#56 Lu. 7:24-30  JOHN'S MINISTRY REVIEWED BY JESUS

Introduction:

    From his prison cell John the Baptist had sent two of his disciples to
Jesus to ask Jesus if He really is the Christ or if they should look for
another.  Jesus did not answer John with a "Yes" or a "No."  He could not
say "No" and tell the truth.  If He had said "Yes" that alone would not have
been convincing.  Any imposter could have said the same thing.  What Jesus
did was to instruct those two disciples of John to go back to John with
evidence that He is the Christ.  He said that they should tell John the
things that they had witnessed.  It just so happened that the specific
things that they had witnessed Jesus doing were in fulfillment of Old
Testament prophecies about the Christ.  These were the very things that the
prophets had said that the Christ would do.  So John would have his answer
about Jesus being the Christ, his faith in Jesus would be strengthened, and
his last days in prison would be a great deal more tolerable because of his
stronger faith.
    The multitude of people which were gathered there with Jesus knew that
John's disciples had been there talking with Jesus.  Many of them knew that
John had sent them to inquire of Jesus whether He is the Christ.  They
likewise knew the answer that Jesus had given to John's disciples.  So Jesus
uses this opportunity to speak to them about John's ministry and use John's
ministry to teach them some important lessons.  Jesus not only wanted to
make sure that the people did not lose their confidence in John as a result
of John's inquiry, but He wanted to make sure that they got the real message
that John had been sent to deliver.

I.  The questions which Jesus raised about John

    V. 24, "And when the messengers of John were departed, he began to speak
unto the people concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness for to
see? A reed shaken with the wind?"  A great many of the people that Jesus
was preaching to had earlier gone out to hear John the Baptist preach.
Jesus asked a simple question:  "What kind of a man did you go out to hear?
Did you think of John the Baptist as being like a reed?"  A reed is a tall
slim plant that grows near water.  Which ever way the wind blows that is the
direction that the reed leans.  If the wind blows toward the south the reed
leans toward the south.  If the wind blows toward the north the reed leans
toward the north.  If the wind blows east or west that is the direction the
reed leans.  The reed is as changeable as the wind.  Jesus is asking, "Is
that the kind of man you think John the Baptist was?  Do you think he was
wishy-washy in his thinking?  Do you think he was always changing his mind
with every change of the wind?"
    Jesus did not wait for an answer.  He did not expect an answer.  The
question did not need an answer.  The answer was so very obvious:  No, not
at all.  John the Baptist was no reed shaken in the wind.  He was more like
an oak tree that stood stout and straight.
    V. 25, "But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft
raiment?  Behold, they which are gorgeously apparelled, and live delicately,
are in kings' courts."  Jesus asked a second question.  "Did you go out into
the wilderness to see a softie?"  This time He did answer the question.  No,
when they went out to see and hear John the Baptist they did not go out to
see a man that looked and sounded like Lyberache.  I am sure that most of
you remember seeing Lyberache on television and you have never seen a man
dressed more daintily.  An you have never heard a man with a softer voice
than he.  Now he could really play the piano.  He was a master at that, but
he looked and sounded as if he had never done a day's work in his life and
he looked as if he could not stand up to anyone and contend for what he
believed about anything.  Now that certainly was not John the Baptist.  John
the Baptist was clothed in rugged camel-skin clothes and he had a loud
booming voice.  I think he must have sounded more like John Wayne than
Lyberache.  He sounded like he knew just exactly what he was talking about
and that he really meant business in what he said.
    In verse 26 Jesus asks the people a third question.  This time He also
answered the question for the people.  This is the one He was leading up to
with the first two questions.  V.  26, "But what went ye out for to see? A
prophet?  Yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet."  The people
went out to see and hear John the Baptist because they were convinced in
their minds that he was a prophet of God.  Jesus said, "Yea----and much more
than a prophet."  John was not just another prophet of God.  He was a very
special prophet of God.  John was given a very definite commission from the
Lord to do his work.  John was given a very special message from the Lord to
deliver.  John was given a special mission from the Lord to accomplish.  God
the Father had sent John for the purpose of preparing the way for His Son to
begin His ministry in the world.  John was to call the people to repentance
and John was to call the people to believe in the coming Christ, the Son of
God.

