Luke 7

Luke 7:1

After the disciples had opportunity to hear instruction from Jesus’ lips in chapter 7, they have opportunity to hear His heart in chapter 8. One of the many beautiful things about Jesus is that, not only is He the Instructor par excellence who gives insightful, impacting teachings to us, but He is also the Shepherd who goes before us. The four vignettes that follow deal with a saddened centurion, a weeping widow, a perplexed prophet, and a heartbroken harlot. In each case, Jesus shows His heart of compassion toward them, which blesses me greatly because I know He cares about me in the same way. Centurions are mentioned four times in the New Testament… As we will see, this centurion is a man of humility and faith. It was a centurion on the hill of Calvary who said to Jesus, “Truly this was the Son of God” (Mat_27:54). A centurion named Cornelius was the first Gentile to be converted and baptized in the Spirit (Acts 10). A centurion named Julius befriended Paul and assisted him on his journey toward Rome (Acts 27). The Jews didn’t like the Romans in general and centurions in particular. Yet the New Testament paints each of these centurions in a positive light.

Luke 7:3

Many people are waiting for their ship to come in. The problem is, they never sent one out. Not so with this centurion. He expended the energy and made the effort to send a deputation of Jewish elders to approach the Rabbi of whom he had heard marvelous things.

Luke 7:4

His care for his servant and his commitment to the Jews marked this Gentile centurion as a unique individual. No wonder he was highly esteemed by the Jewish elders, who said to Jesus, “He is worthy of Your help.” “No, I’m not,” said the humble centurion. Indeed, the greater a person is, the more humble he will be. The smarter a person is, the more he will realize how little he knows. One who was accustomed to having his commands obeyed without question, the centurion would have understood the power of the spoken word.

Luke 7:9

This centurion was one of two people in the entire New Testament of whom Jesus marveled concerning their faith. The other was a Syro-Phoenician woman. These two Gentiles lacked the stories, the oracles, the heritage, and the history of the Jews. Instead, they simply had faith to believe Jesus’ authority. One of the ways to kill faith is to hang around religious people. Religious people will explain to you why your prayers aren’t answered, why your faith just won’t work. Sometimes it’s the Gentilesthose who take the Word at face valuewhom the Lord loves to honor. The Jews had their theology refined, but it was the Gentiles who had faith who caused Jesus to marvel.

