Bible Study Luke 7:23 I don't get it

[jodetoad]

NIV:
Luke 7:18 John's disciples told him about all these things. Calling two of them,
19 he sent them to the Lord to ask, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?"
20 When the men came to Jesus, they said, "John the Baptist sent us to you to ask, 'Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?' "
21 At that very time Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind.
22 So he replied to the messengers, "Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.
23 Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me."

I only have a couple other Bibles, still learning the online tools.
7:18-22 stays pretty much the same, so not pasting here.

In ESV, 7:23 = And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.
NetFree, 7:34 = Blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.

7:23 doesn't seem related to the rest. Who would be offended? John was eagerly awaiting Jesus, only reason for offense I can think of is competitiveness, Jesus became more popular and powerful. Who would "fall away"?

What do you think?

 

[kimberlie]

Click here to get an idea of what the word, "offended" means in that passage. http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G4624&t=KJV

Jesus is talking about someone allowing his or her dire circumstances to cause them to disapprove of Jesus not coming to their rescue, so to speak. To doubt who He is. To allow discouragement to cause their trust in Jesus to be overshadowed by their "trust" in their horrible circumstances.

Everyone who has a relationship with Jesus goes through great trials that can cause them to doubt the truth. Death, depression, child in trouble - all sorts of things can take our focus off of Christ and put it on the circumstance. Just like Peter taking his eyes off of Jesus and watching the waves instead holding Christ's gaze. When he saw Jesus, he initially had more faith in Jesus than the waves. Getting out of the boat was an act of tremendous faith. But when he took his eyes off of Christ, his faith in destruction of the waves overshadowed his faith in Christ and he sank.

John the Baptist was in prison when he questioned Jesus. (Matthew 11). And, in my own opinion, knew that he may not get out of prison alive this time. He knew that had insulted Herod and Herodia. I'm don't think he knew that he was going to be murdered, but I think he was in a period of great emotional distress. His horrible circumstances were right in front of him and he couldn't avoid it or get away.

And he doubted. He, along with the disciples and others, had a different expectation of a Messiah. They saw a “hail-the-conquering-hero” kind of guy. And....here he found himself rotting in prison. It wore his spirit down. And he wondered why Jesus wasn't coming to save him.

Jesus didn't come and save him and it was terribly hard on Jesus. He didn't just flippantly not show up.

But He did send the message of what all He was doing and for John not to lose heart, or "fall away" by allowing his circumstances that were a HOT MESS to cause John to fear to the point that he doubted who Jesus was.

 

[jodetoad]

Thanks, Kimberlie, makes more sense now.

John being in prison, imagine his worry if Jesus was NOT the expected one! John's task would not be completed. Can see why strain might make John doubt.

Saved the blueletter link, will try to figure out how that works, none of my Bibles has word definition information or background like that.

(Are you a pianist also?)

 

[kimberlie]

Thanks, Kimberlie, makes more sense now.

John being in prison, imagine his worry if Jesus was NOT the expected one! John's task would not be completed. Can see why strain might make John doubt.

Saved the blueletter link, will try to figure out how that works, none of my Bibles has word definition information or background like that.

(Are you a pianist also?)

Yes, I play. I've been the church pianist since was a teenager. (I'm 49 now!) You play, too?

Go here to use Strong's Concordance. Strong's Concordance with Hebrew and Greek Lexicon No lexicon is perfect, but Strong's is pretty good. It's based on the King James and helps with the Hebrew and Greek from which it was based.

The King James is not my preference, but I do read it along with other translations.

Just type in the word that you are looking for and it will show you how many times that word is in the King James Bible and what Hebrew or Greek word it stems from.

 

[jodetoad]

I'm 59, played piano since age 4. Love to play, especially classical.

Thanks for the tips, I'm kind of new at this. Even though I too have been a church musician for years, I wasn't always a serious Christian until just lately, just kind of went with the flow.