Luke 7:27-35 27 This is the one about whom it is written: " 'I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.' 28 I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he." 29(All the people, even the tax collectors, when they heard Jesus' words, acknowledged that God's way was right, because they had been baptized by John. 30 But the Pharisees and experts in the law rejected God's purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John.) 31"To what, then, can I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? 32They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to each other: " 'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;we sang a dirge, and you did not cry.' 33 For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, 'He has a demon.' 34The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners." ' 35 But wisdom is proved right by all her children."
Jesus says about John the Baptist: 27 “This is the one about whom it is written: " 'I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.'” John prepared people for Jesus. He told his followers Jesus was greater than he. He led them into frequent contact with Jesus. He preached about Jesus not himself. He passed his followers to Jesus. He told people to repent of their sins and look to Jesus for forgiveness.
Jesus adds: 28 I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he." He was a leader and teacher. Greater than his followers and those learning from him. He was chosen by God as the one to prepare the way for Jesus. Greater than the prophets who foretold Jesus from some distance. But anyone who has lived after Jesus’ successfully lived, died and rose to accomplish forgiveness, holiness and eternal life is greater than John because we have the fully accomplished Gospel message to proclaim. He didn’t.
Jesus praised John, not because of who he was, but because of the message John preached. “Repent and look to Jesus.”
That is exactly the attitude we take toward Luther. Like John Luther didn’t talk about himself. For thirteen years Luther had no intention of becoming involved in a splinter group or a new church group. He did not want to be a leader of a church. He just wanted to turn the Church back to the Word of God.
Like John Luther constantly pointed to Jesus. He insisted that the man-made teachings of the church of his day pointed people away from Jesus. That made Jesus less important. That implied that Jesus was not the only way to be right with God. That is dangerous for the eternal well-being of people.
Because of Luther’s emphasis on searching the Bible for answers to all spiritual questions, Bible scholarship was pursued by many. As a result, we today have vastly more knowledge about the Bible that men did in Luther’s day. Because of Luther we can be greater in our knowledge of the Bible than he was.
Lord Jesus thank You for using Martin Luther to restore to its rightful position in the church the Biblical message of Law and Gospel.
Hymn 201:4
We only have a few details about John the Baptist. The announcement of his birth. His solitary training time in the desert. And then his work. He attracted great crowds from Jerusalem, Judea and the surrounding area. Many believed his message. How do we know? They were baptized by John. By that action they were saying, “John’s work was effective. We are sinners. We deserve hell. We need to turn aside from our sins. We need the LORD’s forgiveness. We are eagerly anticipating the Promised Savior who will accomplish forgiveness for us.” 29(All the people, even the tax collectors, when they heard Jesus' words, acknowledgedthat God's way was right, because they had been baptized by John.
Not everybody believed John. The Pharisees and experts in the law rejected John. They insisted they could fulfill God’s laws on their own and could thus save themselves. They rejected John’s message that they were sinners. They rejected God’s purpose to give them eternal life through the Savior. They didn’t think they needed a Savior. 30 But the Pharisees and experts in the law rejected God's purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John.)
The rejection from the religious leaders of his society did not make John stop carrying out his work, nor did it make him afraid to carry out his work. Jesus praised John, not because of who he was, but because of the work he did and because of what the LORD did through him.
Like John Luther’s work was to bring the message he had been taught by the LORD from the Bible to people. He realized that bringing God’s truth to people was a matter of spiritual life and death. He realized that many were being turned into Pharisees and teachers of the Law by the teachings of the church. They were being taught to trust that fulfilling the church’s laws could help save them. People rather needed to be called to repent of their sins and trust that Jesus alone forgives sin, covers with righteousness and gives eternal life.
Like John Luther taught that Baptism gives to people the forgiveness which Jesus won. In addition Luther restored the truth about the Lord’s Supper. The Lord’s Supper is not something that we do so that we become qualified to receive forgiveness. It is something God does for us - gives us the body and blood of Jesus which He used to pay for our sins and also gives us the forgiveness which Jesus won when He gave up His body and his blood.
Like John Luther was rejected by the religious leaders of his world. Even though he was declared a heretic by the church and an outlaw by the government, Luther did not stop his work. He knew that with the LORD as His mighty fortress the whole world filled with devils could not overcome his work.
Lord Jesus, thank You for using Luther to bring Your Word and Sacraments to the people of his day and through their descendants to us.
Hymn 201:3
Jesus continued. 33For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, 'He has a demon.' John the Baptist was a Nazarite who had taken a special vow of dedication to the Lord. Nazirites didn’t drink fermented beverages, never cut their hair, never went near dead people and had to go through a special ceremony when the time of their vow was over.
Jesus on the other hand lived a normal life style. He had no restrictions as John had. 34 “The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and "sinners." '
How did the people respond? They said John was a fanatic controlled by the devil. They said Jesus enjoyed life too much. Jesus compared them with children who can’t make up their minds what game to play. 31"To what, then, can I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? 32They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to each other: " 'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;we sang a dirge, and you did not cry.' But Jesus indicated that is to be expected from unbelievers who are not wise unto salvation through faith in Him. 33 But wisdom is proved right by all her children.”
Like John and Jesus Luther was criticized on both ends of most issues. He was criticized for putting the worship material in the language of the people because people said that makes God too common. He did that so that people could actively participate in and learn from their worship experiences. He was criticized for holding on to too much worship material that had been part of the worship life of Christians for 1,000 years because it had been a part of the church which had lost its focus on Jesus. He did that because he felt it was wrong to take away from the people things that were doctrinally correct and that the people were comfortable with in their worship life.
He was blamed for the PEASANTS rebellion because he had insisted that the peasants had the right to earn enough to supply themselves and their families with the necessities of life. He was blamed for the slaughter of the peasants because he had insisted that the governments had the right to use the sword to maintain order in society.
Luther’s view of lifestyle was consistent with his view on everything else. If God’s Word makes a clear statement on what decision I am to make in life, I must follow that direction. If the Bible says I am to rid myself of something for the good of my soul, then I must do that. If the Bible says I can profitably use something in this life for the benefit of my body and soul, then I can do that. If the Bible doesn’t speaks to an issue, I can say, “I don’t know what to do on the basis of the Bible. So, my human reason has to make a decision.”
Lord Jesus, thank You for using Luther to remind us that Your Word is also our standard for lifestyle issues.
Conc: Lord, please continue to raise up servants whose work is to teach us Your Word and how to apply it to our lives.