“Now when Jesus returned, a crowd
welcomed him, for they were all expecting him.” (Luke 8:40)
Typically, when we expect people and look forward to their
visit, we welcome them when they arrive.
The context of the verse above does not really indicate why the crowd
was expecting Jesus. However, it is
likely that since Jesus had been going about healing people, the crowd was
expecting Him to continue to do so when He arrived.
But that expectation was for healing. What about the overall expectations for Jesus? And, was He welcomed by all?
“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.” (John
1:10-11)
The welcome of all welcomes should have been there for Jesus,
the one whose coming had been foretold, which included all the incredible reasons
for Him to come. But the indictment
against the world was that they did not recognize Him. And the indictment against His own was that
He was that they did not receive Him. In
a modern day expression, when it came to Jesus, the welcome mat was pulled.
On a related note, what do we do with the unexpected? Perhaps an expected person arrives at an
unexpected time. Or, perhaps the
expected person does something unexpected.
In Luke 15, we find tax collectors
and sinners were all gathered around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the
law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” (Luke 15:1-2).
In their self-righteousness, the religious leaders would
never associate with such people. And they
believed that if Jesus really understood who He was welcoming and eating with,
He would never have associated with them.
Yet there He was, doing the unexpected by associating with tax
collectors and sinners.
But what probably irked the religious leaders the most was that
Jesus went well beyond welcoming tax collectors and sinners and eating with
them, He touched their lives with love and grace. Blinded by their self-righteousness, the
religious leaders, pulled the welcome mat to love and grace.
The reality for us is whether you expect it or not or whether
you welcome it or not, Jesus touches our lives in so many wonderfully unexpected
ways. So, make sure the welcome mat is
out!
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