Scripture: Zechariah 9:9-13
This year, I became an aunt. It’s been extremely exciting to witness my brother becoming a father. Often, my parents and grandmother fantasize about what baby Mateo will be like when he grows up. Will he look like my brother or my sister-in-law? Will he be a reserved toddler like his dad or wild and crazy like his aunt? Parents often have expectations or desires as to how their child will be in the future.
Similarly, the Jewish people had many expectations about the return of their God. They had hopes that He would be a military leader and king that would save them from Roman rule (Zachariah 9:9-13). When Jesus came, He defied expectations. He was born poor, humble, loving, and selfless.
The hope that Jesus brought was not the hope of conquest and power, but to bring us freedom from our sins (Romans 8:1-4). In the story of the lame man brought down through a roof to see Jesus (Luke 5:17-39), he and his friends had hope that Jesus would heal him. But before he was told to rise and walk, Jesus surprisingly first forgives the man’s sins. Jesus’s hope is not always what His followers expect.
This Advent, as we look to Christ’s return, we may hope that He returns on our time and rectifies the wrongs we see in the world, when in reality, the hope that Jesus is bringing will outshine our greatest expectations.
Taran Taylor is a laboratory supervisor who loves her husband and fur babies and is working on a master’s degree part-time while juggling life and loving others around her.