Our reading from Scripture this morning comes from Luke chapter 7, Luke chapter 7, and let's take up the reading at verse 16, and we'll read down through verse 35. Luke 16 begins just after Jesus has raised the son of the widow of Nain from death to life and continues on then to a reflection on the work of John the Baptist. So let us hear God's Word, Luke 7, beginning at verse 16. This is God's own Word. Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, A great prophet has arisen among us, and God has visited his people. And this report about Jesus spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country. The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another? And when the men had come to Jesus, they said, John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another? In that hour, Jesus healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight. And he answered them, that is, John's disciples, Go and tell John what you have seen and heard. The blind receive their sight, the lame walk. Lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear. The dead are raised up. The poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me. When John's messengers had gone, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John. What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are dressed in splendid clothing and live in luxury are in king's courts. What then did you go out to see? A prophet, yes, and I tell you, more than a prophet, he is the one of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you. I tell you, among those born of women, none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. When all the people heard this, and the tax collectors too, they declared God just, having been baptized with the baptism of John. But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him. To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, We played the flute for you, and you did not dance. We sang a dirge, and you did not weep. For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, He has a demon. The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, And you say, look at him, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners. Yet wisdom is justified by all her children. So far the reading of God's Word. In this text, John the Baptist has a question on his mind. And it's a very interesting question. He's sending two disciples to meet with Jesus and to ask John's question. Are you the one who is to come, or are we to seek another? As John really put it, it's a little more succinct. Are you the coming one? Are you the one that we've been waiting for, that we've been expecting, that we've been looking for? And this question of John's, in the first place, reflects an interesting certainty on the part of John. John is certain, as he asks this question, that there's one to come. John has no doubt that there's one to come. That there is someone coming who will fulfill all the expectations of God's people and change history fundamentally forever. John's certain about that. And I couldn't help but pause and ponder a little bit that we live in a world that for most people is quite different from that. They have very little certainty that history is going anywhere. That history really has any meaning. Or we can have very short-term interest in history. Is the stock market going up or down? We can be very, very interested in that. Or we can be very interested in who's going to win the presidential election because in this country we seem to have a presidential election going on all the time now. We have short-term interests in the future. We have perhaps short-term interests in the past. We've had reflections on what happened 50 years ago in 1969. Those of us who are aged remember those days. We remember Woodstock. You'd be surprised to learn I was not there. But this was going to be the beginning of the age of Aquarius. This was going to be the period of love and peace. The world was going to be transformed. It doesn't seem to have happened. It was the year in which the Manson family murdered people in their homes. As far as we can see, simply for the sport of it. And the country was rocked with shock. One observer said that was when the 60s ended. And all the hope of love and peace was turned into blood and murder. Fifty years ago, we landed on the moon for the first time. A great technological accomplishment. Well worth remembering. But has it really changed much? Is history going anywhere? Does it mean anything? And in a profound sense, it's very sad to think of people who think history doesn't have any meaning, doesn't have any direction, doesn't have any movement. It's just one meaningless thing after another in the end. John didn't think that. John was the inheritor of the whole history of Israel that said, God will one day send his Messiah to redeem his people, to change the world, to change history. And John is still filled with that confidence as he sends this question to Jesus, are you the one we're waiting for? But this question for all its certainty also is a bit of a surprise to us, isn't it? because John seems uncertain as to whether Jesus is the one. And we might well think to ourselves, shouldn't John know? After all, John's a family member of Jesus, right? Something of a cousin. Doesn't the family have reunions? Isn't this a Dutch family? Don't they get together and stay in touch and have contact? How does John not know? John had seen Jesus at his baptism. Had seen the testimony that the Father and the Spirit bore to Jesus at his baptism. How can John not be sure? Well, probably. We don't know absolutely certainly. But I think probably the reason John is so uncertain is he's in prison. And he knows what it means to be imprisoned by Herod. He knows