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 12:1-12 includes assurances of the hope, kindness, and justice of our Savior God. It also reveals the triumph of Jesus, especially verses 10-11: “And have ye not read this scripture, ‘The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner: this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes’?” As we have previously studied, this quotation is from Psalm 118:22-23 and was sung at the very end of the Passover meal. It was as familiar to the Jewish people as “Happy Birthday” is to us. When we read Matthew 26:30 – “And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives” – we are in a sense listening to Jesus and His disciples sing this Psalm, including the verses Jesus quotes here in Mark. Jesus was singing about His own death – what remarkable strength of character and purpose! – and His ultimate victory over all that is evil, including death. Last week, we considered Colossians 2:13-14 and the fact that our sins were nailed to the Cross along with Jesus. Verse 15 then says, “And having spoiled principalities and powers [the forces of Satan], He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.” Our Lord triumphs differently, of course: from death He bestows life, everlasting life.