ACC ~ Luke 7 v18 - 35

OVERVIEW:

John sends his disciples to confirm his own preaching about Jesus, so that before he died, his disciples would be strengthened and not be scattered like sheep without a shepherd (EPHREM THE SYRIAN). The progress or manner of Jesus’ ministry has not been what John expected, for John is a type of the law who confines hearts in prison as the world awaits the coming of the Messiah who is the fullness of the law (AMBROSE).

Instead of responding to the question of John’s disciples by saying “I am the Messiah,” Jesus performs miracles that testify that he is “the coming One” (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). By highlighting the miracles, Luke affirms that the Old Testament is being fulfilled as Isaiah had foretold (CHRYSOSTOM). The stumbling block that could cause observers to be scandalized is Jesus’ humility in fulfillment of the prophecies of the Old Testament (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA).

John’s role as the precursor of Jesus in God’s plan of salvation is described as subordinate. Jesus speaks his words about John against the scribes and Pharisees so that they might see that greatness in the kingdom of heaven comes by faith and not by legal righteousness (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). In preparing the way for Jesus, John eschews the trappings of the world, for he is unlike those who are swayed like a reed that has no deep roots and loves the fleeting waters. The reed makes a pen, which may flow with the Spirit because it has been dipped in the blood of Christ (AMBROSE).

John is the greatest prophet born of a woman, but Jesus is the greatest prophet born of a virgin, fulfilling the prophecy of Moses in Deuteronomy (AMBROSE). [1] John announces the new era, but as a historical figure (born of a woman) he is not part of the new era, and therefore those in the new era (born of God) are greater than he is (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA).

To receive Jesus as the Messiah is to declare God to be just or righteous. It means to receive his plan of salvation as it is manifested in the baptism of John, a baptism of repentance (AMBROSE). “This generation” includes Pharisees, Sadducees, elders, lawyers, and the foremost men (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). Playing the flute and dancing are activities characteristic of a wedding, where there is rejoicing over the presence of the bridegroom and his bride, [2] as Jesus is the Bridegroom who comes forth from Mary’s womb (MAXIMUS OF TURIN). Dirges and mourning are appropriate at a funeral, where one weeps over the fatal result of sin. The songs and dances recall the canticles of the prophets like Moses and Ezekiel (AMBROSE). The people of this generation reveal the childish characteristic of insisting on their own way, and they will not be won for the faith by either dancing or mourning (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). The children of Wisdom turn out to be the most unlikely folk and the most unpopular members of Palestinian society: tax collectors and sinners who make up the church of the just (AUGUSTINE).

[1] Deut 18:15, 19; cf. Acts 3:23.

[2] See Lk 5:34.

7:18-23 | John’s Question and Jesus’ Answer

JOHN SENT HIS DISCIPLES

EPHREM THE SYRIAN: John sent them to him not to interrogate him, but rather that the Lord might confirm those former things that John had proclaimed to them. John was directing the minds of his disciples toward the Lord. … He sent them out in such a way that, having seen Jesus’ miracles, they might be confirmed in their faith in him. COMMENTARY ON TATIAN’S DIATESSARON 9.2. [1]

[1] ECTD 154-55*.

JOHN IS A TYPE OF THE LAW

AMBROSE: John is the type of the law which was the foreteller of Christ, the law which was held confined in the hearts of the unbelievers as if in prisons [1] devoid of eternal light. The fruitful inner workings of punishment and the doors of malice restrained their hearts. The law rightly cannot achieve an outcome full of evidence of the divine dispensation without the assent of the gospel. EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 5.94. [2]

[1] Cf. Mt 11:2.

[2] EHG 181**.

MIRACLES TESTIFY THAT JESUS IS THE COMING ONE

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: “In that same hour he healed many of sicknesses and of scourges, and of evil spirits; and gave sight to many that were blind.” He made them spectators and eyewitnesses of his greatness and gathered into them a great admiration of his power and ability. They then bring forward the question and beg in John’s name to be informed whether he is “he who comes.” Here see, I ask, the beautiful art of the Savior’s management. He does not simply say, “I am.” If he had spoken this, it would have been true. He leads them to the proof given by the works themselves. In order that having accepted faith in him on good grounds and being furnished with knowledge from what had been done, they may return to him who sent them. “Go,” he says, “tell John the things that you have seen and heard.” “For you have heard indeed,” he says, “that I have raised the dead by the all-powerful word and by the touch of the hand. While you stood by, you have also seen that those things that were spoken of old time by the holy prophets are accomplished: the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the dumb hear, the dead rise, and the poor are preached to. The blessed prophets had announced all these things before, as about in due time to be accomplish by my hands. I bring to pass those things that were prophesied long before, and you are yourselves spectators of them. Return and tell those things that you have seen with your own eyes accomplished by my might and ability, and which at various times the blessed prophets foretold.” COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 37. [1]

[1] CGSL 159**.

