Should We Expect Someone Else?

News about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country. John’s disciples told him about all these things. Calling two of them, he sent them to the Lord to ask, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?” (Luke 7:17–19, NIV 1984).

My Musings – “Are you the one who was to come?” The promised Messiah? Later, Jesus would pose this same question to His disciples. “He asked them, ‘Who do the crowds say I am?’ They replied, ‘Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life.’ ‘But what about you?’ he asked. ‘Who do you say I am?’ Peter answered, ‘The Christ of God.’ (Luke 9:18–20, NIV 1984).

John, of course, was imprisoned and facing an uncertain future. Perhaps it was to be expected that he might have some doubts. He needed some reassurance that He had not sacrificed his freedom and perhaps his life needlessly. “So, [Jesus] replied to the messengers, ‘go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.” (Luke 7:22, NIV 1984).

The disciples had witnessed this first-hand. John had not. Cut off from news from the outside in Herod’s dungeon. Perhaps it was natural that the disciples would proclaim, “‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.'” (Matthew 16:16, NIV 1984), whereas John would question, “should we expect someone else?” Still, it was quite clear, at least at this point, that the disciples had not grasped the Messiah’s true mission. We do not know about John, although he might have hoped the Messiah would take power and free him.

By and large, the Jews were just as clearly expecting “someone else.” They had in mind the vision shown to Daniel. “The God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.” (Daniel 2:44, NIV 1984). That is what they expected, because that is what they wanted. But spiritual needs must always precede physical wants. We must “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness.” (Matthew 6:33, NIV 1984), before the physical kingdom can come.

They rejected the first (His spiritual kingdom), so they would have to wait for the latter (HIs physical kingdom). “Jesus said, ‘My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.'” (John 18:36, NIV 1984). Had He not been rejected it might have been different. “But now” we all must wait for that fulfillment.

My Advice – Not all will enter the physical kingdom, because many still reject the spiritual kingdom. It all depends on “who do [we] say [He is]?” Don’t expect some other way. For there is no other way. Need assurance? “‘Go back [to the Scriptures] …what [was] seen and [recorded]: The blind receive[d] sight, the lame walk[ed], those who [had] leprosy [were] cured, the deaf hear[d], the dead [were] raised, and the good news [was] preached to the poor.” Any other “news” is fake news.