Let’s start with a question: Have you ever had expectations about something, but it turned out totally different? Were you picturing in your mind what something would be like, getting psyched up for an event or an experience, but found that it was completely different?
Personally, I remember people telling me about college and what it would be like. They were correct, but until I went away on my own for a while, and lived it out, I didn’t really “get” what they meant. In fact, that was what my wife and I told our youngest son when he was getting ready for his first drop-off: we could tell him all about our experiences, but he would have to go to college himself to really understand it.
Another example happened when I was in high school. The church we went to was relatively small and I used to joke that, “I was the youth group.” That is, there weren’t many other kids my age in the church at that time. However, my parents sometimes brought me to another church’s youth group at a church across the river, and I think that was the church where a youth pastor invited me to watch a movie, called “The Princess Bride”. This didn’t sound very appealing to me, and I wasn’t really comfortable with social events, but he convinced me to join the group, and that movie has become one of my – and my family’s – all-time favorites.
As three women (two named Mary and one named Salome) brought spices to anoint the body of Jesus (see Mark 16:1-3), I suspect that they had some very specific expectations. For instance, the fact that they wondered how they would get the tomb opened back up gives us some idea of what they expected to encounter. They were surprised, though!
But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.
Mark 16:4 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/mrk.16.4.NIV
Huh! This was not something that they had expected. Whether their previous concern was for the weight of the stone (which was definitely apparent now, whether or not it was before) or the Roman protection detail, they didn’t think that the tomb would already be opened. Can you imagine the questions going through their minds?
- Did someone else get here before us to prepare the body?
- Did someone go in on the Sabbath? (Rolling that big stone would almost certainly have counted as work, after all.)
- Did something else happen overnight?
- Did we get the place wrong? (Maybe Salome asked the two Marys this question, especially if she wasn’t with them when they watched where Jesus’ body was buried. It may have been getting dark when Jesus’ body was laid to rest, after all.)
That wasn’t the end of the surprises, though.
As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.
Mark 16:5 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/mrk.16.5.NIV
OK, it was one thing to see that the stone was moved and that the tomb was open, but what was someone doing in the tomb? Whether they were “alarmed” [NIV] or “amazed” [NASB], this was not what they had expected. We learn from other gospels that this being (described by Mark as “a young man”, probably based on appearance) was an angel, and the appearance of angels seems to regularly elicit a reaction of fear from people.
Like the women who found something that they didn’t expect at the tomb, let’s leave some room open for God to surprise us with something we didn’t expect. For instance, I’m pretty sure that we can study the Bible for years to learn what eternity with God will be like, and we can imagine all of the great things that will be there, but God will still deliver an experience that is different – and even better – than we can ever dream of. [See also Ephesians 3:20-21]
And, going back to this situation not being what these women had expected, isn’t that what happens when we worry? I’m not accusing the women of worrying, but if it was me on the way to the tomb, I might have been so caught up with worrying about the stone that I wouldn’t have remembered how God can provide for me, or what else He might have had in store. I wonder if God still laughs at me when I worry, since He already knows how He is going to take care of me!
May we not let our expectations – of what we think will happen – limit where we look for examples of God’s creativity and power. If Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion were unexpected in a bad way, they still pale in comparison to the joy of His resurrection. (But, that’s something to talk more about in the next article!) God’s good surprises are still being delivered daily, so keep your eyes open for them!
From Sunday School lesson prepared for December 21, 2025
References:
- Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
- Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Copyright by The Lockman Foundation.
- The College Press NIV Commentary – Mark, by Allen Black. © 1995 College Press Publishing Co.
Those Who Sin Differently 