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.)
In response to the question about fasting in Mark 2:18, Jesus speaks about a wedding: “Can the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast” (verse 19). The traditional Jewish wedding of the first century was a lengthy event. A week of open house, with plentiful food, made for a celebratory mood for everyone. Even the joy-killing Pharisees exempted their members from the man-mandated Monday and Thursday fasts if they were wedding guests. As always, I am deeply impressed by Jesus’ use of language: He spoke about the Pharisees’ own experiences and practices, offering these bristly elitists a logical and irrefutable answer. The basic message for us is that joy should characterize our lives, for Jesus, “the bridegroom” is with us. This imagery ensures that our relationship with Him will never end and that it will always be stable and loving. This security is the source of genuine joy. Should the very worst happen to us today – death – we would go straight to heaven if our trust is in this faithful “bridegroom.” That certainty is the reason for our joy – “joy unspeakable and full of glory” (I Peter 1:8d).