Great Expectations: Origins

The Jewish leaders ( Pharisees, Sadducees and scribes) had Great expectations of the character and traits for whoever was going to be the messiah. Interestingly, Jesus also had his Great Expectations for them, but because these two expectations were so far apart, we were treated to various acts and scenes worthy of any theatre.

The Pharisees, Sadducees, and Scribes were more hostile to Jesus than any other group of people. It is quite sad that these three sects, who were supposed to join the Jesus-choir as hallelujah-boys of God’s greatest work, instead chose to be Hell-boys. 

Jesus had nothing personal against them; he just had ‘Great Expectations’ with respect to their character and attitude. Just like Pip in Dickens’ Great Expectations had lofty standards that one day he would ascend the social class and become a gentleman, so also Jesus expected some gentlemanliness from these sects. The concept of the Gentleman of the Victorian age was one defined by wealth, education, and moral conduct. The Pharisees were definitely below nobility and above the commoners in status and education, but they lacked moral conduct and character. 

Jesus really cut the slack for a lot of people; he spoke in parables rather than in plain words, dined with sinners and welcomed outcasts (the lepers, tax collectors and adulterers). He even went above and beyond by dismissing the high expectations of the disciples of John around fasting (Mtt. 9:14-17), and the charge from the Pharisees around breaking the law (Mtt. 12:1-8).

Nevertheless, Jesus seemed to go full throttle on the Pharisees, Sadducees and Scribes. Why? He expected a lot from them because they knew the Law and were supposed to be the living word of God (1 Pt. 2:12). Secondly, the parable of the Fig Tree (Mark 11:12-14, 20-25) tells a lot about his expectations. These three sects were like the Fig trees that outwardly appeared religious but lacked true righteousness.

Jesus was gravely disappointed that these three sects were the leaders of the people and those who should know better, yet they were more rotten than tax collectors and more cruel than the oppressive Roman Empire of that age. Therefore, because of their numerous sins, Jesus gave the 7 warnings that will stand as a caution to them and to leaders of posterity. These 7 warnings are so profound that they can be applied to leaders of all generations and in every context - beyond religious circles. 

These cautions capture the ‘Great Expectations’ of Jesus, and we shall state them from the perspective of the good-traits-to-have rather than from the woe-betide-thee perspective. This list of expectations is given below

• Caution 1: Gatekeepers (Mtt 23:13).

  
  

• Caution 2:  Support Systems (Mtt 23:14)

  
  

• Caution 3: Groomers (Mtt 23:15)

  
  

• Caution 4: Samuels (Mtt 23:16-22)

  
  

• Caution 5: Parliamentarians/Senators (Mtt 23:23-24)

  
  

• Cation 6: Diamonds in the Rough (Mtt 23:25-28)

  
  

• Caution 7: Generational Leaders (Mtt 23:29-35)

We shall explore each of them, but my prayer is this, that every leader will imbibe these expectations of Jesus as personal goals and not be fruitless Fig trees.

Great Expectations!!!