Tuesday, March 13, 2018
Expectations
Luke 7:19
And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to Jesus, saying, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?”
We come to one of the most perplexing passages in the Gospels, Luke 7:18-23. John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Messiah, goes into doubt and depression in a prison cell.
John’s disciples still had access to him under the terms of his detention, so that keep him abreast of the developments and happenings with the ministry of Jesus, whom he had declared to be the Lamb of God, John 1:28 & John 1:36.
The accounts in the Gospels, including here in Luke, suggest that John sent his disciples to Jesus with the perplexing question, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?”, after they told him that Jesus was doing great things, Matthew 11:2.
This is John the Baptist who was unlike another prophet who ever lived. Jesus said of him, For I say to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist; Luke 7:28.
This is John the Baptist whose birth was miraculously declared when Gabriel, the angel, broke centuries of silence to speak to his father Zacarias as he did his temple duties. “But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.”” Luke 1:13.
This is John the Baptist who first recognised Jesus when they were both in their respective mother’s wombs, And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Luke 1:41
This is John the Baptist who declared that Jesus was the Lamb of God, as we noted above. And this is John the Baptist who baptised Jesus and saw the Spirit and heard the voice of God, “When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:16,17.
How then does John the Baptist become suddenly filled with doubt enough to sends his disciples to question Jesus’ identify and credentials? It is possible that the doubt was brought on by two things. First, he could have been pushed to depression by his circumstances. He, the final prophet of God before the promised Messiah is unveiled, is languishing in a prison cell.
Prison can do that to you. And enjoying special conditions of detention, like having access to your followers, does not make prison any nicer a place. John would not be the first ‘big’ prophet to fall into depression when circumstances change in unexpected ways. Elijah executed the prophets of Baal after a dramatic confrontation in which he saw the power of God on full display. Then he prophesied powerfully to the King that rain was coming to end the drought. Jezebel hears of this and threatens his life and this prophet flees for his life, goes into hiding and cries out God to end his life. “But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, “It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!”” 1 Kings 19:4
The second reason John the Baptist may have been pushed this way could have been his unmet expectations. The Jews had some particular views of what the Messiah was going to come and do. A lot of their expectations related to national sovereignty and independence. The expected a political Messiah to establish an earthly kingdom.
Even the disciples of Jesus had their minds set on an earthly Kingdom up until the end. Just before He ascended they were still asking about it. “Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” Acts 1:6.
There is a young man who is close to our ministry who told me about a vision that he had some years ago. He sensed that God was calling Him to the ministry. He wanted to be trained and mentored into being the minister he was convinced that God was calling him to be. I was very impressed and was excited to see how God was going to be working in his life to move him from where he was to where he was calling him to be.
Instead, over the years, I was repeatedly called to rescue him from the hands of the police for one infraction or the other. One day we had a heart to heart talk and I understood from him that his expectation of how God was going to work were not coming to pass and so he had to take matters into his own hands.
Faith in God requires that we never lose sight of the sovereignty of God. Our will and our way must conform to God’s and not the other way around. We may have personal expectation, family or group expectations, or even national expectation. We pray for these to come to pass, but whenever our expectations don’t line up with God’s will He will perform His will and not ours.
We must be careful that our expectations don’t push us to a place of disappointment with God, leading to doubt and depression.
Think on these things:
- Have you ever been disappointed with God?
- What have you thought about the things you prayed for that you didn’t get?
- How have you seen God’s will for your life work itself out?
Prayer focus:
Let us pray today that our will would line up with the will of God.
In His Grace
Pastor Alex