he may well not survive. And I think one of the questions that may well have been in John's mind is, if Jesus is the one, why aren't things going better? Remember, John had declared, we find that recorded in Luke 3.9, John had preached and said, Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree, therefore, that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. And John in prison may well be thinking there's no worse tree than Herod. Where's the axe? Where's the fire? Where's the justice? Why isn't Jesus doing more? I thought we'd have had more progress by now. Even as I ask that question, I sort of feel a number of sermons recently have asked that question. Why isn't Jesus doing things differently? Why isn't Jesus doing more? Why don't we see things improving more? I think maybe that's on John's mind, on John's heart. John had read the Old Testament and seen those prophecies that when Messiah comes, there's going to be a new heaven and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Why isn't it coming faster? And so he seems to have questions in his mind. Maybe Jesus isn't the one. Maybe we ought to look for somebody else. So tell me, cousin, are you the one? Or are we to look for another? Well, I don't want to leave you in suspense. The answer is yes, Jesus is the one. I knew you were worried. You were wondering. How does Jesus show John and show us that he's the one? That he was the one who was to come? That we are to find our hope, our answers, our life, our history, our progress in him? How does he show that to us in this text? How does he answer John and perhaps answer us? Well, the first thing that he does is he shows his works. It's interesting how frequently in the Gospels, Jesus is tentative, hesitant to testify to himself. He's very explicit about that in John's Gospel. I'm not testifying to myself. Others testify to me. And here, he's letting his works testify to him. From the beginning of his ministry, he had pointed again and again to Isaiah 61 about how the day of the Lord would be the day in which miraculous things would happen. And he quoted, you remember, in Nazareth from Isaiah 61, and quoted for us in Luke chapter 4, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. And Luke is recording incident after incident after incident where we see him as the liberator, as the deliverer, as the healer. And Jesus is saying, look at the prophecy, and look at my works, and do you not see that I'm the one? And there, in the very presence of the two disciples from John, Luke records, in that very hour, at that very time, while they're standing there, observing, waiting for the answer, Jesus heals many. Did you notice that, verse 21? In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight. There's a kind of flourishing of activity, reiterating what he had already done, but now apparently doing it on a somewhat even bigger scale to make clear to John And to his disciples, yes indeed, Jesus is the one. Jesus is the one who is doing exactly what the prophets look forward to. And it's interesting how Luke kind of piles this up for us, this evidence, this testimony. When we look at the beginning of the book of the Acts, One of the things we're told in Acts chapter 1 is that Jesus offered many proofs of his resurrection to his disciples. And it's as if Luke is saying to all of us, there's proof there, there's evidence there in the work that Jesus did. Now, we live in a pretty skeptical age. And there are a lot of people who say, this isn't evidence, these are just words on a page. And, of course, people can convince themselves of almost anything. They can even convince themselves that abundant eyewitness accounts are not true. And that's what the world is like that we live in. Do you notice how in the scriptures, whenever Jesus sets out to heal, he succeeds? He never fails. and how that stands at odds with all of human history and all the other people who have claimed to be powerful and agents of God. Jesus is alone the one who, in an hour, can heal many, who is never thwarted in his determination to act. And yes, people can dismiss this evidence, but there it is. And there were many eyewitnesses still alive when these things were written who had seen them and bore testimony to them. Are you the one? Jesus says, look at what I'm doing. Is this not precisely what the prophets had anticipated? Now, what's intriguing here is that Jesus not only shows his power here, but he adds what Isaiah had prophesied. And what we saw last time is so easily overlooked, namely that part of the great work of what Jesus is doing is he's preaching good news to the poor. he's not all about power. John seems for a moment to have forgotten the compassion that is meant to come with Messiah. And it's ironic because John in his preaching showed compassion. John in his preaching could rejoice that the tax collectors repented. But now John, in his own distress, seems to want Jesus to manifest power and is less concerned about compassion. But Jesus is showing precisely that compassion as he reaches out to those in need, not only physically, but also spiritually, and is ministering to them and caring for them and blessing them. And Jesus is saying, so what do my works say to you? My works must say to you, I am the one. And having then allowed his works to speak for him, Jesus then moves on, secondly, to a witness. He does make a witness, but not a witness about himself, but he witnesses about John and about us. And what is his witness about John? you know, maybe he thought to himself, if John is wavering, maybe people will waver about John. I want to bear witness to who John really is. I want to bear witness to how God has used John. And he turns to those who are surrounding him and he says, most of you