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.)
After Jesus specifically spoke of His upcoming death and His Resurrection (Mark 9:30-31), we read of a distressing response from His closest followers: “But they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask Him.” Perhaps these disciples were cowed by a previous discussion of this subject, a dialogue that ended with Jesus’ strong rebuke of Peter (Mark 8:27-33). Still, as adults chosen by Jesus, they should have been willing students. As we have previously discussed, the fact that “they understood not that saying” is a result of the Messianic misconceptions prevalent in first-century Judaism. The clear teaching of Jesus did not clear away their entrenched and erroneous ideas, for they were immersed in their culture’s expectation of a political leader who would overthrow the ruling Romans and establish an earthly kingdom. The disciples’ obtuseness is a warning to us of the danger of preconceived biases. Their silence is also a warning to us, for God’s commandment – not suggestion but commandment – is that we are to ask when we do not understand: “If any of you lack wisdom, [Who] giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him” (James 1:5). May we seek what God desires to give to us. If we do, we will receive the spiritual insight that we need.