We can be surprised by how much more there is to a person, place, or event than we had realized. Of course, the same applies to ourselves - we are greater than we imagine.
God has greater ideas than the suffering servant ever imagined in Second Isaiah. While the servant believes his mission has accomplished nothing and his efforts have been quite pointless, God isn't looking at results and outcomes. Instead, God admires the faithfulness of the servant. God sees someone who is undeterred by results and keeps faithfully serving. This fellow is so valuable that God decides the first mission was too small and gives him a new mission of mammoth scope.
John's gospel describes Jesus in his time amid the John the Baptist community. The gospel writer portrays John the Baptist heaping praises on Jesus - he overdoes it by a long shot. (The gospel's focus is supposed to be on Jesus and his unique authority, and the Baptist is made to support those claims of sacred authority greater than John's with wild enthusiasm.) This causes a couple of John's disciples to start tailing Jesus. Yes, they're a bit creepy, but they spend the day with Jesus. Although he seems pretty average, they are surprised to discover the depth of his wisdom, insights, and spirituality. They're sold on Jesus and will end up following Jesus when Jesus sets out on his own ministry.
This "greater than you imagine" aspect applies to our own experience in a couple of ways. Check out the sermon video below and see how things may be greater than you imagine.
God has greater ideas than the suffering servant ever imagined in Second Isaiah. While the servant believes his mission has accomplished nothing and his efforts have been quite pointless, God isn't looking at results and outcomes. Instead, God admires the faithfulness of the servant. God sees someone who is undeterred by results and keeps faithfully serving. This fellow is so valuable that God decides the first mission was too small and gives him a new mission of mammoth scope.
John's gospel describes Jesus in his time amid the John the Baptist community. The gospel writer portrays John the Baptist heaping praises on Jesus - he overdoes it by a long shot. (The gospel's focus is supposed to be on Jesus and his unique authority, and the Baptist is made to support those claims of sacred authority greater than John's with wild enthusiasm.) This causes a couple of John's disciples to start tailing Jesus. Yes, they're a bit creepy, but they spend the day with Jesus. Although he seems pretty average, they are surprised to discover the depth of his wisdom, insights, and spirituality. They're sold on Jesus and will end up following Jesus when Jesus sets out on his own ministry.
This "greater than you imagine" aspect applies to our own experience in a couple of ways. Check out the sermon video below and see how things may be greater than you imagine.
| 01-19-20-sermon.mp3 |
| 01-19-20-ff-answers.pdf |
| 01-19-20-greater_than_you_imagine.pdf |