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 14:35-36 continues the suffering of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane: “And He went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him. And He said, ‘Abba, Father, all things are possible unto Thee; take away this cup from Me: nevertheless not what I will, but what Thou wilt.’” The usual position of prayer for Jewish believers at that time was standing, but Jesus “fell on the ground” in a posture of fervency and urgency. The “cup” refers to suffering and death but also to God’s righteous wrath against sin. This cup was full of sin – our sin. Take my sin, multiply it by billions, and make sure to include the mass murders of tyrants like Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Idi Amin, and Pol Pot (leftists all). Put all the selfishness, hate, blasphemy, and murder in the world into that cup, and we begin to have an understanding of why Jesus, holy and sinless, prays in this manner.