What To Expect When You're Expecting

“You keep using that word. I don’t think it means what you think it means.”

(with picture of Inigo Montoya on screen)

Good morning and Happy Palm Sunday everyone. My name is Andrew Southwick and I am honored to be with you this morning.

We kick off the Holy Week remembering Christ’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem, which would precede, of course, His death and resurrection, thus securing eternal life for all who would believe in Him.

And certainly, in believing in Jesus, we’ve come to have various expectations about who He is, and what He does in and through our lives. But while we all have expectations of/for Jesus, how many of us have accurate expectations of Jesus?

I’m not saying that we lower our expectations because Jesus doesn’t always do what we want Him to do, but to dig into God’s Word, learn what He revealed through the Scriptures about Himself, and then expect Him to do what He has said He will do for now and forevermore, and not just wish that He will do something that is only momentarily convenient for us.

Indeed, life doesn’t turn out the we plan it, does it?

My ethnic ambiguity creates misguided expectations brief example

My expectations for myself as a new husband (mineral oil) illustration

Its true. Our expectations of ourselves, of each other, and of Jesus are many times not wholly accurate, and sometimes flat out incorrect. Now, this is nothing new. When Jesus arrived in Jerusalem He was given a Savior’s welcome, and rightfully so. But as we will see this morning, the great majority of those who cheered for Jesus, would turn on Him 5 days later and demand that He be killed for no reason, save maybe that He did not meet their expectations of Him.

And as we journey through the Scriptures today, I invite you to take an inventory of your own expectations of Jesus, and line them up with the truth of what will be shown to us today in God’s Word. Far too many Christians are frustrated and disillusioned with God because they do not have accurate expectations of Him, and maybe some of you can relate to that this morning.

If so, my prayer is that the examination of God’s Word today will be an encouragement to you, as much as it is a proclamation of God’s truth to all those who have ears to hear. And it is my prayer that as you are encouraged, that you will also know a next step that you can take as you follow Jesus, whether its your first step with Him, or your 101st step, so that you can consistently apply His truths in your lives as soon as you hear them today.

Let’s pray as we go to God’s Word.

First, we are going to see the macro-picture, so to speak. And it comes from John chapter 12, starting in verse 9.

John 12:12–19 ESV

The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!” His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.”

John 12:12–20 ESV

The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!” His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.” Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks.

John 12:9–16 ESV

When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus. The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!” His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him.

Let me set up the scene really quickly:

During the first century, Rome had dominion over Israel.  In about 63 BCE, after much turmoil and civil war within Israel, the Romans invaded and conquered Jerusalem. In order to keep control over the Galilean and Judean peoples, Julius Caesar and the Senate installed Herod as king.  It would take Herod three years to finally gain all control over the still hostile Jews, but he would in due course keep a firm rule over the whole region.  He eventually became one of Augustus’ favorite military leaders, and was admired by the new emperor because of his immense development program.

Not only did Herod expand the Temple in Jerusalem to be more grandiose and Hellenistic-Roman in style, but he also imposed a sacrifice that the priests would give on behalf of Rome and the emperor.  Additionally, Herod had whole cities named to give reverence to Caesar as well as imperial temples and fortresses to reinforce Roman control.  The great building campaigns were not possible without taxing the peoples of Galilee, Samaria, and Judea greatly; leaving the majority in poverty.

Not only were they required to pay taxes to the Empire, but they continued to function as a “temple-state” and were also required to pay the tithes and sacrifices of the Jewish religion.  The offensiveness of being forced into what could be labeled idolatry along as the difficult economic reality must not be understated.The historian Horsley states:

“The demand for tribute to Rome and taxes to Herod in addition to the tithes and offerings to the Temple and priesthood dramatically escalated the economic pressures on peasant producers, whose livelihood was perennially marginal at best.  After decades of multiple demands from multiple layers of rulers many village families fell increasingly into debt and were faced with loss of their family inheritance of land.  The impoverishment of families led to the disintegration of village communities, the fundamental social form of such an agrarian society.  These are precisely the deteriorating conditions that Jesus addresses in the Gospels: impoverishment, hunger, and debt.”

After Herod’s death in about 4 BCE, the Romans would appoint Antipas to rule and would eventually install Roman governors to help create more stability.

The Jews responded in various ways to the rule of Rome.

1. Compromise to the demands of the Roman Empire.

2. Basic acceptance, but resistant to blatant injustices.

3. Nonviolent rejection of Roman rule. (i.e. Protests and counter culture.)

Secular scholars who uphold that Jesus was a good man and a good teacher tend to see Jesus in this kind of light. A wise, socially conscious radical, so to speak. 

