BIBLICAL EXEGESIS
of
Luke 7:18-35

D.G. Beshore
Thousand Oaks, California

Luke 7:18-35 (New Revised Standard Version)
18 The disciples of John reported all these things to him. So John summoned two of his disciples
19 and sent them to the Lord to ask, "Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?"
20 When the men had come to him, they said, "John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask, "Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?"
21 Jesus had just then cured many people of diseases, plagues, and evil spirits, and had given sight to many who were blind.
22 And he answered them "Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news brought to them.
23 And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me".
24 When John's messengers had gone, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: "What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind?
25 What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who put on fine clothing and live in luxury are in royal palaces.
26 What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.
27 This is the one about whom it is written,
"See, I am sending you my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way before you."
28 I tell you, among those born of women no one is greater than John; yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he."
29 (And all the people who heard this, including the tax collectors, acknowledged the justice of God, because they had been baptized with John's baptism.
30 But by refusing to be baptized by him, the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected God's purpose for themselves.)
31 "To what then will I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like?
32 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 wailed, and you did not weep.'
33 For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no 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 drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!'
35 Nevertheless, wisdom is vindicated by all her children."

These passages are nearly identical to Matthew 11:2-19 with two exceptions: 1) in verse 35 that substitutes deeds for children in Matthew and 2) the verses discussing violence in Mt 11:12 that has been omitted in Luke. Since this passage does not exist in Mark, the source is evidently from the logia "Q" source (or "Quelle"). The Q sources are those passages that are common to both Matthew and Luke (written in 90 A.D.) but absent from Mark (written 70 A.D.). The Gospel of John was written around 100 A.D. Thus, it is believed by most scholars that Mark was the first Gospel historically and that Matthew and Luke also used Mark as a source, in addition to Q. Other Bibles (Revised Standard Version, Jerusalem Bible, King James Version) differ only in Verse 32 regarding the flute and wailing. These bibles say "piped the pipe" rather than "played the flute.

John the Baptist is important to all the Gospels and especially to the Q (de Jonge, p 75). However, Luke 7:18-23 with Luke 6:20 points to the same view of Jesus as found in Mark 1:14-15 (de Jonge, p74) For Q, Jesus is not just any messenger -- he brings fulfillment of prophecy in his actions. The Lukan passage has four elements:
1) Question of John the Baptist - are you the one or do we seek another?
2) Jesus reply to the question "Are you the one...?"
3) Jesus' opinion of John the Baptist
4) People, including John, must make a decision about Jesus

This passage is between verses in which women are discussed --in preceding verses in 7:11-17 which tells the story of the Widow of Nain and in following verses 7:36ff which has the parable on the sinful woman.

Luke 7:18-23 (John the Baptist Question of Jesus' Identity and Jesus' Reply)
"This passage was for long regarded (in modern exegesis) as 'authentic Jesus material'; but P. Stuhlmacher has fairly cogently demonstrated that it is an early Christian creation on the par of the 'Christian prophets'"(Schillebeeckx, p186). This passage answers the questions of what John thought of Jesus and what Jesus thought of John. The event occurs while John the Baptist was imprisoned by Herod Antipas and before his beheading (Mt 11:2, Lk 3:19-20). Who were John's disciples? Apparently there was an entourage of disciples who may have assisted in performing the baptisms (Mk 2:18, Mt 11:1-2, Jn 1:35; 3:22). Some of Jesus earliest disciples came from John the Baptists' (Jn 1:35-51). There is some question among the scholars in verses 19 to 21 as to why John would raise the question in the first place, since John should have known who Jesus was during Jesus' baptism and surely recognized him then (Matthew 3:14, John 1). Several reasons are possible:

1) John was depressed by his imprisonment and needed reassurances of his faith (Rice, p 19)
2) John wanted Jesus to come forth and reveal himself and his powers to the world
3) John did not truly know Jesus abilities, even during the Baptism, and is curious about the rumors of healings, exorcisms and miracles he has heard
4) John needed to send witnesses to see Jesus' miracles that he himself had not seen
5) John is puzzled, if not disappointed, by what he hears about Jesus' trouble's
6) John is wondering why Jesus is not coming to his aid (Arndt, p 210)

