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.)
Truly Jesus is worthy; Revelation 5:9 states, “Thou art worthy.” He is worthy of our praise for His impeccable character. Furthermore, He is worthy of our thanksgiving for what He has done. In the context of Revelation 5, we find a scroll (“book” – verse 1) in “the right hand” of God the Father. It is “sealed with seven seals.” We must interpret this passage historically; that is, what did a seven-sealed scroll signify in John’s day? It was used as a deed, granting an inheritance or title to the individual named within. As such, it is a symbol of dominion; since it is in the Father’s omnipotent “right hand,” the hand of authority, it is the deed to the entire earth. Who can claim this dominion-deed? Who can take this scroll from God the Father? John says, “I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. And one of the elders saith unto me, ‘Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof’” (5:4-5). Jesus is the predicted “Lion of the tribe of Juda” from Genesis 49:9-10. He is also the promised Messiah from the line of King David, “the Root of David,” as foretold in Isaiah 11:1, 10. He is wholly worthy to take the scroll of the seven seals and thus merits our thanks.