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.)
Mark 1:2-3 says, “As it is written in the prophets, ‘Behold, I send My messenger before Thy face, [who] shall prepare Thy way before Thee. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, “prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.”’” Verse 2 is a fulfillment of Isaiah 40:3; so much of the New Testament message is found in the prophecy of Isaiah. Verse 2 fulfills Malachi 3:1a. Thus, John the Baptist (verse 4) is the predicted forerunner of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Later in Malachi, further specific detail about the forerunner is given: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse” (4:5-6). In the Jewish Passover service, this prophecy has been incorporated: someone goes to the door to look for Elijah. However, Jesus explained in Matthew 17:10-13 that John the Baptist completely fulfilled this prophecy. All of this prophetic fulfillment is a compelling reason to believe in the Word of God and to believe in the Savior, Christ Jesus.