Expectations – John 20: 14

At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

Have you ever looked at someone and thought, “Do I know you?” It is an odd feeling! The human ability to recognize another person is remarkable. So remarkable that we tend to take it for granted. When the gears don’t mesh, we can look right at someone and not “see” them.

Mary did not expect to run into Jesus that Sunday morning. After all, he was dead. She had seen him killed. She watched in horror as the soldier thrust a spear into his side. She may have watched Joseph and Nicodemus take the body down, prepare it for burial, and put it in the tomb. Jesus was dead.

Not so long ago she had watched as Jesus called her brother Lazarus out of another tomb. Lazarus had been dead four days. So long, that Martha was worried about the smell! Yet at the word of Jesus, Lazarus walked out of the tomb under his own power. He returned to the land of the living and full health because of Jesus.

That was then. Who was left to call Jesus out of the tomb? The man who gave life was himself dead.

Application: Expectations play a lead role in how we experience life. If our expectations are too high, we suffer disappointment. If our expectations are too low, we might not make the effort to participate. Sometimes, when we least expect it, we are surprised by God.

Food for Thought: What happens when our expectations of God do not align with the reality of who God is?

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