Luke 7:11

Jesus went twenty-five miles out of His way to Nain and therein found a miracle waiting to happen. Compassion is your pain in my heart. It’s a quality sadly lacking in our society, but one Jesus exemplified constantly. He is called the Man of Sorrows because He took the pain of people into His own heart. And yet the irony is that Heb_1:9 tells us He was anointed with the oil of gladness above His fellows. How could He be the Man of Sorrows and yet anointed with the oil of gladness above any other human being who has ever livedradiating such joy that multitudes would be drawn to Him? These are two qualities that seem contradictoryuntil we remember the words He taught us when He said, “Blessed, or happy, are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (see Mat_5:4). One of the keys of happiness is to allow sorrow to penetrate your heart. Eastern mysticism totally rejects this viewpoint. A foundational principle of Buddha’s teaching was to avoid pain and sorrow, for if mankind would enter into the state of detached feeling, of nirvana, there would be no more jealousy or envy, no more wars and fighting. This thinking has affected us more than we know. Having permeated the ’60s culture, it was Eastern thought that caused us to say, “I am a rock. I am an island,” as we sang along with Simon and Garfunkel. Jesus, however, came on the scene and annihilated that mentality by saying, “Happy is the man not who detaches himself, but who mourns, who is heartbroken, for he is the one who will be comforted.” “Comfort” is an old English word containing the same root as that of the word “fortify.” In other words, Jesus said that the one who is mourning will also be the one who is fortified. In the Garden of Gethsemane, so deeply was Jesus mourning that blood burst from His forehead. And yet Luke tells us that even as He was agonizing in prayer, an angel came and comforted, sustained, and fortified Him (Luk_22:43-44). When is the last time I have been at the place of being pained in prayer for someone else’s problem, someone else’s sin? Could it be that I am not comforted by the Comforter or the angelic presence because I am not doing what Jesus did? Blessed are they who mourn, who plunge into life and feel the pain of life. They shall be comforted. Are you unhappy? Do you feel comfortless? Take seriously what Jesus said. It’s an irony. It’s a mystery. It runs crosscurrent to the thinking of our society. And yet the key to happiness is to mourn for others, to carry someone else’s pain in your heart. In this account of Jesus’ compassion, we see two groups of individualstwo only sons, two hurting peopleand one amazing miracle. Freedom from Death’s Fear A Topical Study of Luk_7:11-17 He was a professional thief. His name stirred fear in the hearts of even the most rugged frontiersman as sure as the desert wind stirred the tumbleweeds. From 1875 to 1883, he successfully held up twenty-seven Wells Fargo stagecoaches. And as amazing as this is, he did so without firing a single shot. His weapons? Fear and intimidation. When a stagecoach driver looked down and saw a man riding alongside whose face was entirely covered with a black hood, he knew he was about to be held up by Black Bart and that he was foolish to fight him. In newspapers and journals from San Francisco to New York City, he was known as one of the most notorious bandits of all time. Black Bart reminds me of another who haunts all of humanity, one who Jesus called a thief and a robber, a liar and a murderer (Joh_8:44). His weapons, like Black Bart’s, consist of intimidation and fearespecially the fear of death… Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.Heb_2:14-15 Although death is something we don’t like to think about or talk about, it is something we deal with constantly. Oh, it might not be the fear of physical death that haunts us. It might be the death of a relationship, a marriage, a business. This spiritual Black Bart, identified in Scripture as Satan, intimidates people constantly with the fear of death and holds them in this bondage all of their lives. But Jesus came not only to meet death head-on, but to conquer it completely in order that we might be set free. In our text, we see Jesus and death meeting face-to-face in an encounter that is not accidental, but oh, so intentional as Jesus goes twenty-five miles out of His way to the little town of Nain… Two Crowds In Nain we see two groups of people: one going into the city rejoicing, the other leaving the city weeping. The group going into the city was rejoicing because they were traveling with Jesus. The group leaving the city was weeping, knowing nothing about Jesus. I suggest every single one of us is in one of these two crowds right now. Either we are traveling with Jesus to the city, or we are traveling without Him to the cemetery. If we’re traveling with Him, to what city are we headed? To the same one for which Abraham looked: the city which is solid and real, satisfying and eternal, the city that has foundations, whose builder and maker is God (Heb_11:10). Abraham knew such a city would not be found in Mesopotamia, Babylon, New York, or Oregon. He knew the city for which he longed would only be found in eternity. And thus he could head toward it rejoicing. Suppose you are an ice skater, and right before you’re ready to take to the ice in the final phase of the competition, your coach tells you your preliminary scores are so far ahead of everyone else’s that even if you get “0” in the final phase, you’ll win. This information would enable you to be as daring and creative as you would want because you’d have nothing to lose. So, too, life becomes joyful and daring to the one who is not living for this world. Because the pressure is off, because he realizes the gold medal of heaven is already his, he can be carefree and creative (Joh_14:2). Not so the crowd traveling to the cemetery. Regardless of how popular or powerful they are on earth, they are in bondage to the fear of the death awaiting them. Two Sons Not only were there two crowds, but two only sons. The son who had once lived was now dead. The Son who was now living was destined to die. In the days before Social Security or Welfare, having lost her husband and now her only son, this widow would have no one to look out for her socially or financially. That is why God’s only Son, the Son destined to die, was moved with compassion. Jesus uniquely knew His mission was death. In a very real sense, as the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world, He was dead before He lived (Rev_13:8). Slain in eternity past, He entered the time/space continuum wrapped in swaddling clothes, assuming the appearance of a mummy. And so it was that the Father’s only Son, destined to die, encountered the woman’s only son, destined to live. Two Sufferers In addition to two crowds and two sons, we see two sufferers. Jesus exuded such abundance of life that people loved to be with Him. Thus, He was called a winebibber and a glutton by His enemies (Luk_7:34). At the same time, He is and always will be the Man of Sorrows (Isa_53:3). He was not the Man of Sorrows because He was depressed about His own situation, but because He had such great compassion. That is, He carried the pain of others in His heart. “Weep not,” Jesus said to the woman. “Arise,” He said to the young man. “Come up,” He will say to us as He calls us to meet Him in the air. He who lives in this hope will be free from the fear of death that keeps people in bondage all of their days. Like birth, the process of death is painful. Nonetheless, who of us would say to the unborn baby, “Don’t come out. Stay in there. Your skull will be contracted. Your shoulders will be squeezed. Your body will be covered with fluid. Your best bet is to stay in the womb forever”? Not one of us would tell a baby this because not one of us remembers the pain we went through when we were born. Yes, the process was painful, but there was a whole new life awaiting usincluding waves to surf, mountains to ski, people to meet, things to learna dimension infinitely greater than the dark confines of the womb. So, too, death was never meant to hurt. When, after He had lived thirty-three years, Jesus was transfigured on Mount Hermon, He began to glow. So, too, I believe God’s intention was that after man had lived sinlessly on earth, he would be transfigured and ushered into heaven. But man sinned. Therefore, part of the repercussion of sin is that now, our moving into eternity, like being born, is painful. We watch someone dying and our heart breaks.

