Matthew 47
Right expectations (Part 2)
Our expectations get us in trouble
The resistance to Jesus begins
Matthew 11:7–19 (NLT)
7As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began talking about him to the crowds. “What kind of man did you go into the wilderness to see? Was he a weak reed, swayed by every breath of wind?
8 Or were you expecting to see a man dressed in expensive clothes? No, people with expensive clothes live in palaces.
9 Were you looking for a prophet? Yes, and he is more than a prophet.
10 John is the man to whom the Scriptures refer when they say, ‘Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, and he will prepare your way before you.’
11 “I tell you the truth, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John the Baptist. Yet even the least person in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he is!
12 And from the time John the Baptist began preaching until now, the Kingdom of Heaven has been forcefully advancing, and violent people are attacking it.
13 For before John came, all the prophets and the law of Moses looked forward to this present time.
14 And if you are willing to accept what I say, he is Elijah, the one the prophets said would come.
15 Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!
16 “To what can I compare this generation? It is like children playing a game in the public square. They complain to their friends,
17 ‘We played wedding songs, and you didn’t dance, so we played funeral songs, and you didn’t mourn.’
18 For John didn’t spend his time eating and drinking, and you say, ‘He’s possessed by a demon.’
19 The Son of Man, on the other hand, feasts and drinks, and you say, ‘He’s a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and other sinners!’ But wisdom is shown to be right by its results.”
Expectations defined
· a strong belief that something will happen or be the case in the future.
· a belief that someone will or should achieve something.
Expectations are everywhere!
The expectations that we set, dictate pretty much everything!
· How to respond in any given situation
o Our mood
o Our attitudes,
· All this is controlled by the expectations we set!
· And sometimes are unrealistic or false expectations, leads us down the wrong path
Jesus shifts his attention to the crowd!
I envision that with John’s disciples came a crowd of people (John's followers) and they were as confused by it all as well. Why? Because they had preconceived, unrealistic expectations as well!
7a As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began talking about him to the crowds. “What kind of man did you go into the wilderness to see?"
And so, the doubts about who Jesus was and what He came to do, started to spread.
· Was it because John doubted?
· Was it because their expectations hinged on how John viewed Jesus?
· We need to understand just how powerful and wide spreading our expectations are and how much they affect people.
Jesus questions their reason for seeking out John
7b Was he a weak reed, swayed by every breath of wind?
· Did you go looking for a weak man?
· A frail man?
· Of course, they didn’t, they heard and knew that he was bold and spoke with authority!
8 Or were you expecting to see a man dressed in expensive clothes? No, people with expensive clothes live in palaces.
· He continued to bring them back to reality
· He continued to question them and remind them why they looked for him in the first place
9 Were you looking for a prophet? Yes, and he is more than a prophet.
· They went looking for and found a prophet
Jesus wanted to remind them of the truth about John that they already knew
· But expectations shift and we forget truth sometimes
· Because John questioned Jesus the crowd's expectations of John started to shift
· And their expectations of Jesus changed as well
We do this all the time, don’t we?
· the way we view people and situations change based on others expectations
· and the way others view people and situations change sometimes based on our expectations
· we change how we view and treat
o friends
o businesses
o churches
o our pastor
o based on other expectations
· we have more influence on others that we think, especially when it comes to how the unbeliever views Jesus
o setting right biblical expectations
o getting wise counsel rather than assuming we know
o and following Jesus' example will help us!
Again, Jesus sets the record straight! (we all need hey stupid friends!)
Yes, and he is more than a prophet.
10 John is the man to whom the Scriptures refer when they say, ‘Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, and he will prepare your way before you.’
11 “I tell you the truth, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John the Baptist.
· John was not just any prophet; he was the one that was to come before Jesus to announce His arrival!
· Jesus lets everyone know that their following John was a wise choice!
Malachi 3:1 (NLT)
1 “Look! I am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger of the covenant, whom you look for so eagerly, is surely coming,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
· Again, Jesus brings everyone back to the center
· He brings us back to what we are all supposed to rely on, God's holy word!
· And that is why walking together is so important!
· We all need that person that brings us back to center, that helps us get back on track
A little shift in thought!
11 “I tell you the truth, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John the Baptist. Yet even the least person in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he is!"
· This is a shift in thought for a minute
· Jesus uses this as a teaching moment like He always does
· And He reminds the crowd (and us) that even the greatest in the old covenant (Moses, All the prophets, and even John) was not blessed like us who have Jesus and the spirit to guide us
· We have:
o The forgiveness of sin (once and for all)
o The indwelling of the spirit
o Direct access to God
o And the assurance of heaven!
Jesus points out that our own expectations get in the way of the truth sometimes
12 And from the time John the Baptist began preaching until now, the Kingdom of Heaven has been forcefully advancing, and violent people are attacking it.
· The Jews could not wait for the Messiah to arrive
· And because of wrong expectations we see resistance from the time John came with the message “the kingdom of God is at hand”
· The wanted a king, God gave them a savior
o They wanted war, God gave them peace
· And they resisted because their expectations were not being met!
13 For before John came, all the prophets and the law of Moses looked forward to this present time.
14 And if you are willing to accept what I say, he is Elijah, the one the prophets said would come.
15 Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!
· With ears to hear should listen!
· We hear sound
· We should listen to understand, but most of the time we only hear, and we form opinions
· Jesus is imploring us all to look deep, to understand, to learn from God's word, and to form good expectations from what we learn!
· We are making the same mistakes that the folks in Jesus' time made
The results of bad expectations!
16 “To what can I compare this generation? It is like children playing a game in the public square. They complain to their friends,
17 ‘We played wedding songs, and you didn’t dance, so we played funeral songs, and you didn’t mourn.’
18 For John didn’t spend his time eating and drinking, and you say, ‘He’s possessed by a demon.’
19 The Son of Man, on the other hand, feasts and drinks, and you say, ‘He’s a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and other sinners!’ But wisdom is shown to be right by its results.”
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