Astonished (Lent 8, 2025)

Bad news travels fast, as they say. 
When people have some gossip to tell, they often do. 

According to https://englishpluspodcast.com/bad-news-travels-fast-understanding-the-proverb/
There are a few reasons behind the speed of bad news:
>Evolutionary Bias: Humans developed a negativity bias as a survival mechanism. Being alert to dangers and threats would have been more advantageous for our ancestors than focusing on the positive.
>Social Currency: Sharing bad news can make us feel connected to others, particularly   through commiseration or a sense of shared concern.
>The Power of Surprise: Unexpected negative events are more newsworthy and attention-grabbing than the routine or predictable.

I’d add one: it makes us feel empowered and even superior to know information before others do…especially as it relates to bad news.  Sir Francis Bacon is cited as an original source for the common aphorism “Knowledge is power.”

The two men on the Road to Emmaus seem genuinely astonished that Jesus would even ask “What things?”

Principle: Jesus knew far more about the resurrection than they did, but His purpose wasn’t triumphalism.  His purpose was relational.

Questions for further thought:

Is God obligated to tell us the full details when there is something to be gained from getting to know Him incrementally?

Think about the rest of Scripture.  Are there things that have yet to come to pass? 

If God is omniscient, He knows the mysteries of the apocalypse already.  Why might He not tell us everything clearly ahead of time?

Jesus told His disciples time and again that He would be handed over to be crucified.  Why do you think they didn’t know even after having been explicitly told?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, give us ears to hear what You have to say in Your Word and hearts to believe what is written for our good and so we may know You better.  Help us to pay close attention to what we have learned and put it into practice.  For Your glory, Amen.

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Lent began Ash Wednesday, March 5, 2025, and will continue until Resurrection Sunday, Easter (April 20, 2025). I hope you’ll join me and be prepared to have your eyes opened. I know mine have been in writing this series, “The Way it Had to Be.”

The author gratefully acknowledges Grok XI for assisting with this year’s pictures.
Technology can be amazing.

If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2025 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this encounter with God to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals continue to minister, you may want to have access to a full series ahead of time:

• Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
• A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God  which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014. 
• Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations.  We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17. 
• ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
• Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ.  It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
• Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.
• Lent 2019 gave us a deeper window into Easter “More to the Easter Story” since we miss so much when we rely only on a superficial understanding of the work of Christ. These devotionals are archived beginning March 6, 2019.
• Our Lent 2020 devotional series offered prayer points surrounding “Be Thou My Vision” and were aimed at helping us to see God for who He is. The full set of devotionals are archived beginning February 26, 2020.
• The theme for 2021 Lent Devotionals was how to live between two worlds while waiting for Christ’s return. Into the gap between the City of Man and its fixation upon sin and the City of God with its demand for holiness, two words minister peace: But God. Praise God for His intervention! They are archived beginning February 17, 2021.
• Revelation in 40 devotionals for 2022 offered 40 vignettes, scenes, concepts, and thoughts to inspire us to read the Book of Revelation as it is written and to go deeper. They are archived beginning March 2, 2022.
• “Created to Display His Image” explored what it truly means to be made in God’s Image and the profound significance of that fact. They are archived beginning February 22, 2023.
• “Seeing His Love with New Eyes” was the topic for 2024 and it explored looking at God’s love beyond the superficial and trite notions of love. They are archived beginning February 14, 2024.