Luke 7:16-20

Luke 7:16 (KJB)
And there came a fear on all: and they glorified God, saying, That a great prophet is risen up among us; and, That God hath visited his people.

Then once those in attendance saw the miracle that Jesus performed, they had begun to fear but that fear turned into praise to the glory of God. These people had proclaimed that a great prophet has risen up among the people. They had also proclaimed that God had visited His people which means that the Kingdom of God was active among them and there were great works being performed through Jesus who represented the Kingdom of God. Luke is in no way is removing the fact that Jesus is the Son of God but Jesus was portrayed as a prophet as He spoke about it Himself. (Luke 4:24 KJV) And he said, Verily, I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country. The whole nation of Israel did not know the time of their visitation and that is why they rejected Christ. (Luke 19:44 KJV) And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.

Luke 7:17 (KJB)
And this rumour of him went forth throughout all Judaea, and throughout all the region round about.

Rumour - Report

The report about Jesus raising this young man from the dead had gone viral very shortly. Nain was north of Judea and the story had spread south in all those regions and it also spread where He was beyond the borders of Nain. It also spread throughout Galilee. It was something when someone was healed of a disease or delivered from being possessed by devils, but to see someone raised from the dead was an amazing miracle.

Luke 7:18 (KJB)
And the disciples of John showed him of all these things.

The disciples of John had heard about or saw for themselves the great miracles that Jesus was doing. (Mat 11:2 KJV) Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, They in turn, took that information to John who was in prison at this time. John wanted to make sure that Jesus was the Messiah because it seemed strange that John was in prison and he wanted to make sure that he was correct in who he baptized as the Lamb of God.

Luke 7:19 (KJB)
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?

Then when John had summoned his disciples, he told them exactly what to ask Jesus when they see Him. John wanted to remove any doubts concerning Jesus being the Messiah. Maybe it came to John that a great prophet had arisen among the people and He had baptized the Messiah, the Son of God. He wanted to straighten any confusion as to whether Jesus was the Messiah or just a prophet.

Luke 7:20 (KJB)
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?

The two disciples of John had come to Jesus and asked Him straight out if He was the prophesied Messiah or is it someone else? John probably thought that if Jesus was the Messiah, then things should have been happening by now concerning the nation of Israel, instead Jesus was doing all kinds of miracles and mighty works and it did not seem that the Kingdom of Heaven was being established under Jesus. Personally, I do not believe that John lost faith but that he needed a clarification of what was happening and once he understood, then he could properly assess the present ministry of Jesus. It does sound strange that John knew that Jesus was the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world and yet he is questioning the ministry of Jesus.

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