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 Apostle John wrote in Revelation 21:1, “And I saw a new heaven [universe] and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.” As we have seen, the sea was a symbol of mystery (Psalm 36:6; 77:19; Romans 11:33), of evil (Isaiah 57:20-21; Revelation 13:1), and of unrest (also Isaiah 57:20; Mark 4:35-41). For John, it was also a symbol of separation. He was imprisoned on the island of Patmos (Revelation 1:9). His crime was preaching the good news of eternal salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. He was an elderly man, likely in his 90’s (at a time when life expectancy was probably no more than 50), cut off from fellow believers by the Mediterranean Sea, cut off specifically from his beloved church in Ephesus. The staunchness of his faith, though, did not weaken even as his body did. He knew that his separation was a temporary difficulty. He was certain that “no more sea” meant no more separation in eternity. Thus, he could fervently and trustingly pray, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20b). May each of us do the same.