II.  The Scripture which Jesus quoted about John

    Jesus then quotes from Malachi 3:1.  V. 27, "This is he, of whom it is
written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare
thy way before thee."  John was like a crier who would go before the coming
king and call for the people to get ready for the coming of the king.  As a
king would travel, a crier would go before him and inform the people of his
coming.  He would call upon the people to get the road ready for the coming
king and to give a fitting reception to the king.  John would thus go before
the Christ and call upon the people to get ready for the Christ to come.
The would need to get their hearts ready for the Christ to come.
    Now what Jesus was doing was that He was reminding them of what John had
preached.  He did not need to inform them.  They already knew.  They had
been there in the wilderness and they had heard John's message.  They knew
that what John had preached was that the Christ is coming.
    They also knew that John had now sent two of his disciples to ask Jesus,
"Are you the one or should we look for another."  They knew also the answer
that Jesus had given to John's question.  Now I am going to put paraphrase
that answer and put it in my own words.  You have seen me do the
things that the prophets of old said that the Christ would do.  The prophets
have said that the Christ would give sight to the blind.  You have seen me
give sight to the blind.  The prophets have said that the Christ would cause
the lame to walk.  You have seen me cause the lame to walk.  The prophets
has said that the Christ would heal lepers.  You have seen me heal even the
dread disease of leprosy.  The prophets have said that the Christ would
raise the dead.  You have seen me raise the dead.  You have seen me do all
the things that the prophets said the Christ would do.  You have heard John
the Baptist say that the Christ is coming.  You have read in the Scriptures
what the prophets said that the Christ would do.  You have seen me do those
things with your own eyes.  What in the world does it take for you to
recognize and to know that I am the Christ?"
    Now Jesus, of course, did not put it just exactly that way.  He did not
say to this great crowd of people, "I am the Christ."  But He did everything
He could short of that to let them know that He is the Christ.

III.  The great compliment that Jesus paid to John
    At this point, Jesus paid a very great complement to John the Baptist.
V. 28, "For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not
a greater prophet than John the Baptist..."  Jesus was not comparing John
with merely the very few prophets who lived in John's own day.  There were
not any really well known prophets around in John's day to compare him with.
Jesus was comparing John with all prophets of old.  Jesus said that there
was not a one among the bunch that was greater than John.  None had a
greater message.  None had a greater mission.  None carried out his mission
more zealously or more effectively.  Jesus ranked John the Baptist right
along with Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and whoever else you may consider great
among the Old Testament prophets.  Jesus was satisfied with the performance
of John.  He was satisfied with the ministry of John and we can be sure that
God the Father was pleased with John also.
    Jesus said that there was none born of woman that is greater than John.
That takes in the whole bunch of prophets.  Doesn't it?  But there is a
problem right here?  What about Jesus?  Jesus was a prophet and Jesus was
born of woman, wasn't He?  Well, that is where the latter part of the verse
comes in.  There was one exception to the previous statement.  There was one
born of woman who is greater than John.  (V. 28), "...but he that is least
in the kingdom of God is greater than he."
    Jesus here refers to Himself.  Jesus is the one who is greater than
John.  John the Baptist, himself, had said it.  John said, "There cometh one
after me who is greater than I."  And Jesus is the one who came after John.
His ministry started after the ministry of John.  John's ministry was well
under way when Jesus came to John to be baptized of Him and the baptism of
Jesus marked the beginning of the ministry of Jesus.
    Also I would direct your special attention to the word that here is
translated "least." Bible language scholars tell us that the word could have
been translated "after" or "later."  It carries the basic meaning of "small"
or "little." It could be translated "younger."  For instance if the word
were used with reference to the smaller children, it would mean the younger
children.  With reference to time, it could mean "after or later" in that
these children were born after the older and larger children.  They were
born later.  Therefore the word could mean "small, little, younger, after,
or later." Some Bible scholars believe the word should have been translated
"after" or "little" in this verse.  That would most certainly fit this verse
of Scripture for Jesus is the one who came after John and being Deity God,
He most certainly is greater than John.
    Furthermore, in verses 29 and 30 Jesus said, "And all the people that
heard him, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism
of John.  But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against
themselves, being not baptized of him."  Here Jesus is pointing out the
great effectiveness of John's ministry.  A great number of the common people
believed John's message about the coming Christ and were baptized by John.
However, the Pharisees and scribes, for the most part, did not believe John
and were not baptized by him.  Some of the Pharisees, as you may recall, did
ask to be baptized by him, but John would not baptize them until
they would first bring forth evidence that they had repented.  So John's
ministry had been very effective among the common people.  It was only among
the elite, the upper-crust, the self-righteous, the know-it-alls that John's
ministry had failed to make a great impact.