ISAIAH FORETOLD THE HEALING MIRACLES OF JESUS

CHRYSOSTOM: Christ would work miracles and teach as soon as he came to well-known sections of his own country, and this had been foretold.

Isaiah went on to tell of other marvels and showed how Christ cured the lame, and how he made the blind to see and the mute to speak. “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped.” [1] After that he spoke of the other marvels: “Then shall the lame man leap like a hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing for joy.” [2] This did not happen until his coming. DEMONSTRATION AGAINST THE PAGANS 8-9. [3]

[1] Is 35:5.

[2] Is 35:6.

[3] FC 73:199-200**.

JESUS’ HUMILITY IN FULFILLMENT OF THE OLD TESTAMENT

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: “And blessed is he who is not offended in me!” The Jews were indeed offended, either as not knowing the depth of the mystery or because they did not seek to know the mystery. Every part of the inspired Scripture announced beforehand that the Word of God would humble himself to emptiness and be seen on earth. This plainly refers to when he was as we are and would justify by faith every thing under heaven. Although Scripture prophesied all this, they stumbled against him, struck against the rock of offense, [1] fell, and were ground to powder. [2] Although they plainly saw him clothed with unspeakable dignity and surpassing glory, by means of the wondrous deeds he performed, they threw stones at him and said, “Why do you, being a man, make yourself God?” [3] In answer to these things Christ rebuked the immeasurable infirmity of their intellect and said, “If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not; but if I do, then though you believe not me, believe my works.” [4] Blessed is he who does not stumble against Christ, that is, he who believes him. COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 37. [5]

[1] Is 8:14; Rom 9:33.

[2] Lk 20:18.

[3] Jn 10:33.

[4] Jn 10:37.

[5] CGSL 159**.

7:24-28 | The Witness of Jesus About John

GREATNESS IN THE KINGDOM BY FAITH

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: There were certain people who prided themselves upon their performance of what was required by the law, namely, the scribes, Pharisees, and others of their party. He proves that those who believe in him are superior to them and that the glories of the followers of the law are small in comparison with the evangelical way of life. He uses as an example him who was the best of their whole class yet born of woman, the blessed Baptizer. He affirmed that he is a prophet, or rather above the measure of the prophets. Christ also says that among those born of women no one had arisen greater than him in the righteousness that is by the law. He declares that he who is small, who falls short of his measure, and is inferior to him in the righteousness that is by the law, is greater than he. He is not greater in legal righteousness but in the kingdom of God, in faith and the glories which result from faith. Faith crowns those that receive it with glories that surpass the law. …

For this reason, Jesus brings the blessed Baptizer to our attention as one who had attained the foremost place in legal righteousness and to incomparable praise. Still he is ranked as less than one who is least. He says, “The least is greater than he in the kingdom of God.” The kingdom of God signifies, as we affirm, the grace that is by faith, by means of which we are accounted worthy of every blessing and of the possession of the rich gifts which come from above from God. It frees us from all blame and makes us to be the children of God, partakers of the Holy Spirit and heirs of a heavenly inheritance. COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 38. [1]

[1] CGSL 161-62**.

JOHN ESCHEWS THE TRAPPINGS OF THIS WORLD

AMBROSE: “What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed shaken with the wind?” When he admonished John’s disciples to believe in the cross of the Lord, as they departed he turned to the crowds and began to call the poor to virtue. He did this for fear that they would be exalted in heart, fickle in mind and weak in foresight, and might prefer the showy to the useful and the fleeting to the eternal. “What did you go out into the desert to see?” The world here seems to be compared with a desert, still uncultivated, barren and infertile, which the Lord said could not yield increase. We think that people, swollen in the physical mind, devoid of inner virtue and boasting with the brittle loftiness of worldly glory are to be imitated as the example and image. Dangerous people, whom an inconstant way of life disquiets with the storms of this world, are rightly to be compared with a reed. [1] We are reeds founded on no root of a more robust nature. … Reeds love rivers and the fleeting. Perishing things of the earth delight us. EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 5.103-4. [2]

[1] Cf. 3 Macc 2:22.

