Not what I expected

by Marvin Bublitz

How often have you found yourself saying, “That’s not what I expected”? We have our own ideas on how things should be or how they should play out. Those expectations can be seen in every aspect of our life. Not getting what we expected can mean one of three things:

First, it can mean that we are disappointed. We did not get what we wanted. Perhaps someone didn’t do what we expected they would and they let us down. Maybe a product or service fell short of the advertisements.

Second, it can mean that you were pleasantly surprised. A product performed better than you expected. A friend did more that you wanted. You received more than you thought you were going to get.

Third, it might mean that your expectations were off-base. This might be the hardest thing to admit to ourselves. It is hard to accept that we were looking at things in the wrong way or that our priorities were out of focus.

I wonder how many will open a gift on Christmas and say, “That’s not what I expected!” (Hopefully not out loud, though!) Christmas can be like that. In fact, that’s how Christmas first started. Mary and Joseph received news they were not expecting. To be sure, they were expecting the Messiah—but they were not expecting Mary to be with child before they were married nor that she would be the mother of the Messiah.

There were those who could not accept Jesus as the Messiah. It made no sense to them that the Messiah would leave heaven and be born as a little baby. It made no sense that the King would ride into Jerusalem on a donkey. It made no sense that the omnipotent God would let His creation beat and crucify Him. To many today, it still makes no sense that Jesus would take the punishment for the sins of the world. After all, we live in a world where each one is rewarded or punished for their own actions.

Recently I had a conversation with a young man who was wrestling with that idea of getting what we deserve. He was told he was forgiven but struggled with the sense he was not doing enough to earn that forgiveness. The more he tried, the deeper into despair he fell. He is not alone in those feelings. Many people struggle with trying to earn their own forgiveness. And all will be led to despair if they continue in that false thinking.

Sadly, though, that is what Satan, our Old Adam, and the world around us convince us to expect—namely, that we need to earn our own forgiveness. Such thinking leads not only to despair but to condemnation. There is only one way: Jesus Christ.

In Jesus, we get what we are not expecting. “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6-8).

The Father does the unexpected. He takes the sin of the world and places it on His Holy Son. Then He takes the holy righteousness of His Son and places it on His creation. His wrath and justice are satisfied on the cross. As Jesus declared, “it is finished.” We are forgiven and saved, not for our doing, but for the sake of the Messiah.

Jesus was not what the sinful world expected. He is, however, what the Father planned before the creation of the world for your salvation. In Him, we can expect exactly what He promises to deliver: faith, forgiveness, and salvation. These blessings are ours through the Babe of Bethlehem.

Rev. Marvin Bublitz is Lutheran Church–Canada (LCC)'s East Regional Pastor.