So perhaps if you have your Bible open, you can turn with me to Luke chapter 7,
from verse 18 to 35, a question and answer session with Jesus to help us to answer the
question, is Jesus the one? Is he the promised Savior? Luke's gospel and the time of Jesus
is like our world in the sense that there are many opinions and many ideas about Jesus.
Even in our first seven chapters, we've seen some people recognize Jesus as Messiah and Son of God,
whereas some people have called him a blasphemer and a false teacher.
Some are following him as their master, some see him as a prophet. So who is Jesus?
Is he, as some say, a bad man, or is he a good man? Is he just a good man, or is he the God man?
And we come to Luke chapter 7, from verse 18 onwards, and I want us to imagine that we're
being invited to a sit-down interview. There seems to be a growing trend, doesn't there, of those
behind-the-scenes interviews, where you get to know the person behind the celebrity. Well, here,
we have this question-and-answer session with the Lord Jesus. There are three questions that are asked
that give us a chance to hear Jesus' thoughts, Jesus' thoughts on his ministry, so we can think
about how did Jesus live. A question that helps us to think about the identity of Jesus, what's so
important about his coming, and a question that takes us to attitudes towards Jesus, so we can ask
ourselves, what is the right response, and more than that, what is my response to Jesus? On a weekend
when many are asking, you know, what kind of king and what kind of kingdom can we look forward to,
when we've seen in the news that people have made their decision about how to respond to the
coronation of the king, how do we respond to this king, the king of kings? And do we recognize that
this is a choice with eternal significance? So let's think, first of all, about the ministry of
Jesus. We find this in verses 18 to 23, and let's think about the question that comes, a question that
comes from followers of John the Baptist in verse 19, are you the one who is to come, or should we expect
someone else? Jesus, are you the promised saviour, or is there someone still coming? Isn't that a great
question? Jesus, are you the one? Are you the saviour? Who are you? Maybe to help us to think about the
question, we can just take a minute to think about, well, who is John the Baptist who's asking this
question? So we've met him a few times in chapter 1, and we discover that he was chosen by God before he
was ever born. He was chosen to be a prophet, to speak for God. Indeed, he had a particular job to be
the messenger who would prepare for the Lord's coming. One verse to help us to remember that,
this comes from the song of his father Zechariah, as John is born, and you, my child, will be called a
prophet of the Most High, for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him.
And then we meet John a number of years later in chapter 3, as he begins his public ministry.
And we're told in chapter 3, verse 3, that John preaches a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness
of sins. So he calls people to turn away from sin, to turn towards God, the sign of that to be baptism,
to know forgiveness. And then he spoke to the crowds about a coming one, one who is far greater than him,
one who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. And then we also discover in John chapter 3
that John the Baptist is put in prison for speaking against the king, and he's still in prison now,
so he can't come personally. So he sends some followers to ask the question of Jesus,
are you the one? And we need to ask ourselves the question, what's going on when John wants that
question to be asked? He has so powerfully and publicly spoken about Jesus as the one, so what's
going on? I think the likely answer to this is that John the Baptist's patience has failed in some way.
Remember John said he'll baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire. He was expecting, I think,
for Jesus to come and bring decisive judgment, to get rid of his enemies, to establish his kingdom
now. You know, the disciples had those same thoughts as well, as we read the Gospels. For John the Baptist,
he was expecting the kingdom to come differently and to look differently, and so he wants to check
in and to ask the question, Jesus, are you the one? Now we need to think about Jesus' answer
and what Jesus' answer tells us about his ministry. So look at verse 21. At that very time, the very time
that he's been asked the question, Jesus cured many who had diseases, illnesses, and evil spirits,
and gave sight to many who are blind. What do we see here? We see that God's kingdom is coming,
but it comes by mercy and not by the might of an army. We see that Jesus is the promised one,
but he comes first as a compassionate Savior, one who brings good news of grace to the needy and the poor.
Yes, he will come as judge, but here he comes first as Savior, and he invites the followers of John,
and he invites us to recognize that the miracles he performs are proof that he is the promised Savior.
As Jesus acts both with the power of God and the grace of God in order to transform people's lives,
doing the work only God could do, whether that's dealing with blindness or disability of any kind,
means the healing of infectious diseases. He is showing that he is God, and he is the God of mercy.
And so he points them to the miracles, but he does more than that.