But the people in heaven are not saying, “Stay on earth” any more than we would tell the unborn baby to stay in the womb. They’re saying, “Get out of there! Come up here! There’s a new dimension up here more radical in comparison to earth than the difference between the world and the womb. In heaven, there is joy unspeakable and full of glory, for eyes have not seen nor ears heard the wonderful things God has prepared for those who love Him” (see 1Co_2:9). Yes, moving into eternity can be painful because of sin. But just as we have forgotten the pain of our own birthing process, so, too, in heaven, the pain of our death will not even be a distant memory. Even if the Lord never answers another of my prayers; even if I never sense another feeling of fellowship with Him; even if I never gain another insight from His Word, I’m going to heaven, and that alone is enough. We are a saved people, gang, freed from the fear of what is beyond. After eight years, Black Bart was finally apprehended. At his arrest, one of the U.S. marshals pulled the black hood from his head to discover not the desperado from Death Valley as legend held him, but rather a squeaky-voiced, mild-mannered druggist from Decatur, Illinois. The reason Black Bart never fired a shot is because he never had a bullet. His only weapons were fear and intimidation. So, too, because Satan was defeated and death destroyed on the Cross of Calvary, we can join Paul in proclaiming, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” (1Co_15:55). We’re free. So rejoice, precious people, and celebrate your salvation.

Luke 7:18

Of Messiah, not only did Isaiah prophesy that the sick would be healed and the dead resurrected, but that prison doors would open. Yet, here’s John the Baptist, the herald of the King, in prison. “Everyone else is feeling the Lord’s compassion, but what about me?” he must have wondered.

