Being All In

Some things people tell me I find very hard to believe.

Of course if someone describes an event that is truly fantastic, so outrageous that I think it surely cannot be so, the thought that it might be true lingers in the back of my mind.  He couldn't have made that up, I think.

Now after he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons.  She went out and told those who had been with him, while they were mourning and weeping.  But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it.  After this he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country.  And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them. - Mark 16:9-13

So, why do you think the followers of Jesus, who had heard his teachings and grew to know him well, would have failed to believe the crazy tale of him being seen alive after death?

It seems like a backwards argument, I realize that.  I am asking why the impossible would fail to be believed, but it is not like they hadn't been told this would happen.

Who did they think Jesus was?

If they wee truly all in, totally committed to his Word, they would have been anticipating the resurrection, and would have rejoiced in the news that some had actually encountered him on the road.

What would we think if one of our friends swore he saw Jesus today?

It's hard to be all in, isn't it?  We hold back.  We want to keep one foot firmly planted in reality, the reality we think we understand.

I like to think I would be open to the experience, but I am not so sure I would buy into the story at first.  Even knowing and believing it had happened before, a second time would be scary.

So many people seem to be trying to bring it on, to set the conditions straight for the second coming, or first coming for those who failed to believe in Jesus.

I wonder if we would even recognize him when he comes.  Would we hear the stories from friends and change our priorities, or would we brush them off as foolishness?

One message that comes across loud and clear in Scripture is that we humans are hard of hearing and hard of believing.  Even when God speaks to us directly, which I like to think He continues to do, we ignore Him.

And we think those who are all in are gullible.

Is there any hope for us?

I think so, but  I wonder if I could get anyone else to believe that.

More to come...