IV.  The conclusion that Jesus was leading up to

    Now I hope that you can see where Jesus is leading.  He is leading up to
the conclusion that He, Jesus of Nazareth, is the Christ of God, the Messiah
of God, the Son of God, the Savior of men.  John the Baptist, who in his
hey-day was the greatest of all the prophets, had identified Jesus as the
Christ.  The writing of the Old Testament prophets had prophesied certain
things that the Christ would do, and with their own eyes the people had seen
Jesus doing those very things.  Jesus wanted them to see that He is more
that a miracle-man.  He wanted them to see that He is the Christ.  He is
their God.  He is the Savior.  He is their only hope of heaven.  He is their
only hope of staying out of the fires of hell.
    Now not every single person who was in the audience of Jesus at this
time had personally heard John preach.  But many of them had heard John and
a goodly number of them had been baptized by him. Now if they really
understood John's message and if they understood what the prophets of old
had said, they should have no trouble is understanding that Jesus is the
very Christ.  It just looks to me like any of them should be able to see.
Yet a lot of them in this very crowd would have trouble seeing that Jesus is
Christ.  It reminds me of the story about a man who stopped and asked
another man directions to a certain place.  The other man told him, "You go
down this direction so far and then you turn to the right and go so far and
then you turn to the left and go so far."  He said, "You can't miss it
unless you are mighty stupid.  Which, you probably will."  I cannot help but
feel that way about a lot of the people who were in that crowd.  They
couldn't help but see that He is the Christ unless they were mighty stupid.
Which they must have been, at least in spiritual things, because they missed
it.  They still did not see that Jesus is the Christ.

Conclusion:

    What about you?  Do you see and understand that Jesus is the Christ?  Do
you believe that Jesus is the Christ?  Do you really believe deep down in
your heart and soul beyond any reasonable doubt that Jesus is the Christ?
The prophets of old told us what the Christ would do and Jesus did it.  John
the Baptist, the greatest of the prophets said that Jesus is the Christ.
God the Father spoke from heaven and identified Jesus as the Christ.  All of
the apostles and followers of Jesus identified Him as the Christ.  The
Apostle Paul, though he never saw Jesus during the ministry of Jesus, later
saw Him in heaven and identified Jesus as the Christ.  Christians for nearly
2,000 years have declared that Jesus is the Christ.  Anybody who is not
prejudiced it and is willing to be convinced will reach the conclusion that
Jesus is the Christ.
    I'll tell you what I believe.  I believe and am sure that Jesus is the
Christ and that He is the Savior of my soul.  I called on Him when I was
sixteen years old and asked Him to have mercy on me and save my soul.  With
all of my heart and soul I believe that He did.  I know He did.
    That is why I am asking you to do the same thing.  I am asking you who
are not yet saved to call on Jesus right now and ask Him to save your soul.
You are my friend and I care what happens to your soul.  I do not want you
to wind up in the fires of hell.  I am asking that you do something about
your soul before it is too late.  I am asking you to trust the same Jesus
who died on the cross of Calvary and who arose from the grave.  I am asking
you to ask the same Jesus is going to come again and who will sit upon the
throne of God and be the Judge of men.  I am asking you to believe in your
heart the promises that God makes in His Bible that all who trust in Jesus
will be saved.
    One of these days the same Jesus that reviewed the ministry of John the
Baptist is going to review your life and mine.