4. Violent rejection of Rome (Zealots).

Barrabus, the prisoner for whom Jesus was exchanged when He was sentenced to the Cross, was likely one of these zealots (John18:40).

Now, Jesus’ entire life takes place in the context of being part of a dominated people. 

Being a people under foreign rulers was nothing new to the Jews leading up to this period.

The Jews had been subject to Babylon, Assyria, Persia, the Greeks, and finally Rome. 

It was the Persians that allowed the Jews to return to their homeland after years of exile; however they were now to be set up as a client state.  Freedom had not arrived, just a new kind of exile.  In a manner of speaking, the Jews were allowed to be in their homeland, but they weren’t allowed to be at home in their homeland.

For the most part, it is reasonable to say that Israel did not ever feel that they had been liberated from exile, so leading into the New Testament era is an ingrained hope that a “new exodus” would free God’s people from the oppressive weight of the Roman Empire.

Expectations.

What were the Jews expectations concerning Jesus?

The fanfare that we read about surrounding Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem comes from a Jewish people who wanted a politically-conquering lion, not a sacrificially surrendering lamb.

The people had both seen and heard of Jesus’ miraculous works that had preceded His arrival, and so, naturally, they thought that if this Jesus can raise Lazarus from the dead, and heal the sick, and feed thousands upon thousands of people with some sardines and a couple of dinner rolls, surely He recognizes our plight and is here to be our political messiah. Surely this Jesus is here to break us free from the bondage of Rome and its oppressive government and leaders. Surely this Jesus will bring us this freedom, after all, we are His chosen people.

Imagine their disappointment when Jesus stood before both Herod and Pilate, and did not remove them from power.

Imagine their disbelief when the conquering king they were expecting, submitted to the very government that they despised.

Imagine their dumbfoundedness when Jesus, who was supposed to be an all-loving and all-compassionate and good God, seemingly did nothing to dull the pain of their oppressed and impoverished existence.

All this hooplah, all those miracles, and He just stood there?

He didn’t say a word in defense or protest?

And so it is perhaps no surprise that less than 5 days later the same crowd that cheered His arrival, now cheered for His murder.

And why?

Because Jesus did not meet their expectations.

They were expecting someone totally different to do something totally different.

Do you ever feel like that when it comes to Jesus?

Do you ever wonder why He isn’t delivering you from wherever you are begging to be delivered?

Do you wonder why Jesus isn’t moving in your life with the urgency that you feel is necessary?

I googled some of the top reasons why people are disappointed with Jesus as a part of my research for this message. And just about every disappointment I could find and verify had to do with the person’s or people’s expectations of who Jesus was/is, and what He promises to do.

And you know what else the disappointed people had in common?

In every case of disappointment with expectations concerning Jesus, there was an accompanying misunderstanding of what the Scriptures said about Him.

Let me illustrate (I am paraphrasing from a variety of sourced surveys):

The number one disappointment with God is that “God is not doing what I want Him to do to fix my life.”

Now, this disappointment was supported with the supposed biblical explanation that “God won’t give me more than I can handle.”

And people are disappointed because they feel like failures who have no hope.

They feel like failures because if God won’t give them more than they can handle, how come they can’t handle their current situation?

They feel hopeless because if God won’t give them more than they can handle then they must have really messed up and now they are beyond God’s reach for help.

A misunderstanding of who God is, brought about by a misunderstanding of His revealed Word, will inevitably lead us to wrong expectations about Jesus.

You see, “God won’t give me more than I can handle” is found nowhere in Scripture. Rather, it is a misinterpretation of which says,

1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

Paul is writing about the strength that God gives believers to resist temptation. Paul is not saying that every situation we find ourselves in, we will be able to handle.

In fact, God is in the business of giving us more than we can handle.

Math class illustration (if time allows)

Do you think Noah could handle the flood and the ark? Could Moses handle leading the Israelites out of Egypt? Could Joshua handle the battle at Jericho? Could David handle facing a giant and running for his life all the time? Could the disciples handle feeding 15,000 people with a boy’s lunch?

Of course not. If we could handle everything, we wouldn’t need Jesus. Jesus purposefully leads to the ends of ourselves so that we can see how much we need Him to live and move in and through us, and to sustain us both now and in eternity.

Or how about this? How many of us could handle living a sinless (morally perfect before God) life, dying on a cross, and then raising ourselves to life again?

Because that’s what we would have to handle if we didn’t need Jesus.

Imagine the hopelessness of Christians who have based their lives on the fiction that God won’t give them more than they can handle? And when the situations arise that they can’t handle, well now, where’s God? What did I do wrong? Why isn’t God fixing my life? Maybe some of you here this morning can relate to that.

