Luke 7:23

7:19-35 To his miracles in the kingdom of nature, Christ adds this in the kingdom of grace, To the poor the gospel is preached. It clearly pointed out the spiritual nature of Christ's kingdom, that the messenger he sent before him to prepare his way, did it by preaching repentance and reformation of heart and life. We have here the just blame of those who were not wrought upon by the ministry of John Baptist or of Jesus Christ himself. They made a jest of the methods God took to do them good. This is the ruin of multitudes; they are not serious in the concerns of their souls. Let us study to prove ourselves children of Wisdom, by attending the instructions of God's word, and adoring those mysteries and glad tidings which infidels and Pharisees deride and blaspheme.

And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me. The Arabic version renders it, "blessed is he that doubts not of me". The Persic and Ethiopic versions both add to the text, the former rendering the words thus, "blessed is he that is not brought into offence and doubt concerning me"; and the latter thus, "blessed are they who do not deny me, and are not offended in me": particular regard is had to the disciples of John, who both doubted of Christ as the Messiah, and were offended at his popularity and success; See Gill on Matthew 11:6 .

Verse 23. - And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me. Our Lord here shows that he understood that this question came from the Baptist himself. Dean Plumptre calls attention to the tender way in which our Lord dealt with the impatience which John's question implied. "A warning was needed, but it was given in the form of a beatitude, which it was still open to him to claim and make his own. Not to find a stumbling-block in the manner in which Christ had actually come, there was this condition of entering fully into the blessedness of his kingdom." Luke 7:23

23 . shall not be offended ] i.e. caused to stumble. For instances of the stumbling-block which some made for themselves of incidents in our Lord’s career, see Matthew 13:55-57; Mat 22:42 ; John 6:60 ; John 6:66 ; and compare Isaiah 8:14-15 ; 1 Corinthians 1:23 ; 1 Corinthians 2:14 ; 1 Peter 2:7-8 . The word skandalon (Latin offendiculum , Hebr. mokesh ‘snare,’ and mikshol ‘stumbling-block’) means anything over which a person falls (e.g. a stone in the road) or on which he treads and is thrown.

Acts 22:2 . προσεφώνει : only in Luke and Paul, except Matthew 11:16 , cf. Matthew 6:13 ; Matt 7:32; Matthew 13:12 ; Matthew 23:20 , Matthew 21:40 , see Friedrich, p. 29, for the frequency of other compounds of φωνεῖν in Luke.— μᾶλλον παρ . ἡσυχ : the phrase is used similarly in Plut., Coriol. , 18, Dion Hal., ii., 32, and LXX, Job 34:29 ; on the fondness of St. Luke for σιγή , σιγᾶν , ἡσυχάζειν , and the characteristic way in which silence results from his words and speeches, or before or during the speech, see Friedrich, p. 26, cf. Luke 14:4 ; Luke 15:26 , Acts 11:18 ; Acts 15:12 , Acts 12:17 ; Acts 21:40 , and for ἡσυχάζειν , 1 Thessalonians 4:11 , Luke 14:4 , Acts 11:18 ; Acts 21:14 , so too παρέχειν with accusative of the thing offered by any one, Acts 19:24 , Acts 28:2 ( Acts 16:16 ). The verb is used only in Matthew 26:10 , and parallel, Mark 14:6 , except in Luke and Paul, Luke 6:29 ; Luke 7:4 ; Luke 11:7 ; Luke 18:5 , Acts 16:16 ; Acts 17:31 , and as above, and five times in St. Paul’s Epistles.

This verse is not found in the sermon on the mount as recorded by Matthew, but is recorded by him in Matthew 12:35. See Barnes on "Matthew 12:35" . {b} "A good man" Matthew 12:35. ## THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE - Chapter 6 - Verse 46 ## Verse 46. See Barnes on "Matthew 7:21" ; See Barnes on "Matthew 7:22" ; See Barnes on "Matthew 7:23" ; See Barnes on ## "Matthew 7:24" ; See Barnes on "Matthew 7:25" ; See Barnes on "Matthew 7:26" ; See Barnes on "Matthew 7:27" . {c} "call ye me good" Malachi 1:6; Matthew 7:21; 25:11; Luke 13:25; Galatians 6:7 ## THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE - Chapter 6 - Verse 47 ## Verse 47. See Barnes on "Matthew 7:21" ; See Barnes on "Matthew 7:22" ; See Barnes on "Matthew 7:23" ; See Barnes on ## "Matthew 7:24" ; See Barnes on "Matthew 7:25" ; See Barnes on "Matthew 7:26" ; See Barnes on "Matthew 7:27" . ## THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE - Chapter 6 - Verse 48 ## Verse 48. See Barnes on "Matthew 7:21" ; See Barnes on " Matthew 7:22"; See Barnes on "Matthew 7:23" ; See Barnes on ## " Matthew 7:24"; See Barnes on "Matthew 7:25" ; See Barnes on " Matthew 7:26"; See Barnes on "Matthew 7:27" . {d} "is like a man" Matthew 7:25,26 {e} "could not shake it" 2 Pe 1:10; Jude 1:24 {f} "founded upon a rock" Psalms 46:1-3; 62:2 ## THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE - Chapter 6 - Verse 49 ## Verse 49.