Luke 7: 19-23 | Daily Bible Verses For Advent | Wednesday Week 3 (Before 17th December) | Audio Bible KJV
19 ¶ And John calling unto him two of his disciples sent them to Jesus, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another?
20 When 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?
21 And 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.
22 Then 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.
23 And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.
John the Baptist has been imprisoned for speaking the truth about how the people should prepare themselves to be fit for the coming of the Kingdom. It may seem strange that he now sends to Jesus to ask him if he is indeed the one to come, the Messiah. Does John now doubt that Jesus is the Son of God?
Luke’s account of the baptism of Jesus by John differs from the other Gospels’. In John’s Gospel, John the Baptist sees Jesus approaching and immediately says: ‘Behold, the lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.’ In Mark and Matthew it is immediately on Jesus coming out of the water that the Spirit descends and a voice from heaven proclaims: ‘Thou are my beloved Son; with thee I am well pleased.’ And in Matthew, John is initially reluctant to baptize Jesus, saying that it is he who should be baptized by Jesus instead.
In Luke’s Gospel, the account of John’s arrest is placed first in the narrative, and so not following the chronological order of events. Luke then notes the baptism of all the people and Jesus also, ‘Jesus being baptised’, and then we are told, with a change in verb tense, that there is an unspecified period of time spent by Jesus in prayer before the heaven opens, while he is praying, the Spirit descends as a dove, and the voice from heaven proclaims Jesus as the Son of God. (The New Jerusalem Bible translates the verse as follows: ‘Now it happened that when all the people had been baptised and while Jesus after his own baptism was at prayer, heaven opened…’) We may recall that Christ’s praying is generally time spent alone with his father. There is no reason in Luke’s narrative to think that John must be present to witness this, or that Luke assumes he is.
It may then be that we be not entirely sure as to John the Baptist’s thoughts and intentions in sending to Jesus to ask him if he is the one to come. Is it that the understandings of the different evangelists are different? Is John the Baptist genuinely mystified by what is happening, or rather not happening, and so sends to Jesus to ask who he is, trusting Jesus to answer honestly? After all, while John has heralded the dawn of a new, Messianic age, even he may not have understood the full implications of his own teaching.
It is no doubt significant, in relation to these questions, that John’s sending messengers to Jesus is also related in Matthew’s Gospel (11: 2-6). We seem, then, to have through this a situation in which John has known of Christ’s divinity, he has hailed him as the Son of God, and now he seeks to know about the future. What is going to happen to Israel, to the Jewish people? Is the long time of waiting about to be fulfilled, in accordance with the teachings of the Prophets? Is Jesus going to restore the Jewish nation?
By way of response, Jesus in that very hour heals many people. What he says to John’s disciples next recalls verses from the prophet Isaiah which John would understand as an account of the signs of the coming of the Kingdom:
5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
6 Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing…
THE Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn. (Isaiah 35: 5-6, 61: 1-2)
To the poor the Gospel is preached – to those who lack material goods or social status, and to those who have found a certain spiritual poverty, coming to God humbly, knowing their own merits can not bring them to heaven, that it is only the gift of grace that may fulfil their lives. John’s questions are answered. The Kingdom of God is here.
