Unexpected Expectations.

One of the greatest discoveries that I have ever had in my short 2 1/2 years of following Christ is also one of the most grievous discoveries that my heart has ever felt. I have noticed, that the more time elapsed with my nose pressing hard against the rich pages of the biographical accounts of Jesus' life [the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John] and the numerous hours my mind has spent twirling in certainty and uncertainty over what is clearly and plainly written before my eyes, the more I have begun to realize how far away this world of Christendom that I have both involuntarily been surrounded with and voluntarily immersed myself in truly is from "the way" that is depicted in the teachings and revelations of this remarkably divine text. It is evident that the culture in which the bible was written is nothing like today's culture, and yet, so many are guilty of reading a twenty-first century framework into each author's first century intent, contorting the pure form of Christ on the basis of presumption and presupposition, and thus, leaving behind an impure distortion of what one chooses to think of Him under false pretenses which ultimately and undoubtedly creates an alternative form of Christ that fits neatly and cozily into one small compartment of the large complex of a twenty-first century Christian mindset. Beyond and also in the midst of this obvious cultural contextualization puzzle lies the grievous discovery that I am referring to in the first line above: that we are recklessly guilty of doing just as the Jews did upon the long anticipated first coming of the Messiah--Jesus Christ. The Jews, using their own human ingenuity, generally (I say generally because of the four known major sects of Judaism at the time [the Sadducee's, Pharisee's, Essen's, and Zealot's] each independently desired a different form of Messiah, each wanting one pertaining to their own idealized persona which naturally resembled their own style of community of righteousness and I have lumped these four into one category: the Jews) anticipated a Messiah that was to come in power who would descend from the line of King David, restore the sovereignty of Israel, gather all of her people back into the promised land from every dispersed region of the earth in which they lived, recommit to total observance of the Law [the Torah], and bring peace to all of humanity. Due to the Messianic standards that the Jews had preconceived, when the Messiah [Jesus of Nazareth] had finally come to gather his lost and scattered sheep, he was, to them [the Jewish religious leaders of the time], altogether unrecognizable. He was not seen because they did not have the eyes to see Him, for their eyes were shut by their own predetermined and obstinate biases. In a similar way, I'm afraid that far too many Christians, myself included, are guilty of not seeing Jesus for who He really is and for who He says (and others say) He is. The mistake that the Jews had made in reference to the coming Messiah was basing the total focal point of who their Messiah was on one aspect of Messianic prophecy when there are undeniably numerous aspects that the Messiah has and each of those aspects are not determinate on any specific group or individual's own expectations of the Messiah. Christians do this exact thing by grabbing hold of one aspect of the character or teaching of Christ and advocating for that precise thing without taking into account the whole of who Christ is and what He taught. What is so treacherously terrifying about this is that far too many Christians are guilty of adhering to only some part or parts of Jesus' teaching while, at the same time, they neglect the rest of His teaching, and some even do this intentionally based on personal discomfort or a reluctance to change! Too often Christians read what the sacred text says and only adopt those sayings or teachings that fit into the preconceived belief system that they already have, and in so doing, either consciously (If willfully one is to resist the teaching at hand) or unconsciously (If unknowingly one resists the teaching at hand by not investigating due to laziness or apathy) pervert the beautiful portrait of Jesus Christ. It would be as if a skillful artist were to place a freshly brushed painting in front of a small child, only to have the child smear the finished work all over the floor and thus, blemish the painting right in front of the master. Although the small child would gain two hands full (and then some) of paint immediately, the child would never have grown up to witness the beauty and glory of what the master had done for him and would never be able to properly receive the gift that was already given. Unfortunately, it is inevitable that many will continue to view Jesus in this way. If you are reading this and are among the many, I implore you to consider asking yourself if your own expectations are in the way of you seeing Jesus, and if they are, then you must look to see which teachings of His you are playing down and which teachings of His you are accentuating too much. If you are guilty as the Jews were and as many Christians are of having unexpected expectations about Jesus, you must also carefully search for the truth and never cease to ask Jesus to show you more of Himself. We must not be lazy any longer. We must not neglect full knowledge of the truth when the truth is right before us and even within arms reach. Ask, seek, knock. The door will be opened fully, but, in His due time and in accord with His glorious grace.


For a rather scary, but sobering reality that is only slightly related to the condition mentioned above:
"If one wanted to be brutally honest and reflect the dynamic of the first century, one would have to say that the conservative, evangelical Christian, the one who today has a very high view of Scripture and wants, in detail, to apply it to every aspect of life, is probably the closest parallel to the ancient Pharisee. How shocking, then, when such people at times fall into legalism and are accused of perverting what is intended to be a vibrant relationship with God into a religion of a long set of dos and don’ts."
--"What Life Looked Like In Jesus' Time," Dr. Craig Blomberg, a distinguished professor of New Testament at Denver Seminary in Littleton, CO, USA

I am quite sure that Jesus wasn't a huge fan of the Pharisee mentality and posture in relation to the kingdom of God. One quick skim through any one of the gospels will convey that fact. Jesus was not against the Jews. He was a Jew, however, He was against the attitudes that the Pharisees had acquired and came to lay down and become the very foundation of truth which was strongly opposed to such attitudes. Check yourself, repent, and begin to pursue and believe in the One who is truth.



-burton 261e