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.)
Jesus is a builder: He created “all things” (John 1:3), including space, matter, energy, and time (Genesis 1:1-4 – “light” is energy). Because creation is part of His character, we would expect Him to continue making new things, and He is. One of His greatest ongoing projects is the Church. In Matthew 16:15-18, Jesus promises, “I will build My church.” The “rock” (verse 18) certainly cannot be Peter, who is almost immediately sternly and openly rebuked (verses 21-23), nor can it be Peter’s faith, for he was a fallible man who had to be corrected by Paul (Galatians 2:11-14) in an important matter of the faith. No, the “rock” must be Christ as confessed by Peter – and by all believers. It is Jesus Himself Who is doing the building of His Church. This truth provides powerful and necessary encouragement, for Christians are increasingly a target of ridicule, contempt, and very real violence. As a Gospel song says, “It’s going by the Book.” In the midst of this persecution and even martyrdom, we can remain confident that Jesus is fulfilling His promise to build His Church.