We are a couple weeks out from celebrating Easter—that colossal event when Jesus Christ literally rose up from the grave and walked away. The Christian faith recognizes this event, and it is the linchpin of Christianity.

The resurrection of Christ caught many by surprise. Among the most surprised were the close followers of Jesus. When they heard the grave was empty, they refused to believe that Jesus was not there.

It should not have been a surprise. Jesus was very clear on numerous occasions that He would go to Jerusalem, would suffer at the hands of the religious leaders, be killed, and on the third day be raised to life (Matthew 16:21).

Jesus never deviated from this prediction. And in the three intense years that He led and taught His disciples, He said it again and again.

The disciples of Jesus were human, and all their experience was rooted in what they knew and had experienced. Even though they were in attendance when Jesus raised the widow’s son from the dead at Nain (Luke 7:11-15), when Jesus called Lazarus out from the grave after he had been dead four days, and for numerous other miracles, they had no inkling that those awful events surrounding Good Friday and Easter Sunday could have any other outcome than disappointment and grief.

You would think that some of these close followers who had heard Jesus say He was going to be raised from the dead, would have second thoughts as they spent money for spices and cloths so they could go to the tomb and adequately prepare the body of Jesus for burial. Even that early morning trip to the tomb was wasted when they could have just slept in and waited for Jesus to show up.

As we think about it, we can chastise those early disciples for not getting “it,” but what about us? Are we missing something? Is prejudiced thinking or established dogma robbing us of clear understanding of what our place is, or of how we should be postured for the future?

The early Christ-followers limited God. Let’s not do that!