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.)
Even more distressing than the disciples’ silence in Mark 9:32 is their speech in verses 33-34: “And He came to Capernaum: and being in the house He asked them, ‘What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way?’ But they held their peace: for by the way they had disputed among themselves, who should be the greatest.” These men were too “afraid to ask” Jesus questions about His crucial teaching (verse 32), but they were not too afraid to argue about personal “greatness.” At least they knew that they were in the wrong, for they did not want to admit their selfish behavior to Jesus. Still, their callousness is startling. Jesus had been speaking about his death, but His disciples focus on their future. Imagine siblings sitting around the hospital bed of a dying parent and discussing how they plan to spend the inheritance. How unfeeling and unnatural! In a sense, the disciples were doing something even worse, for it was God the Son Who was soon to die. All of these men had preached effectively; all of them had performed miracles; yet all of them missed the whole point of Jesus’ ministry. Rather than scoff at these flawed men, we should recognize that we can also be easily diverted from the things that matter. Let us heed the words of Romans 12:1: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”