[2] EHG 184-85**.

HOW THE BELIEVER IS LIKE A FLOWING PEN

AMBROSE: If someone plucks this reed from the nursery garden of the earth, divests it of what is unnecessary, strips off the old man with his deeds, [1] and fits it to the hand of a swiftly writing scribe, [2] it begins to be not a reed but a pen. This pen imprints the precepts of Holy Writ in the inner mind and inscribes them on the tables of the heart. [3] … Imitate this pen in the moderation of your flesh. Do not dip your pen, your flesh, in ink but in the Spirit of the living God so that what you write may be eternal. Paul wrote the epistle with such a pen, of which he says, “You are the epistle of Christ, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God.” [4] Dip your flesh in the blood of Christ, as it is written, “that your foot may be dipped in blood.” [5] Moisten the footprint of your spirit and the steps of your mind with the sure confession of the Lord’s cross. You dip your flesh in Christ’s blood as you wash away vices, purge sins and bear the death of Christ in your flesh, as the apostle taught us, saying, “bearing about in our body the dying of Jesus Christ.” [6] EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 5.105-6. [7]

[1] Col 3:9.

[2] Ps 44:1 LXX.

[3] 2 Cor 3:2.

[4] 2 Cor 3:3.

[5] Ps 68:23 (67:24 LXX).

[6] 2 Cor 4:10.

[7] EHG 185-86**.

JOHN THE GREATEST PROPHET BORN OF A WOMAN; JESUS THE GREATEST BORN OF A VIRGIN

AMBROSE: He is even greater than he of whom Moses said, “The Lord our God will stir up a prophet among you,” [1] and “For the time will come that every soul that shall not hear that same prophet shall be destroyed from among the people.” [2] If Christ is a prophet, then how is John greater than all prophets? Surely we do not deny that Christ is a prophet? On the contrary, I maintain both that the Lord is the Prophet of prophets and that John is greater than all, but of those born of a woman, not of a virgin. He was greater than those to whom he could be equal in the condition of birth. Another nature is not to be compared with human generations. There can be no comparison between man and God, for each is preferred to his own. There could be no comparison of John with the Son of God, so that he is thought to be below the angels. [3] EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 5.110. [4]

[1] Deut 18:15, 18.

[2] Acts 3:23.

[3] Cf. Ps 8:5; Heb 2:7, 9.

[4] EHG 188*.

BORN OF WOMAN OR BORN OF GOD

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: “What then did you go out to see?” Perhaps you say, “A prophet.” Yes, I agree. He is a saint and a prophet. He even surpasses the dignity of a prophet. Not only did he announce before that I am coming but pointed me out close at hand, saying, “Behold the Lamb of God that bears the sin of the world.” [1] The prophet’s voice testified of him as the one who was sent before my face to prepare the way before me. [2] I witness that there has not arisen among those born of women one greater than he. He that is least, in the life according to the law, in the kingdom of God is greater than he. How and in what manner is he greater? In that the blessed John, together with as many as preceded him, was born of woman, but they who have received the faith are no longer called the sons of women, but as the wise Evangelist said, “are born of God.” [3] COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 38. [4]

[1] Jn 1:29.

[2] Mal 3:1.

[3] Jn 1:12.

[4] CGSL 163**.

7:29-30 | The People Who Accept and Reject God’s Plan of Salvation

GOD IS JUSTIFIED THROUGH BAPTISM

AMBROSE: God himself is justified through baptism, but people justify themselves by confessing their sins, as it is written, “First confess your transgressions, that you may be justified.” [1] One is justified because the gift of God is not rejected through stubbornness but acknowledged through righteousness. “The Lord is righteous and has loved righteousness.” [2] The justification of God is in those who see him to have bestowed his gifts not on the unworthy and the guilty but on the righteous and those made guiltless by baptism. Let us then justify the Lord that we may be justified by the Lord. EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 6.2. [3]

[1] Is 43:26.

