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.)
The healing of a blind man near Bethsaida (Mark 8:22-25) has a surprising ending: “And He sent him away to his house, saying, ‘Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town’” (verse 26). It seems odd to us that this miracle should not be trumpeted throughout this “town,” for it would have been further authentication of Jesus as Messiah. However, we must remember that our Lord had already spent time in this town (and, in Matthew 11:21, pronounced, “Woe unto thee, Bethsaida” because of how many “mighty works” He had done there with very few responses of genuine faith). Thus, the people there already had ample evidence to trust in Jesus. However, this man’s “house” was not in the town. It was at least some miles away (perhaps many). Thus, Jesus sent this man immediately back to his own place, back to people who knew of his blindness, would marvel in his sight, and would be deeply interested in his healing by Jesus. Our Savior God cared for this man, and He also cared for all of the people in this man’s circle. We are again blessed to observe the kind comprehensiveness of Christ Jesus.