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.)
As He nears the time of His death on the Cross, Jesus predicts the destruction of the Temple: “Seest thou these great buildings? There shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down” (Mark 13:2). We need to remember that Biblical prophecy is factual. Jesus was speaking in A.D. 33 (some say A.D. 30, but the later date better fits the Biblical/historical chronology); the Temple was leveled by the Romans in A.D. 70. This imposing edifice took over forty years to build and seemed as though it would stand for centuries, even millennia. Instead, it was destroyed less than a decade after its full completion in the 60’s. God’s Word is always true. We should also remember that, as Jesus is teaching His disciples about the future, He is also saying goodbye to them. Because Jesus was going away, He was revealing to them what they really needed to know, including what would happen when He had returned to heaven. The poignancy of this moment cannot be overstated. Jesus persevered in His mission, but He did not simply press on in a mechanical manner; He poured His huge heart into all of His works and words, including the teaching here.