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 continued existence of the nation of Israel, the people chosen by God to give all of us the Messiah, is a testament to His enduring love. However, mankind’s obdurate hate for the Jewish people is persistently strong. My wife and I once coached a sweet girl from Finland who would not even touch a Swedish-made javelin because of the centuries-old animosity between the people of these two adjacent countries. Even here in Maine, we can understand the power of such a historical dispute (even though the only casualty in the Aroostook War of 1838-39 between the United States and Canada was a cow), but human history cannot explain the malice against Israel. Revelation 12:3-4a provides the background of man’s evil attempt to destroy the Jewish people: “And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth.” The immediate context clarifies that “dragon” is a symbol for Satan (verse 9). He is the one responsible for the unjustified and murderous animus against Israel: “And the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born” (Revelation 12:4b). The vile activities of heinous Herod in Matthew 2:1-18 were thus motivated by Satan. The “child” Jesus was saved from Satan’s (and Herod’s) intended slaughter, but, sadly, other Jewish children were murdered. It is sobering to realize that anti-Jewish hatred is Satanically inspired, but it is not surprising, for Satan “was a murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44). We must stress again that no Christian should engage in any form of anti-Jewish thought or behavior. If we do, we are siding with Satan and doing his wicked work.