Luke 7:20

Concerning whether or not He was the Messiah, Jesus’ answer to John’s disciples was for them to tell John the things they had seen Him do. But because, according to verse Luk_7:18, they had already told John these things, it was as if Jesus’ message to John was: “You’ve been hearing about the things that are happening, and yet you’re only concerned about what is not happening.” And the same is true of us… Dealing with Doubt A Topical Study of Luk_7:22 In his book Disappointment With God, Philip Yancey tells the story of a woman watching her daughter in her early twenties die a painful death due to cystic fibrosis. Both were believers. “I was sitting beside her bed a few days before her death when suddenly she began screaming,” recounts the mother. “I will never forget those shrill, piercing, primal screams…” Yancey continued, “It’s against this background of human beings falling apart…that God, who could have helped, looked down on a young woman devoted to Him, quite willing to die for Him to give Him glory, and decided to sit on His hands and let her death top the horror charts for cystic fibrosis deaths.” Maybe you are in a situation where you are wondering, Why is God silent? He could have spoken a word and solved my problem. He could have done something to see me through. Why has He chosen to sit on His hands? Such is the situation in the text before us… John the Baptist was in Herod’s dungeon because he dared to call the king on the carpet. You see, while visiting his brother, Herod lusted after his brother’s wife so greatly that he forced his brother to divorce her so that he himself could marry her. Although the gossip columnists of the day were fascinated, John was infuriated. A prophet of righteousness, John came down on Herod like a scorpion in the desert. Stung by his indictments, Herod ordered John imprisoned. I’m sure when he was first imprisoned, John thought the One who calmed the storm, who brought the dead back to life, who cleansed the temple would surely spring him. But it didn’t work out that way. Days passed. Weeks went by. And John was left wondering. “Go ask Jesus if He really is the One,” he said to his disciples, “or are we to look for another?” So the disciples asked Jesus directly, “Are You the One? Or should we look for someone else? It’s not working out the way we thought.” This is exactly what happens to us. As has been rightly said, when the warm moist air of our expectations collides with the icy cold of God’s silence, inevitably clouds of doubt begin to form. No Rebuke In answering these messengers, Jesus didn’t say, “How dare he doubt. What’s wrong with him? Why would he have questions?” This shouldn’t surprise us, for God never rebukes any who come to Him with sincere questions or honest doubts. Be it Job, Abraham, Moses, or Thomas, as you go through your Bible, you’ll never see a questioner rebuked if their questions are sincere. And John’s was. Jesus didn’t rebuke John. Instead, He told John’s disciples to tell him what they were seeinghurting people helped, dead people raised, and poor people treasured. No Release Jesus didn’t rebuke Johnbut neither did He release him. John’s presuppositions of what the kingdom would be like were so set in his mind that when it proved to be something different, he couldn’t see it. So, too, I suggest that much of the confusion we are feeling in our own lives personally is not so much due to God being silent as it is due to our failure to recognize the answer He has already given. John wasn’t asking too much. The fact is, he was expecting too little. John was expecting a political kingdom, a material kingdom. But Jesus had something altogether different in mind. John was anticipating a political, material, or military kingdom. Jesus’ focus was on eternity. John never got out of prison in the way he had hoped. Instead, his release, brought about by his beheading at the request of Herodius, was infinitely better, as it ushered him into an eternity He would spend with the prophets who went before him, and with Jesus, who would soon join him. No Regret Do you think that today John the Baptist is mad at not having been released from prison so he could establish a political party? Do you think he’s disappointed he didn’t see something happen militarily, materially, or monetarily? Or do you think he’s saying, “Excellent! Wonderful! Things didn’t work out the way I thought they would, but You were so good, Lord, to leave me in the dungeon because I had the opportunity to join the great prophets who went before me and rejoice eternally.” Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.Mat_5:11-12 So, too, let us rejoice in the fact that even if things don’t work out the way we think they should, God is choosing to wait for the best. If you are going through tough times, hard questions, or real persecution, rejoice. For you will have great reward in heaven. And when you get there, your tears will be wiped away by the very One we think sits on His hands (Rev_7:17). Then, upon closer inspection, you’ll discover His hands were never sat upon. They were nailed. And all of your questions and confusion will vaporize in a new understanding of the depth of His love for you. Are we ready for heaven? Or are we, like John, asking all the wrong questions and looking for all the wrong answers, all the while wondering why God isn’t working? May we who are in doubt or confusion presently set our questions against the backdrop of eternity. And may we ever look to the One whose hands, for us, were nailed to the Cross of Calvary.

Luke 7:24

It wasn’t until after John’s disciples had left that Jesus honored John. So, too, you might feel like a failure, that you haven’t done this or accomplished that, that you’re in error here or unproductive there. But if you hang in there with the Lord and continue to walk with Him by faith, when you get to heaven, you will hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” In allowing you to struggle presently, the Lord wants you to wrestle through and keep going. But there will come a time when we will truly know how He sees and evaluates us. And I think we will be exceedingly surprised at even the simple things we did that He noticed (Mat_10:42). John was the greatest of all prophets. And yet guess who is greater than John? You are. Everyone who is a born-again believer, who is part of the kingdom, is greater than John. Why? John was part of the Old Testament economy. You are a New Testament believer. John was a herald of the King. You are a friend of the King. John was a friend of the Bridegroom. You are the Bride of the Bridegroom. As a person, you are not greater than this bold and fearless prophet. But because of your position in Christ, you are not only greater, you’re perfect (Col_1:28). If you have no other reason to be elated today, let that alone suffice.

Luke 7:29

The wisdom of the Lord’s way is not seen intellectually nor argued logically, but it is seen in the transformation of people practically. Look at the children of the Lord, born-again believers, and you see people who were once strung out on drugs, hooked on pornography, or held captive by materialism; people with messed-up marriages, hurting families, and broken lives who are now in the process of being perfected. God’s wisdom is justified in changed lives. Let the Pharisees argue all they want. The irrefutable fact is that lives are changed.

Luke 7:36

This woman was not, as is often suggested, Mary Magdalene from whom Jesus cast seven demons (Luk_8:2). Nor is she Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, who anointed Jesus’ head with ointment and who wiped His feet with her hair in the house of Simon the leper (John 12). This Mary, in the house of Simon the Pharisee, did not feel the openness to presume to anoint Jesus’ head as did Mary of Bethany, but rather in brokenness and humility anointed His feet. I believe this differentiation is an important one. In my opinion, pastors and worship leaders err when they try to get people to be more intimate in expression than their level of commitment warrants. If worship is hard or unnatural for you, perhaps it is because your knowledge of Jesus is shallow. Therefore, the problem lies not in your manner of worship, but in your distance from Him. Get to know Him better, and you will find worship flowing more freely. Mary anointed Jesus’ head because she knew Him well. Mary used her hairone of the “tools of her trade” with which she previously had seduced mento minister to Jesus.

Luke 7:39

Like Simon, I can spot certain sins in people miles away. Why? Because they’re the same sins that reside in me. Therefore, if you are one who is cynical, if you are one who constantly finds fault with this person or that group, more than likely you’re the one with the problem.

Luke 7:40

“Simon,” Jesus said, “the woman’s sins are of the flesh; yours are of the spirit. Her sins are observable; yours are more subtlebut also more damnable.”

Luke 7:43

Fellow Pharisee, take hope. Jesus knew Simon had problems. But He still accepted his invitation to dinner. We know the Lord accepts the invitation of the repentant sinner, but sometimes we forget that He not only accepts the invitation of the self-righteous Pharisee, but also finds something to commend in him.

Luke 7:44

There’s not a person who isn’t as great a sinner as this one who was known throughout the city as a prostitute. Oh, perhaps we’re not guilty of the obvious sin because ours is a sin of attitude, thought, or corruption within. Yet the one who is truly aware of his sin will, like this woman, be heartbroken and repentant.

Luke 7:49

“Who is this One who can say another’s sins are forgiven?” the Pharisees scoffed. The reason Jesus could say such a thing to the woman who kissed His feet, wiped them with her hair, and anointed them is because He will be kissed again by Judas, washed and anointed again by the woman who prepared His body for burial. Therefore, because of His death and resurrection, His is very definitely and uniquely the power to forgive sin.

Luke 7:50

Although she was commended for a tremendous demonstration of love in washing Jesus’ feet and drying them with her hair, it was not this woman’s love that saved her. It was her faith. Yes, true faith will always manifest itself in love (Gal_5:6). But it is faith that sees the invisible, hears the inaudible, believes the incredible, and does the impossible. It is faith that makes things happen (Mat_17:20). It is faith that pleases God (Heb_11:6). In previous generations, Christians would go to the altar, confess their sins, weep before the Lord, and go their way with peace in their hearts. Now they seem to prefer a counselor’s office. But it is those who are broken before the Lord who find healing from the Lord. The key is to be broken like Mary rather than self-sufficient like Simon. Our sins are many; our failures are great. But we don’t need to mask them, hide them, deny them, or defend them. All we need to do is confess them in brokenness as, like Mary, we spend time at His feet.