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.)
Sometimes my trophy wife will say, “You’re not listening to me.” I then quote back to her what she had said. She responds, “But you weren’t really paying attention.” Perhaps she is right (perhaps not), but it is good to know that someone is listening intently. When Jesus spoke in Mark 4:26-29 about the ultimate growth of “the kingdom of God,” Peter was there. Years later, he wrote of Christians, “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: but the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you” (I Peter 1:23-25). The things that the world highly values – money, power, popularity, physical appearance – all all temporary and “corruptible.” The Word of God “liveth and abideth for ever” and is “incorruptible.” We must always esteem the Bible and gratefully acknowledge its efficacy in our lives. Like Peter, who frequently struggled to heed Jesus’ words but learned from his mistakes, we need to grow in our eagerness to understand the life-saving and life-sustaining words of our Savior.