He invites John and his listeners, and us as well, to think back, to think back to Old Testament promises.
Jesus will fulfill those promises as proof. Because then in verse 22, he replied to the messengers,
go back and report to John what you have seen and heard, the blind receive sight, and so on,
and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Why did we read Isaiah 35 this morning?
Isaiah chapter 35 anticipates this great day when God's promised one would bring salvation,
when the glory of God would be revealed, when the Lord himself would come to save.
And these are the signs. These things that John, that Jesus is doing, these are the signs
that God promised his Savior would perform. He has come to establish this highway of holiness,
to lead his people back to God and to eternal life. And so Jesus is saying,
I am the fulfillment of the great hopes of the Old Testament. And because of that,
he is good news to the poor, the great hope of God's Word, the great hope for people.
We find it in the ministry of Jesus, the Savior. And so he sends the messengers away in verse 23,
saying, blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me. You are blessed if you don't fall
off this tree, if you don't fall into a trap, but if you recognize that in Jesus, God's King is here,
and he's establishing his kingdom of mercy and grace for his blessing.
So in the spotlight, in this Q&A session with Jesus, is how did Jesus live? We often think,
and we should often think, about how did Jesus die and why did Jesus die? But it's good for us to
think about how did Jesus live? Because isn't it beautiful to see our Savior as he cared for ordinary
people? Indeed, as he came like an ordinary person, didn't he? Born to a poor family,
growing up in a small, unimportant time, working as a carpenter, didn't come with the robes of pomp
and ceremony. He cared for and came as an ordinary person. And he loved, didn't he? He loved those
the world often hated and ignored. So in Luke's gospel, we've seen him welcome tax collectors.
We've seen him reach out and touch the despised leper. We've seen him honor the faith of an enemy
centurion. We've seen him. We've seen him. We've seen him. We've seen him wait for his blessing.
And all the way along, as you watch the life of Jesus, you see grace and mercy shown to the
undeserving, teaching us that his kingdom doesn't come. We don't enter the kingdom because we are worth it.
We come as we recognize, like the centurion last week, that we are not worthy,
but that God is full of grace and love. And as we think about the way Jesus lived, we can understand
that his love is revolutionary. It was utterly different and unique. It wasn't the way of the
Jewish leaders, and it certainly wasn't the way of first century Rome. The pattern of the society
around Jesus was that people who are powerful, they would use power selfishly. Perhaps we recognize
that. The people that would get help would get help only if it was of benefit to me.
And the message was you cared for your own, you kept a distance, or you even hated your enemy.
But what have we seen from Jesus? We have seen and heard him say, love your enemy.
We have seen and we have heard him speak of mercy to the least. We will see Jesus meet hatred with love.
We will see in Jesus a Savior who saves by self-giving, loving sacrifice.
We see the compassionate love of Jesus in the way that he lived.
I read an article this week with a title that captured my attention. It said,
Western society is Christ haunted. And what the author meant by that is that the values of Jesus
are still with us in 21st century Scotland, even as so many people don't recognize Jesus is Lord.
So the ideas and the values in our society that we take as common sense are only common sense,
because Jesus has transformed the whole way that we look at the world.
I was walking past the quarter mile this week, and for the first time, walking past the old,
the hospital there in the quarter mile, I saw an inscription on the side of the wall.
It's straight out of Matthew 25. I was sick, and ye visited me.
Why is it that Christians throughout history have built hospitals?
Why is it that society believes in human rights for all people, and not just for the great and the good?
Why is it that even when we struggle with our own economy, we still feel it is right to send
international aid to countries that are struggling and suffering?
Why do we believe that it is right to release slaves and to lift people out of poverty?
These things are not instinctive and common sense.
They're common sense only because Jesus has transformed the way the world thinks.
Compassion, equality, justice, these are the values of Jesus.
And Christianity has shaped our world in thousands of wonderful ways,
as the people of Jesus have sought to live like Jesus.
And so even today, as so many people have no clue that Jesus is Lord,
and they have no clue that Jesus has shaped our modern Western world.
It still remains true.
Dick Lucas, who was a minister down in London,
he said this,
God did not give Christianity a watertight case.
He didn't send us a set of logical arguments.
He gave us a watertight person.
When we look at Jesus, don't we discover,
here is one I can trust.
Here is one who loves and who saves.
