Bible Study
The Hope That Does Not Disappoint (II)
Last Friday I shared about how my husband showed up at the right time just as I’d asked the Lord. Praise God! What I didn’t tell you though was that I actually didn’t see or embrace him as the expected one when he showed up, he didn’t look like the one. I kept introducing him to my friends as ‘my brother’ (because of some distant communal ties). One day the young man blurted out that he wasn’t here as my brother! …….I almost did not recognize the object of HOPE I’d been praying for.
“John’s two disciples found Jesus and said to him, “John the Baptist sent us to ask, ‘Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?”
Luke 7:20 NLT
I say this is an interesting question because just before Jesus showed up after the 400 silent years, John the Baptist, went about introducing himself as the forerunner to the Messiah. He widely proclaimed the imminent coming of the HOPE of Israel- The Messiah (Matthew 1:4-8, Luke 7:25, Luke 1:76-79, Malachi 3:1, Isaiah 40:3).
It was John who baptized and pointed Jesus out to the crowd during Jesus’s baptism at River Jordan (John 1:32-34). Yet, this same John speaking from the walls of a prison, suddenly would not recognize the Messiah of whom his whole calling and ministry was about.
What was happening here?
As dumb as John’s question may seem, it also interestingly was a reflection of the general state of most Jews during Jesus’s time. Following the words from the Law and Prophets, Israel as a people, had a Messianic HOPE; the expectation that an Annointed One would come. This Annointed One would conquer Israel’s enemies, deliver them and restore power/freedom back to them. Through the years, Israel’s confidence in the promises from the patriarchs was unshaken, their HOPE patiently waited through the time of the Law and the Prophets. The Jews, among other things, were looking forward to someone who would usher in an era of uinversal peace, gather them back to their land and build the 3rd temple (Isaiah 2:4, Ezekiel 37:26-28, Isaiah 43:5-6).
Israel had HOPE
Question is did Israel truly understand God’s description and function of the Messiah? Scripture suggests that they didn’t, because when their long expected HOPE of a Messiah showed up as Jesus Christ, they did not recognize Him (Romans chapters 9-11, John 1:11, Mark 6:1-6, Luke 9:51-56).
What happened to these people?
They lacked spiritual sensitivity and understanding as to the exact description and role of the Messiah. They missed the Who, When and How of their expectation. Hence they didn’t recognize the time of their visitation, and so couldn’t engage their faith to seize and embrace their long awaited Messianic Hope.
Thankfully it wasn’t all of Israel that was spiritually insensitive at the time. The Bible speaks of Simeone’s relationship with the Holy Spirit and how this sharpened his spiritual sensitivity, helping him recognize the Messiah even at A Baby, INFANTILE stage….
“Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.” The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
Luke 2:25-35 NIV
Friend, it is a tragedy to be expecting God to come through for you and yet not recognize when He shows up.
Are you able to spiritually discern and recognize the object of your Hope when it shows up? Do you SEE it even in it’s infantile stage?
When your ‘abusive’ husband suddenly begins to say nice words to you, buys you gifts, do you SEE with your spiritual eyes that the time of your change has come? Do you by faith start praising and thanking God? Do you acknowledge the very slight positive change in your child’s maths score as an answer to your long prayers for him to improve? When your ‘mean’ boss suddenly starts showing interest in your career growth by giving you more tasks to handle, does this appear to you as an opportunity for increase/promotion or do you curse/reject the emergence of your Hope?
After proclaiming the coming of an abundance of rain in a season of drought, all Elijah needed to see was a ‘cloud as small as a man’s hand‘. He immediately started making preparations to receive the downpour he was expecting
My dear friend, the Hope That Does Not Disappoint is expectant, joyful, confident and waits patiently. It waits with spiritual sensitivity and alertness in order to recognize the time and object of Hope so as to take advantage of it by faith.
As you wait, be like Simeone; who “Had the Holy Spirit on him” and was “Moved by the Holy Spirit” towards the object of his Hipe.
Please join me next time as I share more on how we can bring our Hope in Christ; expectations, anticipation (based on the Word of God) to fruition.
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Remember that you can access previous parts of this study as follows; Part 1: Study Background. Part 2: The Scope of the Christian Victory. Part 3: How Christians Gained Victory. Part 4: How Faith, Love and Hope Mix Together for Victorious Christian Living. Part 5: The Nature of God’s Love. Part 6: Characteristics of God Kind of Love. Parts 7 and 8: Winning Through Love. Part 9: How to develop our love nature. Part 10: Giving Is Not (always) Love. Part 11:Victory Through Faith: Understanding Faith. Part 12: Victory Through Faith: The Righteousness of God. Part 13: The Stimulus for Faith. Part 14: The Faith of Abraham (A). Part 15: The Faith of Abraham (B). Part 16: The Blessing of Abraham. Part 17: Activate The Blessing. Part 18: Abraham’s Righteousness. Part 19: You Can Grow Your Faith (A). Part 20: You Can Grow Your Faith (B). Part 21: The Hope That Does Not Disappoint (I).
