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.)
Jesus’ response to the absurd charge of the scribes that He was doing Satan’s work by healing the afflicted is unanswerable in its penetrating perception: “And He called them unto Him, and said unto them in parables, ‘How can Satan cast out Satan? And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end’” (Mark 3:23-26). Jesus’ elegant logic is irrefutable. However, His opponents are blinded by hatred and, ironically, by Satan: “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world [Satan] hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, Who is the image [perfect revelation] of God, should shine unto them” (II Corinthians 4:3-4). Because these benighted religionists could not deny the power of Jesus, they try to attribute that power to an evil source. I find it compelling that Jesus speaks to these antagonists in the type of careful, parsed, lawyerly manner in which they normally argued. He is not engaged in merely winning a debate; He is endeavoring to win souls for eternal heaven. His use of the word “divided” reminds His listeners then and us now that we do have to choose a side, either darkness and hell with Satan or light and heaven with Jesus.