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.)
Three weeks ago, we studied Luke 18:9-14 as we considered the implications of “the prayers of all saints” which are “before the throne” of God (Revelation 8:3-4). We saw the stark contrast between the pompous “publican” and the sincere “sinner.” Verse 14 provides the spiritual application of this parable of Jesus: “I tell you, this man [the sinner] went down to his house justified rather than the other [the publican, or corrupt tax collector]: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” A foundational principle of Christianity is found here: the prayer of the penitent sinner will always be heard and will always be answered in the affirmative. In Luke 15:10, Jesus affirms, “Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.” There is no doubt: the prayer of salvation saves the sinner. May each one of us be certain that we as individuals have prayed this saving prayer.