Slices
Prepare
Think of a time when reality didn’t match up to your expectations. Small (a disappointing meal) or big (a broken relationship), reflect on how you felt. How did you handle that disappointment?
Bible passage
Jesus and John the Baptist
11 After Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee.
2 When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples 3 to ask him, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?’
4 Jesus replied, ‘Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5 the blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. 6 Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.’
7 As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: ‘What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind? 8 If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces. 9 Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 This is the one about whom it is written:
‘“I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way before you.”
11 Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12 From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence, and violent people have been raiding it. 13 For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. 14 And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. 15 Whoever has ears, let them hear.
16 ‘To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the market-places and calling out to others:
17 ‘“We played the pipe for you,
and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge,
and you did not mourn.”
18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, “He has a demon.” 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, “Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.” But wisdom is proved right by her deeds.’
Explore
My wife and I had booked a place to stay that looked lovely, light and airy on the photos. We arrived and discovered it had one (tiny) window, the kitchen was filthy, the bathroom had an open vent (letting in hordes of hungry mosquitoes), and it had nothing we could use to clean any of the grime or crockery.
John the Baptist’s expectations were a little more lofty than my hopes for a nice holiday, but they were dashed nonetheless. Perhaps it was because of the company Jesus kept (9:9), or his apparent failure to teach his disciples to fast (9:14), or because John expected a different sort of kingdom – with a different sort of king.
How would you have handled this dissonance? See the way Jesus reinforces John the Baptist’s identity (v 7), role (vs 8–10), status (v 11) and behaviour (vs 18,19). Those in the kingdom are ‘greater’ than John (v 11) not in status but in privilege: they see the reality of what he only heralded; they understand more fully what he misunderstood.
Respond
Reread verse 15. The truth about Jesus and his kingdom is not in doubt, but it is hard to grasp, especially if we don’t listen to Jesus. When you pray ‘your kingdom come’, do you have in mind what Jesus meant or what John might have expected?
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: 1 Kings 20,21; 2 Corinthians 1
Pray for Scripture Union
Jonathan is hosting a holiday club later this summer. Please pray for more volunteers to help, and that many children will attend, both those with and without church connections, and learn more about God’s love for them.(This week's prayers relate to this article.)
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