In the wide range of my reading, I have at times included mysteries. Whether it is Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple, or some other more contemporary detective, I enjoy seeing how they put the clues together to solve the murder mystery and reveal the killer.
Puzzles have an appeal to many of us from an early age. Even something as simple as a riddle can engage our minds and challenge our imagination. We never quite lose the delight of figuring out the riddle before having to ask for the answer. Even when we have guessed incorrectly, we enjoy trying the riddle on the next victim.
The word mystery occurs a number of times in the New Testament. There it often refers to the knowledge which is known only to God and to those to whom God chooses to reveal it. We all, as followers of Jesus, share in the mystery of the faith. Christ and his bride, the Church, are said to be a great mystery. How Christ will bring the faithful with him at his second coming is described as a mystery. What is not known by ordinary human minds is revealed by the Spirit of God to the followers of Christ. This is a great privilege of the faithful. It does not make us superior to those outside the faith but is another example of God’s unmerited favor. It is by the grace of God that we experience the mystery of knowing God as our Loving Father and Redeemer, because he has revealed himself to us.