22 And answering them he said, Go back and give news to John of what you have seen, and the things which have come to your ears; the blind now see, those who had no power in their legs are walking, lepers are made clean, those who had no hearing now have their ears open, dead men come to life again, and the poor have the good news given to them.
Then the eyes of the blind will see, and the ears which are stopped will be open. Then will the feeble-footed be jumping like a roe, and the voice which was stopped will be loud in song: for in the waste land streams will be bursting out, and waters in the dry places.
The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because I am marked out by him to give good news to the poor; he has sent me to make well those who are broken-hearted; to say that the prisoners will be let go, and the blind will see, and to make the wounded free from their chains,
And in that day those whose ears are stopped will be hearing the words of the book; and the eyes of the blind will see through the mist and the dark. And the poor will have their joy in the Lord increased, and those in need will be glad in the Holy One of Israel.
The spirit of the Lord is on me, because I am marked out by him to give good news to the poor; he has sent me to make the broken-hearted well, to say that the prisoners will be made free, and that those in chains will see the light again; To give knowledge that the year of the Lord's good pleasure has come, and the day of punishment from our God; to give comfort to all who are sad; To give them a fair head-dress in place of dust, the oil of joy in place of the clothing of grief, praise in place of sorrow; so that they may be named trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, and so that he may have glory.
Give ear, my dear brothers; are not those who are poor in the things of this world marked out by God to have faith as their wealth, and for their heritage the kingdom which he has said he will give to those who have love for him?
To make their eyes open, turning them from the dark to the light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may have forgiveness of sins and a heritage among those who are made holy by faith in me.
And at Lystra there was a certain man, who from birth had been without the use of his feet, never having had the power of walking. This man was giving ear to the preaching of Paul, who, looking at him, and seeing that he had faith to be made well, Said in a loud voice, Get up on your feet. And, jumping up, he went walking about.
And a certain man who from birth had had no power in his legs, was taken there every day, and put down at the door of the Temple which is named Beautiful, requesting money from those who went into the Temple; He then, seeing Peter and John going into the Temple, made a request to them. And Peter, looking at him, with John, said, Keep your eyes on us. And he gave attention to them, hoping to get something from them. But Peter said, I have no silver or gold, but what I have, that I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up on your feet. And he took him by his right hand, lifting him up; and straight away his feet and the bones of his legs became strong, And, jumping up, he got on to his feet and went into the Temple with them, walking and jumping and giving praise to God.
The man said in answer, Why, here is a strange thing! You have no knowledge where he comes from though he gave me the use of my eyes. We have knowledge that God does not give ear to sinners, but if any man is a worshipper of God and does his pleasure, to him God's ears are open. In all the years nobody has ever before seen the eyes of a man blind from birth made open. If this man did not come from God he would be unable to do anything.
And it came about that when he got near Jericho, a certain blind man was seated by the side of the road, making requests for money from those who went by. And hearing the sound of a great number of people going by, he said, What is this? And they said to him, Jesus of Nazareth is going by. And he said in a loud voice, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me. And those who were in front made protests and said to him, Be quiet: but he said all the more, O Son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus, stopping, gave orders that he was to come to him, and when he came near, he said to him, What would you have me do for you? And he said, Lord, that I may be able to see again. And Jesus said, See again: your faith has made you well. And straight away he was able to see, and he went after him, giving glory to God; and all the people when they saw it gave praise to God.
And when he went into a certain small town he came across ten men who were lepers, and they, keeping themselves at a distance, Said, in loud voices, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. And when he saw them he said, Go, and let the priests see you. And, while they were going, they were made clean. And one of them, when he saw that he was clean, turning back, gave praise to God in a loud voice; And, falling down on his face at the feet of Jesus, he gave the credit to him; and he was a man of Samaria. And Jesus said, Were there not ten men who were made clean? where are the nine? Have not any of them come back to give glory to God, but only this one from a strange land? And he said to him, Get up, and go on your way; your faith has made you well.
At that time, he made a number of people free from their diseases and their pains, and from evil spirits; and to others who were blind he gave back the use of their eyes.
And it came about that while he was in one of the towns, there was a leper there: and when he saw Jesus he went down on his face in prayer to him, saying, Lord, if it is your pleasure, you have power to make me clean. And he put out his hand to him and said, It is my pleasure; be clean. And straight away his disease went from him. And he gave him orders: Say nothing to any man, but let the priest see you and give an offering so that you may be made clean, as the law of Moses says, and for a witness to them. But news of him went out all the more, in every direction, and great numbers of people came together to give hearing to his words and to be made well from their diseases.
