What does Luke 7:23 mean?
For three years, the Messiah declares and brings the kingdom of God to people who frequently misunderstand His role; they doubt He is enough. His disciples want Him to be an earthly king so they can rule with Him (Mark 10:35–37). The Pharisees want a religious example who follows and affirms their traditional Oral Law (Mark 7:1–5; Matthew 23:23). The Zealots want a conquering hero who will drive out the Roman occupiers and bring freedom to the Jews. The Nazarenes want someone they haven't watched grow up (Luke 4:22–30; Matthew 13:55–57).Even John the Baptist is unsettled. He knows Jesus has performed the miracles of a prophet: healing the lame and lepers and raising the dead. He knows Jesus has performed miracles which specifically identify the Messiah, such as bringing sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf (Isaiah 35:5). But Jesus evidently still falls short of John's expectations, because He has not—yet—completed all the prophecies associated with the Messiah. He hasn't freed the imprisoned, including John (Mark 6:17; Luke 7:18–22). And, although He preaches that judgment is coming, He hasn't brought God's wrath on the wicked. In fact, judgment doesn't even seem to be part of His plan (John 3:17).
This incident is a powerful reminder to those who think the world would believe in Jesus if only He'd show Himself. All Jesus can provide is the evidence His Father has instructed Him to give (John 5:19), and it will not convince or satisfy everyone (Luke 16:19–31). Despite His presence right in front of them, Jesus still asks His followers for faith. Hebrews 11:6 says, "without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him." The evidence for God is plentiful and sufficient (Romans 1:18–32), and yet faith is still necessary to become His child (John 1:12; 3:16–18).
"Blessed" can refer to happiness or privilege, as resulting from God's favor. The tense of "blessed" in the Greek indicates a singular subject; Jesus is specifically speaking of John. "Anyone," as translated in the NIV, emerges from Jesus' Greek phrasing, also rendered as "the one who" or "whoever;" Jesus' comment applies to any person.
"Offended" can mean "led into sin;" here, however, the sin in question is unbelief. In the case of a formerly professing person who turns away from faith, this is called "apostasy." The blessing here is on anyone who can look beyond their own understanding—their limited, self-defined, preference-driven view—of what the Messiah should be, choosing to have faith in Jesus. As Jesus will later teach, some cannot accept that He is who the Messiah is supposed to be. To them, He is like a stone that will cause them to stumble away from God's truth and be crushed (Matthew 21:44).
John's disciples leave with the message, but Jesus doesn't leave the topic of John there. He goes on to tell the people that John is the greatest man to live up until that point. He is the pinnacle of God's prophets—before the coming of the Holy Spirit (Luke 7:28).
