I read a story recently about  a boy who had a Christmas present that was 2  times  as  big  as anybody else's present under the Christmas Tree.  He  looked at the present each day for the 2 weeks before Christmas and his imagination ran wild about what the present might  be.  A highlight for his family that year was to see what was in that present and to see the boy’s reaction to the present!
       As the boy slowly opened  the  present on Christmas Day, the anticipation and  expectation  grew  for  the family.  As soon as the present was opened, a LOOK OF DISAPPOINTMENT came over the boy's face.   The present was a beautiful, handmade solid oak  desk  made  by  his  uncle especially for him.  He said, "THIS  IS  NICE  BUT I EXPECTED SOMETHING MORE AND SOMETHING DIFFERENT!"  Knowing the boy's reaction to this special handmade gift of love, probably NOTHING  would have satisfied him with all of his expectations and attitude.
       How often aren't we like  that  little boy especially at Christmas time!  We have expectations and wishes for what we would like at Christmas and  at  times  those expectations are met, while at other times we are disappointed.  We receive lots of nice, beautiful gifts, but that  one special gift isn't there so we become sad and  feel  like  we've had a "BAD" CHRISTMAS. Or we look at what other  people have gotten and feel that we have been cheated.
       We think getting a special  present  or toy will make us happy but that present or toy  doesn't  seem to do the things it promised and never seems to  work like it does on T.V., or the batteries run out too quickly or we become bored with the present and  stop  playing  with  it  just  a  few days after Christmas.  We  have  "GREAT  EXPECTATIONS"  but  they aren't always satisfied in our life  by  what  we think will make us happy!
       John the Baptist in  our  Gospel  lesson for today could very easily have had these same type of thoughts and feelings regarding his expectations of  Jesus and His ministry.  Jesus was preaching and  healing,  but  John's expectations weren't being completely fulfilled by Jesus.   After all, John was in prison with little to no hope of being set free.  John wanted proof that Jesus was the long‑expected Messiah .
       We  can  almost  picture  John  was  asking  himself the question while he was  sitting  in  prison "WAS ALL MY EFFORT AND WORK AND PREACHING WASTED?  THIS ISN'T TURNING OUT LIKE I EXPECTED WHEN I WAS  TELLING  EVERYONE  THAT JESUS CHRIST WAS THE MESSIAH  AND  SAVIOR  OF  THE  WORLD!"   John  sums  up his feelings and EXPECTATIONS regarding  Jesus  with the words of our text from Matthew 11 "ARE YOU  THE ONE WHO WAS TO COME OR SHOULD WE EXPECT SOMEONE ELSE?"
       John's  first   issue   was   that   he   had  DIFFERENT EXPECTATIONS OF WHAT A  MESSIAH  WOULD  DO! John knew the Old Testament and the prophecies regarding the coming Messiah and Savior of the World.   The  Messiah  was described as someone who was SUPPOSED TO BE A  "CONQUERING HERO", but Jesus didn't seem to be doing  that  in  a  normal  way  because He wasn’t  winning any military battles and wars.
       The  people  expected  their   Messiah  to  establish  a powerful nation here on  earth‑  to  make  the world a better place to live  by  giving  them  all  that  they wanted.  The Messiah would get rid of the wicked  and evil Roman rule and  all the land would be  returned  to their original owners and families.  There would be a time of PEACE AND PROSPERITY!"
       The people thought that  God  "OWED" them this lifestyle because they were His  people  and  because  they did all the "RIGHT  THINGS".   They  felt  that  they  had  earned  God's blessing and when things  weren't  turning  out like they had hoped or expected they began to complain and to start looking for a new Messiah and leader!
       John  sent  his  disciples  to  Jesus  to  ask  Him  the question of our text and  Jesus  responded by saying, "Go and tell John what you  hear  and  see.   The blind receive their sight; the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed; the deaf hear; the dead are raised and the poor have "GOOD NEWS" preached to them.
