"You brood of snakes!" John the Baptist shouted to the crowds who came out to hear him. To those who thought that their family’s genealogy made them immune from criticism, he said, "Don’t think your special heritage will protect you. Even if Abraham is your ancestor, what difference does that make to God? If God chose to do so, he could take those stones around you and make them children of Abraham!" "Remember," he went on, "every tree ... that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."

John the Baptist spoke with such spiritual authority that most listeners sensed that he had a message directly from God. Large crowds came to hear John thunder with his hard-hitting truths.

John called for repentance, for getting right with God, and for being baptized to start a new life. And many did just that.

Sensing John’s spiritual depth, some began to wonder if he was not the long-awaited Messiah. Luke writes, "As the people were filled with expectation ... all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah."

"The people were filled with expectation." Why would that be? Well, considering the plight of the Jewish people at that time, it was very understandable. They needed hope. Their country, you’ll recall, was under the oppressive, iron-handed rule of Rome. When a Roman leader gave an order, Jews had to obey or suffer the consequences. Rows of bodies hanging upon crosses spoke of the price to be paid for disobedience or treason.

The Jewish people were free, however, to practice their religion. The Romans left religious practices up to Jewish religious leaders. But unfortunately, those leaders were rather hardhearted themselves. They developed all sorts of legalistic rules--which they expected ordinary people to strictly obey.

Perhaps you will remember Jesus’ condemnation of the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus said, "They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them." Such mean-spirited practices made life miserable for ordinary Jews.

No wonder then, that as the people listened to John the Baptist, they began to have a glimmer of hope. They were indeed "filled with expectation," hoping that John was the Messiah who would deliver them from the Romans and free them from their abusive religious leaders as well. And so they began to ask one another, "Do you think that John might be the Messiah?"

It is important to briefly consider what the Jewish people expected to happen once the Messiah came. They believed that the Messiah would come with great spiritual and political power. He would be the world ruler, who would wipe out evil, and bring about the peaceful coexistence of all peoples. He would rebuild the temple where they could freely worship and make their lives better in every way. A whole new world would come into being. Nothing was of more importance for the Jewish people than the coming of the Messiah.

Well, we do not have to wait for the Messiah. The whole New Testament affirms that the Messiah has come! Jesus was and is the Messiah. So then, since we believe that the Messiah has come, what is our hope for today? Christians have at least three great expectations, although we sometimes lose sight of them. First, we expect the hand of God to be at work in the world. Second, we work for the spread of the kingdom of God on earth as we so often pray, "Thy kingdom come." And finally, we look for the ultimate victory of Christ over all. Let’s explore these three great expectations.

God does not bring us into this world just to leave us orphaned, without any support, love, guidance or hope from him. Through Jesus, God promised to be with us—Emmanuel—God with us.

Now, at times in the world, it does seem as if the worst inmates of a criminal ward have been set free to wreak whatever havoc they choose. We see unspeakable atrocities, deeds so heinous that we dare not describe them lest we all become sick at heart. We may wonder if we can ever find solutions for the world’s problems.

But we know something for certain: We know that God is definitely at work. We see it in the acts of love done in his name by those who love him. We see it when the hungry are fed, when the cold are given warmth, when the unloved are made beloved. We see it when those who mourn are comforted, and when we are given strength to face the difficulties of life. We taste it in the bread and wine of communion, and in Christian community. God is with us, as God promised. It is here with us now, but will also come to an even greater fulfillment. That is Christ’s promise. That is…

Yes, God’s kingdom is indeed forever. Nothing can obliterate it. Even if hate-crazed people let loose weapons of mass destruction, even if evil people on earth try to bring about the end of life as we know it, we can believe that God knows his own and will take care of them forever.

You see, God’s kingdom is a spiritual kingdom. Therefore it is indestructible and everlasting. The book of Hebrews calls it "a kingdom that cannot be shaken." We believe that it has already had its advent in the coming of Jesus. We expect it to come in its fullness, at an hour that we cannot name, and we can expect it to last forever.

The New Testament looks forward to God’s ultimate victory, the time when "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever."

And it is Christmas that reminds us of the hope we have and the victory of God we await. Whenever we feel downhearted about the condition of the world, we can remember Christmas! When goodness and mercy and love seem so remote, we can remember Christmas! When we feel lonely or rejected, we can remember Christmas! God has given us the birth of a special child to offer us hope, joy and belief in God’s ultimate victory—as well as hope for today. We can dare to hope, because God who invaded earth in the person of a tiny baby so long ago still comes quietly in God’s own way. And the victory over all evil will be God’s in the end.

During World War II, Martin Niemoller, a jailed pastor who opposed Hitler, was permitted to conduct a worship service on Christmas Eve. He began by saying, "When Christmas is celebrated in captivity, it is naturally a dismal affair." Then he asked his listeners to listen to the prophet Isaiah’s hope about the coming Messiah: "His name shall be called Emmanuel, meaning God is with us."

The hopeful pastor finally said to his fellow prisoners: "We are not alone amid the horrors of these years, cut off though we are from the outside world. We are in the hands of God--the God of Jesus Christ, who is with us in this dark and lonely place, to uphold and comfort us and keep hope alive in our hearts."

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