went out in the wilderness to see John, didn't you? And what did you go out to see? A reed blowing in the wind? Now, what does he mean by that? He means by that, did you go out to see someone tentative and uncertain? Did you go out to see someone who wasn't really sure of what he had to say? And Jesus said, no, that's not why people traveled into the wilderness to see John. Did you go out to see John as a fashion emblem? Fashion icon? Dressed in luxurious garments? No, Jesus says. Those kind of people are in king's courts. Why did you go out in the wilderness? Not to see someone tentative and not to see someone influential. You went out to see someone who was a prophet of God, who was speaking God's word. And that's who he was. But even more than that, he was not only a prophet, but he was one prophesied. He was one who was prophesied to come and prepare the way for the coming of Messiah. And then Jesus quotes from Malachi chapter 3. Words very parallel to more frequently quoted words from Isaiah chapter 40. I will send before my path a messenger who will prepare the way for the coming of the Lord. That's who John is, Jesus said. That's why he went to see him. You had a sense that with this John, God was doing something. And God was doing something. Doing something wonderful. He was preparing, preparing for the coming of Messiah. He was preparing for the coming of Messiah in the way he preached. What did John preach? He preached, you're all sinners who need to repent and be forgiven. You're all sinners who need to repent and be forgiven. See, it wasn't a unique message. It wasn't a new message. It wasn't a different message. But it was a very pointed and powerful message. And he came not only with the message, but he came with a symbol and a sign to support that message, The sign of baptism. And he said, if you're really sincere in recognizing that you're sinners, if you really are repenting, if you really want to be forgiven, then be baptized in these waters that are waters that testify you are dirty people who need to be cleaned up. That's what John came to say. And the people listening to Jesus are so glad to hear this word about John because they had all been baptized by John. They'd all heard the message. They'd all believed what he'd said. And they'd been baptized. It was the Pharisees who refused to be baptized. Luke can't help but point that out. We'll come back to that. I think I learned that from Pastor Gordon. We'll come back to that. So here's John, praised by Jesus, praised as a prophet and more than a prophet, praised as one fulfilling prophecy, and then praised in the most remarkable way, among all those in all of history who are born of women, none is greater than John. Wow. Abraham's not greater than John? Moses is not greater than John? David is not greater than John? We don't sing a single song by John the Baptist. How can John be as great as all of these people? Well, the answer is a simple one. John is closer to Jesus than any of these people. John is right there with Jesus. He's the messenger preparing the way. And so there's nobody greater than this. It's proximity to Jesus that makes for greatness. And having then praised John, having declared the importance of John in the history of redemption, then Jesus looks at the crowd and he says, and every one of you, if you're in the kingdom of God, is greater than John. This text sort of has surprise after surprise. If no one born of woman is greater than John, how can we be greater than John? And what does it mean if we're in the kingdom of God, we're greater than John? Isn't John in the kingdom of God? You have to listen carefully to Jesus. He's not a quick read. you have to ponder what he's saying. And what he's saying is this. Well, yes, of course John was in the kingdom of God. But you know, the kingdom of God has phases. There's one kingdom of God, but it has phases. There's a preparatory phrase, phase. I knew the word was there somewhere. There's a preparatory phase to the kingdom of God. While you're waiting for the one to come. And in that preparatory phase, no one is greater than John. But when the king has come, when the time of fulfillment has come, not yet the time of glory, that's John's mistake, perhaps, that he thought the coming of the king and the coming of the glory would come at the same time. No, the king comes first. And in the coming of the king, there's a great fulfillment. But it's the time of fulfillment when the elect from around the world will be gathered. And only then the glory as the third phase of the kingdom. But the second phase has now come. The king has come. And everyone who experiences that fulfillment is closer to Jesus than John was. Or than David was. Or than Moses was. Or than Abraham was. you understand more about Messiah than any of those Old Testament folk did. That's your privilege. Because you live after the coming one has come. That's our privilege. That's what Jesus wants us to know. That's the greatness that Jesus as the one brings to us. and we should rejoice in that, delight in that, revel in that. Jesus has brought the kingdom, and he's brought us into it. It belongs to us, and it's a kingdom where Jesus is powerful, but it's also a kingdom where Jesus is compassionate and loving. And so Jesus says, I'm the one. I show you that by my works. I show you that by my witness. I show you that, Jesus says, also by this warning. There are several elements of warning in this passage. And in warning us, Jesus also is showing us he's the one. He's the one God has appointed. He's the one God is using. He's the one in whom God has come in the flesh. He's the one in whom God will redeem his people. And so Jesus says, because I'm the one, be warned that you don't prefer to do things your way