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.)
Yesterday, from Luke 19:41-44, we saw that Jesus understands about our concerns regarding the future. He even prayed for us to bear up under the heavy strain of living in an uncertain and ungodly world (John 17:15). A helpful Old Testament parallel is Psalm 6. Here, David is overwhelmed by his circumstances, and the intensity of his writing conveys his dismal dismay. Verse 6 is especially evocative: “I am weary with my groaning; all the night I make my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears.” David can do nothing about this particular (and unnamed) circumstance; we can surely relate to his strong emotions. Like David, we must thus learn to trust in God, to depend upon Him. Note the calm certainty of verse 9: “The LORD hath heard my supplication; the LORD will receive my prayer.” Both David’s concerns and certainty are real; he both cried and committed his cares to the Lord. His example is powerful. Even more compelling is the example of Jesus. In the Garden of Gethsemane, He sweat drops of blood – assuredly worse than teardrops – as He prayed (Luke 22:44). The sorrowful intensity is almost unbearable to consider. Yet, in verse 42, Jesus had already prayed, “Nevertheless, not My will, but Thine, be done.” Jesus, God the Son, always depended on God the Father, and that trust was never misplaced. Remember Jesus’ confident words from the Cross (His last words there): “Father, into Thy hands I commend My Spirit” (Luke 23:46). The dependence of Jesus upon the Father in the worst of circumstances shows us that we too can trust Him with our tears and our fears.