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 Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem (Luke 19:37-38) powerfully reveals that Jesus triumphs differently. Verses 45-46 record Jesus’ second cleansing of the Temple; the first was at the beginning of His ministry over three years before (John 2:13-17). The hearts of the religious leaders had not changed: profits were still more important than prophets to them. Money is a snare, and the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil (I Timothy 6:9-10). When we read about the antagonism that Jesus faced, we should not overlook the fact that money was a principal factor in His death. Those who opposed Him were the wealthy elites of that time; there is nothing new under the sun, and the elitist attacks on Christianity in our nation today have their origin in the worship of money (Matthew 6:24) and its resulting power. Jesus, conversely, had “not where to lay His head” (Matthew 8:20) – except, for three days, in His tomb. How, then, can we say that He triumphed at all? The answer is His Resurrection, in which He defeated sin and Satan, hell and death. The riches and power of His opponents in Jerusalem have long since vanished, but the reign of Jesus is forever. He must triumph differently, for our wins, at their best, are temporary and, at their worst, are not victories at all.