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.)
Jesus is the Light of this dark world (John 8:12; 9:5; 12:35-36). Since light is inherent to the character of Christ, it is thus no surprise that light was part of His Virgin Birth. Numbers 24:17 prophesied that a Savior would come: “I shall see Him, but not now: I shall behold Him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel.” The fulfillment of this very specific prophecy is found in Matthew 2:1-12. The wisemen from the East were likely Persians; how did they know about Numbers 24:17? Remember that over 500 years before the birth of Jesus the Jewish nation was taken into captivity in Babylon, which was eventually controlled by the Persians. In captivity, faithful Jews studied the Old Testament, and they exposed interested Persians to its truth. God then used that knowledge to draw these Persian scholars to the “star” that heralded the Savior’s birth. Literally, light pulled them out of their darkness. Verse 11 tells us that the wisemen “fell down, and worshipped” Jesus. God then spoke directly to them (verse 12), and their obedient response demonstrates real faith. In the darkest of times, the light of Jesus was shining and drawing, and it still is today.