Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 7:22

Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached.

22. what things ye have seen ] Our Lord wished His answer to be the announcement of facts not the explanation of difficulties. His enumeration of the miracles involves an obvious reference to Isa 29:18; Isa 35:4-6;Isa 60:1-3 (see Luk 4:17-19), which would be instantly caught by one so familiar with the language of “the Evangelical Prophet” as the Baptist had shewn himself to be.

to the poor the Gospel is preached ] Thus the spiritual miracle is placed as the most convincing climax. The arrogant ignorance and hard theology of the Rabbis treated all the poor as mere peasants and nobodies. The Talmud is full of the two contemptuous names applied to them ‘people of the earth’ and ‘laics;’ and one of the charges brought against the Pharisees by our Lord was their attempt to secure the monopoly of knowledge, Luk 11:52.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Verse 22. – 28. See these verses explained at large on Mt 11:4-15.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Then Jesus answering said unto them,…. “To the disciples”, as the Persic; to both, as the Arabic: when he had wrought these cures, he turned himself to the disciples of John, and made answer to their question. The Vulgate Latin leaves out the word “Jesus”, rendering it, “and he answering”; in the following words:

go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard. They had just seen many cured of infirmities, plagues, and evil spirits, and they had heard the doctrines of the Gospel preached by him; and the former were in confirmation of the latter, and both were proofs of his being the Messiah: the particulars of which follow,

how that the blind see; that is, they that had been blind, and some that were born blind received their sight, which was what was never heard of before, from the beginning of the world; and which, as it is an instance of Christ’s almighty power, showing him to be God; so it was a fulfilment of a prophecy concerning him as the Messiah, who, when he came, was to open the eyes of the blind, Isa 35:5 and this was true, not only in a corporeal, but in a spiritual sense: and generally so it was, that when the blind received their bodily sight, they also received their spiritual sight; and both were evidences of the true Messiahship of our Lord Jesus.

The lame walk; these were among those who were cured of their infirmities; and this also was prophesied of the Messiah, and was now accomplished by Jesus, that “the lame man” should “leap as an hart”,

Isa 35:6 and so was to be considered by John, and his disciples, as another proof of his being the true Messiah:

the lepers are cleansed; of this sort were they who were cured of their plagues: the leprosy was called a plague; hence the treatise of leprosy, in the Misna, is, by the Jews, called Negaim, or “plagues”.

The deaf hear; so in the above prophecy in Isaiah, it is predicted, that “the ears of the deaf should be unstopped” in the days of the Messiah; and which therefore must be considered as a further confirmation of Jesus being he that was to come, and that another was not to be looked for.

The dead are raised: whether there were any raised at this time, or no, is not certain; but certain it is, that there had been one raised from the dead, if not in the presence of these disciples, yet just before they came to Christ, of which John had been informed by some of his disciples, if not these; and of which an account is given before in this chapter, and which is what none but the mighty God can do.

To the poor the Gospel is preached: it was preached both by the poor, the disciples of Christ, and to the poor, mean, base, and illiterate among the Jews; and also to the poor, meek, and lowly in heart, as was prophesied should be, by the Messiah, Isa 61:1 so that put all together, here were undoubted proofs, and a full demonstration, that Jesus was the Messiah; [See comments on Mt 11:4].

[See comments on Mt 11:5].

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

What things ye have seen and heard ( ). In Mt 11:4, present tense “which ye do hear and see.” Rest of verse Luke 7:22; Luke 7:23 as in Mt 11:4-6, which see for details. Luke mentions no raisings from the dead in verse 21, but the language is mainly general, while here it is specific. used here has the double notion of to trip up and to entrap and in the N.T. always means causing to sin.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

The blind receive, etc. Better, are receiving, are walking, even while Jesus is speaking and John is in doubt.

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

1) “Then Jesus answering said unto them,” (kai apokritheis eipen autois) “And replying he said to them,” to those two men who had been sent by John the Baptist to inquire of His identity, Luk 7:19. Jesus in essence asserted that He had done and was doing specifically the kind of deeds that Isaiah had prophesied that He would do, Isa 35:5-6; Isa 61:1.