rather than my way. That brings us back to the Pharisees. You thought I'd forget, didn't you? Brings us back to the Pharisees in verse 30. Jesus has a warning. The Pharisees refused to be baptized with the baptism of John. God had come with his prophet. God had come with his messenger and said, you're sinners in need of repentance. You need to be baptized. And these Pharisees said, not for a minute do I believe that. We are not sinners like the Gentiles. We are not sinners like the ordinary people in Israel. We are law keepers. We are clean. And we're not getting in your dirty water to say we're dirty. We have our own way of salvation. Thank you very much. Jesus is saying, that's a tragedy. That's a horror. To tell God that you have a better way of salvation than he does. And Jesus is warning, that was a temptation for John the Baptist. us, too. He had a different way of doing things than God did. That's why we have that little conclusion, verse 23, to Jesus showing his own works. And Jesus says to John, verse 23, and blessed is the one who is not offended by me. John's in danger of being offended by Jesus. John's in danger of being offended that there's not more fire and there's not more glory. Now, and Jesus is alluding to John chapter 8, a section of Isaiah's prophecy full of prophecies of the coming Messiah. And there in John chapter 8, there's a warning to Israel. And there in John chapter 8, we're told, Israel, when God does his saving purpose, You can find in him your sanctuary, your deliverance, your salvation, or you can find in him your snare, your stumbling block, your offense. And the reason these two things are to be found is because some will trust God and believe in God and accept God's way of doing things, and others will insist on doing things their way. And they'll fall into the snare, and they'll trip on the stone of stumbling. Blessed is the one, Jesus says, who's not offended by me. That is the one who accepts my way of doing things. Accepts that this is only phase two of the kingdom, not yet phase three. That my way of doing things may not be the way you'd like me to do things, but it's the way God has appointed me to do things. And so, as Jesus has uttered a warning about the Pharisees and a warning to John, So he says a warning to us. Verse 31, to what then shall I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? What we soon discover is that generation is a lot like our generation. It's not that we're so different. And what was that generation like? Well, Jesus says they're like children playing with one another in a marketplace. And what do children sometimes do when they play to one another? They pick on one another. And they criticize one another. And they taunt one another. And they say, you're not doing what we want you to do. Sometimes we want you to dance and be happy and you won't do it. Sometimes we want you to be sad and cry and you won't do it. And they pick on one another. And Jesus says, that's just what you're all like. Or at least what you're tempted to be like. You're tempted to complain about God's way of doing things. God sent John the Baptist, who probably was very dirty. Have you ever thought about that? It's very disturbing for us to think that. Probably very dirty, out in the wilderness all the time. Never changed his clothes. He was in the water a lot, so maybe that helped. So there's John the Baptist, this strong, militant preacher out in the wilderness. And what did you all say about him? He's a crazy man. He was a demon. And then Jesus says, I came along. I didn't go out in the wilderness. I was in the cities. I was eating and drinking. I was going to the home of tax collectors and sinners. And what do you say about me? You'll say he's a drunkard and a glutton and a friend of sinners. Terrible fellow. And what Jesus is saying in all of this to the people who are listening to him is, if you think that way, what you're really saying is God can't win. Because if he preaches to you with a really dour and serious and grumpy preacher, you don't like that. And then when he preaches to you with a likable preacher, you don't like that. And you just don't like the ways of God. But you know what? God will have his children. God will have his children. Verse 35, yet wisdom, God's wisdom, God's way of doing things, God's message, God's path, God's work is shown to be right in all of his children. Now, there are many who will not hear the warning. There are many who will not hear the witness. There are many who will not look at the works. But there are many who will. there are many who will say, Jesus, I thought I had a better way of doing things. But now that I think about it, you have a better way of doing things. And your way of doing things will mean that the poor will have good news preached to them. And sinners will be called to repentance. And God will establish his kingdom under the rule of his king. and he will accomplish all things according to the counsel of his will and to the glory of his name. And when all the elect are gathered, then he'll return in glory. And even John the Baptist will be happy to see what glories are brought by Jesus into this world. Is Jesus the one? Yes, Jesus is the one. Everything testifies to it and may we rejoice in it. Amen. Let us pray. O Lord, our God, we do thank you that Jesus is the one, and that we see that in so many ways. We've experienced it in our hearts and in our lives, and we pray where we are tempted to be offended, that we may, with John, turn to Jesus and say, your way is the good way, your way is the right way, your way is the way that will lead to salvation and to glory. God, grant that we might all have that confidence and faith. Hear us, for we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.