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.)
The mercy of Jesus means that we are not punished as we deserve. Bartimaeus, in Mark 10:46-52, twice cried out to Jesus for mercy (verses 47 and 48). This blind man (verse 46) knew that he needed mercy, as we studied yesterday. He also knew to whom he must go for this mercy. Twice, Bartimaeus called Jesus “Son of David” (verses 47 and 48). In so doing, he was expressing his belief in Jesus as the Messiah, as promised to David in II Samuel 7:16. It is instructive to note that the lineage of Jesus was already widely known at this time; the Jewish people rightly had a deep interest in and respect for ancestry and cherished accurate genealogies. That Jesus was of the Davidic line was an established fact. The healing that followed (verse 52) was additional proof that Jesus fulfilled all Messianic prophecy (Isaiah 42:7; Luke 7:22). Just as Bartimaeus turned to Jesus for mercy, so must we all. Yes, “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23). This Messianic mercy is available to all of us through faith in Jesus Christ.