One scholar (Borg, p 52) supports item 3 above and suggests that it is historically unlikely that John recognized Jesus at the time as an extraordinary or Messianic figure during his Baptism.
Certainly, no miracles of Jesus deeds were yet evident during Jesus baptism and there were no claims at being the Messiah. However, God descended like a "dove" as stated in several of the Gospels after Jesus baptism - was this evident to anyone other than Jesus? If such an event occurred before the crowds and John the Baptist, then John would have known of Jesus' messianic mission at the time of baptism. So Luke 7:19 contradicts the notion that John the Baptist had prior recognition of Jesus true divinity or miracle producing capabilities. Borg (Borg, p 52) suggests therefore that John's question from prison is to be read as the dawning of curiosity or hope, not the beginning of doubt. However, there can be no question about the actual event of the Baptism of Jesus as all the Gospels describe Jesus baptism by John the Baptist. The Gospel of John also describes a blood relationship of Jesus' mother with John the Baptist's mother Elizabeth.

The fact that John sent two disciples to witness the events represents Luke's fondness of double witnesses to Jesus' deeds and in the beginning of this passage the question is written "Are you the one..." two times for emphasis. In verse 21 Jesus performs many healings, exorcisms, and resuscitations while witnessed by John's disciples. The list of miracles is identical to the Old Testament (Isaiah 26:19 (the dead are raised), 29:9-10, 18-19 (the blind see),35:5-6,8 (likewise the blind see), 42:18 (the deaf hear); 43:8 (the blind see, the deaf hear) and 61:1-3 (those that mourn are comforted, to the poor the good news is proclaimed). Verse 22, Jesus' answer, is nearly identical to the previous passage, again restated for emphasis, but ending uniquely about what this means for the poor. These miracles mean good news for the poor. The poor in Jesus' time were the people who could not command justice for themselves and so could only trust the justice of God (Schillebeeckx, p176). It had been said in the Old Testament that the eschatological prophet would bring glad tidings to the poor (Is 51:17; 54:13, 49:13) who would be looked upon as renewed people.

In verse 23, Jesus claims that those who believe in him and what he has done are blessed. Thus the interpretation may be that Jesus wants no debate on whether these are the facts from John or his disciples.

Luke 7:24-30 (What Jesus thought of John the Baptist)
These particular passages must have been dangerous to Jesus as providing testimony to a prisoner of Herod. It could have been seen as showing contempt of the authorities who imprisoned John. Wilson (Wilson, p 88) notes that the most we hear of Jesus attitude to Antipas is two words 'that fox' (Luke 13:32). Verse 24 begins by defining what Jesus thinks of John the Baptist, after John's disciples have left. This may indicate an urgency that the good news had to be taken back to John in prison--they may not have had time to hear what Jesus thought of John. It may also indicate a significant passage of time had occurred between the John's disciples witnessing the miracles and good deeds, their leaving, and the final oration to the crowds. However, it does not say explicitly why the crowds needed to know what Jesus thought of John. The crowds may have had questions about the importance of John, after his disciples arrived while Jesus was performing miracles. Nevertheless, Jesus thought John was very important (evidently the Q source did as stated above). John is more than a prophet--he is the fulfillment of a prophecy of messenger to prepare the way of Jesus.

In Verse 28 is the explanation of John's importance to the old law of the Jews (as an Elijah prophet) and the way of the new Kingdom of God proclaimed by Jesus (Laymon, p.684). No one who has been born of women is greater than John the Baptist, which includes many of the previous prophets and worldly great men. This passage succinctly states that John is greater than most --but not greater than Jesus, nor those who had been born under ordinary circumstances (normal biological conception). However those who are reborn of the Spirit, as Jesus and his followers, are not born of women with this rebirth and thus can enter the Kingdom of God . In the next part of the verse however, Jesus makes a clear demarcation of those that follow to the Jesus Kingdom of God are above John.

Verse 29 further defines what John did through his baptisms -- he carried out God's purpose through acknowledging the believers. The Pharisees and lawyers kept the conventional Wisdom (Borg, p.81) of the law and, therefore, rejected God's purpose. In other words, they had rationalized these miraculous events as not being "that" extraordinary and through the use of their brains rather than their hearts have rejected God as expressed by both John and Jesus. It may also mean that "Those who belong to God, who possess true wisdom, will recognize the truth under various forms and will respond to it gladly - just as others will reject it no matter what the form may be" (Interpreter's Bible, p141). Jesus seems to be saying "Hey there are always skeptics and differences of opinion among people --its hard to please everyone even if you think you are showing them something very obvious". Jesus' frustration is being expressed here.

