What the Bible says about Blinded by Expectations
(From Forerunner Commentary)

Judges 6:13 Does this not sound modern? We have all probably heard someone say, "If there's a God, why doesn't He do something? Why does He allow all this violence on our streets? Why does He allow rapists to roam freely? Why does God allow people to be drug addicts? Why does He allow wars to rage? Why does He allow ships to be sunk?" The same can be asked about almost any disaster. "Why does God allow earthquakes? Why does God allow massive forest fires? Why does God allow rainstorms to cause mudslides and flooding?" And about relationships: "Why is there so much divorce? Why can't the races get along? Why is there so much tension between people?" When they ask such questions, people are really asking, "Where is God? Why doesn't He work miracles to clear all of this up? Why doesn't God act when we need him? If God is so kind and merciful, why doesn't He intervene to deliver us?" Gideon's statement shows his expectations of how he thought his and the nation's problems should be resolved. It was essentially, "Let God do it!" Never mind that the Israelites were committing great evils. They were willing to sweep that under the rug. When people say something similar today, they are doing just what Gideon did. They are putting evil, the nation's sins, to the side and questioning God. "Why doesn't He do something about it?" He could well ask in response, "Why are you not doing something to improve your lives?" The Israelites were indeed suffering at the hands of enemies, but they wanted God to remove the pain by working a miracle. Almost every American newspaper once featured a page or even a section covering religion. In that part of the newspaper would appear advertisements for itinerant evangelists planning to visit the area. Such ads would say something to the effect that the evangelist would put on a revival. Sometimes the presenting organization would send out direct-mail flyers to individual homes. These revival ads almost always pushed the same theme. They would proclaim miracle healings, miracle handkerchiefs, miracle meetings, and miracle messages. They will even proclaim miracle magazines and miracle publishing houses. The evangelist might even claim to have the gift of working miracles. Simple people are hungry to seek out these frauds because of the pain they suffer. They have problems and want them resolved quickly. So they flock to evangelistic campaigns and revivals. Somebody lays hands on them, utters a prayer, and "Voila!" the problems are solved. The miracle-working magician—God, supposedly—has come to the rescue! There is nothing unusual about this miraculous approach to solving life's problems. Satan preys on deceived people's expectations about God and His purpose; they have been deceived into believing that God should work miracles on demand. It may not be stated that way, but the idea is present. Phony preachers play on people's skewed expectations about God. John W. Ritenbaugh Is God a Magician? Related Topics: Blinded by Expectations | Expectations about Signs and Miracles | Expectations Blind us to Truth | Miracles

John 1:14 Near the beginning of his gospel, John makes an astonishing declaration. Though it may be familiar to us, having read it often, its singularity should still electrify us: "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). To the Greek mind, that a god—let alone the God—would debase himself by becoming flesh and blood was preposterous. John's announcement was a psychological earthquake, a force that violently shook reality, requiring a reevaluation of all thought. As fantastic as this was, almost as astounding is John's earlier declaration: "He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him" (John 1:11). Whether we understand "His own" to be limited to Israel and Judah or to comprise all men, the essence is the same: God became a man, but His now-fellow men would not accept Him. At every turn, He was doubted, challenged, and scorned by people blinded and enslaved by their expectations of what God should be like. With rare exception, the people did not recognize who He was, and they did not believe Him when He told them because their minds already had a firm image of what the Messiah should be like, as well as how the prophecies of His coming should be fulfilled. Their ideas about these things were so ironclad that they were unable to recognize the reality standing in front of them. The people of Jesus' time had expectations about where the Messiah should come from (John 1:46) and about what He should do and not do (Matthew 11:19; 12:2, 10; 15:2; 17:24)—and when (Mark 2:24; 3:2; John 5:8-10). They had expectations about the rituals and traditions they thought He and His followers should keep (Matthew 15:2; Mark 7:1-5), about what He should say (Matthew 15:12; 19:3, 21-22), about whom He should associate with (Matthew 9:11; 11:19; Mark 2:16), and about how He should do His job (Matthew 16:21-22). They had expectations about His signs and miracles (Matthew 12:38; 16:1; 26:67-68; 27:40, 42; Mark 8:11; John 2:18). They even had expectations about which family He should be from (Matthew 13:55-57; Mark 6:3)! Essentially, they expected their Savior to validate everything they already believed. Rejecting any suggestion that they did not have it all figured out, their expectations kept them from seeing the Son of God when He appeared in their midst! Their expectations not only blinded them to the reality of Immanuel ("God with us"), but also caused them to persecute and ultimately kill this One who did not conform to their ideas. This difficulty is not unique to the first century. A core part of everyone is his perspective, his mental map of the world, the lens through which he sees everything. It develops over time, fashioned by environment, experience, education, and the culture at large. As a person ages, he continues to hone this lens, shaping it into what he believes is a more precise tool for viewing the world. This happens naturally, as a result of our first parents' decision to take from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. However, as in Christ's time, problems arise when people use a carnal lens to view spiritual things. Only a very few at the time had a spiritual lens to see the Son of God for who He was. The remainder had only a carnal lens that distorted and perverted all that they perceived. David C. Grabbe Not-So-Great Expectations Related Topics: Blinded by Expectations | Distorted Perception of Reality | Expectations about Signs and Miracles | Expectations Blind us to Truth | Not-So- Great Expectations | Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil

 

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