Luke 7:19-3519And John calling unto him two of his disciples sent them to Jesus, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another? 20When the men were come unto him, they said, John Baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another? 21And in that same hour he cured many of their infirmities and plagues, and of evil spirits; and unto many that were blind he gave sight. 22Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached. 23And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me. 24And when the messengers of John were departed, he began to speak unto the people concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness for to see? A reed shaken with the wind? 25But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they which are gorgeously apparelled, and live delicately, are in kings' courts. 26But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet. 27This is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. 28For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. 29And all the people that heard him, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John. 30But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him. 31And the Lord said, Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation? and to what are they like? 32They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept. 33For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil. 34The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners! 35But wisdom is justified of all her children. (Luke 7:19‑35)
The wicked ruler Herod had put tthe prophet John in prison. Even there John heard of the wonderful miracles done by Jesus, and he sent men to ask Him this question:
“Art Thou He that should come, or look we for another?”
John had been certain that Jesus was the promised One to come from God, but being in prison was hard, and no doubt he supposed the Messiah would free him.
It seems Jesus did not answer the question right away; He kept on curing all the sick people about Him, casting out evil spirits, and giving sight to the blind. Afterward, He said to the men,
“Go your way, tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached.”
If those men did not see the dead raised, they could have the witness of many who had seen, even perhaps of the ones raised. All the wonderous things they saw, fulfilled the words of the prophets about the good to be done by the promised Messiah to come.
So Jesus’ answer taught John and Me men sent, that they could judge from the scriptures, which they knew, that Jesus was indeed “the One to come.” Even in prison John was to trust God’s words and believe Christ.
The promises of the Messiah freeing God’s people from all evil, was as true as the other good things; but the rulers did not accept Jesus as the Messiah. So the time did not then come for all evil to be stopped, and John was not freed from prison, and suffered a most unjust death.
Jesus told the people that John was the prophet written of long before:
“Behold, I send My messenger before Thy face, which shall prepare Thy way before Thee” (See also Mal. 3:11Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. (Malachi 3:1)).
John came to announce the Lord Himself, so was the greatest of ad prophets; yet many did not believe his words, and such ones did not believe Jesus. They did not like John to live apart from them, and speak against their sins; neither did they like Jesus to live among the people, ready to forgive their sins. Jesus said,
“They are like unto children sitting in the market place, and calling one to another, “We have piped unto you and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you and ye have not wept.”
Jesus showed that the men, who were leaders of the people and should have been wise to believe, were like foolish, contrary people.
John the Baptist called them to mourn; they had no heart for it. Then came the Lord Jesus, bidding them, as it were, to rejoice at the glad tidings of great joy, but they heeded Him not, John was too strict, and the Lord Jesus was too gracious. They could not bear either, and in fact, man dislikes God. Whatever they might plead in the way of abuse of John or Jesus, “Wisdom is justified of her children.”
The children of wisdom (those in whom the wisdom of God worked) gave glory to it and its ways.
ML 03/11/1945