Prepare the Way for Wisdom

Luke 7:18-35 

John the Baptist Sends Messengers to Jesus

18 Then the disciples of John reported to him concerning all these things. 19 And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to Jesus, saying, "Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?"

20 When the men had come to Him, they said, "John the Baptist has sent us to You, saying, 'Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?'" 21 And that very hour He cured many of infirmities, afflictions, and evil spirits; and to many blind He gave sight.

22 Jesus answered and said to them, "Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them. 23 And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me."

24 When the messengers of John had departed, He began to speak to the multitudes concerning John: "What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 25 But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed those who are gorgeously appareled and live in luxury are in kings' courts. 26 But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet. 27 This is he of whom it is written:

'Behold, I send My messenger before Your face,
Who will prepare Your way before You.'

28 For I say to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he."

29 And when all the people heard Him, even the tax collectors justified God, having been baptized with the baptism of John. 

30 But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the will of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.

31 And the Lord said, "To what then shall I liken the men of this generation, and what are they like? 32 They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, saying:

'We played the flute for you,
And you did not dance;
We mourned to you,
And you did not weep.'

33 For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, 'He has a demon.' 34 The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, 'Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' 35 But wisdom is justified by all her children."

John prepared the way for Jesus the Christ that those exercising wisdom would heed the herald and hear the Coming One as it was written long ago for us to anticipate and receive.  John knew the prophecies and sent two of his own followers to question this Jesus of Nazareth to ascertain if He was the coming Messiah who was to set God’s people free at last.  They asked if they should be waiting for someone else or if He really was the One; Jesus answered after healing many by pointing out that He had made the blind see, the lame walk, cleansed the leper, made the deaf hear, raised the dead, and preached the gospel to the poor just as the scriptures foretold in Isaiah 35:5-6, 61:1-3.  This was enough of an answer for John as they bore witness to all these things that Jesus did.  The Lord then told the crowd and His disciples about John the Baptist after the messengers left them.  He said that John was the one in the scriptures who was a prophet and so much more as the herald preparing the way (Isaiah 40:3-5) for the gospel to be brought by the Messiah as God’s messenger to the people.  John prepared the way by calling for repentance, for turning away from sin and preparing to turn to Him when Jesus began the call to repent and believe the gospel of deliverance from sin’s punishment of eternal judgment.  Jesus now stepped in and was doing just that.  Even after all these events fulfilling the scriptures that the Pharisees and men of the Law heard and saw, they still demanded more proof and rejected this will of God!  They refused to confess their sin and repent before John and so continued to reject the One he paved the way for.  Jesus compared them to little children who taunted each other as they demanded other children to do silly things that they demanded from the others like dancing when they played a flute or weeping when told a sad tale.  These religious leaders criticized John for not acting and say what they expected and demanded as proof in their own eyes (and not according to the scriptures that wrote of these things) and criticized Jesus for daring to associate with those sinners needing spiritual healing.  The Lord pointed out that wisdom is justified by all her children, as children of wisdom listen and take God’s word to heart as they accept it as true.  The claims of wisdom are proved to be true by her children, those who take God at His word and trust Him with simple and unwavering faith.  John had prepared the way for such wisdom to take hold in the hearts of men and women who would receive the Lord according to His word.  May we also do the same even now.