2) “Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard;” (poreuthentes apangeilate loannen ha eidete kai ekousate) “You all go and report to John the things which you saw and heard,” as first hand witnesses, Luk 7:21; Mat 11:4. Do not just report what I have said, but also about what you have seen, with your own eyes as eyewitnesses, 1Jn 1:1-3.

3) “How that the blind see, the lame walk,” (tuphloi anablepousin choloi prtipatousin) “Blind ones see again and lame ones walk,” Mat 11:5; just as it was foretold by the prophet concerning the Messiah, Isa 35:5; Isa 35:7.

4) “The lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear,” (leproi katharizontai kai kophoi akousin) “Lepers are (exist as) now cleansed and deaf ones hear,” Lepers are cleansed and deaf ones hear.

5) “The dead are raised,” (nekroi egeirontai) “Dead bodies (in corpse form) are raised up,” to life again, Luk 7:14-15; Mat 11:5. Dead people are raised up from and out of death, etc.

6) “To the poor the gospel Is preached.” (ptochoi euangelizontai) “Poor people are evangelized,” or have the gospel preached to them, Mat 11:5; Luk 9:6; Luk 24:14. The poor were too frequently overlooked, but not by the Lord. For this is one of the announced purposes of His coming and being anointed of the Holy Spirit, Luk 4:18.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

(22) Go your way.The exact agreement of the answer as reported in the two Gospels is significant as to the impression which they made at the time on those who heard them.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

‘And he answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things which you have seen and heard; the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good tidings preached to them.”

And then He turned to John’s disciples and told them to go to John and tell them what they had seen and heard. ‘Tell him that the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the skin diseased are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up and the poor have the Good News preached to them.’ All this was in fulfilment of Isa 29:18-19; Isa 35:5-6; Isa 61:1, to which is added that the skin diseased are cleansed (as with Elisha – 2 Kings 7) and the dead are raised (as with Elijah (1 Kings 17) and Elisha (2 Kings 4) and compare Isa 26:19 where the raising of the dead is an eschatological sign.

The message was threefold, firstly that One was here Who paralleled and even eclipsed Elijah and Elisha, secondly that the eschatological signs were being fulfilled, and thirdly, through deafening silence, that the time of judgment was not yet. God was at work in His own time. He was not in a hurry. He was gathering the wheat into the barn. The judgment could wait until the harvest was gathered in.

‘The blind receive their sight (Luk 4:18; Luk 14:13; Luk 14:21; Luk 18:35-43; Mar 8:22-26; Mat 9:27-31; Mat 12:22; Mat 21:14), the lame walk (Luk 5:17-26; Luk 14:13; Luk 14:21; Mat 15:30; Mat 21:14; Joh 5:3; Act 3:1-10), the lepers are cleansed (Luk 5:12-16; Luk 17:11-19), and the deaf/dumb hear (Luk 11:14; Mar 7:31-37; Mat 9:32-34), the dead are raised up (Luk 7:11-17; Luk 8:40-56; John 11), the poor have good tidings preached to them (Luk 4:18; Luk 6:20; Luk 14:13; Luk 14:21).” Note that what is placed last draws attention to His central purpose. He is hear to proclaim Good News, gathering the wheat into the barn (Luk 3:17). The judgment will follow in due time.

‘The poor have the good news preached to them.’ No one had any time for the poor. The Romans trampled on them, the Greeks despised them, the priests and Levites passed them by. But God had time for them. It was the Anointed Prophet from God Who would proclaim the Good news to the poor (Isa 61:1). It was the good shepherd who would attend to the poor of the flock (Zec 11:7; Zec 11:11), the shepherd who would be smitten (Zec 13:7). For they were God’s special concern (Isa 25:4; Isa 41:17).

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

22 Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached.

Ver. 22. See Trapp on “ Mat 11:4 “ See Trapp on “ Mat 11:5 “

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

22 f.] Nearly verbatim as Matt. The expression . does not necessarily imply that more than one such miracle had taken place: the plural is generic.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Luk 7:22 contains the verbal answer, pointing the moral = go and tell your master what ye saw and heard (aorist, past at the time of reporting), and leave him to draw his own conclusion. : this refers to the son of the widow of Nain; raisings from the dead are not included in the list of marvels given in the previous verse. Lk. omits throughout the connecting with which Mt. binds the marvels into couplets. On the motive of John’s message, vide notes of Mt., ad loc.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson