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.)
Let us consider one more application from Mark 12:1-12. This parabolic passage is a reasoned response to the truculence of the religious leaders. These elites consistently criticized Jesus and continued in their opposition to Him: “And they sought to lay hold on Him, but feared the people: for they knew that He had spoken the parable against them: and they left Him, and went their way” (verse 12). Their confrontational attitude is not to be emulated. One of the hardest aspects of being a pastor is dealing with aggressive, carping people. I remember one man who came to church one Sunday and immediately began to find fault. He was especially outraged that we supported Billy Graham! I invited him to worship elsewhere. Most of God’s people are not argumentative, but the few who are cause immense distress to the many who find no delight in discord. May we all take solace in this simple thought: Jesus will never attack us.