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.)
In Mark 14:1-3, we see a dramatic contrast: “After two days was the feast of the passover, and of unleavened bread: and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take Him by craft, and put Him to death. But they said, ‘Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar of the people.’ And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on His head.” We have met the malicious religious leaders before. We have also met Mary of Bethany. However, this is the first mention of “Simon the leper.” No doubt Jesus had healed him, reminding us that our Lord did far more than is recorded in Scripture: “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen” (John 21:25). We also see that Simon graciously opened his home to Jesus and His followers. This healed man found a way to express His ongoing gratitude to Jesus. Simon’s example is one that every Christian can emulate. We must never become jaded about Jesus’ Cross and our salvation. As a practical matter, if we express heartfelt thanks regularly to people around us, it will be more likely that we will show gratitude to our Savior God. Likewise, if we are consistently thankful to our Lord, we will find it easier to be thankful to others. As children, we were taught to ask, “Please,” and to say, “Thank you.” Often, these simple words are more important than our most eloquent orations.