Surprise!

I didn't blog last week. I was traveling to Florida to speak at a church in Key Largo. I know, it sounds like a drag but somebody had to do it. The friends who invited us also invited my daughter and grandson to join us. I decided to make it a surprise for my wife Karen. My daughter, son-in-law, and grandson live in Virginia so my wife has been pining for them since Christmas which is when we saw them last. Rachel and Liam were going to connect with us in Atlanta. Karen and I landed in Atlanta. There had been a baby on our flight and I used the baby to stoke the pining already evident in my wife's heart. We disembarked and began our way to our connecting gate. Rachel and Liam jumped out from behind a pillar and I thought Karen was going to explode. It was exactly what I hoped it would be except Karen began hugging Rachel so tightly she left a permanent mark on her neck. There are few things better than a good surprise. I have been studying the end of the Gospel of Matthew to prepare for the Easter series here at church. At the very end after Jesus has appeared to his disciples after the resurrection he says, "And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the earth." That is the way it reads in the old King James edition of the Bible. The word "Lo" is the greek word idou. It is also translated "surely" or "behold". I read one commentator who said the word really means "surprise!" I like that. Jesus is resurrected and he gathers his disciples together and gives them the great commission. "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you and Surprise!! I am going with you even to the end of the world." If there has ever been a great surprise that must have been it. After feeling like they had lost Jesus a few days before as he hung on the cross, here the disciples are told they will never be without him again. If you are a follower of Jesus Christ the really good news is that he is with you today. Surprise!! Even if you don't usually like surprises you have to love this one.