the Kingdom of God. Not even in Israel have I found such faith. 2. The Power of the Kingdom and the Raising of the Dead (7:11-17) In verses 11-17 Jesus then raises a widow's son. When a widow loses her only son, she also loses her only source of support. When Jesus saw her he had compassion on her. And he said to her "Do not weep!" If you are going to tell a grieving mother "do not weep" you had better have something to back up your words! And indeed, Jesus does. He came up and touched the bier. (Now according to the law of Moses touching anything dead makes you unclean). Yet Luke makes a point of saying that Jesus touched the bier. But as we've seen, the power of Jesus' holiness is such that whatever he touches becomes clean! And so Jesus touched the bier and said, "Young man, I say to you, arise." And the young man sat up and began to speak. Elijah had raised a widow's son in 1 Kings 17:17-24. And when Elijah raised the widow's son, the widow replied, Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is truth. (1 Kings 17:24) The power of the prophet vindicates the word that he speaks. Jesus is demonstrating that his word is indeed the word of the LORD. Are you the one, Jesus? How do I know that you are the one? Because the blind see, John. The sick are healed. Lepers are cleansed. You know that the restoration from Exile is at hand because the dead are raised, and the gospel is preached to the poor! You know that the Kingdom of God has come because Jesus has been raised from the dead, and the gospel has gone to the ends of the earth. And all over the world, those who were dead in their trespasses and sins have been raised to newness of life in Jesus Christ. 3. The Power of the Kingdom and the Children of the Kingdom (7:24-35) And when John's messengers had left, Jesus then turns to the crowds and asks (read 24-27). This is about John, right? Think for a minute. If John is "more than a prophet" and the one "who will prepare your way before you," then who is Jesus? Jesus is not interested in developing a large, militant following. He knows that the way of the kingdom is the way of the cross. So it would not do for him to say "I'm the Messiah! I am going to restore Israel from Exile and bring the Kingdom of God!" To say it that bluntly would bring down immediate retribution from Herod and Pilate the Roman authorities. A slightly eccentric prophet who makes bizarre claims will be viewed as a nuisance. An open claim to Messianic authority (like the one Jesus makes in Jerusalem during Passover!) will bring down the full wrath and fury of Rome! Therefore Jesus' claims must be fairly cryptic. They must be made for those who have ears to hear! That's one reason, incidentally, why we can be pretty sure that these sayings weren't just made up by the early church. After Jesus' death and resurrection, the early church wasn't very "cryptic" about who Jesus was! Peter, Paul, James, John, Hebrews the rest of the New Testament is very explicit about who Jesus was and what he came to do! So if someone was going to make stuff up about what Jesus said about himself and his mission, they could been a little clearer! It really only makes sense that this is really what Jesus said about himself! But the implications of what Jesus is saying in verses 26-28 are clear to those who have ears: (Read verse 28) John is the greatest of all the prophets. Indeed, he is the greatest of all those born of women from the days of Adam and Eve to the present. But the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than John. Did you know that you are greater than John the Baptist? John the Baptist was the one who called people to be baptized in the Jordan, with a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. He had told people you can receive here at the Jordan what the Law of Moses said you could only get at the temple. namely, the forgiveness of sins and participation in the community (the fellowship) of God's people. But when Jesus says that the least in the kingdom of God is greater than John all the people (even the tax collectors) declared God just. But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the purposes of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him. In others words, those who had acknowledged their sin, and believed John's message those who were looking for the Kingdom of God declared God just. (Literally, they justified God he is right for doing this). But the Pharisees rejected the purposes of God for themselves. They declared themselves just. And so Jesus asks (read verses 31-32). What does this mean? Jesus explains it in verses 33-35! (Read) When John came, you tried to get him to dance. But John's purpose was to call you to repentance! You should have been fasting. When I came, you tried to get me to fast. But my purpose is to call you to rejoice in the coming kingdom. You should be dancing! Yet wisdom is justified by all her children. Don't forget that the people and the tax collectors justified God. Now Jesus says that wisdom is justified by her children. There are two sets of children: the children of this generation who dance when they should be fasting, and fast when they should be dancing; and the children of wisdom (the children of the Kingdom) who know when to fast and when to dance because they know me! The children of this generation look at Jesus and say "Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!" A friend of outcasts. A friend of the unclean. A friend of people who aren't like "us" Brothers and sisters, have we fallen into the Pharisaic trap of thinking that the kingdom belongs to people like us? We didn't read verses 36-50, and we'll look more at this next week, but what is the first thing Jesus does after contrasting "The children of this generation" and "wisdom's children"? He rebukes a Pharisee for his wicked attitude toward the "sinful woman" who was "touching him." If we truly believe in the power of the Kingdom of God to cleanse the unclean, to transform lives then we will think differently of "those" people: the unclean pagans who have no interest in the gospel. There are generally two kinds of people in this area: those who are more or less comfortably churched, and those who are not particularly interested in being churched! I don't object to "transfer" growth. But we need to bring the good news of the kingdom the good news that Jesus cleanses the unclean to those who acknowledge that they are unclean! Maybe right now they are suppressing that truth. Maybe they don't want to admit that they have a problem. But segregating ourselves into our little "holy community" is not the way of our Master. We need to have confidence that the holiness of Jesus Christ that dwells in us, by the power of the Holy Spirit, will indeed work through us, contaminating our community with the holiness of the Kingdom of God! And I need to lead you in doing this. It's hard, because my "job" doesn't take me out into the community much. That's partly why I work on my sermons at Fiddlers' Hearth on Thursday afternoons! But we need to be looking for opportunities to bring the power of the Kingdom to this generation. Let's look together for opportunities to bring the holiness of Christ into contact with those who need the gospel.