{"id":70634,"date":"2024-10-29T11:18:58","date_gmt":"2024-10-29T16:18:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=70634"},"modified":"2024-10-29T11:20:24","modified_gmt":"2024-10-29T16:20:24","slug":"disappointed-by-christ","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/disappointed-by-christ\/","title":{"rendered":"Disappointed by Christ?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<p>by David Gibson<\/p>\n<p>Jesus does not always fulfill people&#8217;s expectations.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;<em>Teacher,<\/em>&#8221; a man said to Jesus, &#8220;<em>tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me<\/em>&#8221; (Luke 12:13 NASB). But Jesus refused, warning him about the trap of greed.<\/li>\n<li>When those Jesus fed with the loaves and fish returned the next day for more, Jesus offered them something far better, but many of them turned away and did not follow Him ever again (John 6).<\/li>\n<li>James and John requested places of honor beside Jesus in His glory. He then taught the importance of seeking places of service, not places of prominence.<\/li>\n<li>Exasperated, Martha asked Jesus to send her sister, Mary, to help her prepare the meal. Jesus did not do as she asked but used the opportunity to teach her (and us) about priorities (Luke 10:38-42).<\/li>\n<li>After Jesus healed the man possessed by a legion of demons, he wanted to come with Jesus. But Jesus said, &#8220;<em>Return to your house and describe what great things God has done for you.<\/em>&#8221; And he did (Luke 8:38-39).<\/li>\n<li>Having heard much about Jesus, Herod was glad when Jesus was brought before him because he wanted to see Him do a miracle. But Jesus would not oblige (Luke 23:8-11).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Are we willing to accept Jesus on His terms, or do we want to fashion Him to suit our agenda? Are we willing to follow Christ, even if what He offers is not what we had in mind? Do we trust Him to do right by us, regardless? Are we willing to serve Him even if His teachings and expectations go against the grain of our pride and selfishness? Will we follow Him even if He takes us places we don&#8217;t understand or wish to go? (John 21:18-19)<\/p>\n<p>We have a choice. Will we be like Martha, James, and John, and the man freed of the demons who obeyed Christ, even though He did not grant their requests? Or will we be like the disciples who turned away to follow Him no more? When Jesus asked His remaining disciples if they also wanted to leave, Peter responded, &#8220;<em>Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God<\/em>&#8221; (John 6:67-69). Ultimately, which group-those who stayed or those who left-were happy with their choice? Will we be happy with ours?<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by David Gibson Jesus does not always fulfill people&#8217;s expectations. &#8220;Teacher,&#8221; a man said to Jesus, &#8220;tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me&#8221; (Luke 12:13 NASB). But Jesus refused, warning him about the trap of greed. When those Jesus fed with the loaves and fish returned the next day for more, Jesus&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[351],"class_list":["post-70634","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-expectation"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":54455,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-peter-follow-jesus\/","url_meta":{"origin":70634,"position":0},"title":"Why did Peter follow Jesus?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 20, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Why did Peter follow Jesus? Answer: Peter followed Jesus first because his brother, Andrew, told him that he and John, Peter's fellow fisherman, had found the Messiah (John 1:41-42), so initially, he went out of curiosity. When he met Jesus, he was given a nickname, which indicated what kind\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13447,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-john-call-jesus-the-messiah-and-then-later-ask-if-he-was-the-one\/","url_meta":{"origin":70634,"position":1},"title":"Why did John call Jesus the Messiah and then later ask if he was the one?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 24, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Will you please help me understand these two confusing statements? In John 1:29-31 we read that John pointing out to Jesus tells his disciples that He (Jesus) was the promised Messiah `The Lamb of God`. But in Luke 7 - 19:20 we read that John while in prison sends\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33862,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/faces-surrounding-calvary-joseph-of-arimathea-and-nicodemus\/","url_meta":{"origin":70634,"position":2},"title":"Faces Surrounding Calvary: Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 2, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Dave Hart We are given very little insight as to the lives and characters of these two men, but there are some things we know about them which are worthy of our attention. Joseph of Arimathea was a rich man, a member of the council or what was otherwise\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20757,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-john-doubt\/","url_meta":{"origin":70634,"position":3},"title":"Why did John doubt?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 7, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In Matthew 3:13-17, John the Baptist meets Jesus and is resistant to baptizing him because he \"seemed\" to know that he was the Messiah and he thought that Jesus should baptize him instead. \u00a0Did John see the clouds open up and hear God's voice?\u00a0 Later, in Matthew 11:2-6, when\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":69694,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-was-one-woman-called-daughter-instead-of-woman\/","url_meta":{"origin":70634,"position":4},"title":"Why was one woman called &#8220;daughter&#8221; instead of &#8220;woman&#8221;?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 7, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good morning, brother. I have been reading Luke 7 about the woman who was a sinner and brought an alabaster flask of fragment oil. She stood at Jesus' feet, washed His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head. Jesus refers to her in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":66845,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/jesus-the-lord-of-sabbath\/","url_meta":{"origin":70634,"position":5},"title":"Jesus, the Lord of Sabbath","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 2, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer The gospel accounts highlight the fact that Jesus worked miracles on the Sabbath. This, of course, was intentional on His part, but it also brought much criticism. For example, he was asked, \"Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?\" The text says they asked this \"so\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70634","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70634"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70634\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}