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.)
On this Good Friday, we rightly remember that Jesus was nailed to the Cross, “nailing” our sins there as well (Colossians 2:13-14). The words of King Hezekiah in Isaiah 38:17 capture the full force of the forgiveness that our Savior offers to all: “Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but Thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for Thou hast cast all my sins behind Thy back.” These evocative words describe Hezekiah’s gratitude to God for delivering the people of Israel from the vicious Assyrians and for promising the deathly ill king an additional fifteen years of life. We rejoice for Hezekiah and his people, and we rejoice in the universal truth that God has placed “all” of our sins “behind” Him. Who is going to go through God to retrieve our sins? No one is strong enough to defeat the Omnipotent One. The mention of our Lord’s “back” reminds us of Jesus’ bloodied back, ripped open by the scourging that preceded His sacrificial death. Not only are our sins behind His back, but also they are covered by His shed blood. His forgiveness of each one who trusts in Him is full, free, and forever.