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.)
After the scribe’s question about the greatest commandment (Mark 12:28), “Jesus answered him” with a quotation: “The first of all the commandments is, ‘Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord’” (verse 29). This statement introduced the most familiar Old Testament text, the Shema (from the opening Hebrew word, which means “hear”), found in Deuteronomy 6:4-9. This passage was recited by faithful Jewish people twice a day; everyone listening to Jesus would have immediately recognized His citation. Even the Sadducees, who claimed only the first five books of the Old Testament as authoritative, would have no rebuttal to His statement. Thus, Jesus was reaching out to every person there – and to anyone who reads this account. He was interested in more than winning debates (although He did always win such interchanges); He was concerned with winning minds and hearts. For Jesus, debating was a necessary means to a desired end – the eternal salvation of precious souls. His final earthly debate was definitively concluded at the Cross and in His Resurrection, where He provided the ultimate answer to how our holy God could welcome sinners into His presence in heaven (see Romans 3:21-26).