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.)
In Mark 10:19, Jesus continues His interaction with a wealthy young man: “Thou knowest the commandments, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not kill,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Defraud not,’ ‘Honour thy father and mother.’” These are not all of the commandments, of course, but they provide a sense of the type of behaviors that are either unacceptable (“not”) or acceptable to our good God. I have often heard people – especially pastors – say that Christianity is about relationships rather than rules. These folks are guilty of an exegetical fallacy called a false disjunction, creating an either/or situation where one does not exist. Logically, every relationship has rules. Our relationship with Jesus has rules: we are to trust Him and obey Him. In fact, to have a relationship with Him requires that we choose to receive the gift of eternal life that He freely offers. Christianity is not all about do’s and do not’s, but it does include them. As we will see in the rest of this account about the rich young ruler, keeping commandments does not save us eternally; only the Savior can save. However, it is Jesus Who is quoting the Old Testament injunctions; His words are a good reminder that He has expectations for us.