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.)
The Triumphal Entry of Jesus is the triumph of obedience: “And when they came nigh to Jerusalem, unto Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, He sendeth forth two of His disciples, and saith unto them, ‘Go your way into the village over against you: and as soon as ye be entered into it, ye shall find a colt tied, whereon never man sat; loose him, and bring him. And if any man say unto you, “Why do ye this?” say ye that the Lord hath need of him; and straightway he will send him hither’” (Mark 11:1-3). Serving the Savior is rarely easy, and sometimes it is somewhat mundane. “What did you do for Jesus?” “I went and got a donkey for Him to ride a short distance on.” No doubt those two unnamed disciples did other things, also, but this simple job was what Jesus called them to do at this particular time. Each Christian is likely to have many such unexciting tasks. I think of I Chronicles 26:18, which speaks of one of the assignments of the Levites: “At Parbar westward, four at the causeway, and two at Parbar.” The setting is the Temple in Jerusalem, which faced east. Parbar was the back entrance and was rarely used, for worshipers usually entered through the main gate. “The two at Parbar,” as Levites, would have preferred to be part of the actual system of sacrificial worship. However, the Temple was set apart by God as a holy place, and it was not to be approached causally or, even worse, by those who were ceremonially unclean. The guards at Parbar thus had crucial positions, even though they were not often active in their roles. This divinely established guardianship is a reminder that God sovereignly includes us in His work and values both us and all aspects of our work for Him. We are not in competition with those woo are serving at the front gate; we are serving where God has placed us.