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’ perception of the Pharisees’ principal problem is presented in Mark 3:5: “And when He had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, He saith unto the man, ‘Stretch forth thine hand.’ And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.” This “anger” of Jesus is most instructive. First, we should note that His anger did not prevent Him from immediately and completely healing this disabled man. Our anger all too frequently leads us away from doing the right thing. The purity of His wrath informs the command of Ephesians 4:26a: “Be ye angry, and sin not.” Pharisaical hatred should upset us, but we cannot use the failings of others as an excuse to fail to assist needy people. Second, we see that Jesus was also “grieved for the hardness of their hearts.” His deep distress is an indication of just how much He wants to heal the hardest of hearts. Even His harshest denunciations of the Pharisees were intended to be remedial. The spiritually sick have need of a doctor (Mark 2:17); only Jesus is capable of providing this eternal healing.