Seeing is Believing
Luke 7:18-23
Rabbi Rev. Dr. Michael H. Koplitz
Luke 7:18 -23 The disciples of John also reported to him about all these things. 19 And after summoning two of his disciples, John sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are You the Coming One, or are we to look for another?” 20 When the men came to Him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to You, to ask, ‘Are You the Coming One, or are we to look for another?’” 21 At that very time He cured many people of diseases and afflictions and evil spirits; and He gave sight to many who were blind. 22 And He answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: people who were blind receive sight, people who limped walk, people with leprosy are cleansed and people who were deaf hear, dead people are raised up, and people who are poor have the gospel preached to them. 23 “And blessed is 1anyone who does not take offense at Me.”
Seeing is believing. In the first trilogy of Star Wars, in the last movie titled return of the Jedi, at the very end, when Darth Vader was about to die, he said to his son Luke “remove my mask so I can see you with my own eyes.” When I read the passage in Luke chapter 7 verses 18 to 23 that scene immediately came into my mind. What we have two of John the Baptist disciples coming to Jesus and asking him if he is the one that they should expect. It is an interesting question, and it assumes that the reader knows what was to be expected.
So, what was to be expected? What was it that John was looking for? Of course, the answer is God’s Messiah. What was all the confusion then? Well, that’s a lot of questions to ask isn’t it, so let’s take a look them together. Why would I put them together because they are asking the same thing just in different ways. The problem during Jesus’s time was that the messianic tradition of what was going to happen when the Messiah showed up is not what happened when Jesus was on earth.
The messianic tradition in Jesus’ day was that the people were expecting the Messiah to come from God who would then kick out the oppressive Romans. He would then reestablish the kingdom of David, the physical kingdom on earth, with the power and the national pride that David had at the time. It would be a time of prosperity, a golden age that occurred when David was king and would recur when the Messiah came. The Jewish people than could be gathered back into their land which would’ve been in the time of Jesus Judea and the Galilee. The 10 lost tribes that got scattered from the Assyrian invasion hundreds of years ago would be brought back into the holy land.
A group called the Zealots that existed during Jesus’s time were so strong in this belief that they were ready at any time to pull out their swords and fight the Romans to the death. It is believed that the Zealots had stashes of military weapons in different places in Judea and the Galilee and all they were waiting for was for the Messiah to give them the word. When we read the Gospels and we concentrate on Judas Iscariot, who was a Zealot, we can see that he wanted this fight to start. He was so convinced that the Messiah was going to bring an end to Roman rule that he was ready to do anything to make that happen. A view of what Judas did by turning Jesus in was that he believed that when the Roman showed up in the garden of Gethsemane and grabbed Jesus that the Zealot revolt would’ve started.
If you remember the story from the garden of Gethsemane Peter pulled out a sword and cut off the ear of one of the servants who was in the party coming to pick up Jesus and arrest him. Judas would have been ecstatic thinking here we go the revolt will begin. Judas also would’ve known where the stash of weapons was which were hidden in the garden of Gethsemane. And then Jesus stopped the whole thing to remind them that he did not come to create a military revolt.
It took Jesus’ disciples time, but they eventually figured out that the Messiah Jesus came to restore the spirituality and belief of the people in God. The mystical books of Judaism, called the Zohar, tell us that there was going to be two appearances of the Messiah. It comes from Zachariah chapter nine verse nine. The mystical belief is that the Messiah would come for the first time and would restore the spirituality of the kingdom. That’s exactly what Jesus was trying to do. The second time the Messiah will come the military takeover of the world for God and the reestablishment of the kingdom of David. We can see that when we read the book of the Revelation.
Christian beliefs says that the Messiah Jesus came the first time to establish the spiritual kingdom, the kingdom of God and in Revelation, it tells us that he will return, and the end of the world will occur with all the fighting and blood and guts would occur then. Therefore, Christianity knew something about the messianic traditions that were developing in the mystical parts of Judaism in those couple of hundred years after Jesus’ death. Also, the idea of two messiahs was known to the people of the Roman world. For the Mithras cult said that Mithra came for the first time to restore the spiritual kingdom and that he was going to return again as a military leader. Therefore, the idea of two messiahs was very well known in ancient days. As Christians we know who that Messiah is and that our Messiah Jesus is one day going to return. When is he going to return? That’s the mystery of the Christian faith. We must continue to have our faith that Jesus will someday return.
Jesus could return at any moment. Well not at this particular moment. So, we have to think about when will be our time to see Jesus face-to-face? That time will be either when he returns or upon our death when we come before God and Jesus is with us.
The most difficult part for people who are looking into Christianity from the outside, which I was one of, is seeing is believing. There are people that have pure faith that Jesus is there, and God is on their side, and they don’t have to see anything. But honestly for most people seeing is believing and they want to see something. Even in Jesus’ day the people asked for signs and miracles. They wanted to see the power of the Messiah through Jesus to believe. That’s what this passage is all about. John’s disciples came and said are you the one and Jesus said seeing is believing.
The prophets of old said the Messiah would be able to heal the sick and cure the blind and all these other things that are listed in these verses between 18 and 23. The disciples of John who were there witnessed all these things. Therefore, Jesus said go back to John and tell him that you have seen all the signs of the Messiah. Again, seeing is believing for them.
What about today? We can see the influence and the miracles of God in our everyday lives if we’re looking for them. One of the things you have to do is believe that God and Jesus are at work in the world. There are many times where it does not look that way, let’s be honest. However, if you are looking hard enough you can still find God and Jesus even in tragic times. What do I mean by that? I bring up the floods that happened at Asheville North Carolina that occurred this year in 2024.
Nature brought a hurricane in, and it parked itself over North Carolina causing massive flooding. It devastated that town. You’re probably immediately thinking where in the heck is God in Christ in this? Let me tell you where they came into play. Do you remember all the people that were ready to rush down to North Carolina to help the people in that town and are going to be there for some time as they rebuild? That’s God and Jesus working through people to help those who need help. Many churches collected materials and dollars and sent them to North Carolina. Churches will be sending groups of people who want to help rebuild that community to North Carolina for years to come until the work is done. That’s seeing God and Christ in action.
It is your and my efforts to help people who need help that will show others who are outside of the faith what it means to have faith in Christ and God. We are the hands, the arms, the legs, and the feet of our Lord Jesus on earth. We are the ones that can physically do things that will show Christ’s love through us to other people especially those who don’t know him. I was brought into believing in Christ by watching others do things that they may not have normally done and telling me that it was God in Christ that led them. As a believer in Christ, I believe that each of us can be influenced by the lessons that Jesus gave us in the Gospels to go out and help other people.
Seeing is believing. Let people in your community see Christ in you by living by Jesus’ examples that we find in the Gospels. It is truly the best way to live your life and to show your faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
