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.)
We return to Jesus’ soul-searching words in Mark 14:20-21: “And He answered and said unto them, ‘It is one of the twelve, that dippeth with Me in the dish. The Son of man indeed goeth, as it is written of Him: but woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! Good were it for that man if he had never been born.’” Throughout this last day and evening together with His disciples, Jesus demonstrates that He is in complete control of daily details (verses 12-16) and of the darkest details of Judas’s betrayal. His mention of “as it is written of him [the traitor]” reminds us of David’s lament in Psalm 41:8: “Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me”; since Jesus fulfilled the entire Old Testament (Matthew 5:17-18), this verse ultimately speaks of Him. All of Jesus’ evidences of divine sovereignty should have deeply impressed Judas (and also should have shamed him). What Jesus was doing in His forbearance was giving Judas still another chance to repent. Had Judas repented and then refused to help the religious leaders, would Jesus still have died on the Cross? Yes, for He was not running or hiding from the authorities. Judas’s act of betrayal was not even necessary to what Jesus’ enemies were planning – helpful, but not necessary. Judas could have repented right then and taken his appropriate place with the Twelve. Instead, he chose darkness and thirty pieces of silver when he could have had eternal love and life. Jesus’ heart-rending words and actions, though, did not penetrate Judas’s hardened heart. Lord, keep our souls soft to You and Your words.