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.)
The response to Jesus’ irrefutable teaching in Mark 11:17, quoting Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11, is distressing. How could anyone disagree with His statement that God’s house should be “the house of prayer”? Yet, the religious leaders did disagree with the Messiah: “And the scribes and chief priests heard it, and sought how they might destroy Him; for they feared Him, because all the people was astonished at His doctrine” (verse 18). These powerful people loved their power and would do anything to continue to wield it. Lord Acton famously said, “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” It is also true, as Frank Herbert observed, that “power attracts corruptible people.” The ongoing revelations of governmental abuse of taxpayer money are modern examples of this principle of the connection between power and corruption. Of course, the religious elites were also concerned about losing money if the people heeded Jesus’ astonishing “doctrine.” The Bible is clear: “Ye cannot serve God and mammon [money]” (Matthew 6:24d). Those benighted rulers stand as a stern warning to all of us: the promised Savior stood right in front of them, fulfilling all Scripture, but they chose to stand in their own stubbornness and selfishness instead of receiving His eternal goodness. “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (I Corinthians 1-:12).