Taking Jesus At His Word

[HKHaugan]

But What About When You Doubt?

I was recently asked by a friend to explain Luke 7:23 which says, “Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.”

The key to this verse is the context in which it appears. The context starts in Ch.6 with Jesus having preached a ‘mini’ Sermon on the Mount. He ends by declaring that He and His words are foundational to living. So Ch. 7 naturally follows built on one theme, faith in Jesus. Luke starts with the faith of a high ranking Roman centurion who comes to Him completely open, not impeded by what his cohorts might think, for the sake of his sick servant. Jesus is amazed at this kind of concern that would bring a man of rank to humble himself in faith before Him.

The next encounter is Jesus seeing the funeral of a woman’s only son. The key here is ‘the only son.’ His words and action prepare for His walk in faith to the Cross and faith He will not be deserted. The Father is giving His only Son to be sacrificed for our sake and resurrected, both by faith. So by faith He raises the widow’s son from death.

Next, John the Baptizer seems to have had a spiritual relapse. He flinches in doubt. He sends his disciples to ask Jesus if He was the one to come or should they look for someone else.
This is the same John who said, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” a short time before. Jesus replies with the summary of the words of Isaiah (verses from chs.29, 35 and 61) which John seems to have forgotten. This section emphasizes the need for faith in Jesus being the fulfillment of the Word. But notice what Jesus says about John. “No one born of a woman is greater than John yet the one who is least in the Kingdom of God is greater than him.” Why? John flinched. In fact everyone flinched when Jesus was crucified.

It’s all about personal faith! Faith in Jesus combined with faith in His Word. Therefore, “Blessed is the man who does not flinch” when it comes to Jesus and His Word. We all know those moments of not speaking up for Him, or being embarrassed in some way because of Him or knowing that I might get in His way if I’m trying to win an argument for Him. It is being open to the Spirit’s leading regardless of the circumstance. Every next moment presents a spiritual challenge. Our faith, our trust and belief are always on the line. Blessed are we when we don’t flinch.

The real blessing is to know, unlike John, we are on this side of the Cross and the Resurrection having been given the gift of the Holy Spirit. We are on this side of His sacrifice that enables His indwelling through the Spirit by faith. Every believer is the least in the Kingdom but greater than any whose loyalty is to the world.

Luke closes ch.7 with the anointing of Jesus by a sinful woman who had faith in Him to the point of tears and even wiped His feet with her hair. His last words to her were, “Your faith has saved you, go in peace.” This caps the personal faith theme.

What Jesus is saying is that each person who has, in faith, accepted Him as Lord transcends the doubt of a giant like John. Think about each one of us who are unknown entities in the world. When we believe, we are above the doubt of the famous. And if we doubt we turn it over to Him for the Holy Spirit to heal through His Word, through brothers’ counsel and prayer. Doubt is redeemed when we take up our cross (being faithful) at the point the spirit of doubt assaults us. If we flinch we have a forgiving Savior from whom we can never be separated.