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.)
On the evening of Thursday of Holy Week, Jesus, “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 123:8), celebrated the Passover with His disciples. John 13:1-15 records that Jesus, the Lord of all, willingly washed the feet of all of those gathered in that “large upper room” (Mark 14:15). Uppermost in Jesus’ mind was the base betrayal by Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve closest disciples: “When Jesus had thus said, He was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said, ‘Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray Me’” (John 13:21). Verse 27 tells us that “Satan entered into” Judas. Jesus had washed the feet of Judas; He had also given him a morsel of bread as a sign of special attention and friendship (verse 26). What a tragic picture of rank ingratitude! Still, Jesus continued “stedfastly” (Luke 9:51) in His sacrificial mission of salvation. Such powerful love should grab and hold our hearts.