December 8
“He grew up before Him like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground. He didn’t have an impressive form or majesty that we should look at Him, no appearance that we should desire Him. He was despised and rejected by men.” Isaiah 53:2-3
The Jews had been waiting for their Messiah for several thousand years. They knew the Scriptures. They knew the prophecies about Him and yet many of them totally missed it. And, as a matter of fact, many of the Jews are still looking for their Messiah. Jesus was not what they expected. The prophecies told them exactly what to look for. They gave a very detailed description of how He would come, what He would be like and what He would do when He came. The prophecies described a suffering servant, a sheep led to slaughter, an average looking man who was humble and meek. They expected something totally different. They were looking for a conquering hero or someone of royal descent. They expected a king who would free them from Roman rule and take over the world. They missed it because they were clouded by their own desires. Instead of looking at Scriptures and developing their expectations accordingly, they developed their expectations based on their own perceived needs. As a result, they completely missed the Messiah’s coming.
Before we allow ourselves to be too critical of the Jews, let’s take a look in the mirror. We have the benefit of much more knowledge than they had. We have the entire Bible written down so we can read it for ourselves telling us everything we need to know about Jesus’ life, His character, and His love. We have the Holy Spirit living within us leading and guiding us, giving us insight and direction. And yet, somehow, our expectations are often clouded by our own desires. Just like those first century Jews, when Jesus does not meet our expectations or when He does not do what we want Him to do, we begin to doubt and worry. We base our expectations on our perceived needs instead of basing them on what we know about Jesus from His Word. Scripture gives us no basis for expecting God to give us everything we want. He is not a genie in a bottle or Santa Claus. He loves us far too much to give us anything less than what is best for us. A child wants to eat nothing but candy and ice cream, but a loving parent knows He needs a balanced diet to grow up to be healthy and strong. If God gave us everything we thought we wanted or needed we would end up as spoiled, immature babies who are weak and of no use. God is a loving Father who, in His sovereignty, knows what is best for us and always does what is best even if we don’t understand it or like it. When we trust Jesus and His love for us, our expectation is that He is always at work in our lives bringing about the best result. If that is our expectation, we will not miss the Messiah’s presence and activity in our lives.
Comments