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.)
Following His teaching about marriage and divorce (Mark 10:2-12), Jesus speaks about children: “And they brought young children to Him, that He should touch them: and His disciples rebuked those that brought them. But when Jesus saw it, He was much displeased, and said unto them, ‘Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God’” (verses 13-14). No doubt the “disciples” thought that they were guarding the limited time of Jesus, but He had recently spoken to them regarding their unspiritual attitude about personal aggrandizement and had set a child before them as an example (Mark 9:33-37, 42). At the very least, they should have asked Jesus if He wanted to see these children and their parents. Their failure was one of presumption, of assuming that they knew what was best for Jesus. That attitude had also been dealt with by Jesus when He forcefully rebuked Peter (Mark 8:32-33). Jesus must have been tired; for He was often on the move (on foot), was crowded constantly, was openly criticized by powerful people, and regularly was praying, leading to a lack of sleep. However, He was “much displeased” (literally, “much grieved”) by His disciples’ decision. Since the Bible is clear that all believers can grieve God the Holy Spirit Who indwells us (Ephesians 4:30), we need to heed the command of James 4:7: “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”