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 prayers of all saints” arise “before the throne” of God (Revelation 8:3-4). Thus, we are to pray for good things for others (Matthew 7:7-11), including their healing. As we touched upon yesterday, some sickness is a direct result of spiritual declension, but much illness is not. Jesus addressed this issue in John 9:1-3: “And as Jesus passed by, He saw a man [who] was blind from his birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, ‘Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?’ Jesus answered, ‘Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.’” Jesus then healed this afflicted man. Here is a clear warning: let us not jump to conclusions nor place the worst interpretation on a given situation. Rather, as Jesus did, we should pray for those who are sick, knowing that He cares about all areas of our lives. The number of people healed by Jesus during His earthly ministry is a reminder that our earthly ministries must include heartfelt prayer for those who are suffering.