Someone once told me, “The only thing we really ought to expect from God is the unexpected!”

Consider Abraham and Sarah, for example. The last thing they expected in their old age was that they would be strapping a child-safety seat onto one of the camels. Or what about Moses? Do you think he ever expected that he would be going back to Egypt to stand toe-to-toe with Pharaoh? Do you suppose that, as a lowly shepherd, David ever expected that one day he would be king? Or that the Apostle Paul, when he set out for Damascus to arrest Christians, would wind up becoming one?

The list could go on and on … because God’s ways are not our ways. God is filled with surprises. And perhaps the biggest surprise of them all was Easter!

If there’s one thing that all of the gospel writers agree upon—it’s that nobody was expecting the resurrection. That’s why there is no receiving line at the tomb. No one shows up on Easter Sunday morning with a “Welcome Back” banner and a fresh change of clothes for the Master.

In fact, one gets the impression that the disciples had no intention of showing up at all. They sent the women to the cemetery instead. And as far as I can tell, the women weren’t any more excited about making this trip than were the men. The only reason they trudge down there at the crack of dawn is to anoint the body with spices. The last thing they expected is that the tomb would be empty.

The bottom line is that the resurrection was not anticipated by anybody. But then again, that’s the way God has always worked. Every time we think we have God figured out, God surprises us. If Good Friday should teach us anything, it’s that we are never going to be able to nail God down for very long!