Emmanuel
Week 2: Received and Rejected
Pastor Rick Henderson December 13-14, 2025
Note: This manuscript isn’t a transcript of the sermon, but a planning guide showing what the speaker intends to say.
It’s the holiday season, which means it’s the season of social functions that you don’t necessarily want to attend. Maybe it’s an extended family thing. Maybe it’s your boo’s office Christmas party. I’m happy to attend those social functions, even if I don’t want to be there. I love my wife, and I’m on her team.
But the question I ask every time is the same question that every dude asks.
How long are we going to be there?
Ladies, this is what you need to know. There is an internal mechanism inside of every man for a good attitude and good behavior. But that mechanism doesn’t come with an ON/OFF switch. This mechanism only operates by a timer. And for that man to engage with a good attitude and good behavior, this is important, the timer must be set before you arrive. Men, am I right?
If we’re going to be there for 2 hours, I will set the timer for 2 hours and be on my best behavior. But don’t tell me we’ll be there for 45 minutes if you know it’s gonna be 2 hours. Once I set the good attitude and good behavior timer for 45 minutes, it’s set. You can’t reset that timer once we’re there.
Another way to say this is…
Help me level-set my expectations.
Have you ever thought about the impact that expectations have on us? Why is it easier to psyche up to endure something unpleasant for 2 hours than it is to be surprised by having to endure the same unpleasant thing for 30 minutes?
REALITY CHECK: Expectations have POWER—handle with CARE.
I want to talk about the power of expectations to make or break relationships. In all of our relationships, we can’t be causal with our relationship with expectations. The power is still on, the power of expectations are making an impact, even when we’re not aware of the presence of expectations.
JOHN 1:1-18
Will you find this passage in the New Testament? The gospel of John is a biography of Jesus’ life that was written by the guy who was Jesus’ best friend. The first 18 verses are often referred to as the Prologue. This serves as a frame through which we read the entire biography. In a sense, John is attempting to level-set our expectations of Jesus. Who is he exactly, and what does it mean to trust him?
Each week of this series, we’re examining different parts, different angles of the Prologue. Today, we’re zooming in on verses 9-13.
JOHN 1:9-13 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
The only way to read the Bible seriously is to ask it questions. Bombard it with questions. People who are curious ask questions. Call me crazy, but until we know everything, I think we should be the most curious people around. Let’s be curious. This is my question.
QUESTION: Why did those best prepared to recognize Jesus end up rejecting him?
JOHN 1:10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.
Why?
Once, Jesus was in a conversation with the religious elite. I’m sure there was tension in the air. These were the guys who knew the Old Testament backwards and forwards. They could recite it from memory. From a certain perspective, these were the ones who were best prepared to recognize the Messiah when he came. Just for clarity, the Messiah was the person who would come to make things right. He was supposed to be the anointed one, or the promised one from God, who would fix what’s broken.
The Prologue of John is his declaration that Jesus is the Messiah. You would think that the religious elites and experts would be the ones best prepared to recognize him. They were his own. Same team, man. Same team. And yet, they were the ones who led the charge in rejecting Jesus.
In a tension-filled conversation, Jesus said to them…
JOHN 5:39-40 You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.
If they were the people who were best prepared, at least from an educational standpoint, if they were the people who were best prepared to recognize Jesus, why did they refuse him? We can’t answer that question without understanding this.
REALITY CHECK: Expectations have POWER—handle with CARE.
Expectations have tremendous power. They didn’t handle their expectations with care. You don’t even have to believe the Bible to benefit from this. You can apply to this to all kinds of things in your life. Whenever you or I have mis-calibrated expectations, unfair expectations, or expectations that the other party has not agreed to, the power of those expectations will be unleashed in unhelpful ways, often in damaging ways.
The reason that people rejected Jesus back then may not be all that different from the reason people reject him today. A good starting point is understanding what those expectations were. What did they expect from him?
MESSIANIC EXPECTATIONS:
Not everyone held these expectations. Yet, these were common expectations on which people hung their hope. Right or wrong, it’s powerful. Maybe these are different from the kinds of expectations people have for Jesus today. And maybe they’re not that different. I’ll let you decide.
- He would make the nation strong, superior, and prosperous.
- He would privilege people based on ethnicity and their moral/religious performance.
- He would rule without messing with the rules.
What do you call the experience of someone placing expectations on you that you didn’t agree to? There are some fun and salty words that we might use to describe that. I want to call it relationship dynamite. And let’s go all the way and really say what it is when someone imposes expectations on someone else.
RELATIONSHIP DYNAMITE: My EXPECTATIONS should be your INSTRUCTION manual.
This is relationship dynamite. If you import this way of thinking into your relationship, it will blow up in your face. It will blow apart the bonds that connect and bind you to the other person. This way of thinking will hurt the other person and eventually hurt you. It always hurts the relationship. This way of thinking may be the most common reason for relationship conflicts and dissatisfaction. I have expectations. You aren’t meeting my expectations. So, we’re beefing.
To be fair, there are two scenarios in which this way of thinking is not dynamite. Rather, it’s a necessary part of the dynamic.
