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 Christmas account contains two lovely examples of God’s ideal of marriage. One is found in Luke 1:5-25, 41-45, and 57-80. Zacharias and Elisabeth were godly (verse 6), childless (verse 7a), and elderly (verse 7b). Under the prevailing Pharisaic attitudes of the day, Zacharias could have divorced his wife at any time because she had not borne a child, even though it was possible that the man was infertile (or that both were). The Scripture tells us that “Elisabeth was barren” (verse 7); otherwise, we would not know. Submission, love, cherishing, respect – all of these were in evidence over many years in this marriage. This unbreakable union provided the opportunity for the miraculous birth of John the Baptist, the prophesied forerunner of the Messiah, Jesus Christ (verse 13-17). These two who were “one flesh” (Mark 10:8) became a family of three and a blessing to “many of the children of Israel” (verse 16) – and to all of us, as well.