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.)
After the events of the Mount of Transfiguration, Mark 9:9 records, “And as they came down from the mountain, He charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen, till the Son of man were risen from the dead.” Jesus immediately directs Peter, James, and John back to His impending death on the Cross. When He had spoken in detail about this upcoming seminal event, He had been challenged by Peter (Mark 8:31-33). After the glimpse of glory on the mountain, the disciples were once again thinking in terms of the establishment of an earthly kingdom. They had been commanded by God the Father to “hear” Jesus (verse 7) – that is, to hear and to heed. A crucial aspect of this obedience was the acceptance of the teaching of Jesus. No normal person likes to talk about death; but without the sacrificial atonement of Jesus, there is no eternal salvation. Churches that refuse to teach about the shed blood of Jesus are increasing in number and, in some cases, in popularity. Let us be faithful to the full message of the Gospel, for we all need to “hear” about Jesus and from Him.