[2] Ps 11:7 (10:7 LXX).

[3] EHG 193*.

7:31-35 | Judgment on Those Who Reject God’s Plan

JEWISH LEADERS THE MEN OF THIS GENERATION

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: The prophet’s words will apply to us, “Woe to them that call evil good, and good evil. Who call bitter sweet and sweet bitter. Who put light for darkness, and darkness for light.” [1] This was the character of the Israelites and especially of those who were their chiefs, the scribes, namely, and Pharisees. Christ said about them, “To what shall I liken the men of this generation?” COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 39. [2]

[1] Is 5:20.

[2] CGSL 165*.

A WEDDING WHERE CHRIST IS THE BRIDEGROOM

MAXIMUS OF TURIN: People are in the habit of dancing or singing as the custom is with vows, particularly at marriages, and so we have marriages to which a vow is attached and at which we are expected to dance or sing. Our vows are celebrated when the church is united to Christ. John says, “The one who has the bride is the bridegroom.” [1] It is good for us to dance because of this marriage, for David, both king and prophet, danced before the ark of the covenant “with much singing.” [2] He broke into dancing in high rejoicing, for in the Spirit he foresaw Mary, born of his own line, brought into Christ’s chamber. He says, “And he, like a bridegroom, will come forth from his chamber.” [3] He sang more than the other prophetic authors did because he was gladder than the rest of them. By these joys, he united those coming after him in marriage. By inviting us to his own vows in a more charming way than usual, having danced with such joy in front of the ark before his marriage, he taught us what we ought to do at those other vows. The prophet David danced. SERMON 42.5. [4]

[1] Jn 3:29.

[2] 2 Sam 6:14.

[3] Ps 19:5.

[4] ACW 50:106-7**.

THE SONGS AND DANCES OF THE PROPHETS

AMBROSE: “Therefore, wisdom is justified by all her children.” He fittingly says “by all,” because justice is preserved around all. In order that an acceptance of the faithful may happen, a rejection of the unbelieving must occur. Very many Greeks say this, “Wisdom is justified by all her works,” because the duty of justice is to preserve the measure around the merit of each. It aptly says, “We have piped to you, and you have not danced.” Moses sang a song when he stopped the flow in the Red Sea for the crossing of the Jews, [1] and the same waves encircled the horses of the Egyptians and, falling back, drowned their riders. Isaiah sang a song of his beloved’s vineyard, [2] signifying that the people who before had been fruitful with abundant virtues would be desolate through shameful acts. The Hebrews sang a song when the soles of their feet grew moist at the touch of the bedewing flame, and while all burned within and without, the harmless fire caressed them alone and did not scorch. [3] Habakkuk also learned to assuage universal grief with a song and prophesied that the sweet passion of the Lord would happen for the faithful. [4] The prophets sang songs with spiritual measures, resounding with prophecies of universal salvation. The prophets wept, softening the hard hearts of the Jews with sorrowful lamentations. [5] EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 6.6-7. [6]

[1] Ex 15:1-18.

[2] Is 5:1-7.

[3] See 1 Macc 2:59; 3 Macc 6:6; Dan 3:19-25.

[4] Hab 3:13.

[5] Is 46:12.

[6] EHG 195*.

A CHILD’S GAME

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: There may have been perchance a sort of game among the Jewish children, something of this kind. A group of youths was divided into two parts. One made fun of the confusion in the world, the uneven course of its affairs, and the painful and rapid change from one extreme to the other, by playing some of them on instruments of music. The other group wailed. Neither did the mourners share the merriment of those who were playing music and rejoicing, nor did those with the instruments of music join in the sorrow of those who were weeping. Finally, they rebuked one another with their lack of sympathy, so to speak, and absence of affection. The one party would say, “We have played unto you, and you have not danced.” The others would respond, “We have wailed to you, and you have not wept.” COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 39. [1]

[1] CGSL 165-66**.

WISDOM IS JUSTIFIED BY ALL HER CHILDREN

AUGUSTINE: The Lord made a truly necessary addition to these words when he said, “And wisdom is justified by her children.” If you ask who those children are, read what is written, “The sons of wisdom are the church of the just.” [1] LETTER 36. [2]

[1] Sir 3:1.

[2] FC 12:161*.