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When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a white robe sitting on the right side. The women were shocked, but the angel said, “Don’t be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead!” Mark 16:5-6 (NLT)

They went to the tomb expecting Jesus to be dead. They expected the stone to be in front of the tomb. They expected that it would be a miracle if they were able to get help moving the stone away. They expected to be in mourning. But they didn’t get what they expected, because God does the impossible.

Bringing a dead person back to life tops the scale of things that are impossible from a human perspective. Of all the unexpected things Jesus did, rising from the dead is the greatest.

We are like these ladies. We are looking for Jesus in the places that fit our human expectations instead of expecting him to be God.

His disciples had heard the word he said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” (Luke 9:22) But they didn’t believe him. They couldn’t receive his words into their hearts and minds.

How often are we like the disciples? Instead of listening and hearing and believing his word, we dismiss it because we can’t conceive that what God says is true, that what God says will happen.

Perhaps we are so tuned into death in all its forms and the finality of it that we still have a hard time believing in resurrection. Jesus is called, “the firstborn from the dead”. (Colossians 1:18) We have great expectations of our own resurrection because Jesus came back to life and gives life to all who receive him.

Resurrection life comes to us when this life is through but also while this life continues. “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.” (Romans 8:11)

What does this mean for us?

It means that we should expect the resurrected life of Jesus to characterize our life on this earth.

Yes, the shades of death surround us. Yes, we walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Yes, we face death daily as Paul said, “For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.” (2 Corinthians 4:11) Yes these things are true, but so also is the life of Jesus.

What is this life?

It is life that is full of hope in the goodness of God. It is life that is full of trust in the grace of God.

It is life that is full of the love of God. Paul said, “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13)

What does Jesus resurrect in us? Faith, hope, and love. These are not generic ideas. They flow from Jesus and the life which he gives to us. They remain and grow because the Spirit of God remains in us.

Do you sense a lack of these markers of Christ’s life in you? Has your hope run dry? Has your faith been put on hold? Has your love grown cold?

Perhaps you are caught in human expectations instead of expecting God to be God. Perhaps you are looking for faith, hope, and love in the wrong place. Jesus, your life, will give His life to you, in this life as well as the next.

Circumstances can create a fog in the minds of even the strongest disciples. Those who walked with him were confused by the circumstances, just like we are by our own circumstances.

But we have One who is greater than the conditions which we face. Let us keep our eyes on Him. His life is in us. He will bring His life to bear in our lives just at the right time.