Surprise--It’s Not What I Expected by Rick Gillespie-Mobley
Ecclesiastes 9:11-12 Luke 1:5-25 and 1:57-66 6/10/2018
Text Matthew 11:1-11:11
Surprised, It’s Not What I Expected!
Have you ever been surprised, but in a negative sort of way. Your hopes got really high for something, but when it happened, it just wasn’t quite what you expected. As a teenager you’ve heard so much about the prom and what it’s going to be like. You spent all these years waiting, all the money for the night, and you go and after its’s over you recognize, this is not what I expected. As an adult, you couldn’t wait to get that new car, or that home, or even to get married. You get what you went after, but now on the other side of the getting you realize, this is not what I expected.
Have you ever invested years of your life into another person with your time, your energy, and your money? You could have been enjoying yourself, but instead you poured into this other person and you’ve watched them make one dumb stupid decision after another for their lives. You look at where they are today, and you say, this is not I expected.
Life is going to be full of surpises that are not going to turn out in the way we hoped they would. We may choose a college major or a particular job only to find out, this is not what I expected. We may choose a marriage partner or decided to have a child only to find out, “this is not what I expected.” We may choose to buy a house in a certain area or to buy a particular kind of a car only to find out, “this is not what I expected.
Any one who has made a serious commitment to follow God is going to be surprised at what God allows into their lives and what God forbids. They will say, “God, this is not what I expected.” Let’s look at a young man who should have had a long prosperous life. Even before he was born, an angel had told his father, “he is going to be a great preacher and will lead many back to the Lord”. As the boy grew up, he kept hearing the stories about how his father could not speak from the moment he first received news he would have a son, until after he had named his son by writing it on a tablet.
People would look at him and say “one day that boy is going to be somebody. Do you remember his birth”. But even though his father had been a priest, he did not become one. His mother and father were both dead now because they were way up in years when he was born. He was living in the desert . By age 18, nothing had happened like the prophecies had said would happen.
He must have been thinking, “Lord, this is not what I expected. It certainly is not what my parents expected.” But he hung in there with the Lord, dressed in clothing made of camel hair with a leather belt around his waist. His food consisted of locusts and wild honey. People had pretty much forgotten his so called miraculous birth and his alleged mission from God. He was in his twenties now, and now when people saw him, they would say, “now there’s one life that did not turn out the way I expected.”
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene—2 during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
God must have said, “John I’ve heard your prayers time and time again, but the time was not ripe.” But now it’s time to do what I promised your parents you would do.’ It was about 25 years ago that God had made a promise to his parents.
Part of the reason we do not get what we expected from God, is that we think in terms of praying today and getting it tomorrow. When God gives us a word, it may take years for it to come to pass. Our job is to get ready to make it happen.
John had been in the desert disciplining himself, waiting for the moment. When the word of God came to him, he came out of the desert preaching up a storm. People were coming from all over the place to hear him preach. He was the TD Jakes, the Joel Olsteen and the Chuck Swindoll of his time. His message was, “you better get you act together and repent because God is about to bring forth judgment.”
He told the religious leaders, they had to change the way they were living, because they were like snakes in the grass trying to get away from the fire. He told the crowds, the tax collectors, the soldiers, you better change what you’re doing. Quit your lying and your stealing. Start loving people in the way God intended. Hell is just around the corner, and if you don’t change, you’re heading for it.
People came from all round the area to hear John preach. They would fall on their knees in repentance before God. They were baptized by John and his disciples. The size of the crowds kept getting bigger and bigger. He baptized so many people, they started calling him John the Baptist. Nothing like this had happened in Israel for years. Some were thinking John might be the Messiah. John said “No, I’m not the Messiah. There is one coming after me who is more powerful than I am. I am not even worthy to untie his shoes He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”
One day John the Baptist saw Jesus, and he said, “there He is. That’s the lamb of God. He’s the one I was telling you would come after me. I know its Him, because God told me, the one I see the Spirit descend upon is the Man. I saw a dove come down from heaven and remain on Him. That’s the Christ, that’s the Messiah.” Some of John’s disciples then began to go and follow Jesus. Andrew, Peter’s brother had been a disciple of John until John, pointed to Jesus and said, “Look the Lamb of God.”