Imagine the hopelessness of Christians who have based their lives on the fiction that God won’t give them more than they can handle? And when the situations arise that they can’t handle, well now, where’s God? What did I do wrong? Why isn’t God fixing my life?

At this point the question becomes,

“How can I know how to have the right expectations about Jesus?”

Isaiah 50:4-9

One of the awesome things about our Savior is that He has revealed who He is, and what we can expect of Him.

Turn to Isaiah chapter 50. We will pick up in verse 4.

Isaiah 50:4–9 ESV

The Lord God has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught. The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious; I turned not backward. I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting. But the Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame. He who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who is my adversary? Let him come near to me. Behold, the Lord God helps me; who will declare me guilty? Behold, all of them will wear out like a garment; the moth will eat them up.

In this passage, we read of Israel’s sin and the obedient submission of the Servant. In order for Israel to be redeemed, the Servant, who is the Savior, must be obedient even in and through suffering.

Notice in verses 4 and 5 how the Servant has a “trained tongue” and a “trained ear.” This training is not getting better at a particular craft or ability, but it is the very practice of discipleship. The Servant waits on God in the morning, and every word He speaks comes from the God who sent Him.

And so we see that Jesus is obedient to God’s Word, which means He knows God’s Word. And John writes that Jesus is the Word of God in his Gospel.

The clear understanding of God’s Word is critical if we are to have right expectations of Jesus for our lives. -

The Jews at the time of and Jesus’ triumphant entry had clearly forgotten that their Savior would come as a servant on a donkey (). A donkey was what a commoner would ride on a business trip.

If they had understood properly, they would have had proper expectations.

Jesus came to make a peace between man and God, not to overthrow a poisonous government (), because Jesus knew that people belonged to God not to a government, and He wanted to restore the fellowship that was broken in the Garden of Eden. And in the Garden, it wasn’t government that humanity was separated from, it was God.

Next, in verses 6 & 7, it is written that the humble Servant’s battle plan for victory is the road of suffering.

Isaiah 50:6–7 ESV

I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting. But the Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame.

Jesus’ path to victory in your life WILL take you through sufferings, not just summer vacations. -

Paul teaches this in the book of Philippians:

Philippians 2:1–11 ESV

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

This is the road we take when we follow Jesus. And Jesus was honest about it. He put the fine print up front. Ever since Jesus has been reminding us through His Word that just as He suffered and died, so will His children. And just He rose again, so will His children.

And lastly verses 8-9 show us the promise that is secure in our triumphant King.

Isaiah 50:8–9 ESV

He who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who is my adversary? Let him come near to me. Behold, the Lord God helps me; who will declare me guilty? Behold, all of them will wear out like a garment; the moth will eat them up.

We must understand that our lifes and securities are held eternally in the hand of God in accordance with God’s revealed promises to us that are written throughout the Scriptures. -

Its when we forget this truth, and start thinking that our freedoms and futures are held by governments and leaders and economies and so on that we start expecting to God to do things that He is not in the business of doing.

Why?

(Because) Jesus is not changing the world to suit you, He is transforming you for Himself.

In his book Mere Christianity, CS Lewis wrote;

“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.”

Jesus' life goal was so far removed from meeting the expectations of the people who He really, really loved. The question wasn't whether He loved them, the question was how He loved them. He didn't love them by doing what they wanted, He loved them by doing what He was called to do. He loved them by completing His mission, even all the way to the cross. 

If we really understood just that much from these passages, how would that impact our expectations of Jesus?

So, what do we do with all this?

Here’s three suggested ways to apply these truths in our lives today.

Practical Apps

1. When times are hard, stop asking if Jesus loves you, and start learning how Jesus is loving you.

Investigate God’s love letter to you, its called the Bible. If you read beyond the Facebook memes, fluffy quotes, misquotations and the rest, you’ll see that Jesus has never stopped loving you, and that He is actively loving you right now. But just like the Servant in , you need trained ears, trained eyes, and a trained tongue, so you can recognize God’s love as it surrounds you every day. And you get that training by being an obedient disciple of Christ. (can invite people to join a discipleship group here. Just need basic contact info to do that).

2. Recognize that Jesus’ mission revolves around Jesus and not you - but Jesus invites you to be a part of His mission!

One of the most common wrong expectations about Jesus is that instead of seeing Him as a Suffering Servant, we see Him as bumbling butler. Jesus the Servant is God’s Servant, doing the work that God gave Him to do. Jesus the butler is our house-helper, who we want to make our lives easier and minty fresh. Too often we forget that we are not here for our own sake alone, we are here because God’s not done with us yet, and He is preparing us to do the work that He has prepared in advance for us to do.

