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 Apostle John records his own error in seeking to worship an angel: “And I fell at his [the angel’s] feet to worship him. And he said unto me, ‘See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy’” (Revelation 19:10). This verse provides a primer in angelology. Each angel is a “fellowservant.” The Greek used in the original text is the common word for slave and is also used of Christians. We (and the angels) are not slaves in the negative sense of being forcibly subjugated; such slavery is an enormous evil. Rather, the use of this word indicates that we (and the angels) willingly submit ourselves to the sovereign solicitude of our Savior. The angels are specifically referenced in this regard in Hebrews 1:6: “When He bringeth in the Firstbegotten into the world, He saith, ‘And let the angels of God worship Him.’” The angel who reprimanded John twice used the expression “the testimony of Jesus” to direct the focus to the Savior. In simple terms, then, angels are created beings who have chosen to worship Jesus and are thus our fellow laborers. We can always be certain that any emphasis placed upon Jesus is not misplaced.