A Day of Doubt, Confusion, and Faith

A Day of doubt, confusion, and faith.
John 20:1-10

We want a faith that fits our rationale. We are always trying to conform God to our perspective. When confronted with the unexplainable, we revert to the understandable.      Modern science and rational thinking take precedence over the incomprehensible working of God.  
The events that unfolded on the first day of the week (Sunday) were unexpected and unexplainable. For the disciples, death was final and irreversible. Everything in their experience testified that a person lives and then dies, and once death occurs, there is nothing that can release a person from death's tenacious grip. Consequently, when Christ died on the cross, the story ended, and along with it, the hopes and dreams of the disciples that Jesus was the Messianic King who came to re-establish the Davidic dynasty in the nation of Israel.
Consequently, when Mary Magdalene reported that the stone was removed from Jesus' tomb and the body was missing, Peter and John ran to investigate. However, their inquiry was not to affirm the resurrection but to merely confirm that the tomb had been raided and the body stolen (an event that was not uncommon during this time). However, when Peter went into the tomb, he discovered something remarkable. The linen wrappings with the spices were still present, which would be unlikely if the tomb was robbed since the spices were valuable. Furthermore, the head cloth was neatly folded and lying by itself.  
With a glance, Peter and John quickly scanned the scene. However, for Peter, all this only served to mystify him. Something extraordinary had happened, but he remained unconvinced that there was anything supernatural. In verse 9, we find the reason for their doubt—They failed to understand the scriptures that prophesied the death and resurrection of Jesus.  
The essence of faith is not just the acceptance of the truths and teaching of the Bible that conform to and affirm our thoughts and beliefs. Faith is the acceptance of the realities and teaching that we do not understand or coincide with our worldview. The disciples struggled with the death and resurrection because it did not fit their concept of who the messiah was. They looked for a political messiah rather than a spiritual messiah. When Christ died, so did their dream. Consequently, the idea that the death and resurrection of Christ were part of God's plan seemed improbable.
Like Peter, we struggle because we do not understand the Bible, nor do we accept the truths of the Bible that conflict with our perspective. Instead, we reject the Bible when God's activity in the world, from creation to his moral standard, does not fit our perspective.
Peter would learn that God often acts in ways we do not understand. His ways are not our ways, and his thoughts are not our thoughts, and as the heavens are higher than the earth, so his ways are higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9). Therefore, when God does the unexpected, instead of trying to conform God to us, we need to trust him by faith that he is in control and his plan is far beyond our ability to grasp and understand. As a result, instead of conforming to the Bible to our perspective, we must humbly surrender to the teaching of the Bible, recognizing that God does not always act in the ways he thinks he should.