She Did Not Know

... she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus.

 - From John 20

In the classic motion picture, "The Sting," an elaborate and entangled array of subplots keeps your brain active throughout the entire movie. You're trying to sort it all out . . . until at the end, you see that, yes of course this is how it HAD to all end. But then, just as you have come to accept the predictable ending, the surprise ending happens and changes the mood instantly.

I was always vexed by the subplots. I said to a friend of mine: "Can't they see what's going on right under their noses?" But my friend replied "That's the point! The irony of all of it!"

You know, that's actually very close to life. We think we see everything so clearly. But only in hindsight are things clear, and usually they are not what we thought before. Very frequently, reality ends up being the opposite of what we presumed to be real.

This is very instructive for us. Perhaps one of life's most important lessons: Things are rarely what they seem to be.

That's what makes the account of Mary Magdalene, at the empty tomb of Christ, so riveting. We're thinking, as we read: "What's the matter with her? Didn't Christ tell her He would rise? Why isn't she specifically looking for him to be there . . . alive?"

But . . . . hindsight. And we have the benefit of having read the entire account.

We're actually exactly like Mary. We always think we understand things so perfectly clearly.

Isn't that what's wrong with politics in America 2017?

Just this week, I undertook a clean-up of emails that are ten years old. I found one from a very dear friend and mentor. He was chastising me for my attitude while leading the Praise Band at Dexter United Methodist Church. I barely remember the situation. See how important it was to me at the time?

But my heart was pierced as I read the email from the vantage point of a decade. He's talking about me! What a jerk I was!

But I couldn't see it. I was always so supremely confident that I was a very effective leader. What hogwash.

Mary was at Jesus' tomb. She had been with Him for years. She was looking for Him. But she didn't even recognize Him, standing there right in front of her!

Let's not be so sure of ourselves. We're not seeing the full picture!!