Luke 24:21 But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done.
Your Expectation of Jesus
One of the most fulfilling things in life is getting to know people better. It also happens to be one of the most disappointing things in life. Haven’t you met someone you thought very well of and then as you got to know them better were disappointed because they didn’t quite measure up to your expectations? I’ve come to the conclusion that many times it is not that people have changed. It is merely that my perception of them has changed as I’ve gotten to know them better.
In any event, the disciples of the Lord Jesus were greatly discouraged. He had died, and they had seen it. A couple such disciples were on a road to a village called Emmaus. They were talking about all that had happened—how they had expected Jesus to do one thing and something else had happened. Jesus, the risen Christ, joined them on this trip and said, “Why are you sad?” They said, “Don’t you know what has happened? We had great, high hopes for this Jesus of Nazareth. And now He has died.”
Jesus did not measure up to what they expected. As it turned out, He was far greater than they expected. He sternly replied in verse 25, “O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? and beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.” The Jesus revealed in the Bible is so much better than the Jesus that we could imagine.
It may be that you’re disappointed that Jesus has not lived down to your expectations. When Jesus doesn’t live down to our expectations, He will live up to His Word. That’s why it’s so important to know what God has said about the Lord Jesus. The more you know God’s Word, the better you know God’s Son.
There are two things you need in order to know who Christ is. First, you need to open His word. Second, you need Him to open your understanding. Without an open Bible and an open understanding, our expectations are not what they ought to be. Jesus will not live down to your expectations; He will live up to His Word. That means that your level of faith and confidence comes from your level of understanding of what God has said.
Know what God has said, open God’s Word, and allow God to open your understanding in order that your expectations may rise to the level of Who Jesus really is.