3. The confusion about Jesus' identity 7:18-35

It was only natural that these people had questions about who Jesus really was. Was He a prophet? Was He Elijah? Was He another former prophet? Was He "the Prophet"that Moses had predicted (Deut. 18:18)? Was He the Messiah? Was He Immanuel, "God with us"(Isa. 7:14)? Even John the Baptist began to have questions. On the one hand Jesus was fulfilling prophecy that indicated He was the Messiah. He was preaching righteousness, healing the sick, casting out demons, even raising the dead. However, He was not fulfilling other Messianic prophecies such as freeing the captives (John was one), judging Israel's enemies, and restoring the Davidic dynasty to power.

Luke included much about the controversy over Jesus' identity because it authenticates Jesus' identity and strengthens the confidence of disciples in their Savior. As witnesses of Jesus Christ, Luke's readers faced many hostile challengers of Jesus' identity. This section enables disciples to counter these challenges more effectively.

 Jesus' response to John the Baptist's inquiry 7:18-23 (cf. Matt. 11:2-6)

7:18-20 "These things"probably include the activities of Jesus that Luke had recorded including the healing of the centurion's servant and the raising of the widow's son. John evidently had second thoughts about Jesus because Messiah was to release prisoners (Isa. 61:1) and Jesus claimed to fulfill that prophecy. However, He had not released John who was in prison (Matt. 11:2; cf. Luke 3:20). Moreover the fact that Jesus was apparently fulfilling the prophecies about Elijah's coming may have made John wonder if Jesus was the Messiah or Elijah. Luke apparently reported John's question twice in these verses to stress that this was the issue at stake.

"Disappointment often calls us to a deeper, less self-focused walk with God."²²²

7:21-23 Luke recorded and Jesus listed several messianic works that He had done (cf. Isa. 29:18-19; 35:5-6; 42:7; 61:1). Isaiah did not predict that Messiah would cleanse lepers. Perhaps Jesus mentioned that because His ministry fulfilled Elisha's ministry, and he cleansed a leper (cf. 2 Kings 5).

Acts of judgment are conspicuously absent from this list since that was not the time for judgment. Apparently in Jesus' day the Jews believed that Messiah would not claim to be the Messiah before He performed many messianic works.²²³Jesus pronounced "blessed"those who accepted the evidence that He presented and concluded that He was the Messiah rather than stumbling over it. John was in danger of stumbling, namely drawing the wrong conclusion and thereby falling into a trap (Gr. skandalisthe, cf. Isa. 8:13-14). Stumbling is the opposite of believing here.

 Jesus' testimony to John's identity 7:24-28 (cf. Matt. 11:7-11)

Evidently Jesus spoke these words praising John because John's question about Jesus' identity made John look like a vacillator, a reed blowing in the wind. Jesus assured his hearers that that was not what John was. John's testimony to Jesus' messiahship was reliable.

7:24-26 John was not reed-like nor was he soft or effeminate. John did not serve an earthly king but the heavenly King, and his clothing identified him as a prophet of God. Jesus said that John was a prophet but more than a prophet.

7:27-28 These verses are almost identical to Matthew 11:10-11. Jesus identified John as the forerunner of Messiah predicted in Malachi 3:1. As Messiah's forerunner, John enjoyed a role greater than any other prophet, even those who gave messianic prophecies. However even the most insignificant participant in the messianic kingdom is superior to John because John only anticipated it.

 Jesus' condemnation of His unbelieving generation 7:29-35 (cf. Matt. 11:16-19)

John had questioned Jesus' identity, and Jesus had defended John's identity. Jesus now warned his hearers who rejected John's identity and Jesus' identity.

7:29 Verses 29 and 30 do not appear in the Matthew parallel. They reveal a deep division among the people, and they set the scene for Jesus' comments that follow (vv. 31-35).

Many of the "common people,"even tax collectors, had responded to John's message and had undergone his baptism (3:12, 21). When they heard Jesus' preaching, these people responded positively. They praised God when they heard Jesus speaking highly of John because they had undergone baptism by him. Jesus' words about John vindicated their earlier decision to submit to John's baptism.

7:30 However, the Pharisees and lawyers (scribes) did not submit to John's baptism showing that they had rejected God's purpose, namely His plan of salvation for them.

7:31-32 This second group, the present generation of unbelievers, was similar to faithless Israel in the past (cf. Deut. 32:5, 20; Judg. 2:10; Ps. 78:8; 95:10; Jer. 7:29). They, too, were subject to God's wrath. They were behaving no better than fickle children who become upset when their peers refuse to cooperate with them. Jesus pictured the religious leaders as children sitting down and calling out to others to march to their tune. However, their peers would not cooperate so the religious leaders criticized them.

7:33-34 These unbelieving religious leaders did not like John because he was too much of an ascetic. He would not "dance"for them. However they did not like Jesus either. They believed He was too much of a libertine as they defined that term, too joyful. Jesus would not "weep"for them. Because John ate locusts and wild honey instead of bread and wine, the unbelieving Pharisees and lawyers accused him of having a demon. His fanatical behavior also suggested this to them. Jesus, on the other hand, took part in feasts eating and drinking freely. They accused Him of gluttony and drunkenness. The Old Testament described an Israelite who was a glutton and a drunkard as worthy of stoning (cf. Deut. 21:20). Furthermore Jesus associated with people whom the Jewish leaders regarded as apostates.

John and Jesus were both living parables. John taught the importance of repentance, and Jesus offered joy and blessing. However the Jewish religious leaders missed the points of both their messages because John and Jesus did not dance to their tunes. Jesus probably referred to Himself as the Son of Man here because this title always stresses His deity (Dan. 7:13-14). This would heighten the seriousness of the religious leaders' rejection.

7:35 Despite the rejection of the Jewish leaders, those who accept God's plan (v. 30) as John and Jesus announced it demonstrated its rightness. Their lives were testimonies to the truthfulness of what they had believed, which John and Jesus had proclaimed. Jesus stated this truth as a principle. The behavior of good children (i.e., disciples) normally points to their having wise parents (i.e., John and Jesus). John and Jesus had also behaved as good children of God and had vindicated His wisdom by their behavior.

Luke's account of these condemnatory words is fuller than Matthew's. Luke focused on the religious leaders' rejection whereas Matthew applied Jesus' words to all the unbelieving Israelites that He faced more generally.