And so we are invited to consider Jesus
and to come to Jesus,
to receive and to recognize in him
there is a unique compassion
and goodness
and love
and grace
that we see in his way of life
and
in the way of his death
as he dies on the cross.
Even there he is transforming.
The cross, of course,
was a symbol of Roman power,
a way for Rome to humiliate enemies.
Now that's not how people see the cross anymore, is it?
We think about the cross as a symbol of love,
of sacrificial love,
as God's demonstration of saving love,
pouring out grace,
giving us forgiveness.
So in the ministry of Jesus
and in the sacrifice of Jesus,
we have good news.
Good news when we recognize
that we are spiritually poor,
that we by ourselves
are unable to deal with our guilt
and our shame,
that we are unable
to earn our way
into God's kingdom.
There is good news to recognize
Jesus,
our compassionate Lord,
has completed
the work.
And so the gospel of Jesus
continues to be
good news to the poor.
Now let's move from the ministry of Jesus
to think about
the identity of Jesus.
As you look here at verses 24 to 28,
the next question
in this Q&A
is a question that Jesus himself
asks.
Verse 24,
Jesus began to speak to the crowd
about,
John,
what did you go out
into the wilderness
to see?
By which he's
inviting the crowds
and us
to ask the question,
who is John?
And why does it matter?
And I want us to see
that to understand
John and his ministry
allows us to learn
more about Jesus
and his identity
and ministry.
Jesus, of course,
answers the question,
who is John?
What did you go out to see?
In verse 26,
what did you go out to see?
A prophet.
Yes, I tell you,
and more than a prophet.
You went out to see
a man of strength
and courage
in his convictions,
in his words.
He wasn't like a reed
swaying in the wind.
You went out to see
a man who lived
as a prophet.
He wasn't known
for luxury
as he enjoyed
his desert experience.
He looks and sounds
like an Old Testament prophet.
So why does Jesus say
you went out to see
more than a prophet?
He explains.
It goes back
to John's calling.
Verse 27,
this is the one
about whom it is written,
I will send
my messenger ahead of you
who will prepare
your way
before you.
So just as
Malachi
in the Old Testament
anticipated,
just as Zechariah
in his song
anticipated,
John came
to be the messenger
preparing
for the coming
of the Lord.
So the whole
Old Testament
is anticipating
when will the
Redeemer
come?
Some people speak
about the Old Testament
as the age of promise
because it's all
looking forward
to when the Redeemer
and King
would come.
Well,
John is the last
of the prophets
in the age
of promise
because
it's as if he gets
to open the door
and announce
the King
has come.
Jesus,
your Lord,
is here.
And that's
the significance
of verse 28.
Jesus wants
to give John
great dignity.
I tell you,
among those born
of women,
there is no one
greater than John,
but he also wants
to make plain
that everybody
after John
enjoys a still
greater privilege.
privilege.
See there he says,
yet the one
who is least
in the kingdom
of God
is greater
than he.
John lived
in the age
of promise.
Jesus says,
for us who live
in the age
of fulfillment,
there's something
greater.
There's greater
privilege,
and we're going
to come back
to that
in a couple
of minutes.
But let's think,
how does John
help us
to understand
who Jesus
says?
So,
Jesus says
he prepares
people for
the coming
of the Lord.
So,
Jesus is none
other than
God,
who has
become a man.
Son of God
enters into
the world.
And John
is significant
because he marks
this change
of era.
Jesus can
declare the
kingdom of God
has come.
Why?
Because Jesus
is the king
who's bringing
in the kingdom.
John the Baptist,
when he saw
Jesus,
what did he say?
He said,
behold,
he said,
everybody look.
Don't look at me,
look at Jesus.
Behold the Lamb
of God
who takes away
the sin of the world.
In the ministry
of John,
he was preparing
us
for Jesus,
the Lord,
the Son of God,
to die a
sacrificial day
as the way
for our sins
to be dealt with.
As he baptizes
Jesus,
what happens?
There is that
voice from heaven,
you are my Son
whom I love,
with you I am
well pleased.
The ministry
of Jesus
bears witness
to this reality
that Jesus
is God
and Savior
and the Father
is delighted
with him
for carrying
out his mission.
And as
Jesus'
popularity
grew,
John is the
one who said
he must
increase
and I must
decrease.
Pointing people
always
to Jesus
as the source
of hope
and salvation
was John's
calling.
