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.)
Revelation 19:11 directs our full attention to Jesus Christ: “And I [John] saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and He [Who] sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He doth judge and make war.” When Jesus first came to us, He did not ride “a white horse.” In the first century, a conqueror would be expected to be astride a white horse; but Jesus, in fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9, rode a donkey into Jerusalem just days before His death on the Cross (Matthew 21:1-11). Clearly, at that time, Jesus conquered differently by making provision for all of our sin. However, at His Second Coming, He will return to “judge and make war” with those who have rejected His gracious provision and have instead chosen to follow the Antichrist. We remember that in Revelation 6:2 the Antichrist appears on a white horse, in obvious mimicry of the prophesied return of Jesus Christ. In a moment, the Antichrist’s deception will fail and fall. Jesus is the Great Conqueror. If we will not be conquered and saved by His sacrificial love, we will be conquered by His judgment. I think of the lines of a poem by James Weldon Johnson: “Young man, young man, your arm’s too short to box with God.” Thank you, Lord, that You have fully warned us and fully provided for us.