They say bad things happen in 3’s.

I have often wondered why this seems to be true. Remember when Michael Jackson’s untimely death, coupled with the deaths of Ed McMahon and Farrah Fawcett all occurred in the same week? Many times we’ll see plane crashes and all manner of catastrophes happening in three’s.

Curiously, I googled why bad things happen in threes. Here’s the scientific answer: they simply don’t.

As human beings, we tend to look for patterns in random data in order to extract order from disorder. The tendency is called “apophenia” and it was first described in 1958 by German psychologist and neuroscientist Klaus Conrad. Conrad was studying people suffering the onset of schizophrenia. For them, they experience delusion as a sort of revelation.

But even healthy humans have a tendency to essentially cherry pick information that confirms our beliefs, and then conveniently overlook the examples that don’t. This is known as confirmation bias, and in the Western culture, we are really good at it. Think storytelling (“The Three Pigs”, “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”), literature (the three-act play), and so on.

There are threes everywhere. In reality, bad things happen all the time, but because of confirmation bias, apophenia, and our own cultural biases, we just have a tendency to group them in threes. [www.seeker.com by Julian Huguet, 2015]

Sadly this week, the cathedral at Notre Dame was ravaged by fire, and people all over the world are grieving the loss of this religious icon. The picture above has circulated the internet depicting the fact that, despite the ravages of the inferno, the cross still stands, symbolizing the cathedral’s resilience.

The image reminded me of a mission trip I took to Haiti. Christianity is growing in Haiti, but voodoo has been the mainstream religion in Haiti for centuries. Walking through a village one morning, we passed by a voodoo temple, their place of worship hidden behind a fence, invisible from the walking path.

Being a resident of the village, our guide pointed out the location to us. He explained the priests had performed a ceremony just the night before, where they burn a cross and curse the work of God in their village. I could still smell the stale ashes. And then I saw it. A gate stood slightly ajar; I had no intention to enter, but was strongly compelled to just take a peek. I mean, I’ve never seen a voodoo temple before, have you?

As I gazed past the gate, I was immediately take aback by what I saw. In clear view I saw what I smelled: a burned cross, charred black, still smoldering. I didn’t linger because we were not welcome there. But the image was seared in my mind. Walking on in silence, I was overcome with the reality of evil and a heartfelt sadness for those in bondage to the lies of the voodoo religion.

Immediately, like a strategically-planned movie plot, I had an epiphany. (Reality: the Holy Spirit told me.) That cross had been burned, scorned, cursed and disrespected. But the cross was still standing, intact—it was not destroyed. I walked on in victory, free of fear, undeterred by evil.

Just as the voodoo cross survived the flames, the cross at Notre Dame still stands intact, shining brightly through the carnage. There is power in the cross of Christ!

BUT WAIT: Don’t hear me say there is power in the cross. The cross at Notre Dame and the cross at the voodoo temple are man-made symbols. Putting stock in the cross would be like using numerology to predict the future. That’s just silly superstition–it’s delusional.

The power is in the work Jesus Christ did on the cross. When we focus on Jesus’ work of salvation, we encounter ultimate power. The cross as a symbol directs our focus to His power.

On that Friday of the Crucifixion, don’t you imagine as they viewed Jesus dying on that cross, the friends and followers of Jesus Christ believed that He, and all He stood for, was being destroyed? Scripture paints the picture of their dejection after he dies. Their deep grief continues even upon discovery of the empty grave, until the angel delivers the challenge, “Why are you looking for the living among the dead?”

Their focus was so strong on the death of the cross that they failed to recognize the life of the empty tomb. Stuck in the grief of the moment, they couldn’t get to the joy ahead. 

Even in the cross, there was joy. The cross was a stepping stone to the grave, which had to happen in order to conquer death. God was operating that whole process behind the scenes, but of course, all they knew was what they saw and how they felt. In their grief they forgot about what God had told them regarding the work He was going to do. Years before, the prophet Isaiah preached God’s words, “I’m going to do a new thing…” (Isaiah 42:9; 43:19; 48:6). In their own lifetime, Jesus Himself relayed, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” (John 2:19)

But their eyes could not look past what they could see and the sadness they felt.

How often do we miss the work of God because we can’t see all He’s doing? What’s going on behind the scenes? During their deep-seated sorrow, God was saving the world. In three days!

I remember the story of an old evangelist who preached an Easter message, “It’s Friday, but SUNDAY’S COMING!” On Friday, Jesus’s friends could only see death; it looked like the story of Jesus was over. But unbeknownst to them, God was stealthily working life behind the scenes. And it took three days for that part of the process to take place.

In the Bible, there are plenty three’s: the Trinity (Genesis 1), cord of three strands (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10), Jonah in the whale (Jonah 2), Jesus’ years in ministry (Luke 13:7), three witnesses (1 John 5:6ff), among many others.

In biblical numerology, the number three is considered to symbolize perfection and unity. Supernatural & symbolic—yes, it’s God’s way. Magical & mystical—no. Three is just a symbol. Three days of death symbolize complete unity between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to save the world from eternal death.

Did Jesus’ death on the cross change the world? Absolutely, because the payment for sin is death, and Jesus made that payment for my sin and yours. But the story doesn’t end at the cross; the empty grave completes the story, because the empty grave is where the exchange was made: death for life. In that exchange, God gives the gift of life-change, right here, right now. LIfe-change that begins the moment we accept the gift of Jesus, lasting for all of eternity, never to leave us!

Many are hopeful that the destruction of Notre Dame will be the catalyst calling people back to faith, resulting in world-wide revival, a coming back to living in the way of Christ. That cross shining through the rubble is being displayed online and on TV’s all over the world. It’s a universal symbol of the great love of Jesus.

Join me in praying for the work of Jesus through the cross. Let’s pray that the symbol of death will press in on many to look for the gift of eternal life.

And as you contemplate the full Easter story over the next three days, allow the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to do their stealth work behind the scenes of your heart, in your life. (The Trinity is a Powerful Three!)

For the one who knows Jesus Christ, even when life feels bleak, “It’s Friday, but SUNDAY’S COMING!” Wait in exuberant anticipation of God’s “new thing”.