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.)
We frequently call the Saturday of Holy Week Silent Saturday because so little seemed to be happening. It was the Jewish Sabbath and was intended to be a day of rest and worship, not a day of Pharisaical self-righteousness and rule-keeping. Devout believers were in a minority, as always. It must have been a day unlike all others. Emotional exhaustion (we have all experienced that when faced with the death of someone whom we love) would have been overwhelming. It is hard not to be able to do anything to make a situation better. Helplessness and hopelessness can tag team us into submission. However, the Word of God always provides needed insight. Psalm 30:5b says, “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” This general principle became the specific portion of Jesus’ followers. The power of His Resurrection swept away their sadness and sorrow. The emptiness of their lives was soon to be replaced by the emptiness of Jesus’ tomb. The seeming silence of God is merely a preparation for His great work of salvation. This silence ends with shouts of “joy” on Sunday morning. What was true for those disciples then remains true for us now.