Luke 7:26-30
Luke 7:26 (KJB)
But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and much more
than a prophet.
The people had gone to see John whom they regarded as a prophet. (Mat 14:4-5
KJV) For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her. {5} And when
he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted
him as a prophet. As a prophet, John had the privilege of doing something
no other prophet before him did. The prophets of old had prophesied and written
about the coming Messiah but John was the only Old Testament Prophet who had the
privilege of introducing the Messiah in person. The people might have thought
John to be a failure because he was now in prison but the fact is, his ministry
was now completed as He spoke the message God gave him to speak concerning the
Messiah. Being a prophet of God did not necessarily mean that one had a long
ministry. It varied by the plan of God.
Luke 7:27 (KJB)
This is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face,
which shall prepare thy way before thee.
(Mal 3:1 KJV) Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way
before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even
the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith
the LORD of hosts. Malachi 3:1 gives us another insight that Jesus is the
Great “I Am” of Sinai and the author of the Scriptures. Notice what the first
part of the verse states. “Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall
prepare the way before me:” Malachi states that the messenger will prepare the
way before me. Jesus Himself is stating in Malachi that the messenger will
prepare the way before Him. John the Baptist prepared the way for the coming of
the Messiah. John was in the physical presence of the people of Israel when He
fulfilled the Scripture the Scripture of introducing the Messiah, making him
“more than a prophet.”
Luke 7:28 (KJB)
For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater
prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is
greater than he.
The reason that Jesus was stating that John the Baptist was greater than all
that came before him was not based upon his moral character or anything like
that but John had the privilege of having the ministry of introducing the Lord
Jesus Christ, the prophesied One and the Messiah to the nation of Israel and to
the world. The Messiah that Israel had prayed and hoped for had now come to
Israel in fulfillment of many scriptures. Since it was still the time before the
cross, John was on the Old Testament side of the cross, the old dispensation,
and Jesus is stating that the humblest believer who has become saved will have
experienced all the fruits of salvation including the baptism in the Holy Spirit
and the finished work of Christ on the cross along with all the promises that
come with it. Jesus was not saying that John was not saved but his ministry was
on the Old Testament side of the cross and those that become saved are in the
Kingdom of God. Jesus was making a comparison between the covenant of Law and
the covenant of Grace which is much greater than law because it saves, whereas
the law does not.
Luke 7:29 (KJB)
And all the people that heard him, and the publicans, justified God, being
baptized with the baptism of John.
All the people who came to John and heard him preach the message of repentance
had glorified God by justifying Him. To justify God was to declare their full
confidence in Him and His sending John to preach the baptism of repentance.
These people heard the message and they were convicted in their souls of their
sin. When one receives the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and becomes saved, this
also justifies God as being the plan of God to save all the Elect. God is
justified because everything He does always works to His glory and our benefit,
even if we do not understand at the time.
Luke 7:30 (KJB)
But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves,
being not baptized of him.
Since the people had accepted John as a true prophet, the people were also being
readied to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as the Messiah. If John was a prophet,
then everything he spoke was the truth of God. Once again the Pharisees and the
lawyers had rejected the counsel of God. Notice, the counsel of God was against
them. The counsel was that they needed to repent of their ways and confess their
sins before God. As always they voided the counsel of God for their own
traditions, thinking that they were already saved because they had the law, so
they refused to be baptized by John. By refusing to be baptized by John, they
were refusing the will of God for their lives which meant they were rejecting
God.