RELATIONSHIP DYNAMITE: My EXPECTATIONS should be your INSTRUCTION manual.
(Transactional Dynamic)
If you want a purely transactional relationship, this is great. My son is going to move out soon-ish and that means I’ll need a yard mower and snowblower. If you live in my neighborhood, I’d love to hire your kid. I will pay them. And because I’m horrible at negotiating, they will be paid well. But this will be the dynamic for getting my money. My expectations for the grass and snow will be their instruction manual.
This works well with a transactional dynamic. But if you want something that’s more than transactional. If you want a connection with someone, it’s destructive.
RELATIONSHIP DYNAMITE: My EXPECTATIONS should be your INSTRUCTION manual.
(Authority Dynamic)
This is an appropriate dynamic if you’re in a position of authority. Teenagers, if your parents tell you to be home by 11pm, that expectation should be your instruction manual. That’s a healthy and necessary dynamic. And yet, parents, if we took all our hopes, desires, or preferences and put them on the shoulders of our kids—we move out of a healthy dynamic and it becomes relationship dynamite.
RELATIONSHIP DYNAMITE: My EXPECTATIONS should be your INSTRUCTION manual.
There were many instances in which people related to Jesus like this. The religious leaders tried to boss and control Jesus. The crowd tried to boss and control Jesus. Even his closest disciples attempted to boss Jesus around.
When Jesus doesn’t meet our expectations, when he refuses to comply with our expectations, I think there are just two sensible choices. Reject Jesus or Repent from our expectations. And remember that repent is not a bad word. It might be the most life-giving, liberating word in the English language. It simply means to change how we think.
For those of you who don’t like the word repent, I think I can prove that you’re actually a fan of it. Have you ever known someone who refused to change their mind, even when they were presented with new information that made it obvious they were wrong? Have you ever known someone who refused to acknowledge irrefutable facts? That’s probably why you don’t talk about the news with Uncle Larry anymore. That thing about them drives you crazy, right? Who knows what I’m talking about? If you’ve ever been the least bit annoyed by that, then you are a fan of repentance.
You are a proponent of changing your thinking when new information warrants it. That’s repentance! This is why it’s life-giving. If we change how we think, the cascading impact of that can be transformative.
These were the expectations that Jesus brought to Jesus.
MESSIANIC EXPECTATIONS:
- He would make the nation strong, superior, and prosperous.
- He would privilege people based on ethnicity and their moral/religious performance.
- He would rule without messing with the rules.
These were their expectations. What are yours? I’ve come to believe you owe it to yourself to get honest enough with yourself that you wrestle down what your expectations are. And you have expectations. Even if you’re a committed atheist, you have expectations. If God did exist, you likely have some expectations of what’s required to believe in him. That’s reasonable.
Whatever expectations you have, they make perfect sense to you. But what if Jesus says no to our expectations? What’s our response then? Let’s start by looking at how Jesus said no to the common messianic expectations of his day.
In John chapter 6 Jesus did something no one expected. He miraculously fed thousands of people with a small amount of food. For the crowd that day, it super-charged their expectation of this [pointing to screen]. There was already an undercurrent of disgust and exhaustion with Roman occupation. This expectation made perfect sense to them. This is how John described what happened next.
JOHN 6:14 After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.
The crowd was so enflamed by their expectation, the power of it was working on them such that they were going to forcibly make him king. And let’s be clear. They weren’t looking for a king in whom they would delight and happily serve. They were looking for a king to serve their expectations. And Jesus said no. I’m sure some people dropped out of the Jesus fan club that day.
The expectation that they attempted to force Jesus to serve is an expectation that continues to pop up throughout history. You might see expressions of it today. You’ll see expressions of it in the future.
The belief that there are things we can do that will get Jesus to bless our country, bring strength and stability to our country—the belief that there are things we can do that will get Jesus to make more people get it together morally in our country, the belief that there are things we can do that will get Jesus to make our nation thrive economically—all of that is a version of the prosperity gospel.
And it’s old. It’s nothing new. It’s the same old lie wrapped in new packaging. The problem for people who ingest this today is that it’s the identical problem of the crowd that day. It’s taking our expectations and telling Jesus to make it his instruction manual.
When Jesus says no to our expectations, do we reject him or repent from those expectations so that we can receive him on his terms?
MESSIANIC EXPECTATIONS:
- He would make the nation strong, superior, and prosperous.
- He would privilege people based on ethnicity and their moral/religious performance.
- He would rule without messing with the rules.
[Pointing to the screen] Believe it or not, this is another branch on the poisonous vine of the prosperity gospel. Religious elites of Jesus’ day drank their own Kool-Aid. They thought they were special. Because of their ethnicity and because of their stunning moral and religious lives, they just knew the messiah would give them special treatment.
Not only did he not give them special treatment, but Jesus also had this annoying habit of pointing out their hypocrisy and their pervasive misunderstanding of Scripture. When that fuse was lit, it exploded with contempt. John wrote about a time that they sent out a goon squad to arrest Jesus. But it didn’t go the way they expected.
