As we move through Holy Week, I’ll try to write some relevant blogs about this crucial period. Let’s begin with the unexpectedness of it all. Most of Jesus’ followers were expecting a Messiah who would overthrow the Romans. As late as after the resurrection, right before the ascension, the disciples were expecting as much:

So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1.6, ESV)

We’ve already seen how, in Isaiah 53, with breath-taking clarity, Isaiah predicted a suffering and dying Servant. Jesus himself tried to make it clear:

[Jesus and his disciples] went on from there and passed through Galilee. And he did not want anyone to know, for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.” But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him. (Mark 9.30 – 32, ESV)

So his death and resurrection shouldn’t have been unexpected, but it was. Moreover, the disciples should have been used to unexpected. As The Chosen has Jesus saying to Peter when Jesus chose Matthew the tax collector to be one of his followers: “Get used to different.“

Speaking of The Chosen, Amanda Jenkins has written a lovely essay on Unexpected, which I’ll share tomorrow. Stay tuned.