"Expectations”
[John 1:35-51]
July 8, 2010 Old First Presbyterian Church
What are you seeking? We all have hopes and dreams and expectations for what we will find with any given person, event, and so forth. What do you expect from this worship service? What do you expect from God?
After John the Baptist baptized Jesus, John continued to announce that Jesus is the Lamb of God; He is the Son of God. John continued to point to Jesus as the Answer – the Savior – of Israel.
In our Scripture, we find four vignettes with five people coming to Jesus with their expectations of Him:
First, John mentions that John the Baptist was declaring Who Jesus is with two of his disciples: John, the author of the Gospel, and Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter. And when they saw Jesus, they believed in Him and the preaching of John the Baptist, and spent the day with Him learning of Him and from Him.
Second, Andrew went to get his brother, Simon, and he told him that they had found the Messiah, the Savior, the Christ – and Peter believed. Andrew brought him to Jesus, and Jesus renamed the impetuous Simon, Peter, the Rock.
Third, Jesus traveled through Galilee and told Philip to follow, and Philip believed.
Philip went and found Nathanael, fourth, and told him that they had found the One of Whom the prophets wrote – the Savior – Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. But Nathanael wasn’t going to believe so quickly. Nathanael knew that Nazareth was a backwater, hick town. How could the Great Savior of Israel come from such a dump? That didn’t make sense to Nathanael. But Philip pressed him and asked him to come and meet Jesus. So he did.
When Jesus saw him, He revealed Nathanael’s character to them: “Behold, an Israel indeed, in whom there is no deceit ” Nathanael might have been a sceptic, but he was an honest man. So, Nathanael was curious, “How do you know me?” And Jesus told Him that He is all-knowing; He is omniscient, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” That was the truth, even more than that, there was something in the way that Jesus told him that He had seen him that convinced him down to his soul, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God You are the King of Israel ”
And Jesus told him, “You believe because I told you I saw you sitting under the fig tree? You haven’t seen anything yet. ‘You will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.’”
John, Andrew, Peter, and Philip heard that the Messiah – the Savior – had come, and they heard Jesus speak, and they believed. Their expectations had been met in what they heard preached. Nathanael need more – being a Nazarene conflicted with his expectations for the Savior.
Truthfully, as we saw earlier in this chapter, these men were the exception, most people did not believe in Jesus – He was not Who they expected the Savior to be. So, when “He came to his own, ... his own people did not receive Him” (John 1:11, ESV).
Has Jesus fulfilled your expectations as the Savior? Does He look like the person you would think from the Scripture? God has given us the Savior we need.
If you’ve believed in Jesus Alone for salvation, then you have met the Savior Who was expected. I hope we know that receiving Jesus as Savior is not the end of the story – there is more we ought to expect: we ought to expect that, since He is the Savior God sent for us, Jesus will keep every promise He made to us and for us.
If you’ve received Jesus Alone as Savior, you ought to have great expectations. Understand, we are not told that Jesus wants us to be healthy, wealthy, and wise. That’s not in the Bible. What we’re told is to pray and Jesus will answer our prayer.
Now, you may be thinking, “Jesus has never given me what I really wanted.”
And that may be true. There are two reasons why that might be true:
First, you may not have asked: “You do not have, because you do not ask” (James 4:2b, ESV). We are to be in fellowship – in communion – with God. So we ought to pray to Him asking for what we need. We cannot expect God to answer a prayer that has never been prayed.
Many of us, today, have decreasing congregations and decreasing giving. Have we asked God to do something about it? Have we prayed that Jesus would cause our church to grow in faith and numbers? To continue to use us as a light of the Gospel in our neighborhood? Have we prayed that God would make us useful and use us for His Glory?
There is a second reason we might not receive what we want: “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions” (James 4:3, ESV) God has promised to provide for all of our needs, but He has not promised to give us everything we want.
It is extremely unlikely, should we pray that the sanctuary would be gold-plated and diamond-studded, that God will grant that prayer. It is hard to see how that would be necessary – instead, it is worldly, based on our passions. We may “ooh and aah” over gold and diamonds or new cars – or books, in my case – but God gives us what we need to be His people on earth – to accomplish His Plan.
Jesus said, “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in my name, I will do it” (John 14:13-14, ESV). Let us understand that Jesus is not telling us that His Name is a magic phrase to get us whatever we want. What He is telling us is if we ask anything that is according to His Sovereign Will, He will do it, or give it to us.
So, if we pray to become stronger in the faith, He will help us. If we pray to be better witnesses to our community, He will help us. If we pray to stop sinning, He will provide the way of escape from the temptations we face. The problem is that we don’t always know what God would have for us. So, we are to pray, “if God is willing, let such and so be.”
“Lord, if You are willing, let our numbers grow. Lord, if You are willing, let our finances be better. Lord, if You are willing, give us a new pastor who is biblical.” And so forth.
That’s not to say we should be timid in our prayers. On the contrary, we are to be bold, praying according to everything we know Jesus has promised. Because if Jesus has promised something, He will most surely bring it to pass, if we pray for it.
One of the great things that Jesus has promised is found in the book of Revelation: John records, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall their be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:1-4, ESV).
That is a great and sure promise that we should be praying will come to pass. Jesus will return. There will be a great restoration. And the people of God will enter into the Peace of God in His Kingdom.
If you have not received Jesus Alone as your Savior, look at what the Bible has to say about Him. See if it doesn’t make sense. Ask the Christians here to help you see Who Jesus is. See that Jesus is the Savior that we should expect to find.
If you have received Jesus Alone as your Savior, pray. Expect great and awesome things of our God and Savior. Pray for those things that God has promised with confident hope. And humbly pray for those things we believe are in His Will and ask that His Will would be done.
Let us pray:
Almighty God, You have come among us today, and we thank You for ministering to us with Your Grace. Make us a people who glorify You – both as Old First Presbyterian and as individuals. Cause our expectations to rise to the Greatness and the Glory of our Triune God. May we expect what You have promised and glorify You for Your Faithfulness. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
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