It turns out, they were wrong.
In their years with him, even in their belief in who he said he was, they misunderstood his purpose. Imagining long awaited Messiah, they longed for the answered prayers of the generations before them. Collectively, Israel had held its breath for a king who would restore their nation and deliver victory over earthly oppressors.
Thank goodness our Lord is one who does more than we could ask for or imagine. When they expected earthly victory, he had to have been lovingly shaking his head thinking, “They have no idea what’s coming.”
The shock early that Sunday morning seems almost silly to those of us who know how the story ends. The confusion on their faces must have been epic. And as the minutes, hours, days, and even years passed after Sunday morning, as it clicked and they understood what he’d been telling them all along, their wrinkled faces full of confusion surely relaxed. They nodded. They likely wept. And they understood.
The gift of that dark Friday revealed itself on Sunday morning. Victory, from God’s point of view, is eternal restoration. Restoration with us. People who do not deserve it. Sinners who are often oblivious to just how deeply our Creator adores us. A Creation he longs to commune with forever.
The story of the first Easter is a reminder that our perspective and God’s are often very different. His picture, his plans, his gifts are greater than we could ever dream. So, in the hard days of struggle in this fallen world – particularly in this harsh world at this time on this Easter – let’s seek God’s perspective. That perspective takes a devastating death to an empty tomb changing human history.
“He is not here, for he has risen…” Matthew 28:6
