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.)
Jesus sets His people free; the teaching of John 8:28-32 proclaims this precious truth. It is, of course, consistent with the teaching of the Old Testament. In Isaiah 61:1-3, we read of the ministry of the Messiah, including that he would “proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.” Jesus applied the first half of this passage to His earthly ministry (Luke 4:17-21); the second part will be fulfilled in His Second Coming. It is instructive that John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Savior, expected that Jesus would release him from Herod’s prison (Luke 7:18-20), based on what Isaiah had predicted. When Jesus did not, John wondered if he had misunderstood Jesus’ claims. The miraculous acts of Jesus that immediately followed (Luke 7:21) demonstrated that He was indeed the promised Messiah. As the Savior, His primary work is to save us from our sins, to set us free from eternal imprisonment. Even the prophet John the Baptist (and no greater man has ever lived – Luke 7:28) needed to learn that the freedom that Jesus offers is full, free, and forever. “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (John 8:36).