^{Luke 7}

²⁴ After John’s messengers left, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind? ²⁵ If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear expensive clothes and indulge in luxury are in palaces. ²⁶ But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. ²⁷ This is the one about whom it is written:

“‘I will send my messenger ahead of you,
    who will prepare your way before you.’^[b]

²⁸ I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

²⁹ (All the people, even the tax collectors, when they heard Jesus’ words, acknowledged that God’s way was right, because they had been baptized by John. ³⁰ But the Pharisees and the experts in the law rejected God’s purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John.)

³¹ Jesus went on to say, “To what, then, can I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? ³² They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to each other:

“‘We played the pipe for you,
    and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge,
    and you did not cry.’

³³ For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ ³⁴ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ ³⁵ But wisdom is proved right by all her children.”

I love the way God is able to speak through His people from the same Scripture but yet reveal different messages. I remember teaching from this same scripture in one of my classes and to be honest I took the Word at face value. However later on in our opening services during the revival meetings we are having at church in the course of this week, the pastor preaching quoted this same scripture and I was amazed at how God really is intentional in speaking and revealing Himself through His Word.

Prior to this, John the Baptist had sent his disciples to Jesus to ask Him if He was the one who people expected or there was another. Jesus performs miracles and sends John’s disciples back to Him to go and give a report of what they had seen. Jesus to affirm John the Baptist’s work speaks to the crowd that was Him and asked them what they had gone to see in the wilderness.  He affirms that indeed John was the prophet and not just a prophet, but the great prophet that they had gone to see. He was greater than all those that had gone before him. Yet, even though he was the greatest, Jesus was greater than Him despite being the least in the kingdom of God.

Verse 30 and those that follow of interest to me because they really speak to me at a personal level. The Bible says that the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law did not believe what Jesus said because they had a different picture of not only the Messiah but he who would be His forerunner. Actually, these same fellows were never baptized by John. Jesus goes ahead and compares this generation to those people who neither danced to the pipe nor cried to the dirges; People who never embraced John the Baptist and people who never received the Messiah.

As the man of God preached he pointed us to the place of asking ourselves this question; when we accepted Jesus, what did we expect to find? And it really provoked on me a personal level. What did I expect to find? And I was looking at the response of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law. They rejected both John and Jesus because they did not match up to what they expected. They had a pre-conceived idea of this glorious king that would come and save them from the Roman rule. They expected a strong warrior. But here is the sad thing though: All of the glorious prophecies about the forerunner and the Messiah were all unfolding right in front of their eyes but because there is what they expected to see or find, they denied the manifestations of God in their days.

And this struck me hard because honestly, when I got saved, I had an imagery of the Savior I would find. There is what I expected God to do for me. There is how I expected to relate with God. There is what I thought heaven would like. There is how I thought I would relate with the church. There is how I thought I would relate with the society. While honestly it is logic to have expectations, it is also truer that they can be limiting factors towards experiencing the wondrous and glorious manifestations of God in our lives and in our days.

As you pray even now, is there a way you expect God to answer your prayers?

Is the image you had of God now a limiting factor toward experiencing His love?

Listen to this child of God. Ephesians 3:20 says  that, Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

God is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine. Let Him reveal himself to you afresh every day. Don’t ever let the testimony or success of yesterday hinder from experiencing the grace, love, mercies and successes of today. Don’t let the image of yesterday’s glory limit your receiving of today’s glory.

Just because you did not meet what you expected doesn’t disqualify God. Were you, like the Pharisees, expecting a glorious king or a powerful prophet but found two meek people who never resembled what you thought of?

Could you be missing out on the present manifestations of God over your life because they don’t look like what you expected?

I will leave you with this question,: what did you expect to find when you received Christ and how is that affecting your walk with Him today?

God bless you!