We all have problems we can’t solve on our own. No matter how hard we try, some challenges remain stubbornly beyond our control. The most significant and eternal example is our inability to earn God’s forgiveness. We struggle with this reality in two ways: we resist submitting to authority, and we have trouble accepting the free gift of grace in Jesus.
God’s love comes with no strings attached; it’s firmly out of our hands and entirely in His. This feels unnatural because we’re conditioned to believe we should be in control. Our expectations of earning our keep clash with the reality that we’re not in charge. If submitting to authority is challenging, coming to terms with pure grace is even more difficult.
In this week’s passage, we see how Jesus’ authoritative grace completely upends our expectations.
The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And when the men had come to Him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to You, saying, ‘Are You the One who is to come, or shall we look for another?’” In that hour He healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind He bestowed sight. And He answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by Me.”
When John’s messengers had gone, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are dressed in splendid clothing and live in luxury are in kings’ courts. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written,
“‘Behold, I send My messenger before your face,
who will prepare your way before you.’I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” (When all the people heard this, and the tax collectors too, they declared God just, having been baptized with the baptism of John, but the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.)
“To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another,
“‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.’For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at Him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by all her children.”
Luke 7:18-35
The Specificity of Authoritative Grace Creates Doubt
Even John the Baptist, Jesus’ own cousin and forerunner, struggled with expectations about the kind of kingdom Jesus would establish. He discovered that Jesus’ kingdom wasn’t primarily political or militaristic, but spiritual. Jesus consistently chose tactics and people that seemed counterintuitive by human standards.
When doubt takes root, it forces us to look outward and examine what we’re truly putting our faith in. Genuine faith is accompanied by an ongoing process of repentance. When we find ourselves asking, “Jesus, are You really the one who can redeem the darkest places of my heart?” Jesus points us back to the cross.
The miracles Jesus performed weren’t just spectacular displays of power—they signaled our deeper spiritual need. While He healed physical ailments, these miracles illustrated His ability to heal our soul-deep problems: unworthiness, anxiety, loneliness, and fear. These internal struggles can only find their resolution in Jesus’ authoritative grace.
The Scope of Authoritative Grace Creates Offense
Look at who receives Jesus’ grace in this passage: the blind, the lame, lepers, the deaf, the dead, and the poor. These weren’t the powerful or privileged, but society’s outcasts. This challenges our merit-based thinking. If we believe we can contribute even 1% to our salvation, we’ll struggle with God’s sovereign grace. Blessed is the one who sees in faith that their death is eternal apart from the salvific work of the One Who makes dead hearts alive.
We’re wired for a world of hustling and achieving. Jesus’ authoritative grace reveals the futility of working to earn salvation through our own efforts. Trusting in His sufficient grace requires faith that He alone provides.
The Clarity of Authoritative Grace Goes Deeper Than We Want
God the Father sees us through Jesus and counts us as righteous. When others saw weakness in John the Baptist’s questions, Jesus saw a faithful proclaimer of truth. God didn’t just become human, but chose to be counted among the worst of us for our sake, purposefully taking on death and sin to demonstrate His authoritative grace.
The Purposes of Authoritative Grace Are Broader
Jesus makes the remarkable statement that even the least in God’s kingdom can be greater than John the Baptist. While many in the crowd acknowledged God’s gift of righteousness for sinners, the religious elite rejected it. They couldn’t let go of their self-righteousness and status, refusing to accept that God’s purpose was to justify sinners through Christ.
The Logic of Authoritative Grace Is Uncontrollable
We can’t reshape Jesus into the kind of Savior we prefer. As Jesus says, “Wisdom is justified by her children.” We resist His authoritative grace because it shatters our expectations, yet it’s precisely this shattering that brings us face to face with His mercy.
No matter your fear, sin, or struggle, come back to the authoritative grace of Jesus. It may not work the way we expect on this side of eternity, but our Lord redeems us in precisely the way we need.
This article is a recap of a sermon preached by Pastor Hunter Sipe at Good Shepherd Bible Church on Sunday, January 26, 2025 entitled Authority & Expectations. This sermon continues our expositional series on Luke’s gospel entitled Luke: Good News for the Rest of Us. This sermon and others are available for listening on the GSBC Sermon Podcast.
Good Shepherd Bible Church is an Acts 29 church located in Pataskala, OH serving the eastern Columbus area.
We invite you to explore our website to learn more about GSBC, consider connecting at our church, or read about our core beliefs.