The Way Things Appear

    I love the foot race at the beginning of John 20.  Peter and John racing like a couple of kids to the tomb, John hesitating at the entrance, Peter actually getting the first look.  In this day and age it would seem like the empty tomb would cause a little more excitement for them- after all, a body is missing- but they just go home. That's all.  The body is not here, let's go home. 
    Now, I don't know about you, but I generally think that people in the Bible are pretty much like me, so I imagine that they were disappointed with Jesus' performance.  He didn't set up the kingdom they were expecting, and now his body is even gone.  Ho hum, what a let down.  I think that I would be more like them than I would be like Mary.  Mary hangs around, but I would be ready to quit.  Ready to go home and do what comes naturally, ready to give up on God. 
    But God thinks "outside the box" (if I may use that overused expression).  The empty  tomb is hard to swallow, but it is only empty because God has something better going on.  He is Risen!  The disciples miss out on a life changing encounter with the risen Christ because they go home.  At this moment, their disappointment keeps them from seeing what God is really doing. 
    I pray that when this happens to me, that when I am disappointed because God isn't behaving the way I expect Him to behave, I will be like Mary and hang around to find out what is really going on.