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.)
In Revelation 22:8-9, we find the Apostle John requiring the rebuke of a fellow servant: “And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things. Then saith he unto me, ‘See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.’” The inclusion of these two verses reminds us that the Bible is not hagiography, a scrubbed and sanitized version of events to make the followers of Jesus to appear as immaculate saints (or, if you prefer, given the immediate context, perfect angels). The Bible is true and presents a full picture of mankind, including of the imperfect Apostles. John had made the same grievous error in Revelation 19:10: “And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, ‘See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.’” John’s failure affirms that our pernicious problem is sin; each of us possesses a sin nature and chooses to exercise it, all too often vigorously. We also see that it is hard to break bad habits – hard, but not impossible. Through the indwelling power of God the Holy Spirit, we can learn to “keep the sayings” of God, for His forgiveness sets us free to do that which is right and good.