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.)
Jesus builds upon the salt imagery of Mark 9:49 in verse 50: “Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.” As we studied yesterday, salt was associated with sacrifice (Leviticus 2:13). It was also a symbol of permanence and stability: “All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer unto the LORD, have I given thee, and thy sons and thy daughters with Thee, by a statute for ever: it is a covenant of salt for ever before the LORD unto thee and to thy seed with thee” (Numbers 18:19). Furthermore, salt also represented purity and incorruption: “Ought ye not to know that the LORD God of Israel gave the kingdom over Israel to David for ever, even to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt? Yet Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, is risen up, and hath rebelled against his lord. And there are gathered unto him vain, the children of Belial [worthless, impure, corruptible men], and have strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon…And now ye think to withstand the kingdom of the LORD in the hand of the sons of David; and ye be a great multitude, and there are with you golden calves, which Jeroboam made you for gods” (II Chronicles 13:5-8). The following verses point out that the faithful followers of the rightful king Rehoboam continued in God’s covenant and offered sacrifices to God, sacrifices which included salt. Jesus’ simple statement that “salt is good” includes all of these truths and encourages us that we can be good and do good in His name and by His power. We are to be a preserving influence in a decaying world.