The Gospel According To LukeSample

Evaluating John the Baptist: Luke 7:18-8:56

After John the Baptist was imprisoned, he sent some of his disciples to ask Jesus if he was really the Messiah. And Jesus replied by reminding them of what he had done. Jesus’ miracles and preaching clearly fulfilled the prophecies of Isaiah 61:1-2, and therefore they proved that Jesus really was the Messiah. Consider what Jesus told John’s messengers in Luke 7:22:

Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.

Jesus continued by affirming that John was the greatest of the prophets. But even John didn’t measure up to the least person in the kingdom of God. And Luke punctuated this point in 7:47-50 by explaining that Jesus actually forgave the sin of the immoral woman who washed his feet. John had baptized people in repentance as an appeal to God for forgiveness, but Jesus brought the kingdom into people’s present experience by forgiving sinners, healing the sick, and preaching the gospel to the poor.

After the stories revolving around John the Baptist, Luke reported more of Jesus’ teaching and miracles in Luke 8:1-56.

In these additional teachings and miracles, Jesus focused on the good news of the kingdom. The parable of the sower in Luke 8:1-15, and the parable of the lamp stand in Luke 8:16-18, described the importance of responding to the message of the kingdom in faith and obedience. And he repeated these same themes in Luke 8:19-21, when he said that his true family members are those that hear and obey God’s word.

Then, in Luke 8:22-56, Luke reported several miracles that confirmed and demonstrated the salvation Jesus was bringing: Jesus calmed a storm, cast out a demon, healed a sick woman, and raised a girl from the dead.