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 concludes His remarkable and radical teaching in Mark 8:34-37 with this straightforward statement: “Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when He cometh in the glory of His Father with the holy angels” (verse 39). Increasingly, our postmodernistic culture wants us to be “ashamed” of Jesus. Ridicule of Christianity is a staple of academia, making young people uncomfortable in expressing their faith. Every Christmas, the speculations of leftist academics are slavishly penned by willing stenographers in leftist media, resulting in the denial of the Virgin Birth of Jesus. Every Easter, the same groups conspire (like the religious elites and secular leaders in Jesus’ day – see Matthew 28:11-15) to deny His Resurrection. Heresies such as those found in The DaVinci Code are accepted without critical analysis by such people. Let us reject this aggressive assault on the truth and instead stand with the Savior and His people, including the Apostle Paul, who wrote, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth” (Romans 1:17a-b).