Let's come back
to that idea,
the least in the
kingdom of God
is greater.
Before we move on,
we need to
think about this
privilege that
we enjoy.
Three ways,
I think,
that we can
think about
our greater
privilege.
The first,
in the sense
that we know
the whole
story.
John was
preparing people
for the ministry
of Jesus.
We have
in the Bible
the whole story,
don't we,
of Jesus'
perfectly obedient
life,
of his completing
the plan of
God,
in dying on
the cross
to save
sinners.
We have
the victory
of Jesus
displayed to
the world
at the
resurrection.
We have
the return
to glory
where Jesus
has received
his coronation
in heaven
as King
of Kings
and we've
been told
that he'll
be coming
again
to take
his people
to be with
him.
So we
have this
privilege
because of
where we
stand
in our
point in
time in
history
that we
can understand
that God's
plan to
save his
people,
God's
plan to
live with
his people
comes to
pass through
Jesus.
It's a
great privilege.
We're told
that the
Old Testament
prophets,
even the
angels,
longed to
know what
we can
come to
know in
the Word
of God
and in
the Gospel.
I also
want to
think about
the sacraments.
Today of
all days,
it seems
good for
us to
recognize the
privilege that
we have,
that Jesus
has given
the church
both baptism
and the
Lord's
Supper.
As two
more ways
that Jesus
wants his
church to
hear good
news,
there is
good news
that in
Jesus,
God has
made a
way for
our sin
to be
washed
away,
for us
to be
united to
Christ.
That as we
share the
Lord's
Supper as
God's
people,
we are
being taught
and reminded
that God
saves by
grace through
the sacrifice
of the
Lord Jesus
and that
through that
sacrificial
death and
through the
life that
comes to
us,
we enjoy
fellowship
with our
God,
through
Jesus,
and with the
work of the
Holy Spirit.
And that's the
third privilege.
Remember,
John said
that this
coming one
would baptize
with the
Holy Spirit
and with
fire.
But what
John
promised,
the coming
of the
Spirit,
the sending
of the
Spirit,
that reality
belongs to
us as the
church.
When we
have faith
in Jesus,
we are
united to
Christ by
the Spirit.
That the
Spirit of
God takes
up residence
within us.
that the
power of
the Spirit
is at
work in
us,
making us
more like
Jesus,
causing us
to want to
glorify our
God.
And so we
have these
wonderful
privileges
because of
where we
stand in
history,
in the
age of
fulfillment.
And as
is often
said,
with much
privilege comes
much
responsibility.
John had
a calling in
his day,
didn't he,
to bear
witness to
Jesus as
Lord.
We, too,
have that
responsibility to
bear witness to
Jesus, the
King of
love and
grace.
We have this
responsibility to
encourage one
another by
sharing the
hope of the
gospel together.
And we have
this responsibility
as we seek
that others
might come to
know the
goodness of
Jesus for
themselves.
Let's think
lastly about
the attitudes
to Jesus.
we find in
verses 29
to 35.
So we've
sat in on
this Q&A.
Jesus has
been revealing
truth about
his life and
his ministry,
his identity
and his
mission,
but now
the focus
moves out
into the
world.
We can
say the
focus moves
towards our
own hearts
to consider
attitudes and
responses.
there's a
question in
verse 31,
to what
then can
I compare
the people
of this
generation?
What are
they like?
Let's
personalize
that.
What am I
like in
my response
to the
ministry of
Jesus, to
the mission
of Jesus?
There are
two options
that are
presented
here.
In verse
29, there's
the way of
the little
people, all
the people,
even the tax
collectors, or
there's the
way of the
lawyers in
verse 30.
So let's
think about
verse 29,
these little
people, all
the people,
even the tax
collectors, when
they heard
Jesus' words,
acknowledged that
God's way was
right because
they'd been
baptized by
John.
So there is a
group who
receive John's
baptism gratefully.
They knew
they were
sinners.
They knew
they needed
repentance and
forgiveness.
They were
ready for
John's
ministry,
they're
ready to
receive Jesus
and his
ministry and
his message,
to receive
the good
news that
we are
saved by
grace,
that good
news comes
to the
poor and
to the
least.
But then
there's the
lawyers.
We're told
in verse
30, they
rejected God's
purposes for
themselves because
they'd not been
baptized by
John.
They rejected
God's
purpose.
It's really
significant that
they ignored
John and
then ignored
Jesus.
