Jesus Was Not Where He Was Supposed To Be

Words we don’t expect to hear: Jesus was not where He was supposed to be.

John 20:1-7:

“Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!

Jesus was not where He was supposed to be!

The passage goes on:

“So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen.

But Jesus was not where He was supposed to be!

Maybe it’s surprising to think about, but this was not unusual for Jesus. He was often not where He was supposed to be. This habit began when he was just a child.

“Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover. When he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom. After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day”. 

But Jesus was not where He was supposed to be!

“Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, ‘Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.’

“‘Why were you searching for me?” he asked. ‘Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?’ But they did not understand what he was saying to them” (Luke 2:41-50).

In John, Chapter 8, Jesus is again in the temple courts, this time as an adult. The people begin to question His testimony and accuse Him of being demon-possessed.

“‘Very truly I tell you,’ Jesus [finally] answered, ‘before Abraham was born, I am!’ At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.”

When they drew up to throw the stones, Jesus had disappeared.

Jesus was not where He was supposed to be. 

One day, Jesus’ friend Lazarus lay sick unto death:

“Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) So the sisters sent word to Jesus, ‘Lord, the one you love is sick.’”

From John 11: “When he heard this, Jesus said, ‘This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.’ Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days …”

Wait. What? He didn’t immediately go to Lazarus, a friend and a family He loved?

Wasn’t Jesus supposed to be there?

Oh, but He did eventually go, and showed the people the miracle of a lifetime! 

“Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. ‘Take away the stone,’ he said.

“‘But, Lord,” said Martha, … ‘by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.’

“Then Jesus said, ‘Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?’

“So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, ‘Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.’

“When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.

“Jesus said to them, ‘Take off the grave clothes and let him go.’”

Jesus was not where He was supposed to be; but He was exactly where He intended to be.

There were certainly times when Jesus surprised people. Along with times He was not where He was supposed to be, there were times when He was where He was not supposed to be:

At the dinner table with tax-collectors, sinners, and prostitutes

At a well talking to a Samaritan woman

Walking on a stormy sea

Washing feet 

Hanging on a cross

… taking a punishment that was not His, but mine.

By the way, that day at the tomb when Jesus was not where He was supposed to be:

“After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

“The angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him. Now I have told you.’

“So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. ‘Greetings,’ he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me’” (Matthew 28:1-10).

Jesus was not in the grave where He was supposed to be; He was walking around where He was not supposed to be; but He was exactly where He intended to be and exactly where He told everyone He would be.

Sometimes He’s not where He is supposed to be; sometimes He is where He’s not supposed to be. Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, certainly is unpredictable! A TV preacher we watch calls Him “sneaky Jesus.” I suppose that’s a good thing. If we could predict His actions and methods, He wouldn’t be God! You know, I think He still enjoys surprising us with big and small miracles every day, popping up when we least expect Him, and when we need Him most. 

I love violets. To some people, they’re just weeds, but I love the lowly violet–especially the deep purple ones. They’re my favorite flower. 

I remember a particularly difficult time in my life when I felt like things were falling apart all around me. I went to church; I prayed; I fasted; I did all I knew to do, but situations got worse instead of better. Finally one night, I desperately prayed, “Lord, have you forgotten me?” Then I cried myself to sleep.

I felt like Jesus was not where He was supposed to be.

The next morning when I walked out my door, to my great surprise, the yard was full of deep purple violets! There had never been violets there before, but they were there, and I understood that He was there, too. It was the encouragement I needed to get to the end of the hard time. I knew that I was not forgotten, after all. I knew that I was loved.

Jesus is always right where He intends to be!

Isn’t that just like Jesus? Isn’t surprise just another facet of love, another characteristic of relationship? It keeps things fresh! It keeps things real.

Jesus may not always be where we think He’s supposed to be, but He’s always where He intends to be, and He always intercedes for our good. You can totally count on it!

God bless you and may He send you many lovely surprises!

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