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.)
Jesus completes His answer to the Pharisees’ critical questions (Mark 2:23-27) by making a powerful theological point: “Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.” As we touched upon in previous days this week, a day of worship is good for us. Efficiency experts have concluded that over time a worker produces more while laboring six days a week rather than seven. They could have saved considerable time and money by simply reading Exodus 20:9: “Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work.” Beyond this increased productivity, we need a time set aside for worship (and for fellowship – we need to know that we are not crazed fanatics). Jesus uses the strong designation “Lord” to remind us that we are not doing Him a favor when we go to church. Sunday is not something that we do for Him; it is something that He does for us. Jesus’ claim of lordship is an absolute one and requires an absolute response. Thus, we can reject the claim (as the Pharisees repeatedly did), or we can receive it gladly: “This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24). An application for anyone reading this short devotional is to set aside time tomorrow to join other Christians in worship. It will be a blessing, and it will be an open proclamation that Jesus is indeed “Lord.”