This is a
group of
people who
refused to
admit that
they needed
to repent.
We don't
need John's
baptism.
We can be
good enough
by ourselves,
thanks very
much.
This is a
group that
refused to
accept Jesus
as Lord and
Savior,
didn't see
their needs.
What of a
Savior sent
from heaven?
To illustrate
their attitude,
there is this
question then of
who calls the
tune in verses
31 and 32.
Jesus paints a
picture, a
picture to
show us
Jewish leaders
stubbornly
rejecting God's
message.
And the
picture is
like a group
of sulking
kids.
They won't
play the way
I say they
should play,
so we're not
happy.
They're not
happy with
John and
they're not
happy with
Jesus.
And the
problem, they
won't dance to
their tune.
The religious
people, they
disliked God's
message as it
came from
John.
They disliked
God's message
as it comes
from Jesus.
What did they
say about
John?
John the
Baptist came
neither eating
bread nor
drinking wine.
You say he
is a demon.
John is too
extreme.
He's too
extreme in his
desert living.
He's too
extreme in his
ministry calling
people to admit
that we're guilty
sinners, that we
need to turn
back to God.
It's too
extreme and so
they reject it.
Jesus'
ministry was
quite different.
The Son of
Man came
eating and
drinking and
you say here's
a gluttered
and drunkard,
a friend of
tax collectors
and sinners.
What about
Jesus?
He's too
extreme as
well.
Why?
They love to
keep themselves
separate.
We're better
than them.
We're on the
right side.
Jesus feasted.
with those
regarded as
bad and
sinful.
Inviting people
into the
kingdom of
God by
grace, not
by merit and
law keeping.
Jesus is too
extreme.
So John is
rejected and
Jesus is
rejected.
The purposes
of God are
rejected.
The wisdom
of God is
rejected.
Whenever we
fail to
receive this
message from
John that we
need to turn
away from sin,
when we fail to
receive the
message of
Jesus, that
we need to
be saved by
him, by
his grace.
Jesus says in
verse 35,
wisdom is
proved right by
all her
children.
The wisdom of
God and the
ministry of
John and
Jesus is seen
by those with
faith, but
not by all.
In this Q&A
session with
Jesus, we can
imagine Jesus
turning the
microphone out
from him to
us.
What are
you like
today?
What am I
like today?
What is my
attitude and
my response to
Jesus today, to
his ministry that
turned the world
upside down by
his amazing love
and grace and
kindness and
compassion, by
his refusal to
rule by force,
his refusal to
judge by merit
and achievement?
How do we
respond to the
identity of
Jesus, the
one who comes
as Lord and
Son of God, as
the appointed
Savior who
rescues people, as
the King who
dies on the
cross to save
sinners?
How do we
respond?
Jesus wants
the followers of
John to
understand.
He wants us to
understand.
He is the one
God promised.
He is the only
Savior.
And he calls
us today to
wisdom, to
receive him as
Lord by faith.
And he calls
us to worship,
to worship him
as the King of
love, the one
who loved us
and gave
himself for us.
I'm going to
pray in just a
moment, and
perhaps we can
get the junior
church in, and
then we will
move towards the
Lord's Supper.
Lord, we are
so thankful for
Luke's gospel as
an opportunity
for us to see
the love and
compassion of
Jesus, our
Lord and
Savior.
Thank you for
the care he
showed to the
weak and the
suffering and the
poor.
God, we
thank you for
the invitation
and the
welcome that
he extended to
those who were
rejected by
many, who
were ignored and
kept at a
distance.
Thank you for
the love of
Jesus that would
lead him to the
cross, to die
in the place of
sinners, to take
the punishment that
we deserve, to
give us his
perfect record of
righteousness, to
give us forgiveness
and eternal
life.
We thank you
that he truly is
the king who
came not to be
served but to
serve and to
give his life as a
ransom for many.
Thank you that he
is the king who
gives gifts to
his people, and
especially we thank
you for the gift of
forgiveness and
eternal life, for
the gift of your
spirit in our
life.
Lord, we pray that
our attitude to
Jesus would be
one of grateful
worship, as we
consider the love
that he would long
to show to each
one of us, the
saving love he
would give to us.
Help us to trust in
him now and
always, and we
pray in Jesus'
name.
Amen.
Now we're just
going to wait a
little moment while
the boys and
girls come in from
their classes.