‘Man does not see God by his own powers; but God of his own will appears to men, to whom he wills, and when he wills, and as he wills. For God can do all things: he was seen in former times prophetically through the Spirit, he is seen in the Son by adoption, and he will be seen in the kingdom of heaven as Father. The Spirit prepares man for the Son of God, the Son brings him to the Father, and the Father bestows on him incorruptibility for eternal life, which comes to everyone from his beholding God.’ St Irenaeus
Christian Art | Parousia | Second Coming | Lamb Of God, You Take Away The Sins Of The World Luke 17: 26-37 (Audio Bible KJV, Spoken Word) Early Christian thought about the Parousia – the second coming – was largely influenced by the teachings of Jesus and the writings of Saint Paul. In the early Christian community, expectation of Christ’s return was strong, and many Christians believed that it would happen in their lifetime. This belief is evident in the New Testament, where the authors express a sense of urgency in their writings and encourage their readers to be prepared for Christ’s imminent return. As Christianity spread throughout the Roman Empire, the idea of the Parousia became more complex and nuanced. Theological debates arose around the nature of Christ’s return and the events that would precede it. Some theologians, such as Origen and Augustine, saw the Parousia as a spiritual event that was already happening in the Church. Others, such as the Montanists and the millenarians, believed in a literal, physical return of Christ and the establishment of a new, earthly Kingdom. In the Middle Ages, the Parousia was often associated with apocalypticism and the idea of a final, cataclysmic battle between good and evil – the last battle. The idea of the Antichrist, who would precede Christ’s return, became a popular theme in Christian literature, and the book of Revelation (Apocalypse – meaning to reveal, to uncover) was interpreted as a prophetic guide to the end of the world. Biblical Basis For The Parousia | The Second Coming The concept of the Parousia, or the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, is central to Christian eschatology and is supported by numerous biblical passages in both the Old and New Testaments. In the Old Testament, there are numerous passages that refer to the coming of a Messiah who will restore Israel and bring about the final judgment. For example, in Daniel 7:13-14, it is written: ‘I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.’ This passage describes a divine figure who comes in the clouds and is given dominion over all nations. In the New Testament, the Parousia is described in greater detail, particularly in the teachings of Jesus and the writings of Saint Paul. Jesus speaks of his return in many passages, including Matthew 24:30-31, where Jesus says: ‘And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.’ Here, Jesus describes his return in power and glory, accompanied by angels who gather Jesus’ elect from all over the world. In Saint Paul’s letters, the Parousia is also described in detail. In 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, Saint Paul writes: ‘For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.’ This passage describes a resurrection of the dead and the gathering of believers to meet the Lord Jesus in the air. The language and imagery used to describe the Parousia are often dramatic and apocalyptic in nature. The Parousia is often described as a time of judgment, when the righteous will be separated from the wicked, and God’s justice will be fully revealed. The imagery of clouds, trumpets, and angels is used to depict the power and glory of Christ’s return. Theological Interpretations Of The Parousia | Jesus’ Second Coming The concept of the Parousia has been interpreted in a variety of ways throughout Christian history. Dispensationalism Dispensationalism is a theological framework that emerged in the 19th Century and has since become popular among some evangelical and fundamentalist Christians. Dispensationalists believe that history is divided into distinct periods or ‘dispensations’, each of which is marked by a particular mode of divine revelation and a specific plan of salvation. According to dispensationalist theology, the Parousia will be preceded by a period of tribulation, during which the Antichrist will establish a one-world government and the Jews will be restored to their homeland. The Parousia itself will involve a physical, visible return of Christ, who will establish a thousand-year reign on earth before the final judgment. Preterism Preterism is a theological interpretation of the Parousia that holds that many of the prophecies in the New Testament, particularly those in the book of Revelation, were fulfilled in the first century AD. According to this view, the Parousia occurred in a spiritual sense when Christ ascended to heaven and sent the Holy Spirit to empower the Church. Preterists argue that the tribulation and other end-time events predicted in the New Testament were fulfilled in the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in AD 70. Postmillennialism Postmillennialism is a theological view that holds that the Parousia will occur after a period of history in which the Church will gradually bring about the kingdom of God on earth. According to this view, the Church will spread the gospel throughout the world, and social, political, and economic conditions will gradually improve. Eventually, Christ will return to a world that has been largely transformed by the Gospel. Amillennialism […]
Psalm 86, traditionally attributed to David, is a plea to God—a soul’s cry for mercy and guidance in times of deep need. It is a psalm that resonates with humility, encapsulating the essence of a supplicant seeking solace in the divine presence [ … ]
In Matthew’s Gospel, this is Jesus’ second announcement of his Passion. This time, the reaction of the disciples has mellowed. It is less extreme, while they remain very sorry. The disciples begin to recognize the cross as a necessary step on Jesus’ journey. We may think of our own tears mingled with joy as we contemplate Christ’s sacrifice, for example as we give ourselves in prayer, in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. We may also note that the sorrow of the disciples follows upon Jesus’ saying that he will be raised again. Our sorrow as we contemplate Jesus’ death includes the resurrection. We may weep for the necessity and the absolute love and self-giving of Jesus’ sacrifice [ … ]
