Thursday, March 30, 2006
Isaiah's Prophecy
Luke 7:21 At that very time He cured many people of diseases and afflictions and evil spirits; and He granted sight to many who were blind.
At the very moment that John’s two disciples approach Jesus with his questions, Jesus is fulfilling Messianic prophecy that would be quit familiar to John.
Matt. 11:4-5 And Jesus answered and said to them, "Go and report to John what you hear and see:
5. the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them
Luke 7:22 And He answered and said to them, "Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have the gospel preached to them.
Instead of answering John’s disciples with mere words, Jesus gave them evidence that He was the Expected One; the very One that John proclaimed. John’s problem was that there was no evidence of Jesus cleaning house by rendering justice to the wicked and ungodly. However, John’s disciples were privileged to hear and witness the evidence that would more than satisfy this confined and confused prophet.
Jesus answered and said to them something that would have a very familiar ring to the report that they were about to hear and see. Jesus recites an abbreviated and yet augmented recitation from the prophet Isaiah. Is. 35:2-6a. Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. 6. Then the lame will leap like a deer, And the tongue of the dumb will shout for joy. Not only are these reporters having prophecy quoted and fulfilled before them, they are eyewitnesses to Jesus healing; the blind who receive their sight and the lame who are now able to walk and even the deaf who now hear. However, this is not all that Jesus is doing, He is doing more than what Isaiah prophesied; He cleansed lepers and raised the dead.
The disciples were to report to John what they hear and what they see. Their seeing was the miraculous works that Jesus was doing, that which they hear is the words of Jesus from Isaiah 61:1"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor (NKJV). Most importantly it is what they heard from Him. Paul tells us in Rom. 10:17 that faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. As wonderful as the miracles are, the greatest miracle of all is the redemption of mankind from sin by the substitutionary atoning death of Jesus Christ on the cross. This message was gospel preached to the poor. Good health in one’s life on earth is not comparable to the eternal benefit of faith that comes by hearing and believing God’s absolute truth penned in scripture. Those who have faith and believe will obey the scriptures. Those who do not obey the scriptures are basically saying that God is lying. 1John 1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
At the very moment that John’s two disciples approach Jesus with his questions, Jesus is fulfilling Messianic prophecy that would be quit familiar to John.
Matt. 11:4-5 And Jesus answered and said to them, "Go and report to John what you hear and see:
5. the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them
Luke 7:22 And He answered and said to them, "Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have the gospel preached to them.
Instead of answering John’s disciples with mere words, Jesus gave them evidence that He was the Expected One; the very One that John proclaimed. John’s problem was that there was no evidence of Jesus cleaning house by rendering justice to the wicked and ungodly. However, John’s disciples were privileged to hear and witness the evidence that would more than satisfy this confined and confused prophet.
Jesus answered and said to them something that would have a very familiar ring to the report that they were about to hear and see. Jesus recites an abbreviated and yet augmented recitation from the prophet Isaiah. Is. 35:2-6a. Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. 6. Then the lame will leap like a deer, And the tongue of the dumb will shout for joy. Not only are these reporters having prophecy quoted and fulfilled before them, they are eyewitnesses to Jesus healing; the blind who receive their sight and the lame who are now able to walk and even the deaf who now hear. However, this is not all that Jesus is doing, He is doing more than what Isaiah prophesied; He cleansed lepers and raised the dead.
The disciples were to report to John what they hear and what they see. Their seeing was the miraculous works that Jesus was doing, that which they hear is the words of Jesus from Isaiah 61:1"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor (NKJV). Most importantly it is what they heard from Him. Paul tells us in Rom. 10:17 that faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. As wonderful as the miracles are, the greatest miracle of all is the redemption of mankind from sin by the substitutionary atoning death of Jesus Christ on the cross. This message was gospel preached to the poor. Good health in one’s life on earth is not comparable to the eternal benefit of faith that comes by hearing and believing God’s absolute truth penned in scripture. Those who have faith and believe will obey the scriptures. Those who do not obey the scriptures are basically saying that God is lying. 1John 1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
# posted by Castusfumus : 6:26 PM
