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 Jesus sternly had corrected His erring disciples and had given instruction about entrance into the eternal “Kingdom of God” (Mark 10:13-15), He then directed His kind attention to the little ones who had been brought to Him: “And He took them up in His arms, put His hands upon them, and blessed them” (verse 16). All of this took time, but Jesus was always willing to share His limited time with parents and their children. By His actions here, He once again affirmed the importance of family. Our Lord was not perfunctory in His gentle dealings with these precious children. He took each one of these children into His arms and placed His hands on their heads in the traditional method of blessing. However, with Jesus, tradition does not mean ritual. The word “blessed” is an exceptionally strong one, meaning “fervently blessed.” Jesus poured out His huge heart as He prayed over these youngsters, evidencing His deep and abiding concern for their spiritual well-being. His genuine intensity reminds me of God’s gracious commandment to us: “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men” (Colossians 3:23). Ephesians 6:6-7 similarly commands, “Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; with good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men.” May our hearts begin to beat with the heart of our solicitous Savior.