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 into Jerusalem is the triumph of praise: “And they brought the colt to Jesus, and cast their garments on him; and He sat upon him. And many spread their garments in the way: and others cut down branches off the tress, and strawed them in the way. And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, ‘Hosanna; Blessed is He [Who] cometh in the name of the Lord: Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, [Who] cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest’” (Mark 11:7-10). The worshipful and joyful actions and words of the “many” reveal the Messianic expectations of the people. They correctly applied the prophecy of Psalm 118:25-26 to Jesus and did so with enthusiasm. Perhaps some of them were insincere, simply caught up in the swirling excitement, but there is no doubt that others were expressing genuine praise. The world will try to silence God’s people (Luke 19:39-40), but we must listen instead to the Scripture and “offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name” (Hebrews 13:15).