Matthew 11:1-19

Matthew 11:1-19

John struggles with Jesus as the "Expected One", in part, because John's expectations were not met yet. John preached about the Expected One bringing fire. Bringing the fire hasn't happened. Jesus did not meet the expectations of even those who were closest to him.

Jesus refers first to the Old Testament and describes His mission as fulfilling the Old Testament prophecy. Somehow the expectations of the people, and perhaps John, got separated from the Scriptures. Even those very close to Jesus can be distracted. Are my expectations built on my wants and wishes or the Word of God?

We see the forgotten beatitude. Blessed when we do not stumble over Jesus. When our expectations are aligned with His agenda we are blessed. The stumbling occurs when the Jesus we set up and the real Jesus are not the same. We have a tendency to create a little version of Jesus-a Jesus that approves of my agenda and endorses my will. This pseudo Jesus will set me up for a headlong fall. That fall occurs when I meet the real Jesus.

Jesus asked three humorous questions each moving toward the correct answer. He is saying you can go out in the wilderness to look at scenery, but you didn't. The question about the reed is about how the reed is pliable, but John wasn't pliable. They didn't go out to see royalty in the wilderness. John was not reforming the government. John was counter- establishment. Anti-establishment was not enough. The establishment is empty, so scrap it. John was not only opposed to bad stuff he was for something. John was more than a prophet who was the messenger. Jesus here assumes His deity revealing that John was the last and the greatest of all the old order assuming something better was to come.

Jesus speaks of violence and the coming Kingdom. There are a couple issues possible here. First, perhaps the violent men would attempt to co-opt the kingdom for their own purposes. Second, if there would be violent opposition to the kingdom you might expect opposition to John's ministry. That was expressed in John's arrest. It may be the both of these are true. John was the Elijah that was expected. Elijah was expected to come with aggression and that may be why John personally rejected that identity. Like spoiled children the people of Israel didn't get what they wanted from either Jesus or John so they pouted. God is His own best interpreter and my expectations of Him don't even add up to zero. A life conformed to the Lord is all that really matters. That conformity will lead to hardships, in some cases arrest, and it can even lead to death.

"Lord, help me to set my expectation on what You reveal and not on my own wish or dream. AMEN"