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Luke 7:18-23 – Wowed At The Main Event
Wowed at the Main Event (Luke 7:18-23)
I am embarrassed. I don’t inherently get wowed at what’s impressive to God. The blind receive their sight. Wow! The lame walk. Wow again! Lepers are healed. The deaf can hear. The dead are raised? Yes, wondrously the dead are raised! Wow! Wow! and Wow! I would have loved to have witnessed these and been wowed! Oh by the way, “And the poor have the gospel preached to them”. Eh. (Lk.7:22).
Admit it. It doesn’t carry the same viseral punch. I have seen the gospel preached to the poor. I can get more excited at a windmill dunk or no-look pass.
Shame on me. While healing is an act of grace; the gospel is an official offer of grace. Jesus hadn’t died yet so this good news is about God caring for those forgotten that they too could be forgiven without an expensive sacrifice. All the physical miracles by Jesus were pointing to Jesus having the power to heal spiritually. These acts of physical wonder were in reality the warm-up act.
While messianic miracles were prophesied (Isaiah 35:5-6); the most inherently divine act was prophesied in Isaiah 61:1. That chapter carries a lot of spiritual wows. John the Baptist needed to hear this (Lk.7:18-19) and so do we. Both he and we get tired of waiting for something spectacular from God. So Jesus gives His cousin a beatitude: “Blessed are those who are not offended by Me” (Lk.7:23).
So be blessed and be wowed at the main event – the gospel. God cares. God forgives. God gives grace. WOW!
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