How do you feel when someone tells you, “I told you so!”?

Have you ever been on the receiving end of someone saying, “I told you so!”?

How did you feel?

I’ve been there. And I felt foolish. Embarrassed. Silly.

I can’t help but think that’s how the disciples of Jesus must have felt shortly after the resurrection. That’s because when it was first discovered that Jesus had risen from the dead, it was an angel who delivered a polite but direct version of “I told you so!” but in this case it was a “just as He said would happen” dig. Check it out:

“Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to visit the tomb. Suddenly there was a great earthquake! For an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rolled aside the stone, and sat on it. His face shone like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow. The guards shook with fear when they saw him, and they fell into a dead faint. Then the angel spoke to the women. ‘Don’t be afraid!’ he said. ‘I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying. And now, go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and he is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there. Remember what I have told you,'” Matthew 28:1-7.

I can just picture it, the angels having a top rate balcony view of humanity. First, they probably hit their heads against the wall watching the cycles of sin that marked the ancient Israelites.

“Why don’t these humans get it?!” a frustrated angel would shout.

Okay, so now Jesus is on Earth and with His disciples.

“This should be much better!” several angels say, excited to see how it unfolds.

But it doesn’t get much better.

That’s because at least on three different occasions Jesus told the disciples exactly what would happen to Him, and He did so with great specificity. The first time:

“From then on Jesus began to tell his disciples plainly that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, and that he would suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but on the third day he would be raised from the dead,” Matthew 16:21.

The response?

“But Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things. ‘Heaven forbid, Lord,’ he said. ‘This will never happen to you!'” Matthew 16:22.

The angels lose it! Facepalms, boos, throwing their empty popcorn cartons.

“You foolish humans! Okay, okay, they’ll get it, let’s be patient.”

So Jesus tells them again:

“After they gathered again in Galilee, Jesus told them, ‘The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of his enemies. He will be killed, but on the third day he will be raised from the dead.’ And the disciples were filled with grief,” Matthew 17:22-23.

Surprised angels faces.

One angel says, “Okay, grief is better than denial, maybe they’re learning …”

Then Jesus tells them yet again:

“As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside privately and told them what was going to happen to him. ‘Listen,’ he said, ‘we’re going up to Jerusalem, where the Son of Man will be betrayed to the leading priests and the teachers of religious law. They will sentence him to die. Then they will hand him over to the Romans to be mocked, flogged with a whip, and crucified. But on the third day he will be raised from the dead,'” Matthew 20:17-19.

But the disciples never comprehended such clear, concise, detailed information provided by Jesus.

After His resurrection, they didn’t gather together with Peter telling them, “Okay, let’s start the clock. We know in three days Jesus will rise from the dead, then we’ll get on with the mission 2.0!”

Instead … “Saturday evening, when the Sabbath ended, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome went out and purchased burial spices so they could anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on Sunday morning, just at sunrise, they went to the tomb,” Mark 16:1-2.

They didn’t go to the tomb because they had counted down the time and went to find a risen Lord, they took spices to anoint a dead body they expected to find in a grave.

And that’s why the angel delivered his dig: “Then the angel spoke to the women. ‘Don’t be afraid!’ he said. ‘I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen …'” Matthew 28:5-6a.

“YOU TELL ‘EM BUDDY!” shouts an angel from heaven’s balcony!

“They should have known all along!” chimes in another angel.

But they didn’t.

And I don’t think the disciples were ever happier to be on the receiving end of an “I told you so!” than they were that resurrection morning.

God has been just as plain with us through His word. He’s told us the risen Lord, who is King of kings and Lord of lords, is coming back to gather His church to Himself and judge the world. Don’t let that be a day of “I told you so!”

Scotty