Luke 7:18-35

Luke 7:18-35

John the Baptist had a full revelation of who Jesus Christ was. John was there when the Lord Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River and the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus in the form of a dove. John the Baptist was there when a voice from heaven said that Jesus was his Son. John saw this, he heard it, he believed it. He confessed that Jesus Christ was the Lamb of God. So what was happening when John sent messengers to Jesus to ask him if he was the one or should he wait for someone else?

This showed the humanity of John the Baptist. This showed us that when we suffer like this our faith can be shaken. The enemy can attack us and attempt to take away our faith in the Lord Jesus. However, the Lord was gracious and sent a word back to John to encourage his faith. Look at the evidence. See what Christ has done. See what he did in the Bible. See what he did in your life in the past. Don't forget what God already revealed to you. It is easy to forget. It is easy to let go of what you know is true, especially during times of intense suffering. This should be a warning to us that we need to hold steadfastly to everything the Lord spoke to us. Hold on to everything God revealed to you through his word. Do not forget and do not let go of God's word to you.

The Lord Jesus sent a word of encouragement to John. Then he spoke to the crowd around him. Those who already humbled themselves and were baptized by John gladly heard the word of the Lord Jesus. Those who did not humble their hearts or confess their sins would not hear the word of the Lord Jesus. The Lord ended this exhortation when he said that no matter how a messenger of truth presented himself to the world that the world would always reject the truth. John came in one manner and Jesus in another manner. But it did not matter how they spoke or presented themselves. They both spoke the truth and both were rejected by those who refused to humble themselves.

Sometimes the prophet of the Lord would be rebuked by the world. They accuse him of being unloving or too hard on people. They would criticize the man of God's methods! But this was just their way of rejecting the truth of what the prophet spoke. He spoke the truth but they rejected his words when they said that they don't like the way he spoke. They were only deceiving their themselves when they did this. They were not deceiving the Lord. The Lord knew their hearts and he saw the pride in them.