"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?'" Luke 7:19.
John the Baptist was in Jail. As He sat in jail he began to think; "Here I am in jail, and Jesus is in Galilee attending parties" (Luke 5:29). Adding to John's apprehension about Jesus was his personality. John was a powerful man filled with the Holy Spirit from birth, who had separated himself to the Lord his entire life (Luke 1:15.) Furthermore John's ministry was one of fire and judgement likened to the ministry of the prophet Isaiah:
The word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying: "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight. Every valley shall be filled And every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight And the rough ways smooth; And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.' "[...] And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."[...] Now as the people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not, John answered, saying to all, "I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire. Luke 3:2-6.
As John sat in prison he looked upon Jesus through the eyes of Isaiah 61:1,2
"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, And the day of vengeance of our God."
John was a prisoner, and if Jesus was the Messiah, then He was supposed to free prisoners, right? Due to this apparent inconsistency John was not satisfied with Jesus' ministry, and so he called two of his disciples to him, and sent a message to Jesus: "Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?"
Why are we so hard to please?
Reason 1: Things don't always work out the way we expect them to.
John expected Jesus to look and act a certain way, and when Jesus did not meet that expectation John felt unsatisfied. It would be false to say that Johns expectations were unbiblical. Johns expectations were very biblical, but as Jesus points out to John they were also very narrow.
Here is How Jesus answered John:
"And that very hour He cured many of infirmities, afflictions, and evil spirits; and to many blind He gave sight. Jesus answered and said to them, 'Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.'" Luke 7:21-23.
Jesus sent word back to John, Isaiah 35:4-6 was being fulfilled:
Say to those who are fearful-hearted, "Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, With the recompense of God; He will come and save you." Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like a deer, And the tongue of the dumb sing."
When things do not work out according to our expectations, even if we think our expectations are biblical we have to ask ourselves:
1. Are our expectations Biblical?
2. Are our expectations too narrow?
3. Are we looking at the whole picture?
4. Is there more going on that we are unaware of?
Application: Our expectations have to be biblical, and emphasize the whole counsel of God.
John the Baptist was in Jail. As He sat in jail he began to think; "Here I am in jail, and Jesus is in Galilee attending parties" (Luke 5:29). Adding to John's apprehension about Jesus was his personality. John was a powerful man filled with the Holy Spirit from birth, who had separated himself to the Lord his entire life (Luke 1:15.) Furthermore John's ministry was one of fire and judgement likened to the ministry of the prophet Isaiah:
The word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying: "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight. Every valley shall be filled And every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight And the rough ways smooth; And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.' "[...] And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."[...] Now as the people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not, John answered, saying to all, "I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire. Luke 3:2-6.
As John sat in prison he looked upon Jesus through the eyes of Isaiah 61:1,2
"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, And the day of vengeance of our God."
John was a prisoner, and if Jesus was the Messiah, then He was supposed to free prisoners, right? Due to this apparent inconsistency John was not satisfied with Jesus' ministry, and so he called two of his disciples to him, and sent a message to Jesus: "Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?"
Why are we so hard to please?
Reason 1: Things don't always work out the way we expect them to.
John expected Jesus to look and act a certain way, and when Jesus did not meet that expectation John felt unsatisfied. It would be false to say that Johns expectations were unbiblical. Johns expectations were very biblical, but as Jesus points out to John they were also very narrow.
Here is How Jesus answered John:
"And that very hour He cured many of infirmities, afflictions, and evil spirits; and to many blind He gave sight. Jesus answered and said to them, 'Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.'" Luke 7:21-23.
Jesus sent word back to John, Isaiah 35:4-6 was being fulfilled:
Say to those who are fearful-hearted, "Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, With the recompense of God; He will come and save you." Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like a deer, And the tongue of the dumb sing."
When things do not work out according to our expectations, even if we think our expectations are biblical we have to ask ourselves:
1. Are our expectations Biblical?
2. Are our expectations too narrow?
3. Are we looking at the whole picture?
4. Is there more going on that we are unaware of?
Application: Our expectations have to be biblical, and emphasize the whole counsel of God.
Today everyone wants something different from a church; teaching that connects to their lives, a children's ministry that meets their child's needs, a fellowship that meets their spouses needs, Sunday morning worship that fits their cultural peculiarities. The problem with these felt needs is that they are so often not Gods needs. Jesus was not the messiah the jews wanted, but He was the messiah God sent. Looking past Gods sovereignty the jews rejected the messiah, because He was not what they expected. Today Christians look past the local church if they feel she does not meet their needs. Just like the jews of Jesus day they stick their nose up at the cup of blessing, because they fail to have biblical expectations that emphasize the whole revelation of the Scriptures.
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