It's impossible!

 

Every now and then, when reflecting on the Gospels, I try to put myself in the scene.  I like to think that I’m a pretty faithful person who believes in his heart, mind, and soul that Jesus is God. Even though I hear the story every year at this time, I still find myself not that much different from the “OG” followers.  I know intellectually and historically about the Resurrection, but there’s something that still surprises me.

On that “first day of the week” two thousand years ago, there was a lot of scurrying around and excitement and hearing reports of some amazing news that no one yet understood.  Even though Jesus had given them advance notice that He would rise again after being put to death, God’s plans took them by surprise.  They didn’t expect a resurrection. They didn’t understand that it was a necessary part of the Messiah’s mission. (John 20:1-9)

God’s plans often take us by surprise.  In so many situations of our lives, we don’t understand that hard times are going to produce wonderful victories.  We fail to realize that the empty tombs in our lives (the losses that we grieve) are beginnings of important new growth.  We can’t imagine how Jesus is going to redeem bad times into great blessings.

We suffer through the hardships, just trying to cope, waiting for an opportunity to finally walk away from our crosses.  Meanwhile, Jesus wants to give us an Easter morning because of the crosses.

Talk about rough!  How can we recognize the glory of God when we’re depressed?  How can we realize our own resurrections when we’re cursing our crosses?  It’s impossible!

To be the Easter people that we’re supposed to be, we have to learn how to see the hope of resurrection in the pain of the cross.  We have to trust that Jesus is always there, working a plan to redeem bad into good.  We have to allow ourselves to be surprised by God.

Christ is Risen!  He is risen, indeed!

Happy Easter!