{"id":1917,"date":"2007-02-26T02:30:50","date_gmt":"2007-02-26T02:30:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jesuscreed\/2007\/02\/lent-on-the-way-to-the-cross-2.html"},"modified":"2007-02-26T02:30:50","modified_gmt":"2007-02-26T02:30:50","slug":"lent-on-the-way-to-the-cross-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2007\/02\/lent-on-the-way-to-the-cross-2.html","title":{"rendered":"Lent: On the Way to the Cross 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

Expectations. We all have them. Expectations can control us; they usually shape us. What are our expectations? Lent can transform our expectations. Consider Mary <\/a>and Peter as their expectations were transformed.
\nSince I was a little guy I’ve heard that when Jesus asked Peter who he (Jesus) was, Peter blurted out “Messiah!” But no sooner than he had those words out of his mouth and Jesus was already revealing to Peter that he (Jesus) would be the kind of Messiah who would be crucified. No sooner than Jesus had those words out of his own mouth and Peter was giving the Lord a few instructions on what Messiahs were like — the one thing clear in his mind was that he expected the Messiah to reign on a throne not from a cross.
\nWhere do we learn that these were Peter’s expectations? From the Jewish world. I would suggest to you that Mary herself is a good source for the same expectations. Only this time we don’t have to rummage through all kinds of sources and documents. Instead, we can go straight to Luke chapter one.
\nHere are Mary’s words:<\/p>\n

26 In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, \u201cGreetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.\u201d 29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, \u201cDo not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. 31 You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.\u201d 34 \u201cHow will this be,\u201d Mary asked the angel, \u201csince I am a virgin?\u201d 35 The angel answered, \u201cThe Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called* the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. 37 For nothing is impossible with God.\u201d 38 \u201cI am the Lord’s servant,\u201d Mary answered. \u201cMay it be to me as you have said.\u201d Then the angel left her.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Gabriel tells her that she is (1) highly favored, (2) that the Lord is with her, (3) her son’s name would be Yehoshua\/Jesus — Joshua evokes Land promises, (4) he will be Son of the Most High God, (5) that he will rule on the throne of David, and (6) will reign forever. [That is, her expectations were for a restored community of faith, Israel.]
\nTalk about hope coming true. Mary’s expectations give legs to Peter’s expectations. Peter, with his brother Andrew, followers of John the Baptist, met Jesus early on — John 1:40-42 — and heard from his brother that Jesus was the Messiah. And that he would be given a special role as “Rock.”
\nExpectations. Mary expected her son to be Messiah, ruler from the throne in Jerusalem — forever. Peter expected to be somebody special because Jesus was the Messiah.
\nNeither of them knew at this point that their expectation for what the Messiah would be would undergo one of the most serious reversals history could ever know. A throne would be transformed into a cross.
\nWhat are our expectations today? Are they shaped by the cross or by the throne? Do we expect to rule or to serve? [What are the expectations for our churches and communities of faith? Do we expect to grow and become prestigious?]
\nLet us walk with Mary and with Peter — if we follow them we will end up at the cross.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Expectations. We all have them. Expectations can control us; they usually shape us. What are our expectations? Lent can transform our expectations. Consider Mary and Peter as their expectations were transformed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":298,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lent","category-mary"],"yoast_head":"\nLent: On the Way to the Cross 2 - Jesus Creed<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2007\/02\/lent-on-the-way-to-the-cross-2.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lent: On the Way to the Cross 2 - Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Expectations. We all have them. 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