---
title: "A Lesson from Jesus: See the Unexpected"
description: "Here's a thought from the gospel of Mark: how Jesus sees the unexpected in a situation and draws insight for people by doing so."
---

[Nathanael Yellis's Blog: technology consulting, digital strategy, marketing, simplicity, and more. ](https://www.yell.is/blog)

# [A Lesson from Jesus: See the Unexpected](https://www.yell.is/blog/2010/04/05/a-lesson-from-jesus-see-the-unexpected)

 Written by [Nathanael Yellis](https://www.yell.is/blog/author/nathanael-yellis) | April, 5 2010

Mark 12: 41-44:

> And He sat down opposite the treasury, and began observing how the people were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, "Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on."

In this little story, Jesus observes a common scene: people giving money at the Temple. He could have boringly talking about the 'importance of giving' or something lame. Instead, he chose to invert the normal perspective and show people something deeper.

Communicators respect their audiences when they follow this example. Inverting the typical paradigm and offering a better perspective gives the audience something far more meaningful than a rote speech. The next time you present, think about what everyone is expecting and how you can use a different approach to say something meaningful.

[View full post](https://www.yell.is/blog/2010/04/05/a-lesson-from-jesus-see-the-unexpected)

```json
{
  "@context" : "http://schema.org",
  "@type" : "BlogPosting",
  "author" : {
    "@type" : "Person",
    "name" : "Nathanael Yellis"
  },
  "dateModified" : "2021-05-18T19:30:50.236Z",
  "datePublished" : "2010-04-05T12:27:00Z",
  "headline" : "A Lesson from Jesus: See the Unexpected",
  "image" : {
    "@type" : "ImageObject",
    "height" : 60,
    "url" : "/hs/hsstatic/content_shared_assets/static-1.4092/img/default-amp-logo.png",
    "width" : 60
  },
  "mainEntityOfPage" : "https://www.yell.is/blog/2010/04/05/a-lesson-from-jesus-see-the-unexpected",
  "publisher" : {
    "@type" : "Organization",
    "logo" : {
      "@type" : "ImageObject",
      "height" : 60.0,
      "url" : "https://3896789.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/3896789/Imported_Blog_Media/Yellis_Square.png",
      "width" : 60.0
    },
    "name" : "Nathanael Yellis's Blog"
  }
}
```