John had been sent to preach to prepare the people to receive Jesus. Even after Jesus began his ministry John continued to preach but the crowds were getting smaller, for people were going after Jesus. One day one of John’s disciples was a little upset by this and he told John. “you know teacher, that guy you pointed out, well everybody has started going to him to be baptized. What are we going to do about this. This is not what we expected to happen.” John said listen, “I didn’t come to compete with him, I came to prepare the way for Him. I’m glad for what I did, and I’m even happier for him. He must increase, and I must decrease.
But John kept on preaching. Then he preached a message one day on marriage and divorce, and Herod came up in the sermon. This was Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great who had tried to kill Jesus along with all the other babies in Bethlehem. Herod Antipas was married but there was a scandal in the palace. Herod got involved with his brother’s wife. Her name was Herodias.
Herod then made his wife leave the palace so he could marry his brother’s wife, who must have divorced her when he found out about her adultery. The Jewish leaders were displeased with Herod committing adultery. They were even more outraged when Herod married Herodias, because marrying your brother’s wife was condemned in the law as incest. The religious leaders were afraid to say anything publicly about the relationship, because they knew you didn’t mess around with Herodias. They did not want to lose their official positions.
John however was not afraid of losing any position, because he did not have any to lose. He also was willing to call sin, sin no matter who was doing it. Once word got out that John had publicly condemned the marriage, Herodias was outraged and wanted to kill him. But Herod was afraid because He believed John was a prophet and was scared the people might riot.
No doubt the reporters kept asking John if his statement condemning the marriage of Herod to Herodias was true. John did not try to weave out of what he had said. He stood by the word of God. Headline, “Wild Preacher From The Desert Takes On King Herod & His Wife.” Something had to be done. Herod had John arrested and thrown into prison.
After being there for a month, I’m sure John was thinking, “this is not what I expected”. There he sat looking at the cold damp walls of his prison cell. The first month turned into two, the two into four, and the four into eight. The large crowds he had preached too were only a memory now. He was hearing reports about what Jesus was doing.
I wonder if John thought, why hasn’t my cousin Jesus did something to try to get me out of here. The eight months turned into twelve, a year gone by in prison. The twelve months into fifteen and the fifteen into eighteen. My friends when you’re going through a period in your life like this, it’s hard to believe God is managing everything. You may want to cry out, “how long oh Lord will you forget me.”
John called some of his disciples and asked, “ what’s going on out there. “ They told him, “well the crowds are flocking to Jesus. But he’s not like you. Instead of bringing forth the judgment of which you spoke, he’s preaching mercy and forgiveness. And whereas you are a strong, rugged man, who avoids pleasure as discipline. He goes to parties and even eats with tax collectors and sinners. He hugs little children and makes even prostitutes feel welcomed. Herod has not arrested him and to our knowledge, he has not said much about Herod’s marriage. Master are you sure He is the one? Is it possible that you might have made a mistake.”
John said, “I’m sure He’s the one God pointed out to me. But maybe, there is another one who will come that will bring forth the judgment. Go to Jesus and ask him, if He is the one who was to come or should we expect someone else.” Now at this moment, John is in the will of God for his life, but he’s feeling, this is not what I expected in terms of the ministry God has for me.”
John’s disciples went to Jesus told him what John said. They said now Jesus, “ we want to know the truth to take back to John. Are you the one who was to come or should we look for somebody else.” Things just were not adding up. Surely if Jesus did have the power of the one to come, He ought to be able to get John out of prison.
Now Jesus knows John could use a strong word of encouragement about now. He does not rebuke John’s disciples or John for their question. God is never afraid of us asking about our doubts and fears. He can read our minds so He knows them whether we voice them or not.
Jesus said , “tell you what. Stay here for a few minutes with me and watch and listen.” Then he said, now go back and tell John what you hear and see. The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is the one who does not fall away on account of me.” I can imagine one of John’s disciples saying, “But just say plainly if you are or if you are not.” I can imagine Jesus responding, “Just go and tell John what I said, and John will understand.
Jesus knew that John knew the Scriptures. His words would confirm Isaiah 61. The Spirit of the LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’S favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, Isaiah 61:1-2
John’s disciples took back the word to John. It’s hard for me to imagine John not asking, “Did he say anything about me getting out of the prison.” It had already been eighteen months. How much longer would he languish inside those cold dark walls? His faith was kept alive by remembering how God had used him in the days gone by and God’s faithfulness to him and to his parents. Sometimes even though our circumstances are not what we expected, we have to remember the goodness of the Lord even where we are.
