40, 54, 51
Isaiah 10:5-19 2 Peter 2:17-22 Matthew 11:2-15
“Are you the one who is to come, or are we to expect someone else?”
John sends his disciples to Jesus with a question about expectations. Perhaps they’ve been bugging John. “Is this really the Messiah we’ve waited for?” Having no words to satisfy them, John sends them to the Answer.
Perhaps they expected someone to lead the political revolution they heard the prophets promising, someone who could restore their sovereignty. Perhaps this was the best thing they could imagine.
When they come to Jesus, they see something they didn’t expect, for Jesus stands among people he has freed from infirmity, given sight and strength, raised to life and dignity. They may have imagined a change in government. They had not imagined a new creation.
What are we expecting this Advent? For whom are we waiting?
The One who comes will surely upend our expectations. The Christ embodied among us opens eyes and hearts that we might desire what gives life, so that God might give us back to each other. Until we see Jesus, we don’t really know what we want. We don’t really know what’s possible.
Jesus says, “Blessed are those who do not find me an obstacle to faith.” Happy are we in this season when, anticipating grace, we can hold our expectations loosely and wait in hope for God to apocalypse us.
Holy One, whose revelation is new life, overcome our expectation and give us the One who is our truest desire.
Listen to Steven read his Advent meditation and prayer:
