Wednesday, January 11, 2023

trusting the gospel makes sense


Yet wisdom is justified by all her children.
Luke 7:35

This last half of Luke 7 is a post-script to the ministry of John the Baptist, and like everything John did, it leads to Jesus! It was initiated by John toward Jesus when he sent two of his disciples to affirm Jesus’ ministry as Messiah. It isn’t that John doubted. Rather, he was sending his disciples to investigate Jesus on their own. They got to see the actions in Jesus’ answer. Jesus gives them an emphatic “Yes”, reiterating His own sense of Messianic ministry previously claimed in Luke 4:16-21.

Jesus then uses this question from them to affirm John’s role in all that God was doing in the gospel. Luke’s own commentary in Luke 7:29-30 show us that the repentant people that submitted to John’s baptism also submitted to God in so doing. The religious elite who rejected John also rejected God’s plan.

The pious unbelievers said John was demonic for his asceticism. They said Jesus was a drunkard for His warmth and connection with those He came to save. But those accusations proved that the wisdom of God is right! The gospel isn’t human effort. It is a joyous celebration of grace!

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