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 continues the Parable of the Soils (or Souls) in Mark 4:5-6: “And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth: but when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.” Jesus fully explains this part of the parable in verses 16-17: “And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; and have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word’s sake, immediately they are offended.” The picture is of two to three inches of soil over limestone bedrock (common in Israel). This soil heats up quickly, leading to rapid growth but equally rapid decay and death due to a lack of a root system. In simple terms, these people are not really grounded in the Gospel message. They have, if I may be blunt, a fake faith. Perhaps they want attention or are responding with emotion only. Other factors may well be in play. For example, I know of a man who went forward at an altar call. He told friends later that day that he did so only to keep his wife from “nagging” him about Jesus. There are likely as many excuses as there are people – maybe more, since some people have multiple excuses. Jesus makes it clear that a genuine faith in Him – a real conversion – produces positive changes over time (John 15:1-8 – note the progression from “fruit” to “more fruit” to “much fruit”). This growth is expected if our faith is fully rooted in Him.