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.)
Peter’s unwarranted attempt to rebuke Jesus (Mark 8:32) was met with the strongest language possible: “But when He turned about and looked on His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, ‘Get thee behind Me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men’” (verse 33). Jesus was not saying that Peter was demon-possessed; rather, He was stating the obvious truth that in this instance Peter was inadvertently doing Satan’s bidding. Hindering the work of Jesus is a grievous sin. This evil obstruction includes any attempt to deny or even diminish any Biblical doctrine. It has become fashionable for large churches to embrace postmodernism, an anti-Christian philosophy that promotes emotionalism and rejects the very concept of absolute truth. One well-known leader of a congregation of thousands has said that there are perhaps five sayings of Jesus that are legitimate. He has chosen what little he will believe – and what he will teach to others. Each one of us must decide if we will value “the things that be of God” rather than “the things that be of men.” Christianity is not a popularity contest; it is the difference between eternal life with God in heaven and everlasting separation from Him in hell (Matthew 25:46).