I came across a quote this week that made me think about our journey of Lent, under the shadow of the cross. “Whoever feels attracted to Jesus cannot adequately explain why. We must be prepared to be always correcting our image of Jesus for we will never exhaust what there is to know. Jesus is full of surprises.” (Adolph Holl)
I like this thought because it resonates not only with my experience but also with scripture. The disciples were clueless about what Jesus was doing as the events toward his arrest, betrayal and denial drew near. There are some scholars who believe that Judas was attempting to push Jesus to take forceful action when he made the decision to betray him. I don’t suppose we can ever really know but clearly Jesus was not dissuaded from continuing his journey toward that fateful week despite the attempts to subvert his actions. Jesus was not following the desires of his followers. Instead, his journey was deeper and more mysterious than those closest to him understood.
Often in our own lives, our expectations about how Jesus will respond to us seem equally mysterious. Jesus is full of surprises. We don’t always get what we anticipate but we are never outside of the love that God freely offers us despite the uneasiness that life often presents. As we continue taking the steps of Lent that lead to the cross, I am reminded that no one expected Jesus to be crucified and certainly an empty tomb was bewildering to all those who were following him.
Yet don’t let the surprises derail you. God has promised never to abandon us and I am a witness to that truth. I encourage you to keep your hearts open and pay attention because an encounter with God is both amazing and always surprising.