Luke 7:20 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Luke 7:20

Comments

So the disciples of John the Baptist come and the Lord Jesus does something before he speaks. ‘In that same hour.’ – this may have taken place over several days – ‘he cured many of their infirmities and plagues, and of evil spirits; and unto many that were blind he gave sight. Just think of that: ‘unto many that were blind’, not one or two, he gave sight. Then having done all those things, Jesus answered them. There is a distinction here between types of illness, between infirmities and plagues. It is not the kind of distinction that we are used to getting today, but by infirmities the Greek indicates long-standing diseases, chronic diseases, constantly there and incurable, and he healed them all. The word ‘plagues’ comes from a word meaning to be whipped or to be sore, and the distinction is made between long-standing illnesses and these particularly painful sicknesses. Whether it was sciatica or severe rheumatism or far worse – terrible open ulcers and sores, unhealed wounds, any number of things that would give intense and pretty well constant pain – he healed them all. What power the Lord had, what scope he had! There was nothing beyond his touch, and what compassion he had.

Application

See again this statement of John the Baptist: ‘Art thou he that should come, or look we for another?’ We could ask John, ‘What kind of Saviour are you looking for, John? What do you expect to see?’ And we can ask that question of ourselves. If there is to be a Saviour for the human race, what kind of a person, what kind of Saviour, Messiah, Deliverer, ought he to be? Well, first of all, we don't want a king. We don't want a king sent from heaven who would simply reign over people in this present world. John the Baptist didn't want that, to be sure. The scribes and the Pharisees wanted that. They wanted God to send a conquering king who would just set up their nation in great power and glory again. But what's the point of that? We have far deeper needs than the exaltation of our nation on earth. They wanted this present life to be made comfortable and prosperous. But that's not enough. We have deeper needs. We have spiritual needs. We have lost souls. We are cut off from God. We are under the condemnation of sin. We want to have the world ordered and sorted out. Well, that would be a great thing, but it wouldn't touch our deepest and our eternal needs. We need a Saviour who will deal with souls, and will deal with the problems that keep us from God and shut us out of heaven. We need a soul Saviour.

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Luke 7:20 Commentary and Bible Study