Luke 7:31-35 (What Jesus thought of John the Baptist)
The most complicated verses of this passage are contained in verses 7:31-35. They require an understanding of the times in which Jesus lived, i.e. the "context" (Sanders, p.__)in which the verses were written. Although John and Jesus were closely connected, they had lived completely different lives. John had lead the ascetic, deprived life and Jesus a more ordinary life. Both were criticized for the way they lived -- you can't please everyone. The "people of this generation:" means the majority of the people, the Jewish social classes of the Pharisees Saducees, and the other people of Israel. Indeed, people were immediately struck with the differences of John and Jesus and some played the one prophet off against the other, to avoid having to listen to either (Schillebeeckx, p 139).

In Verse 32 in reference to the way the children played in the marketplace, the flute was normally played at Jewish weddings and the wailing occurred during funerals(Rice, p 120). These sayings must refer to some of Jesus' discouragement, yet simple acceptance, of those who would not listen or respond to his and John the Baptist's message.

In verse 34 is the term "Son of Man". The Greek phrase "ho huios tou anthropou", Son of Man, occurs throughout the Gospels and Acts 7:56. The expression "Son of Man" itself is Hebrew and Aramaic and means nothing but "man" as in Ps 8:5. Thus it seems likely that Jesus would have used the expression to refer to himself. The Son of Man is the description of Jesus used by Mark, "Q", and Luke. It is also in the Old Testament in the book of Ezekiel. The Son of Man may refer simply to the way God addresses the prophet (Laymon, p. 445)who is just a "man". The phrase also occurs in Dan 7:13 to refer to "the" future prophet. Nevertheless, Mark and Q must have had special meaning for the Son of Man when they referred to Jesus as one who acted with authority (de Jonge p 172)

Wisdom in verse 35, can refer to the common Hebrew idiom of the Old Testament meaning the wisdom of God's purpose and ways of presenting salvation to the human race (Rice, p120). The traditions of late Judaism spoke of times of Wisdom as in the Old Testament, specifically Pvb 1:20-33, 8:22-36. Thus, true wisdom is approved by all her children.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. de Jonge, Marinus, Christology in Context, The Earliest Christian Response to Jesus, Westminister Press, Philadelphia, PA 1988.

2. The Interpreter's One-Volume Commentary on the Bible, Charles M. Laymon, Editor, Abingdon Press, Nashville, TN, 1971

3. Aland, Kurt, ed., Synopsis of the Four Gospels., n.p. American Bible Society, 1983.

4. Holy Bible, New Revised Standard Version, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, TN, 1989.

5. Holy Bible, King James Version, _________.

6. Holy Bible, Scoffield Version, _________.

7. Borg, Marcus J., Jesus A New Vision, Spirit, Culture, and the Life of Discipleship,

8. Bornkamm, Gunther, Jesus of Nazareth, Harper and Row Publishers, 1960.

9. Johnson, Paul, A History of Christianity, Holliday Lithograph Corporation West Hanover, Mass, 1976.

10. The Anchor Bible Dictionary, David Noel Freedman, Ed., Doubleday New York, NY 1992

11. The Interpreters Bible, Volume VIII, Abingdon Press, New York, NY, 1952

12. Tittle, Ernest F., The Gospel According to Luke, Harper & Bros. New York, NY, 1951.

13. Rice, Edwin W. DD, Commentary on the Gospel According to Luke Union Press, Philadelphia, PA 1900.

14. Arndt, William F., D.D., Bible Commentary - The Gospel According to St. Luke, Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO 1956.

15. Sanders, E. P. "Jesus: His Religious "Type", Reflections, Yale Divinity School, Publisher, Winter-Spring 1992.

16. Schillebeeckx, Edward, Jesus-An Experiment in Christology, The Crossroad Publishing Company, New York, NY, 1987.

17. Wilson, Ian, Jesus: The Evidence, Harper & Row Publishers, 1984.