Preparing for Easter, part 2 out of 4: Beyond our Box

Today is Good Friday.
We've all heard the story about the crown of thorns, the nails, the cross. But yet, have you ever thought about the immense disappointment that came along with this event? The people in the crowd that morning didn't know the end of the story; as they watched their Messiah slowly die to one of the most excruciating deaths possible, they probably thought that he would save himself, didn't they?
See, all of the followers of Jesus that were in the crowd that day had been raised on stories of a victorious Messiah who would crush all of the Romans. So as they saw their savior helplessly nailed to a cross, gasping for breath, I'm sure that they were just waiting for it. I'll bet that they were whispering to each other, "Wait for it, wait for it... he's going to crush them. Just watch. Any second now, he's going to do something miraculous and the Romans will be gone, forever."
Can you imagine their dismay in the moment when he died? It was all over now. All of their hopes and their dreams of being saved from their oppressors was gone. One of the soldiers even pieced Jesus's side with a spear to show that He had certainly died. The end.

But yet, when I look back on that story, I can't help but think how dumb the disciples were to just go on like that and lose all hope after Jesus died. I mean, seriously, didn't some prophets in the Old Testemant OBVIOUSLY say that all of this was going to happen?

Like this verse in Isaiah:

 "He was oppressed and afflicted,

yet he did not open his mouth;

he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,

and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,

so he did not open his mouth."

 Isaiah 53:7

Or this one in Psalms:

"Dogs surround me,
    a pack of villains encircles me;
    they pierce my hands and my feet. 

 All my bones are on display;
    people stare and gloat over me. 

 They divide my clothes among them
    and cast lots for my garment. "

Psalms 22: 16-18

Or this verse in Zechariah:

“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son."

Zechariah 12:10

And when did the OT ever say that Jesus would "crush the Romans"? Ummm... never...
So, why did all of Jesus's followers somehow overlook the obvious truths about the Messiah and make up their own ideas about what he would be?
It's because they were trying to fit him into their box of understanding. Think about it this way; if all you knew for your entire life was harsh rule and oppression from a foreign government that had conquered your country centuries ago, wouldn't you believe that the only purpose for a Messiah was to save you from their rule?
The Jewish people back in those days had such small understanding of Jesus's true purpose for saving them. Even though the truth was right there for them to see in the prophets' words all throughout the Old Testament, it was so outside of their box, that they couldn't even begin to understand.

I think we need to realize we still do this same thing today. We, as humans, are so miniscule. And we still try to fit God into our box of understanding.
The crucifixion story is a good example of this; we try to wrap our minds around it and understand the whole salvation story.
 I know I've done this A LOT. When I was younger, I used to think through the story over and over again, trying and trying to understand how in the world Jesus could be born to a virgin, or how my sins are erased because He was killed by a bunch of Roman soldiers.
If you really try to analyze it like this, the salvation story does sound like a lot of bogusness. But, it should, because God's plan is so much bigger than us.

My mom found an excellent quote that summarizes this from a book called Blue like Jazz by Donald Miller. He says,
“It comforts me to think that if we are created beings the thing that created us would have to be greater than us, so much greater, in fact, that we would not be able to understand it. It would have to be greater than the facts of our reality and so it would seem to us, looking out from within our reality that it would contradict reason. But reason itself would suggest it would have to be greater than reality or it would not be reasonable.”

 So, we need to stop using reason to understand God. If we try to fit Him into our box, then we'll never truly understand.

I hope and pray that this provides a new perspective on the whole Easter story for you. Everything related to this holiday can seem so... far-fetched... for some of us.
But here's the lesson that I got after thinking through this: even when I am unable to wrap my mind around Jesus's death and His gift of salvation to me, I can still feel His power in my life and see evidence all around me of His grace.
That's when we need to remember, we follow by faith, not by sight.
 Jesus is beyond our box.
And that's okay.

"Savior I come
Quiet my soul remember
Redemptions hill
Where Your blood was spilled
For my ransom
Everything I once held dear
I count it all as lost

Lead me to the cross
Where Your love poured out
Bring me to my knees
Lord I lay me down
Rid me of myself
I belong to You
Lead me, lead me to the cross"

- Lead Me to the Cross by Hillsong United