You’re not at Valley Bristol by accident today. You are here because God wants you to serve with the people He has gathered at Valley Bristol to invade this city in His name in the same way that He invaded this earth over 2000 years ago. Look around you. You are seeing, in the people sitting next to you, the evidence of Jesus on mission for the city of Bristol. Jesus is inviting you to join with Him and with His people in reaching His lost children here.

And yes, even though you’re not here for you, Jesus will care for you and grow you here. Certainly, Jesus cares for His people through His people, that is, Jesus cares for us by using each of us as His hands, feet, and voice in each other’s lives.

And as Jesus transforms you for Himself, He prepares you for and sends you on His mission.

Now I’m sure that all of us here have expectations for Valley Bristol, and that’s great. But what matters is whether or not your expectations for Jesus will do in and through us here at Valley Bristol, are indeed accurate expectations according to who Jesus is, and the promises He has given to us through His whole Word.

3. In order to restore you, Jesus will remake you.

As we unpack this last point of application, I want to invite the music back to the stage as we prepare to close our time together in a response of prayer and song.

Another challenge in having right expectations about Jesus, is seeing how Jesus does the work of healing and restoration in our lives.

And, in part, this is because when it seems like our whole world is in pieces, and we’re the ones who have been hurt, oppressed, mistreated, and abused, that the world is what needs to be remade, not us. But God doesn’t see it that way.

Step-dad brief illustration

I grew up in a broken home. My step-dad badly mistreated my mom and me, and for years I carried a bitterness and an unforgiveness that I thought would be cured if my step-dad would come to his senses, his heart would be broken, he would fall to his knees, and apologize, and strive to be the man that God wants him to be.

I rationalized my holding on to the bitterness by making it my step-dad’s fault that I felt that way. After all, he was the one who hurt me, right?

And sure, I’d forgive him, if he would only ask for forgiveness. But he never does, so I never did.

I remember it was in 2012, I was 32 years old, and we were just about to make the move to Florida to start Awaken Church. Anyway, one night I couldn’t sleep, and not sleeping is normal for me sometimes, but this time, I was kept awake by an undeniable sense that God wanted me to write my step-dad a letter asking his forgiveness for my bitterness, anger, unforgiveness, and resentment toward him.

Talk about Jesus not meeting my expectations!

The way I had the story written, it was my step-dad who did the apologizing, and we would all live happily ever after and give God the glory.

But as God would have it, I was the one who needed to apologize.

So I wrote my step-dad a sizable letter and sent it to him via Facebook.

As it turned out, my step-dad did not receive the letter very well, and to this day he has not apologized to me or tried to reach out to me. God did not bring relational reconciliation through that, but He did bring restoration in me.

The freedom that I thought would come from an apology from my step-dad, I learned could only come from Christ, and the only way I would experience that freedom was through surrendered obedience to Him.

I share that with you because all of us are expecting Jesus to show up in a variety of ways in our lives, and in our church family. And when Jesus does show up, will you recognize Him? Will you follow His lead?

If Jesus wants to make changes among us as a Valley Bristol church body, are willing to allow Him to do so even if what He may be doing is not at all what we might expect?

I might summarize today’s Word like this:

You can expect Jesus to be faithful to fulfill His Promises, not your plans…And that’s a good thing!

Let’s face it, I mess things up. My missions ultimately, if I’m honest, serve me. But Jesus’ mission serves God, and because it serves God, it blesses people. And Jesus wants to use you and me to do just that right here in Bristol, CT,., and in our neighborhoods and homes.

If the Jews had remembered and understood Jesus’ promises, they would have known what He was doing. And why He didn’t do some of the things that they wanted Him to do.

And if we will remember Christ and His Promises as revealed in the Bible, it will helps us to learn what to expect from Jesus when we’re expecting.

I asked Uly last week if we could close with this song we’re about to sing. Since so much of our expectations about Jesus depend on who believe Jesus to be, I felt led that it would be fitting to close with a song that, with each lyric and verse, illustrates who Jesus is, and His truth.

And as we sing, I invite you, I challenge you to respond to what the Holy Spirit is bringing to your mind and your heart right now. And I challenge you to respond in the following ways:

I invite you to take the opportunity right now to pray with one of our prayer counselors this morning. I remind you of the words of , “He who vindicates me is near…let us stand up together.” I and our prayer counselors will be standing along the edges of the room this morning, and if you need to lay something down at the foot of the cross through prayer, there’s no better time than right now.

If you are still wrestling with what to bring before the Lord in prayer, I encourage you to turn the lyrics of this song into a prayer and pray the lyrics as we all sing them together.

Will you stand and pray with me as we close our time in God’s Word?

Closing prayer/reminder invitation to pray and sing