¹⁸ The disciples of John the Baptist told John about everything Jesus was doing. So John called for two of his disciples, ¹⁹ and he sent them to the Lord to ask him, “Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?”

²⁰ John’s two disciples found Jesus and said to him, “John the Baptist sent us to ask, ‘Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?’”

²¹ At that very time, Jesus cured many people of their diseases, illnesses, and evil spirits, and he restored sight to many who were blind. ²² Then he told John’s disciples, “Go back to John and tell him what you have seen and heard—the blind see, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.” ²³ And he added, “God blesses those who do not fall away because of me.”

²⁴ After John’s disciples left, Jesus began talking about him to the crowds. “What kind of man did you go into the wilderness to see? Was he a weak reed, swayed by every breath of wind? ²⁵ Or were you expecting to see a man dressed in expensive clothes? No, people who wear beautiful clothes and live in luxury are found in palaces. ²⁶ Were you looking for a prophet? Yes, and he is more than a prophet. ²⁷ John is the man to whom the Scriptures refer when they say,

‘Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
    and he will prepare your way before you.’

²⁸ I tell you, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John. Yet even the least person in the Kingdom of God is greater than he is!”

²⁹ When they heard this, all the people—even the tax collectors—agreed that God’s way was right, for they had been baptized by John. ³⁰ But the Pharisees and experts in religious law rejected God’s plan for them, for they had refused John’s baptism.

³¹ “To what can I compare the people of this generation?” Jesus asked. “How can I describe them? ³² They are like children playing a game in the public square. They complain to their friends,

‘We played wedding songs,
    and you didn’t dance,
so we played funeral songs,
    and you didn’t weep.’

³³ For John the Baptist didn’t spend his time eating bread or drinking wine, and you say, ‘He’s possessed by a demon.’ ³⁴ The Son of Man, on the other hand, feasts and drinks, and you say, ‘He’s a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and other sinners!’ ³⁵ But wisdom is shown to be right by the lives of those who follow it.”

Luke 7:18-35

Dear God, two things stand out to me in this passage:

• Verse 23: ²³ And he added, “God blesses those who do not fall away because of me.”
• Verses 29-30: ²⁹ When they heard this, all the people—even the tax collectors—agreed that God’s way was right, for they had been baptized by John. ³⁰ But the Pharisees and experts in religious law rejected God’s plan for them, for they had refused John’s baptism.

Verse 23 stuck out because this is an interesting tag to add on to his message to John. My wife and I talked about this story at breakfast, and she said something I liked: “Jesus is the scandalon. He is supposed to make us stumble.” It seems that even John was stumbling in his questioning of Jesus’s identity as John himself was languishing in prison and would ultimately be killed there. But it seems to me that Jesus sent one last message to John: Press on. Don’t fall away. Have faith. You have rightly put your faith in me.

Verses 29-30 struck me because this is Luke inserting his own commentary to Theophilus as he writes this letter to him. It’s as if he’s saying, “Just to make sure I’m clear, the people who believed Jesus and drew closer to God because of him were the sinners, but the holy, righteous, and pious stumbled. The scandalon got them.

Father, there are times I stumble over you. There are times when I’m just flat out wrong or stubborn. There are other times when I am selfish. Oh, please help me to be exactly what you need me to be today. Love through me. Lead through me. Forgive me for my thoughts and words. For what I have done and what I have failed to do. Make me a comforter to those who mourn. A guide for those who seek. A learner from those through whom you will teach me. And a teacher to those who need to hear you through me.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen