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.)
Jesus continues His emphasis on love in Mark 12:31: “And the second is like, namely this, ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.’ There is none other commandment greater than these.” Jesus is quoting from Leviticus 19:18. Once again, by referencing a verse from the first five books of the Old Testament, Jesus includes all of the people listening to Him, including the Sadducees. Jesus’ point is that loving God and loving others must go together. I John 4:20-21 directly combines these two: “If a man say, ‘I love God,’ and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God Whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from Him, ‘That he who loveth God love his brother also.’” The logic of Scripture is irrefutable and speaks directly to us in a most practical manner. Anyone can say, “I love God”; anyone can also say, “I love you.” However, the honesty of these words is proved by actions. God’s love is openly demonstrated: “But God commended [showed] His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). A simple exercise for us is to show others that we love them by acts of kindness and concern. If we are not loving in this way, let us begin. If we are, let us increase. Since God’s love for us is infinite, we certainly have room to grow in this area of active love.