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 from Mathew 18:1-7, the pure and restorative wrath of Jesus is directed against those who would use and abuse the vulnerable, particularly the “little ones” (verse 6); the trafficking and exploitation of children on our southern border and the resulting enrichment of drug cartels is a current example. An attack on a child is a direct assault upon Jesus Himself (Matthew 25:45). We need to consider some theological implications of this fact, for it reveals something about the intrinsic nature of God. Because God is One God in Three Persons, the Triune Godhead is inherently relational. It should not surprise us then (although it probably does) that Jesus spent a good part of the last night before the Crucifixion teaching about the Trinity (especially but not exclusively John 16). The concept of relationship within the Trinity is foundational to Christianity. Through the years, I have heard message after message about relationships – good, Biblical messages. However, I have never heard anyone explain this foundation. Only when we understand the innate relational character of God can we begin to fulfill His commands regarding others. Our relationship with Jesus requires that we be as trusting as small children (verses 3-5). Our relationships with others require that we see in them the image of God, which, in part, is relational. When we begin to ponder these truths, we will see why Jesus was so rightly and righteously angry about the mistreatment of children, for it is a defiant repudiation of Who He is.