A. Every person's life has its disappointments. Because no one has every expectation
fulfilled, we must all learn how to overcome disappointments.
B. Perhaps the greatest disappointment of all time
occurred among the disciples of Jesus in the hours leading to and following His
crucifixion.
1.
The disciples of
Jesus were utterly devastated by the quick arrest, trial, and crucifixion of
their Master. These events completely
disappointed all of their expectations concerning Jesus.
2.
This
disappointment can be summarized in the words of the disciple Cleopas, who
said, "But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel" (Luke
24:21).
C. Presently, let us consider the disappointment of these
disciples and learn how to recover from our own disappointments by seeing how
they recovered.
II. OVERCOMING THE GREATEST DISAPPOINTMENT OF ALL TIME
A. The expectation of the disciples of Jesus was that He
had come to establish His kingdom on the earth.
1.
This is indicated
by the words of Cleopas noted above, but there are other indications as well.
a. In Luke 19:11, the Scripture says that as Jesus
approached Jerusalem in the days before His crucifixion, His followers "supposed
that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately."
b. Christ's disciples were prepared to fight for the Lord
as if His kingdom would be won in battle as most earthly kingdoms are (Luke
22:38, 49-50).
c.
Even after
Christ's resurrection, in Acts 1:6 the apostles asked Him, "Lord, is it at this
time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?"
2.
Of course, Jesus
did not come for an earthly kingdom, and the disciples' expectations were
false.
a. In John 18:36, Jesus explained to Pilate, "My kingdom
is not of this world. If My kingdom were
of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed
over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm."
b. The Lord took His throne and began to reign when He
ascended to heaven (Acts 2:29-36), and He will not set foot on the earth again
(Acts 1:11; 1Thess. 4:17).
c.
Thus, the kingdom
is now in existence, but it is not an earthly kingdom (Matt. 16:28; Luke
17:20-21; Col. 1:13; Heb. 12:28).
B. Jesus had predicted both His crucifixion and His
resurrection, but the disciples' false expectations apparently prevented them
from understanding His words.
1.
When Jesus began
showing His disciples that "He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things
from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up
on the third day," Peter said, "God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to you" (Matt.
16:21-23).
2.
As Jesus
continued to teach these things, the apostles were "deeply grieved" and did not
understand Him (Matt. 17:22-23; Mark 9:31-32).
Notice Luke 9:43-45:
And they were all amazed at the greatness of God. But while everyone was marveling at all that
He was doing, He said to His disciples, "Let these words sink into your ears;
for the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men." But they did not understand this statement,
and it was concealed from them so that they would not perceive it; and they
were afraid to ask Him about this statement.
C. When at last the Lord was crucified, His disciples'
hopes were crushed.
1.
Consider the
experiences of the Lord's apostles in those historic events.
a. One of their own number betrayed their Master for
thirty pieces of silver (Matt. 26:14-16, 47-50; Acts 1:16-17).
b. The corrupt Jewish leadership, whom Jesus had rebuked
many times, had apparently triumphed over their Lord.
c.
The people were
so fickle that they hailed Jesus as He entered Jerusalem, and then a few days
later they cried out for Pilate to crucify Him (Matt. 21:8-11; 27:15-25).
d. The Lord's trials were completely unjust, for no true
charges and no evidence were brought against Him. Pilate even declared that there was no guilt
in Him, yet he sentenced Jesus to die on the cross (John 18:38; 19:4, 6, 16).
e.
Peter even denied
the Lord three times, and the other apostles fled as well (Matt. 26:69-75).
f.
Ultimately,
Jesus, whom the disciples had loved dearly, was brutally abused and put to death
by crucifixion (Matt. 27:26-50).
2.
These experiences
had taken the disciples of Jesus from an excited confidence for God's coming
kingdom to a state of despair and confusion (Mark 16:10).
D. When at last the disciples turned their minds to
believing the truth about Jesus, their despair turned to joy and potent
resolve.
1.
When Mary
Magdalene and the other Mary discovered the empty tomb and heard the angel's
message of Christ's resurrection that ran with joy to report it to His apostles
(Matt. 28:1-8).
2.
Peter and John ran
to the empty tomb when they heard the news, yet the apostles still did not
understand or fully believe in His resurrection (Mark 16:11-14; Luke 24:11-12;
John 20:3-10).
3.
When Jesus
appeared to them, "the disciples therefore rejoiced when they saw the Lord"
(John 20:20). When Thomas finally saw
Him, he said, "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:28).
4.
Over the course
of forty days, Jesus presented Himself to the apostles and prepared them for
their mission (Acts 1:3-8). By the time
He ascended into heaven and sent the Holy Spirit, the apostles had been transformed
from a disappointed, despondent, confused group of men into the champions of
the gospel of Christ who would change the world with their testimony of
Christ's resurrection. No longer were
they expecting a worldly kingdom, but they were preaching the truth of the
spiritual kingdom of Christ.
III. CONCLUSION -- THE SOLUTION FOR YOUR DISAPPOINTMENT IS
THE SAME
A. Disappointment in this world comes in many forms.
1.
You may expect to
always have good circumstances in this life only to be disappointed. Loss of health, loss of employment, tragedies
and accidents, failures, age, and death are just a few of the factors that can
lead to disappointment.
2.
You may have high
expectations for others only to be disappointed. "No one is good except God alone" (Mark
10:18), so any man, woman, or child can fall short of your expectations.
3.
You may have high
expectations for yourself only to be disappointed. One of the most disappointed persons in the
events we have considered in this lesson was Peter, for he was certain he would
never forsake Jesus, and then he failed just a few hours later (Matt. 26:31-35,
69-75).
4.
Like the
apostles, many disappointments come from false expectations. We create these ourselves and have no one else
to blame when we are disappointed.
B. How you handle disappointment will determine whether
you will overcome it.
1.
Your
disappointments may cause you to become despondent, depressed, and
disinterested. You may give up, quit,
and allow disappointment to consume you.
2.
However, if you
want to overcome disappointment, then you will have to persevere. If your expectations are disappointed, then
set new, truthful, and reasonable expectations and start over.
C. The right way to handle disappointment is to set your
mind on the Lord Jesus, and your despair will turn to joy and resolve.
1.
The disappointed
disciples of Jesus emerged from their despair when they believed in their
resurrected Lord. We can do the same.
2.
Do not discount
this solution. You may think that your
situation is different, but it is not.
a. The cause of the apostles' disappointment was the
death of Jesus. Naturally, they overcame
their disappointment when they saw Jesus alive again. Their false expectations of the kingdom were
replaced with the truth of Christ's spiritual kingdom.
b. However, your disappointment is not about the death of
Jesus. How can belief in Him help you to
overcome you disappointments? Consider
Colossians 3:1-4:
Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep
seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of
God. Set your mind on the things above,
not on the things that are on earth. For
you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed,
then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.
c.
Genuine faith in
Christ is the answer to all disappointment because it surpasses every concern
of this world. "For the Scripture says,
'Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed'" (Rom. 10:11).
