Surprised
Why was Jesus’ death and resurrection a surprise to his followers?
More than once, he described what was coming.
In Mark 8:31-32 it says, “He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. Mark goes on to say Jesus spoke “plainly” about this. Again in Mark 9:31 he said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.”
Matthew 16:21 adds that once the disciples realized Jesus was the Messiah, “from that time on” Jesus began to talk about his future death and resurrection.
But despite the repeat messages, Jesus’ resurrection still caught people off guard.
Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James and Salome were frightened when they encountered the two angels at the tomb and Jesus’ body was missing. The angels had to remind the women of what Jesus told them numerous times. On their way back to tell the disciples, the women encountered the risen Savior. What a joy to see him again! But when they ran back and told the disciples the good news, the eleven didn’t believe them.
Peter was the only one who gave it a second thought, and hurried to the tomb to see for himself. Probably aware of their disbelief, Jesus later appeared to the disciples as well, but they were “startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost.” Jesus had to show them his hands and feet and eat a piece of fish to prove he was real.
Why were Jesus’ followers surprised?
Will we be surprised when he comes back in all his glory?
He has prepared us for his second coming just like he prepared the disciples for his death and resurrection. He’s asks us to be ready. In Matthew 24 and 25, Jesus gives us a snapshot of what to expect in the last days: there will be increased wars, famines and earthquakes. Sounds familiar. There will be false prophets and loveless people. In the meantime, he tells us to be good stewards of our time, to feed the hungry and clothe the poor, to keep watch and have our houses in order, because we don’t know when he’ll return.
Surely with all this advance notice, we won’t be caught off guard when we see Jesus in the clouds, but Scripture indicates we won’t be prepared.
Matthew 24:37 says it will be like the days of Noah before the flood. “People were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage.” It took Noah about 99 years to build the ark, so his neighbors probably decided Noah was delusional and didn’t believe his story. They didn’t change the way they did things.
Do we believe Jesus is coming back? If so, are we following his teachings?
The Word says when Jesus appears again with power and great glory “all the peoples of the earth will mourn.” Why would we be sad if we believed what Jesus said and we did what he told us to do?
It’s apparent Jesus will catch us by surprise. Many continue to live their lives as if they were never warned.
It’s not to late to prepare. Read Matthew 24-25. Do what it says. There’s time to get a handle on what’s coming.
And then, when we witness the King of Kings’ return, there will be tears of joy, not tears of remorse. And we won’t be surprised.