God and the Unexpected

God loves doing the unexpected.

To make His grand entrance on this planet, He chose to show up as a helpless infant. For His victory parade through the streets of His city, instead of riding on a regal chariot, he rode on a donkey. And for His crowning achievement, the act by which He proved His supremacy over all of creation, He died.

It’s all so counter-intuitive, isn’t it? It seems so backwards. No wonder the prophets couldn’t figure it out. No wonder the angels were astonished. No wonder the religious teachers of the day completely missed it. No wonder so many people today find it ridiculous.

Paul said the cross is a stumbling block: “The message of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” It only makes sense when viewed with humble eyes. But isn’t that just like Jesus?

The cross is the ultimate surprise. Of course, the whole empty tomb thing was quite a shock, too.

So as we go into this weekend, when we’ll celebrate the humiliation of Jesus on the cross and His glorious victory over the grave, let’s remember that this is how He works. Unexpectedly.