Jaw-dropping Jewels about Jesus
Rarely does Jesus, God the Son, do exactly what we expect of Him. It seems odd that He so frequently surprises us, given that He never changes. Hebrews 13:8 makes this absolute statement: “Jesus the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Still, though He is blessedly consistent in His goodness, Jesus does unforeseen things. Even when He does what is expected, He does not always do it in the way that we anticipate. Let us join with Jesus on a jaw-dropping journey. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
From Luke 19:37-48, the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, we have been considering the fact that Jesus triumphs differently than mankind does. In verse 40, Jesus states that, if the people were silenced, the rocks would “cry out” in praise of Him. Jesus was not using hyperbole, for it is not difficult for Him to take inorganic, inanimate material and make something spectacular. The obvious precedent is the creation of Adam out “of the dust of the ground” (Genesis 2:7). A more recent example in the ministry of Jesus was the raising of Lazarus from the dead (John 11). Unfortunately, the heads and hearts of the Pharisees (verse 39) were harder than the stones. I think of the sealed stone that was placed on Jesus’ guarded tomb. It was miraculously rolled away (Matthew 28:2) to show that Jesus had “risen, as He said” (Matthew 28:6). That stone did not literally talk, but it certainly revealed that Jesus had defeated death itself in order to offer us life eternal. Who can die and still win? Only Jesus, Who triumphs differently.