And they came to him with one who had no power of hearing and had trouble in talking; and they made a request to him to put his hands on him. And he took him on one side from the people privately, and put his fingers into his ears, and he put water from his mouth on the man's tongue with his finger; And looking up to heaven, he took a deep breath, and said to him, Ephphatha, that is, Be open. And his ears became open, and the band of his tongue was made loose, and his words became clear. And he gave them orders not to give news of it to anyone; but the more he made this request, so much the more they made it public. And they were overcome with wonder, saying, He has done all things well: he even gives back the power of hearing and the power of talking to those who have been without them.
And the blind and the broken in body came to him in the Temple, and he made them well.
And there came to him great numbers of people having with them those who were broken in body, or blind, or without voice, or wounded, or ill in any way, and a number of others; they put them down at his feet and he made them well: So that the people were full of wonder when they saw that those who had no voice were talking, the feeble were made strong, those whose bodies were broken had the power of walking, and the blind were able to see: and they gave glory to the God of Israel.
And when he had come into the house, the blind men came to him; and Jesus said to them, Have you faith that I am able to do this? They said to him, Yes, Lord. Then he put his hand on their eyes, saying, As your faith is, let it be done to you. And their eyes were made open. And Jesus said to them sharply, Let no man have knowledge of it.
But I will still have among you a quiet and poor people, and they will put their faith in the name of the Lord.
See, I will take them from the north country, and get them from the inmost parts of the earth, and with them the blind and the feeble-footed, the woman with child and her who is in birth-pains together: a very great army, they will come back here.
And I will take the blind by a way of which they had no knowledge, guiding them by roads strange to them: I will make the dark places light before them, and the rough places level. These things will I do and will not give them up.
I the Lord have made you the vessel of my purpose, I have taken you by the hand, and kept you safe, and I have given you to be an agreement to the people, and a light to the nations: To give eyes to the blind, to make free the prisoners from the prison, to let out those who are shut up in the dark.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Luke 7
Commentary on Luke 7 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 7
Lu 7:1-10. Centurion's Servant Healed.
(See on Mt 8:5-13.)
4. he was worthy—a testimony most precious, coming from those who probably were strangers to the principle from which he acted (Ec 7:1).
5. loved our nation—Having found that "salvation was of the Jews," he loved them for it.
built, &c.—His love took this practical and appropriate form.
Lu 7:11-17. Widow of Nain's Son Raised to Life. (In Luke only).
11. Nain—a small village not elsewhere mentioned in Scripture, and only this once probably visited by our Lord; it lay a little to the south of Mount Tabor, about twelve miles from Capernaum.
12. carried out—"was being carried out." Dead bodies, being ceremonially unclean, were not allowed to be buried within the cities (though the kings of David's house were buried m the city of David), and the funeral was usually on the same day as the death.
only son, &c.—affecting particulars, told with delightful simplicity.
13. the Lord—"This sublime appellation is more usual with Luke and John than Matthew; Mark holds the mean" [Bengel].
saw her, he had compassion, &c.—What consolation to thousands of the bereaved has this single verse carried from age to age!
14, 15. What mingled majesty and grace shines in this scene! The Resurrection and the Life in human flesh, with a word of command, bringing back life to the dead body; Incarnate Compassion summoning its absolute power to dry a widow's tears!
16. visited his people—more than bringing back the days of Elijah and Elisha (1Ki 17:17-24; 2Ki 4:32-37; and see Mt 15:31).
Lu 7:18-35. The Baptist's Message the Reply, and Consequent Discourse.
(See on Mt 11:2-14.)
29, 30. And all the people that heard—"on hearing (this)." These are the observations of the Evangelist, not of our Lord.
and the publicans—a striking clause.
justified God, being baptized, &c.—rather, "having been baptized." The meaning is, They acknowledged the divine wisdom of such a preparatory ministry as John's, in leading them to Him who now spake to them (see Lu 1:16, 17); whereas the Pharisees and lawyers, true to themselves in refusing the baptism of John, set at naught also the merciful design of God in the Saviour Himself, to their own destruction.
31-35. the Lord said, &c.—As cross, capricious children, invited by their playmates to join them in their amusements, will play with them neither at weddings nor funerals (juvenile imitations of the joyous and mournful scenes of life), so that generation rejected both John and his Master: the one because he was too unsocial—more like a demoniac than a rational man; the other, because He was too much the reverse, given to animal indulgences, and consorting with the lowest classes of society. But the children of Wisdom recognize and honor her, whether in the austere garb of the Baptist or in the more attractive style of his Master, whether in the Law or in the Gospel, whether in rags or in royalty, for "the full soul loatheth an honeycomb, but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet" (Pr 27:7).
