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 we walk with Jesus, we must not lose the wonder of Who He is and what He teaches us. Certainly the humility of Jesus deserves our awe. Missionary Ezekiel Joshua, speaking in our church years ago, defined humility as an inward honesty, and I have never heard a better explanation. Had Jesus humiliated us, we could not complain, for humiliation is what we deserve. Instead, Jesus showed us humility by not insisting on His rights as God the Son. Please know that we are not speaking about our political rights. These rights are “inalienable.” Our Constitution does not grant us these rights; it merely enumerates and protects them. We cannot give up these rights, for they belong to others as well. The example of Jesus pertains to our choices in life. John 17:5 and II Corinthians 8:9 tell us that Jesus voluntarily left the place where He belonged, the place where the fullness of His glory was revealed. Imagine your dream house with all of your family members gathered having a good time. Then imagine living alone in a cardboard box in a frigid alley. The coming of Jesus from heaven to earth is even more extreme than my hypothetical example. He did not insist on His rightful place in heaven; rather, He took our rightful place on the Cross. Humility personified lived amongst us – and died for us.