      Jesus was reminding John of  the words from Isaiah which said, "THE EYES OF THE BLIND  WILL BE OPENED; THE EARS OF THE DEAF UNSTOPPED; THE LAME  SHALL  LEAP  LIKE DEER AND THE LORD WILL COME TO SAVE  YOU!"   Here  Jesus was doing exactly what Isaiah had said, but  the  people  had  forgotten these words from the Old Testament and Jesus had to remind them including John.
       How often doesn't that occur in  our life and we need to be reminded of all that Jesus Christ has done for us!  In the story "FOR BETTER OR WORSE", a little boy looks at all of the presents under the Christmas tree  and thinks, "I WONDER WHAT I'M GOING TO GET?  I asked for Video Games, a Laser Tag Game, a Denver Broncos Warm-up Suit  and  Jacket  and a T.V. and DVD PLAYER and I won't be happy unless I get them all!
       The boy's grandfather comes  in  smiling and stands next to his grandson and says,  "We are truly blessed!"  We've got it all!"  We have our  faith , good health,  a  warm house, good food, our family, what more could we want!   ONLY A FOOL COULD ASK FOR ANYTHING MORE!"  Little did he  know  that  his grandson had the exact opposite thoughts and  feelings  regarding  being blessed and being happy!
       How often aren't we like the grandson deep in our hearts because we think that we need something more to make us happy and satisfied.  We could  list  all  the  things that God has blessed us with such as food, family, health, a nice home and so many of the things  that  the  world  says we MUST HAVE in order to be happy!  These are  all important, but they do not fulfill our complete needs and our eternal expectations!
       Our only  true  and  complete  satisfaction  comes  from Jesus Christ and all  that  He  has  done  for  us to be our Savior. We read  about  His  life  each  Sunday in our Gospel lessons and we are reminded over and  over  again of all that God has done so that we  can  spend  eternal  life in heaven with Him.  We may not  always  appreciate  or  realize it, but God continues to reach out to us with His love nevertheless!
       Do you realize that all  of our Expectations, dreams and hopes for today and for eternity come to us in a baby wrapped in rags and lying in a  cattle  feed trough‑ a manger.  Jesus didn't make a  long  list  of  promises  like many of today's politicians do saying what they  are  going  to  do to be our "SAVIOR".  Jesus gave to John and to us‑ clear and observable examples and evidence fulfilling all that was necessary to be the Messiah and Savior that all people need!
       Jesus lists the examples in  a type of "Ascending order" and ends with the  main  purpose  of His earthly ministry and that was to "PREACH THE GOOD  NEWS TO THE POOR".  His mission was to be the Savior  of  the  world which He accomplished by dying on the cross to pay for the sins of the whole world and to get the message out to spiritually down‑trodden‑ those in need of the forgiveness of their sins‑ including you and me!
       As much as the "EXPECTATIONS"  of  the world try to tell us what will make  us  happy  and  satisfy  our needs, we are reminded in our text  that  Jesus  has answered the question, completely, "ARE YOU THE ONE  WHO  WAS  TO  COME OR SHOULD WE EXPECT SOMEONE  ELSE!"  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Long‑Expected Messiah and has done all  that  is  necessary  for us to live with Him forever in heaven.
       The fact that we  celebrate  and  remember  the birth of Jesus Christ nearly 2,000 years  later is a constant reminder of God continuing to  work  in  our  lives  and  in our world today!  Today we can  rejoice  that  we  can hear and receive God's Love personally through God's  Word and have it applied to our life through the  Holy  Spirit at work in our heart!
       For by Faith in Jesus  Christ  as  our Savior, we can live in Complete Joy and Peace  knowing  that  our greatest need, the one thing that we need to make us happy and satisfied for our eternal life in heaven  has  been  fulfilled  in the birth of Jesus Christ‑ Your Savior and Mine!

Copyright © 2007 by Pastor Mark Cattau.  All rights reserved.

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