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.)
Revelation 19:11 says of Jesus, “And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and He [Who] sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He doth judge and make war.” As with His faithfulness and truthful genuineness, the “righteousness” of Jesus is a core characteristic and is absolute. In simple terms, righteousness is doing the right thing; Jesus always does what is right. “Righteousness” is sometimes translated “justice” in newer versions of the Bible, and that usage helps us to see that even the return of Jesus to “judge” and “make war” is right and just. There can be no charges of injustice or capriciousness in Jesus; rather, He is extraordinarily “longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (II Peter 3:9b). We have already seen in Revelation 14 that the increasing intensity of evil necessitates the justice of Jesus: “The time is come for thee [here, an angel] to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe” (verse 14b). Verse 18c also uses the comparison to a harvest: “Her grapes are fully ripe.” This fullness of rebellion cannot be ignored. Finally, the “righteousness” of Jesus will be fully known by all, including His implacable enemies who will be justly judged.