Year 7, Day 216: Luke 7

Theological Commentary: Click Here

There are some great themes that come out of Luke 7.  The first two stories deal with Jesus and His incredible power.  Jesus heals a centurion’s servant without having to be near him.  Jesus raises a young man to life even though the young man is on a funeral bier!  Jesus shows us that proximity and even death are not issues where God is concerned.  God can do great things from anywhere and to anyone.  Death and distance are no obstacles for God.

Next, we have the story of John the Baptizer’s question from within prison.  When I was younger, I used to really look down upon John and wonder how he could miss Jesus being the Messiah.  As I’ve grown older, I’ve begun to feel for John.  Throughout history there have been people that were confused for the Messiah.  They did special things.  The led people in special ways.  I can understand John being able to hope for Jesus as the Messiah yet still have a seed of doubt in the back of his mind because other people were confused for the Messiah, too.

Furthermore, notice that Jesus doesn’t give any lasting condemnation to John.  In fact, He calls John great in the kingdom!  What this tells us is that God understands that while we may have hope and faith we will also have doubt and historical precedent to overcome, too.  God knows this about us.  He expects it.  He wants us to move past it, but He expects us to have questions because we cannot possibly know much with the absolute certainty of God.

At the end of this passage, we have the story of the man who forgives debts as told by Jesus in Simon’s home. (Simon the Pharisee, not Simon the disciple) What we learn here is that although God is all powerful, our reaction to God has more to say about us than about God.  Jesus is invited into Simon’s house.  Yet, Simon doesn’t welcome him very well.  Simon allows him to come into his house, Simon feeds him, but there isn’t any great excitement about the presence of Jesus.

The woman, on the other hand, has shown incredible excitement to Jesus.  She has kissed Him and washed Him and dried Him off.  She has cared or Him and it shows.

This is the same Jesus.  The difference in reaction doesn’t have anything to do with Jesus at all.  The difference is in the people.  Those who are forgiven much – those who are aware of their sin and the truth of their fallen nature – are excited about God’s grace. Those who are not convinced of their sin and who do not acknowledge their nature see no need to be exited.  That doesn’t change their need for God; it changes their reaction to Him.

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