I cannot imagine what Jesus went through when facing the various opinions from people as he went about his mission. In Luke 7 we have the account of the Roman centurion who has a important servant who is ill. Jesus is on the way to see the servant but before he gets there the Centurion sends a messenger. Essentially the message is, just do you work from where you are, I trust and believe you can do that. A display of great faith from a person the Jews would consider and outsider.
From there Jesus faces questions about his authority, and who gives him the right to do what he is doing. Jesus highlights the dilemma of religion, people said John who baptizes was wrong because he fasted and did not drink wine, Jesus was told he was wrong because he drank wine and hung around sinners. It seems that people were never satisfied with Jesus. There were some who chose to follow Jesus because of the wonders he did, there were just as many who scoffed.
It seems being fickle in our relationship to Jesus is nothing new. We join in centuries of followers who one day are completely happy and satisfied with Jesus, to the next day when we question everything we have ever known. The essence of the battle is found in our expectations of Jesus. Most if not all people realize our need for help greater than ourselves. To us that help comes in specific forms. We expect Jesus to act a certain way, we expect the universe to work out according to our plan. The problem is, we are not in charge.
Until we can grasp that truth with more than words and our minds, we will struggle to be satisfied with God. We will constantly be looking for our expectations rather than the plan God is working through Jesus Christ. We could find ourselves just like the Pharisees.
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