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 saw yesterday, our surprising Savior speaks to us, and sometimes He shouts an unequivocal “No!” In Matthew 26:51-54, Jesus rebuked Peter, the leader of the disciples. We understand Peter’s actions, for he was confronted with injustice – raw injustice. Taking up a righteous sword against an enemy’s evil array of weaponry (verse 47) is a reasonable response – but it was not the right one at the time. Jesus had just demonstrated His power when He had spoken and the corrupt crowd had fallen backward (John 18:6). He did not need Peter’s sword; He did not want it, either. Remember, too, that Jesus healed the injured man (Luke 22:51). For our purposes, we see the abiding principle that Jesus rejects the weapons of this world. This does not mean that a Christian should never take up arms, for it is our duty to protect the vulnerable from despotism (what is called a just war, a subject that I have preached on several times). Rather, it means that we should not engage in retaliation and revenge. Such responses are encouraged and applauded by the world (think of much of social media). However, Jesus says no to them even as He is being illegally arrested and taken to the Cross. Since He could refrain under those unprecedented and unfair circumstances, we must follow His way and not the world’s.