Unmet Expectations by Jesus

ME

$2 Shopping Trolley Carts at

I was frustrated. Why?

I wasn’t expecting it...

WE

Our expectations are the standards by which we judge our interactions.

Not just with our interactions business But RELATIONSHIPS

What we expect from each other shapes whether we think it is a good relationship or a bad one.

Husband and wife, parent and child, friend to friend.

Our expectations shape how judge a relationship. And when they are not met, we can become dissapointed, angry. Maybe we withdraw quietly or become outright hostile topwards the one who has not met our expectations.

GOD

Its no different in our relationship with Jesus.

When he appears to not meet our expectations

Unmet expectations cause us to doubt and waiver as to whether we were right about the other person…

This passage is all about unmet expectations

What do we do when Jesus is not meeting our expectations?

Well John the Babptist enquires of Jesus

Matthew 11:2–3 NIV

When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”

in prison

hears about Jesus’ deeds

The ‘“One who is to come is the title for the “Messiah” in the psalms.

Jesus’ role - Are you the Messiah?

John’s roles - Am I the forerunner of the Messiah?

Have I got you wrong Jesus? Have I got my life’s purpose wrong?

Jesus assures John

Matthew 11:4–5 NIV

Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.

Jesus reminds John who he is...

OT promises of what would happen.

John’s own circumstances might cause him to doubt

Jesus then reminds the larger audience of the legitimcay of John’s propehtic ministry

Matthew 11:11 NIV

Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

Matthew 11:13–14 NIV

For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come.

John is the culmination of a long line of prophets before the arrival of the saviour, the Messiah.

John is the fulfilment of the promise in Malachi that there will be a forerunner

ELijah not literal.

Jesus Critiques those who get him and John wrong

Matthew 11:16–19 NIV

“To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others: “ ‘We played the pipe for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is proved right by her deeds.”

Dirge = mourning song

flute is calling to play and dance.

Jesus points out the hypocrisy desiring God’s deliverence, desiring God to act in the world.

People have already fixed their expectations about what God would do, and they don’t line up.

Again, encountering the trolleys

At some point, my expectations need to change...

YOU

They’re unmet expectations becuase they have wrong expectations

Unbiblical expectations

Biblical expectation but wrong timing

What do you do when Jesus is not meeting your expectations?

Let Jesus shape your expectations about Jesus

Council of Nicea 325. St Nick punches Arius

The question of what we expect Jesus to be like is one that has plagued us since Jesus walked the earth.

Jewish leaders expectations, listeners expectations, John’s expectations

Contrast of John and Jesus (JOHN vs JESUS)

John too restrictive, Jesus too indulgent

It can be tempting to mold Jesus a little into our likeness over time. To soften the edges.

Lean on the teachings of Jesus that are a little more comfortable.

Jesus is willing to dissapoint you.

So that you can struggle against your own expectations.

Thank God he did not do what was expected of him, it would mean justice on our sin. (GOSPEL)

Jesus is not the Messiah you were expecting and perhaps even wanted but he is exactly the Messiah you need.

How do we let Jesus shape our expectations about him… In the pages of the scriptures...

Let Jesus shape your expectations about life

John’s doubts are rafter understandable

Doubt is ok. Faith is not simply an unquestioning mental assent to a cerain belief, but it is life with God. It is a relationship with Jesus and like all relationships, doubt creeps in

Difficult circumstances can cause us to consider that God has shaped your expectations of your life, and God has got it wrong.

Meeting with Joe

Growing up in a affluent society where we are awash with freedoms of choice we tend towards comfort as pain is not good. As a result, anything that takes us away from the comfortable which is normally anything away from our current expectations of what ougth to be, we think serves as a sought of amber light that something is wrong.

While we may not say it out loud, often we expect that if we believe and live correctly, we'll have marriages without struggles, bank balances in the black, well-balanced and obedient children, peace among peers, and freedom from the incessant temptations of the flesh.

Life has not failed us, our expectations of life

Unexpected and unexplained suffering does not mean you are out of step with God’s purpose for you.

left ot our own devices, we will eventually place the hope of heaven onto this world

When life is freed from the the expectations of heaven.

That loss and pain will happen but the hope of a future without loss and pain will never fail

That abiding joy will come so I don’t need to anxiously suck every ounce of joy juice out of life that

That you can step into a meaningful life and career, not comfoprtable.... but meaningful

WE probably place far too many expectations on what life cshould be.

Are your expectations of Jesus and life so fixed that you are missing what he is doing. What he would require of you

What is Jesus expecting of you this year?