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.)
Isaiah 43:5-7 speaks of God’s unchanging love for the people of Israel: “Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west; I will say to the north, ‘Give up’; and to the south, ‘Keep not back’: bring My sons from far, and My daughters from the ends of the earth; even every one that is called by My name: for I have created him for My glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.” Although this passage pertains directly to Israel, the use of “every one” prepares for God’s evangelical call to extend to non-Jewish people like me and probably most of you. Yesterday, we read that Zecharias, the father of John the Baptist, was told, “Fear not” (Luke 1:13). When that birth was accomplished, the elderly priest praised God with a song that included prophecy about Jesus, whose nativity was months away: “Whereby the dayspring [sunrising – see Malachi 4:2] from on high hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death” (Luke 1:78b-79a). Matthew 4:12-16 applies this prediction to “the Gentiles” – that is, to non-Jewish people. Thus, Jesus was lifting from all people the fear of being outside the saving love that we all so desperately need. Each one of us must make the choice to receive this salvation; each one of us has the blessed opportunity to make that choice.