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With God Expect The Unexpected

We should never place limits on the power of God. Nor should we confine his actions, his way of answering our prayers to our predefined list of options. With God expect the unexpected. As this second week of Advent draws to a close and this third begins, let us turn to God and ask for the gift of a free mind and an open heart. A heart and mind that allows us to not seek out what we expect, but allows us to receive the amazing gift God wants to give us.

After The Transfiguration

And as they were coming down the mountain, the disciples asked him, “Then why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?” He replied, “Elijah does come, and he is to restore all things; but I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not know him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of man will suffer at their hands.” Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist. Matthew 17 : 9a, 10-13

Scriptural Analysis

The transfiguration has taken place and Jesus is coming down the mountain. This resembles Moses, who was at the transfiguration, coming down the mountain, “When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tables of the testimony in his hand.” (Exodus 34:29) The disciples ask Jesus why the scribes say Elijah must come first to prepare the way for the Lord. This is found in the scriptures, “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes.” (Malachi 4:5) Since they just saw Elijah with Jesus they are wondering if that prophecy had been fulfilled.

Jesus agrees that Elijah will come to call all people to repentance but the phrase that he adds, but I tell you, signifies a contrast is going to be part of his answer. Jesus then states that Elijah has already come. The scribes and many were right to look for Elijah’s return, but they missed it. It was the ministry of John the Baptist that fulfilled this prophecy. Jesus talks about the suffering that John underwent as a way of pointing to the suffering Jesus will undergo by these same people.

Daily Application

Expectations can be both good a bad. Expecting your children to keep their rooms clean can be a good thing. Expecting God to act in a certain way, not so much. At the time of Jesus, there was a certain expectation of the Messianic arrival. The Messiah would be proceeded by Elijah, a powerful Elijah who would be a great and terrible reformer. He would walk through the world destroying all evil and setting things right for the arrival of the Messiah. In other words, both the forerunner and the Messiah were thought about in terms of earthly power.

This expectation was wrong. Both the forerunner and the Messiah would suffer. John the Baptist was indeed the fulfillment of the expectation that Elijah would return but John’s way of existence was a way of suffering and sacrifice. He pointed to Jesus who also suffered and sacrificed. Since the expectation of the people was wrong, they missed it. They missed this great fulfillment of what had been prophesied occurring right before their eyes.

How often do we miss the workings of God in our own lives because we have expectations? We think he will answer our prayer by doing this certain thing or that thing over there. Instead, he answers it in a completely unexpected way and we miss it: miss it because we placed expectations upon him. This is both tragic and sad. It is tragic because it can leave us feeling as if God is ignoring us. It is sad because it can drive us away from God.

The answer to this problem is both simple and complex. We need to stop expecting God to act in a certain way, to answer prayers in a certain way. That is simple on the surface but hard to do in reality. We are wired to anticipate and expect. In that struggle to stop expecting, turn to Mary and ask for her help. She is the model of how to trust in God without placing expectations upon him. Mary said yes to his plan without any idea or expectation of how that plan would unfold. She can show us how to do it as well.

As we turn the page and start this third week of Advent, let us ask for the grace to eliminate expectations. That way, we can experience these final days of anticipation the way the Lord wants us to. Let us welcome the unexpected and in doing so allow ourselves to receive all that he longs to give us if we allow him to.

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