John may have been praying, Lord will you do something to get me out of here. Be careful what you ask God to do, because God might do it. We then may be crying, “But Lord, it’s not what I expected.” So often when we think of God getting us out of a situation, we think of the victorious march of Shadrach, Meshak, and Abedengo going into the fiery furnace and marching out triumphantly or of Daniel being thrown into the lion den’s only to have God shut the lions mouths and save him.
But the Scriptures teach that sometimes God answers prayers in ways in which we do not anticipate. John’s own testimony was that Jesus must increase and he must decrease. There is no way for others to see more of Jesus in our lives without them saying less of us.
As John prayed for deliverance, there was a party going on in the palace. Herod had invited all the local officials, military officers and bigwigs to his birthday party. As they started getting high off the wine, Herod’s step-daughter came into the room. She was a probably a teenager and she came in and did a dance for them. These older men were greatly pleased with the kind of dancing she was doing, so that tells you it was not probably ballet dancing. Lusting after his own step-daughter after the dance, Herod declares, “Anything you ask me for, I swear I will give it to you. You can ask me for up to half my kingdom and it will be yours.”
This teenager wanted to make the most of the situation so she went and sought advice from her mother, Herodias. Now for almost two years Herodias had been nursing her grudge against John the Baptist for his statement it was wrong for her to marry her husband’s brother. It wasn’t enough for her to know that he had spent nearly two years in prison, or that he probably would not be getting out anytime soon. Her grudge grew into outright hatred. She wasn’t thinking what was best for her daughter, but rather how she could get her revenge. There are some people who are going to develop an unreasonable hatred toward you over something small and there’s nothing you can do to change it.
She told her daughter, “Go in there in tell Herod, to give you the head of John the Baptist right now on a platter.” She ran back into the room with her request. Even though the King knew it was wrong and could cause him some severe trouble down the road, his need to save face in front of his guests dominated his thinking. He ordered an executioner to go and cut off John’s head and to bring it into the hall on a platter. When the head was brought in, the girl took it and gave it to her mother. I wonder if Herodias got what she expected. I wonder if the head without a body showed up in her dreams to torment her.
There is no way we can make sense out of this death. Here is a man that took a stand for God, had the anointing of God on His life, was arrested for telling the truth, and lost his life because some teenager did a super sexy dance in front of her step-father. We may all feel like, “that’s not what I expected for a person devoted to God.” Where was God when this happened? Even people who love God, lose their lives because of the foolishness and sinfulness of others.
Jesus probably could have done something to get John out of prison, but He didn’t. Why? I don’t know. He did however say this about John. He said John was not like a long reed that went whichever way the wind was blowing. He couldn’t be manipulated by peer pressure or fear of what others might do to him. John was a man of conviction. You knew where he stood on the issues that counted.
Jesus stated that of all the people who had been born up to that date, none of them were greater than John The Baptist. But God came through for him differently than he did for Daniel. John never walked out of that prison wall, instead he flew away with the angels. John was as faithful to God when he was alone in the desert as he was when the crowds poured in to see hear him preach. But he was equally as faithful during those long months of being in prison.
When we make a commitment to follow Christ, the important thing is that our faith survives our circumstances. John never lost the realization that He was but a servant in the hand of a loving God.
John’s ministry was to prepare the world for the coming of Jesus Christ. He did his work and he did it well. He had no idea that the ministry he was to have would be a short one and that it would keep him from reaching his 35th birthday. By the time John was executed, much of the public fame he knew was already forgotten or replaced by the ministry of Jesus Christ. But I believe, if you saw John and asked him if it was worth such an early death, John would have said, “I would not have missed it for the world.”
When Jesus comes into people lives, he makes a change. Its not always what they expect, but a change takes place nevertheless. One day Jesus is coming back to judge this world and all who are in it. if we have not accepted the offer to repent and be changed, we will fall under that judgment. You may be thinking, “your view of God is not what I expected.” The issue is not one of what we expect, but rather is “is it true.”
Here is the gospel in a nutshell which will surprise some people and the only truth which is going to matter for centuries to come. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. John 3:16-19.
