Expectations. We all have them, don't we? Our lives have been full of them, since we were old enough to perceive the world around us. When we were kids, we expected our parents to take care of us. We expected Christmas to be wonderful. We expected Batman to save the planet each week on TV. (OK, we knew he would, but the Joker always gave him a challenge for a while didn't he?). As we got older, we had expectations of what our employment opportunities would be. We had expectations of what our wife or husband would be like. We had expectations about our children, perhaps.
The point is that, life has been, and always will be filled with expectations. Some are great and some are small. Some expectations are fulflilled and some are never met. So, how do we deal with this never-ending uncertainty surrounding our life expectations? We develop coping skills as we get older, to deal with these uncertainties, usually. The Bible is loaded with stories of fulfilled and unfulfilled expectations, which can provide profound inspiration for us, today.
This blog could get to be very long, if I included even a fraction of the encounters that the Bible records, where various personalities had to deal with expectations of the unfulfilled kind. In the Old Testament, for example, the entire nation of Israel, expected the coming deliverer (who later turned out to be Moses) to lead them out of Egypt to a land "flowing with milk and honey". If you recall, it didn't exactly turn out the way they thought it would, for a variety of reasons. In terms of an even greater expectation, the nation of Israel expected the coming Messiah to be a Moses-like individual, but with great power and authority. In a humorous modern analogy, I think they were looking for a cross between Superman and Moses. Hard to picture that isn't it?
I want to focus on an encounter recorded in the book of Matthew. This encounter deals with seemingly unfulfilled expectations, but was in reality simply an incomplete fulfillment, at a specific point in time. This encounter begins with John the Baptist in prison. He sends some disciples to ask Jesus if he is indeed the Messiah that they have waited for, or should they look for someone else? Jesus responds in essence: "go tell John what you see is happening here.." In so responding, Jesus knew that John would understand his answer, and know that some of John's expectations have been met, but there are more expectations yet to be fulfilled by him. John would then have been reassured that Jesus was the Messiah, even though not all his expectations have been met, just yet. Then, Jesus goes on to use this encounter as a "teaching moment" for his followers. In Matthew chapter 11, we read:
As they departed, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet. For this is he of whom it is written: ‘Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You.’ “Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
As you might already know, John, lived in the wilderness and lived a simple life there; preaching and baptizing as a forerunner to the coming Messiah. So Jesus was asking his disciples, what were you expecting? Jesus was teaching them that perhaps John was not who you thought he would be, in physical terms, but as a simple
prophet, proclaiming the advent of the Messiah, he was much greater than what you perceived.
The valuable lesson for the disciples then, as well as modern day Christians, is to trust that God will fulfill all our expectations that are based on His promises, even though at any given “snapshot in time”, they may appear unfulfilled. Additionally, a critical concept to remember is that God's promises may take a lifetime or more to be fulfilled. That's where faith and trust in Him, becomes so very important.
Blessings,
George
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