Lu 7:36-50. Christ's Feet Washed with Tears.
37, 38. a sinner—one who had led a profligate life. Note.—There is no ground whatever for the popular notion that this woman was Mary Magdalene, nor do we know what her name was. (See on Lu 8:2.)
an alabaster box of ointment—a perfume vessel, in some cases very costly (Joh 12:5). "The ointment has here a peculiar interest, as the offering by a penitent of what had been an accessory in her unhallowed work of sin" [Alford].
38. at his feet behind him—the posture at meals being a reclining one, with the feet out behind.
began to wash, &c.—to "water with a shower." The tears, which were quite involuntary, poured down in a flood upon His naked feet, as she bent down to kiss them; and deeming them rather fouled than washed by this, she hastened to wipe them off with the only towel she had, the long tresses of her own hair, "with which slaves were wont to wash their masters' feet" [Stier].
kissed—The word signifies "to kiss fondly, to caress," or to "kiss again and again," which Lu 7:45 shows is meant here. What prompted this? Much love, springing from a sense of much forgiveness. So says He who knew her heart (Lu 7:47). Where she had met with Christ before, or what words of His had brought life to her dead heart and a sense of divine pardon to her guilty soul, we know not. But probably she was of the crowd of "publicans and sinners" whom Incarnate Compassion drew so often around Him, and heard from His lips some of those words such as never man spake, "Come unto Me, all ye that labour," &c. No personal interview had up to this time taken place between them; but she could keep her feelings no longer to herself, and having found her way to Him (and entered along with him, Lu 7:45), they burst forth in this surpassing yet most artless style, as if her whole soul would go out to Him.
39. the Pharisee—who had formed no definite opinion of our Lord, and invited Him apparently to obtain materials for a judgment.
spake within himself, &c.—"Ha! I have Him now; He plainly knows nothing of the person He allows to touch Him; and so, He can be no prophet." Not so fast, Simon; thou hast not seen through thy Guest yet, but He hath seen through thee.
40-43. Like Nathan with David, our Lord conceals His home thrust under the veil of a parable, and makes His host himself pronounce upon the case. The two debtors are the woman and Simon; the criminality of the one was ten times that of the other (in the proportion of "five hundred" to "fifty"); but both being equally insolvent, both are with equal frankness forgiven; and Simon is made to own that the greatest debtor to forgiving mercy will cling to her Divine Benefactor with the deepest gratitude. Does our Lord then admit that Simon was a forgiving man? Let us see.
44-47. I entered … no water—a compliment to guests. Was this "much love?" Was it any?
45. no kiss—of salutation. How much love was here? Any at all?
46. with oil … not anoint—even common olive oil in contrast with the woman's "ointment" or aromatic balsam. What evidence was thus afforded of any feeling which forgiveness prompts? Our Lord speaks this with delicate politeness, as if hurt at these inattentions of His host, which though not invariably shown to guests, were the customary marks of studied respect and regard. The inference is plain—only one of the debtors was really forgiven, though in the first instance, to give room for the play of withheld feelings, the forgiveness of both is supposed in the parable.
47. Her sins which are many—"Those many sins of hers," our Lord, who admitted how much more she owed than the Pharisee, now proclaims in naked terms the forgiveness of her guilt.
for—not because, as if love were the cause of forgiveness, but "inasmuch as," or "in proof of which." The latter clause of the verse, and the whole structure of the parable, plainly show this to be the meaning.
little forgiven … loveth little—delicately ironical intimation of no love and no forgiveness in the present case.
48. said unto her, &c.—an unsought assurance, usually springing up unexpected in the midst of active duty and warm affections, while often it flies from those who mope and are paralyzed for want of it.
49, 50. they that sat … Who is this, &c.—No wonder they were startled to hear One who was reclining at the same couch, and partaking of the same hospitalities with themselves, assume the awful prerogative of "even forgiving sins." But so far from receding from this claim, or softening it down, our Lord only repeats it, with two precious additions: one, announcing what was the one secret of the "forgiveness" she had experienced, and which carried "salvation" in its bosom; the other, a glorious dismissal of her in that "peace" which she had already felt, but is now assured she has His full warrant to enjoy! This wonderful scene teaches two very weighty truths: (1) Though there be degrees of guilt, insolvency, or inability to wipe out the dishonor done to God, is common to all sinners. (2) As Christ is the Great Creditor to whom all debt, whether great or small, contracted by sinners is owing, so to Him belongs the prerogative of forgiving it. This latter truth is brought out in the structure and application of the present parable as it is nowhere else. Either then Jesus was a blaspheming deceiver, or He is God manifest in the flesh.