Story Context: Bible:Matthew+3:1—12; Bible:Mark+1:1—8; Bible:Luke+3:1—20; Bible:John+1:19-42

The Jewish people were expecting God to send someone who would judge evil and establish His justice and righteousness in the world.
The Jews knew what it was like to have someone who ruled over them and tell them what to do. In fact, there were a lot of kings and would be kings around at the time. Tiberius was the Roman emperor, Pontius Pilate was governor over Judea. Herod Antipas ruled Galilee, and his brother Philip ruled over parts of Jordan, and Lysanias was ruler over part of Syria. In addition, Annas and Caiaphas were the high priests in Jerusalem. There were all kinds of kings and kingdoms. During the time that these men were kings and rulers, a message from God came to John son of Zechariah, who was living in the wilderness. When John heard this message, he began to go from place to place on both sides of the Jordan River, preaching that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and were turning to God to be forgiven. Isaiah the prophet was speaking of John when he said,
“He is a voice shouting in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the LORD’s coming! Clear the road for him!'"
John was expecting the Messiah who was coming, the true king of the Jews. His arrival would bring God’s justice to the world and deal with evil. Going through the motions of baptism would not do it, there had to be real repentance and a change of heart and life. John expected God to sweep in and purge and clean everything with fire, judge the world, then set up his kingdom. As John stood in the river baptizing those who came to him, he saw a figure approaching –is this the one for whom he had been waiting? Instead, here was Jesus, going down into the water with the people who needed to repent and be baptized.
Why was he coming to John to be baptized? What happened to God’s plan? Where was the wind and fire? “Don’t worry,” Jesus had said, “just go ahead and baptize me.” So John baptized him. As Jesus came up out of the water John watched the Spirit of God descend on Jesus, and heard a voice from heaven declaring his pleasure with Jesus, whom He called son.
Later, after Herod threw John into prison, John, wondered why nothing was happening the way he expected it to happen. If Jesus really was the Messiah, why didn’t he see the messianic kingdom that John looked for? Why wasn’t Jesus busy liberating prisoners like himself? So he sent some of his disciples to find Jesus and ask him a few questions.

Study Guide

The American Christian author Eugene Peterson tells the story about his passion for the French Revolution. When he arrived at University, he signed up for a history class on the French Revolution. The class was a total disappointment. The teacher did not know much about the French Revolution, and everything he knew about it was wrong. By the end of the term, Peterson was so disappointed with the experience that if someone would mention the French Revolution, he would yawn. He had brought great expectations to the class, but they were never met.

1. Discussion Question
Can you think of a time when something didn’t happen quite as you expected, or you met someone who wasn’t at all as you expected them to be? How did your expectations shape your view of the person or event?

A. Who is Jesus? The expectations of John the Baptizer (Luke 7:18-23).

1. What were John’s expectations about the coming Messiah? What should Messiah look like and be doing, according to John? (Read Luke 3:15-17, Jn 1.19—27).

2. Luke says that John’s disciples watched what Jesus was doing, and reported “these things” to him (Lk 7:18). What were “these things” (see Lk 7:1-17; 7:22-23)?

3. Based on the reports of his disciples, who did John think Jesus was? Why would that cause him to send two of his disciples to Jesus to ask him a question?

4. Read the following passages:

• Isa. 35:5-6
• Isa. 42:6-7
• Isa. 61:1-2
  What does Isaiah say about the messiah?

5. Luke 7:18 says that John’s disciples reported what they saw to John. Compare that to the answer that Jesus gives to John’s disciples in Luke 7:22. 22 And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news brought to them.
What is the difference between v18 and v22? How does this help John to answer his questions about Jesus?

6. John had certain expectations about the coming messiah and what would happen when he arrived. How is John’s view of things different from what Jesus was saying and doing?

B. Who is John? The Expectations of the Crowds (Luke 7:34-35).

1. There were two groups of people with different expectations about the Messiah (7:29-30). Who were the two groups, and how did their expectations affect how they responded to John?

2. Was John the Baptizer a prophet? How was he different from the prophets who came before him? (Read 7:27, Malachi 3:1, and Mark 1:2)

3. According to 7:32-35, John and Jesus were completely different, yet but the people rejected both John and Jesus. Why?

Application: What are God’s expectations?

A. How to tell the truth.

1. The first word that came out of John the Baptizer’s mouth was repent. What is your definition of Repent?

2. John explains that repentance means we must confess our sins. Herein lies the secret to a new beginning… To confess means that we tell God the truth, that we have to face reality. What is that reality? Joseph Epstein says: We all exist on at least three levels: there is the person as he or she appears in public; the person as he or she is known to intimates, which includes family and dear friends; and that person, deepest of all, who is only know to him- or herself, where all the aspirations, resentments, fantasies, desires, and much else that is not ready for public knowledge reside.
We need to begin by loving God. But in order to love God fully, we are asked to repent. This means that we have to tell God the truth about who we are at each of these levels, to agree with who God says we are, because tells us the truth about who we are and what He wants of us. And as we tell God the truth about who we are in all of these areas, and agree with him and what he says, we can have a new beginning in life.

3. Look at these three levels of who you are in your life. Is there something that you need to tell God the truth?
a. How do I appear in public to others?
b. How am I known by family and close friends?
c. How am I known only to myself and to God?

4. What do we need to do when our expectations do not match up with God’s expectations for us?

5. If we learn to tell the truth about ourselves to God, what will happen to our expectations about God and Christ?

B. Application: What are our expectations?

1. We saw above that to understand fully who Christ is, we not only have to see what Christ has done, we need to hear what Christ has said.

2. Read what Paul says in Romans 10:17: 17 So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.
a. How does Hearing the teaching of Jesus make a difference in our understanding of who Jesus is?
b. What does James 1:22-25 tell us what it means to hear? 22 But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. 23 For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; 24 for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. 25 But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act—they will be blessed in their doing.
c. Notice what Jesus tells his disciples in John 16:13: 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.

• What is the role of the Holy Spirit in understanding the teaching of Jesus?

3. Is there an area where Christ hasn’t met your expectations? How could the fact that Christ does not meet your expectations affect how you think he is able to answer prayer and supply your daily needs?

Summary: What are your expectations about God, about Christ, and how they relate to you?
Do you have expectations that have not been met, that you need to bring to Christ and to talk to him about?
Quotations from: Eugene Peterson, Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places: A Conversation in Spiritual Theology (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2005)
Joseph Epstein, Envy: The Seven Deadly Sins (Oxford, 2003).