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 7:17-19 records the obtuse response of Jesus’ closest followers: “And when He was entered into the house from the people, His disciples asked Him concerning the parable. And He saith unto them, ‘Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile Him; because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught [is eliminated], purging all meats?’” The disciples called Jesus’ clear teaching a “parable” when it was not. He had not told a story with a spiritual meaning; He had presented propositional doctrinal truth. Unfortunately, the disciples were following the prevailing mindset of the legalistic leaders rather than following Jesus’ lucid and logical instruction. To them, Jesus’ statement was so revolutionary that they could not grasp its irrefutable elegance. As a practical matter, also, it is much easier to set up a few (or even many) rules rather than do the strenuous spiritual work of guarding the “heart” – who we really are. Proverbs 4:23 speaks of the hard and continuous effort that each Christian must put forth: “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” Yes, “diligence” is required if we are to serve our Savior whole-heartedly.