JOHN 7:45-49 Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and the Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him in?” “No one ever spoke the way this man does,” the guards replied. “You mean he has deceived you also?” the Pharisees retorted. “Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law—there is a curse on them.”
This time, instead of a crowd, it’s armed men, trained for combat, who were deployed to force their way with Jesus. But when they got there, they were captivated by his authority, which was undeniable when they heard him speak. So, they lost their resolve. You could say that after experiencing Jesus, they repented from the orders they were given.
When they gave their report to the religious leaders, we can feel the contempt of their words. Not only did they despise Jesus, but they also despised all the people who liked Jesus.
And to their powerful set of expectations, Jesus said no. When Jesus says no to our expectations, do we reject him or repent from those expectations so that we can receive him on his terms?
MESSIANIC EXPECTATIONS:
- He would make the nation strong, superior, and prosperous.
- He would privilege people based on ethnicity and their moral/religious performance.
- He would rule without messing with the rules.
Not all the rules we live by are religious rules or even a moral code. There are thousands of unspoken rules, expectations that we have for other people and for our social structure. Sometimes people refer to this as a social contract.
When you mess with the social contract, people get sporty. If you’re over 50 and you’re having trouble understanding things about the under 35 demographic—from their viewpoint the social contract has been messed with. Things you were able to expect and count on, they don’t believe they can expect and count on. When you mess with the social contract, it gets spicy.
Jesus messes with the social contract. He’s not interested in maintaining status quo with the rules that govern the social order. John wrote about that in what starts off as a testy exchange between Jesus and Peter, one of his closest disciples.
This is from Jesus’ last night of freedom. This is during a final meal with his crew, hours before he’d be arrested. And in this scene, Jesus isn’t just teaching; he models the humility to be embodied by those who are leaders.
JOHN 13:6-7 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”
Jesus named the elephant in the room. I know you that this act shatters your expectations. You have lived your whole life in a society where only the lowest person, the least important person, would wash feet. I want to show you something better than, and I know you don’t understand. In fact, you can’t understand. But if you trust me right now, eventually you will understand.
JOHN 13:8 “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”
Jesus, this is too much. My expectation of you is that you would never do this. So, Jesus, I’m going to need you to make that expectation your instruction manual.
JOHN 13:8 Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”
Here’s a way to read Jesus’ response. Well Peter, you just brought out the relational dynamite. If that’s what you want, light the fuse. If you want a relationship with me, you have to put the dynamite away. You must repent from that expectation. Because I’m not here to live by your expectations.
JOHN 13:9 “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”
Simon Peter’s expectations made perfect sense to him. Jesus messing with those expectations made no sense. When he didn’t understand the why behind it all, what or who was he going to trust? I think we can summarize his response like this.
I don’t know EVERYTHING, but I know ENOUGH to know I’m WITH you.
This is not blind faith. This is not believing without good reason. Just the opposite. It’s the realization that if Jesus is who he claims to be, if he is who the resurrection proves that he is, then he is always going to know things I don’t know and have a perspective that I don’t have the capacity to comprehend exhaustively. And that’s OK, because I know enough about him that I trust him. That’s why in those moments when my expectations are rattled, I can say, I don’t know everything, but I know enough to know I’m with you.
That’s not unique, is it? Any of you who's been in an extended relationship, you know from experience that there are things you can only know on the other side of choosing to trust someone. I want to go back to these opening lines of John 1.
JOHN 1:12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.
There is a whole new world of relationships, and a whole new world of rights that waits on the other side of this statement: I don’t know EVERYTHING, but I know ENOUGH to know I’m WITH you.
Whoever believes in Jesus, no matter your background, no matter what’s on your moral or religious resume—if you trust in Jesus, he gives you the right to be a child of God. You know what rights are.
RIGHTS: Expectations you have permission to DEMAND.
There are a lot of expectations that Jesus isn’t interested in fulfilling. But when you trust him, there are some expectations that are so locked in that they become rights.
RIGHTS OF CHILDREN OF GOD:
- Unrestricted access
- Heirs of the Kingdom
For the sake of time, let me just talk about the first one. Who in your life has the power to interrupt you, no matter what meeting you are in? For me, certainly my kids have that power. If you won the Powerball, and you only had 5 minutes to speak with me about a donation you want to make to Autumn Ridge, and one of my kids calls me, I’m going to let it go to voicemail. But if they immediately call back, that’s the signal. If they call back immediately, I’m stepping out of the meeting to take the call.
Not everyone has that power. But my kids do. Do you know how much I love my kids? On a road trip, I once stopped for a bathroom break, two exits in a row. That’s love. And to be honest with you, I don’t think I’ve ever been adequately appreciated for that.
I love my kids you love your kids and we don’t even know how measure it it’s so massive. And yet, that’s just a glimpse into what your heavenly Father thinks of you. When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. He said to start like this, “Dad, who is in heaven…”
There are expectations that Jesus is always going to say no to. But for those who trust in him, he wants to place in your hands a set of rights to which he will never say no.
Last week we asked the question, what do you see when you look into the manger? What is really going on with this holiday. I want to leave you with the way that C.S. Lewis answered that question.
The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God. –C.S. Lewis