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 14:53-55 records the beginning of Jesus’ trial before Caiaphas and the Sandedrin, the ruling council in Israel: “And they led Jesus away to the thigh priest [Caiaphas]: and with him were assembled all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes. And Peter followed afar off, even into the palace of the high priest: and he sat with the servants, and warmed himself at the fire. And the chief priests and all the council sought for witness against Jesus to put Him to death; and found none.” Poor Peter persists in making poor choices. Following Jesus “afar off” is not really following Him. Sitting down with the enemy is perilous, as the great British preacher Charles Spurgeon pointed out: “When a servant of Christ by his own choice sits with the servants of the wicked, sin and sorrow speedily follow.” Let us remember that Jesus had earlier that evening warned all of His disciples that they would abandon Him: “All ye shall be offended because of Me this night: for it is written, ‘I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered’” (Mark 14:27). Then, when Peter protested, Jesus said to him, “Verily I say unto thee, ‘That this day, even in this night, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice’” (Mark 14:30). Despite this extraordinarily specific warning, Peter soon places himself in a position of temptation. I know of Christians (and I do not doubt their salvation – that is not for me to decide) who regularly put themselves in compromising situations. However, Peter’s failure should immediately stop any of us from thinking that we are too strong to fail. “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (I Corinthians 10:12).