We have had an African Grey parrot in our family for over ten years. They live to be in their forties so we expect to have it for a long time. It chatters away all day long and provides quite an interesting presence. His name was Max. I said was because last week we got the shock of our lives. We came down in the morning and discovered an egg in her water dish. Max is Maxine. I am still trying to adjust to what I thought was this very manly fellow being a hen. Since last week she has laid yet another egg.
Life is full of surprises. Some are not as pleasant as our parrot. There are times we are horribly surprised by the report of an accident or a diagnosis. These are the kinds of surprises we can readily do without. Satan received a horrible surprise at Calvary. He never intended for Jesus to die on that cross. When he swooped in upon Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane he was certain if he made the next few hours atrocious enough Jesus would give up. When I was young I wondered why Satan drove the national leadership to kill Jesus. Surely Satan understood the meaning of the sacrificial system. If he could get the leadership to ignore Jesus then Satan would win. But there are two reasons why that would not work. Jesus cannot be ignored and secondarily Satan’s personal hatred for Jesus drove his sadism.
Wonder of wonders when Jesus cried out, “Father into thy hands I commend my spirit. It is finished.” Jesus died. It was more than Satan could comprehend. Love won over hate. Such love was the greatest surprise of all.
Written by Roger Bothwell on November 24, 2010
Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
Rogerbothwell.org