The Easter season is a time for all of us as Christians to stop and reflect on the price Jesus paid for our sins and that great Hope we have in Him because of His resurrection. This year, I find myself especially reflective as I think about what “Holy Week” must have been like for the disciples. The questions they must have had as Jesus acted in seemingly uncharacteristic ways (throwing over tables in the Temple, anyone?) and continually alluded to His approaching death. As we see in the Scripture, they didn’t understand what Jesus was talking about – or at least, they didn’t want to accept it. Why?
Because in their minds, this wasn’t how things were supposed to go.
For thousands of years, the Jews believed their Messiah would come as a conquering king to vanquish their enemies. Think about it; these people were used to encountering fierce warrior heroes like Joshua, Samson, and David. In the past, deliverance from their enemies looked like brutal war or some miraculous, dazzling act of God, like the plagues in Egypt, for instance. Surely the ultimate Savior of their people would be a hero like the ones they’d had before, except 10x more amazing, right? Wasn’t the Messiah supposed to crush Rome and every other earthly enemy and lead the Jews into a utopian future?
They thought so…
But God had other plans.
From the first prophecy about Jesus’ birth in the book of Genesis, to the writings of Isaiah and many others, to the very symbolism found in the Passover rituals they performed every year, God was pointing to a hero unlike any they had seen before. A Savior whose purpose went far beyond a temporary deliverance for only a certain group of people. Instead, God sought to free them, and all of humanity, from much darker, unseen enemies: death, hell, and the grave.
Trapped in their limited understanding, their eyes focused on what they’d always known and expected, the disciples couldn’t understand what Jesus was up to that fateful week. And when He ultimately surrendered Himself to the most gruesome death humanity could devise… Well, we know what happened next. They turned their backs and fled in terror.
Since we have the benefit of knowing how the story ultimately ends, it’s easy for us to sit here and judge the disciples for how they reacted to this unexpected plot twist. But if we are truly honest with ourselves… are we any better? How often have we balked at God’s actions and cried out, “But this isn’t how it’s supposed to be!”? I know I’m guilty of it.
Whether we want to admit it or not, we all have our preconceived notions about God or how our lives ought to go. And like the first century Jews, when He deviates from what we have fixed in our minds, it throws us into a tailspin. But we must remember that, just as Jesus knew exactly what He was doing when He gave His life for us, He also knows exactly what He is doing with each of our lives. We can’t squeeze God into the box of our expectations, so why even try? We will find much greater peace when we surrender our expectations to His divine plan which will always be higher and more wonderful than anything we could devise on our own.
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”
~ Jeremiah 29:11
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
~ Isaiah 55:8-9
I hope you are encouraged today to trust the God who always has a perfect plan, even when it isn't what we expected. God bless, and Happy Easter!
Photo by Alicia Quan on Unsplash
