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 the continuation of Jesus’ illegal trial – really, a sham trial – before Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin, the ruling council in Israel: “And the chief priests and all the council sought for witness against Jesus to put Him to death; and found none. For many bare false witness against Him, but their witness agreed not together” (Mark 14:55-56). As we studied last week, this trial is immediately illegal because the Sanhedrin could not initiate proceedings (matters had to be brought to them), could not try a capital crime at night, and could not sit outside the Temple nor in a private session. Additionally, a single sitting of one day was not permitted; such matters were to be dealt with carefully and thoughtfully in a truly deliberative process. Also, a trial during any festival was impermissible, for it would distract from the significance of these spiritual observances. In a practical sense, a trial can wait for a few days; but established religious times such as Passover, Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, and Tabernacles, based on a specific calendar, cannot wait. The religious authorities did not want to arrest Jesus at this time, not because of their rules but because they feared the public response: “But they said, ‘Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar of the people’” (Mark 14:2). Their pernicious persistence is a sobering example of man’s sin nature and of our need for the Savior, Jesus Christ: “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 7:23-25a).