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.)
To help His otherwise helpless and hapless disciples, Jesus continued His explanation of His emphasis on the heart (who we really are) in Mark 7:20-23: “And He said, ‘That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness [malice], deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye [envy], blasphemy [slander], pride, foolishness: all these evil things come from within, and defile the man.’” This is a terrible list. No doubt Jesus was this specific in order to shock His listeners from their complacent contentment with man-made regulations. Perhaps we need to be shocked every now and then as well. Jesus again directed their attention “within” instead of to that which is without. The 1800’s Biblical scholar David Brown cogently commented, “If nothing outward can defile, it is obvious that nothing purely outward can sanctify.” The lesson for us is that our Savior must save us (obviously!) and sanctify us (set us apart to Himself). Let us not replace our Lord with legalism, our Redeemer with rules.