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.)
Mark 13:1 begins a marked shift in the narrative: “And as He [Jesus] went out of the temple, one of His disciples said unto Him, ‘Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!’” The Temple was a source of national pride for the Jewish people. By the standards of the day, it was huge, covering roughly one-sixth of the land area of Jerusalem (which was much smaller then than it is today). It was also beautiful, made of large stones of white marble (some as large as 40’ x 12’ x 12’) and was plated in gold and silver. To the people of that era, it was a symbol of permanence as well as a place of worship. It was the acknowledged center of the entire nation. Jesus’ words in verse 2 were thus shocking: “And Jesus answering said unto him, ‘Seest thou these great buildings? There shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.’” The impermanence of this great edifice is a reminder to us to heed the command of Colossians 3:2: “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.”