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.)
As the disciples labored in a dangerous storm on the Sea of Galilee (Mark 6:47-48a-b) – a storm that did not surprise Jesus – He surprised them: “About the fourth watch of the night, He cometh unto them, walking upon the sea, and would have passed by them. But when they saw Him walking upon the sea, they supposed it had been a spirit, and cried out: for they all saw Him, and were troubled. And immediately He talked with them, and saith unto them, ‘Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid’” (verses 48c-d-50). We can understand the disciples’ initial consternation. They had been working hard for more than nine hours (“the fourth watch” was 3 to 6 A.M.) and were also sleep-deprived. Their superstitious response, though, is unworthy of reasonable people of faith. However, their impossible explanation tells us that the disciples knew that what they observed was no mere man. No, this was a miracle. In a practical sense, it was the logical way for Him to join them in their distress – and He wanted to be with them to help them. He also was able to demonstrate that the very thing that they feared (the sea) was but a red carpet for His entrance to them. Still, we wonder why they did not recognize Him. The answer is a spiritual lesson for each Christian: they did not recognize Him because they were not looking for Him. May we learn in our troubles to look first to Him.