PT-1 Intro to “Are You the Coming One?” (Luke 7:18-23)

 

MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/17/2026 9:48 AM

My Worship Time                                             Focus: PT-1 Intro to “Are You the Coming One?”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                Reference:  Luke 7:18-23”

            Message of the verses:  “¹⁸ 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 anyone who does not take offense at Me.”

            I believe that this introduction will take more than one SD in order to finish looking at it, and as usual I will quote from John MacArthur’s commentary’s introduction so we can get a good idea where we will be heading as we look at these verses.

            “The noted eighteenth-century hymn writer Charles Wesley composed more than 7,000 hymns in his life, including the magnificent Christian hymn “Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus.”  The lyrics express rich theological truth concerning the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ:

“Come, thou long expected Jesus,

Born to set they people free;

From our fears and sins release us;

Let us find our rest in Thee.

Israel’s strength and consolation,

Hope of all the earth Thou art;

Dear desire of every nation, Joy of every longing heart.

 

Born Thy people to deliver,

Born a child and yet a King.

Born to reign in us forever,

Now thy gracious kingdom bring

By Thine own eternal spirit

Rule in all our hearts alone;

By thine all sufficient merit,

Raise us to thy Glorious throne.

            “Wesley’s identification of Jesus as ‘the long expected one’ reflects John the Baptist’s question in this passage, Are You the Expected One (i.e., The Messiah; Pss. 40:7 [cf. Heb. 10:5-7]; 118:26; Mark 11:9; Luke 3:16; John 1:27)?”

(Pss. 40:7 [cf. Heb. 10:5-7]; 118:26; Mark 11:9; Luke 3:16; John 1:27)?”

“7  Then I said, "Behold, I have come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me:’

“5  Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, "Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; 6  in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure.  7 ¶  Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’"

“26  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! We bless you from the house of the LORD.”

“9  And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“16  John answered them all, saying, "I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

“27  even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.’”

            “Jesus repeatedly claimed to be the Expected One promised in the Old Testament.  He said that Abraham joyously hoped for Him (John 8:56), Moses wrote of Him (John 5:46), and David called Him Lord (Matt. 22:41-45).  I will quote these in the order seen here.

(John 8:56)

“56  Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.’’
(John 5:46)

“46  For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me.”

(Matt. 22:41-45)

“41 ¶  Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, 42  saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.”43  He said to them, "How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying, 44  "’The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet"’? 45  If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?"

“He unbraided two of His disciples on the day of His resurrection for being ‘foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!’  concerning Him (Luke24:25), and ‘then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures’ (v. 27).

            “The Old Testament is filled with references of the Expected One that point unmistakably to Jesus Christ.”

            Now in most of the rest of MacArthur’s introduction he has a very long list of verses which is about the Old Testament references to the Lord Jesus Christ, and if I decide to quote all of those verses it will take a very long time to finish this introduction.  If I just list them, and allow my readers to look them up it will not take as long to finish this introduction.

Spiritual Meaning for my Life Today:  It certainly means very much to me that the Lord Jesus Christ came to planet earth in order to take my place on the cross so that one day I will be with Him, serving Him even more that I am serving Him here on planet earth.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trusting the Lord to see me through another day, as the mourning for the loss of my wife continues.  I know she is in heaven serving the Lord and is happier than she has ever been, and for that I am thankful, however her passing has left a hole in my heart that causes me much sorrow.

8/17/2026 10:29 AM