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 Revelation of Jesus Christ” (1:1) reveals that Jesus loves His Church. Part of that love is His correction of that which is detrimental to our spiritual development. When my wife and I coached track and field, we spent many hours each season reviewing pictures and videos of our athletes from both practice and competition. We would show them their technical errors (as well as reinforce what they were doing right) in an effort to help them reach their full potential. Had we simply let them continue in their errors, they would not have achieved personal bests. In a much greater and more significant way, Jesus seeks to correct our spiritual waywardness. The first-century church at Ephesus had many positive characteristics, and Jesus warmly commended them (Revelation 2:2-3). Not all was right, though: “Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love” (verse 4). Jesus then provided immediate remedial instruction: “Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent” (verse 5a). It is helpful to acknowledge that our love can wane. It is additionally helpful to remember that Jesus’ love for us never declines. Such abiding affection should prompt us to turn back (the meaning of “repent”) to reciprocate the loving embrace of our Savior.