John 1:29-34
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”
Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”
Nobody expected Jesus. Not the way He showed up anyway. Plenty of people had (and have) messianic expectations, hopes and dreams for what God was (and is) going to do in Israel, but for all the pictures they had in their heads, the interpretations they had for their prophecies, and the practical ideas of what the coming king would be, none of them looked like the Jesus that walked toward John that day.
However they were filling out their messiah brackets, the Jesus that appears in the gospels wasn’t going to get a top seed. They wanted a warrior king to drive out Rome. They wanted an anointed priest king to restore the faith and the nation. They wanted a Godsent ruler who would take the international spotlight and put them back on the map. They wanted attention on the unfaithfulness of the world beyond their borders, not on their own. They wanted a revolution in politics, not in holiness. They wanted an economic renewal, not a spiritual one. They knew the stories of Xerxes and Alexander the Great and they wanted a homegrown version. Of all the things they wanted taken away in the world, sin wasn’t too high on the list and the last thing they wanted was a lamb.
Yet God was (and is) bigger. Despite our knowing how the story went, despite our hymns and hands raised in worship, despite our “understanding” of who Jesus “really was” (and “is”), I’m not sure we’ve learned this particular lesson just yet. In fact, I imagine that we bring our own agendas to Jesus at least as often as they did in His earthly ministry. I imagine that we expect a particular response from God, perhaps even pray for one, while He’s working in some unknown and unrecognized way right under our noses. We have our own pictures in our heads, our own hopes and dreams for what He’s going to do, and we clearly have our expectations and interpretations and I wonder with all those if we would even recognize the rabbi walking towards us.
What are we expecting? I wonder if we are looking for the lamb. I wonder if I would know Him if I saw Him on the street. And that is a humbling thought.
Reflect:
On the brief scripture above one more time. If you close your eyes and picture Jesus walking toward you, what do you see? What do you notice about Him?
Journal:
On a time or experience in your life when you expected God to show up in a certain way and He didn’t. What are you looking for? What are you expecting?
Pray:
For the wisdom to recognize the lamb of God. For the opportunity to share Him with others. For the humility to stand behind Him.