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 Mark 12:30, Jesus further explains the greatest commandment: “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.” He continues to quote from the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:5-9), specifically here verse 5. His emphasis on “love” is revelatory of the core character of God. This “love” is one that seeks the best for others. It is a decisive, committed, intelligent, purposeful “love” of which Jesus speaks. We should not see His explication as setting forth compartments of love; rather, He is stating that love, to be like God’s love, must be comprehensive. Genuine love focuses on giving rather than getting. When a man and a woman both approach marriage with this godly attitude, they do gain much, of course, but that accrual is not the reason for love. All love derives from the nature of God, Who gains nothing by loving us. He simply loves because “God is love” (I John 4:8, 16). Our love is in response to His: “We love Him, because He first loved us” (I John 4:19). As the new nature of God the Holy Spirit works within us, we will love Him more and better.