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.)
In Mark 12:2-5, Jesus continues His parabolic teaching about God the Father and His “vineyard” Israel: “And at the season he sent to the husbandmen [the tenant vine-growers] a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard. And they caught him, and beat him, and sent him away empty. And again he sent unto them another servant; and at him they cast stones, and wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully handled. And again he sent another, and him they killed, and many others, beating some, and killing some.” These verses detail the sad treatment of God’s prophets by the leaders (political and religious) of Israel. For example, as we studied yesterday, Jesus is building on the imagery of Isaiah 5:1-7. The prophet Isaiah was scoffed at and treated with disdain by false prophets. Ultimately, he was martyred by being sawn in half (Hebrews 11:37). His faithful service of sixty years seemed to have no discernible effect upon the spiritual life of the nation. Another example was that of John the Baptist, who had recently been killed by King Herod Antipas. During his public ministry, John was opposed by the religious leaders, whom he correctly called “vipers” (Matthew 3:7). The religious “husbandmen” had failed for centuries, and the scope of their failure was only worsening. Their abuse of authority could not be covered up.