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.)
We return today to “The Revelation of Jesus Christ” (1:1). The sobering and somber sadness of chapters 17 and 18 is replaced by celestial song in chapter 19: “And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, ‘Alleluia; salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God: for true and righteous are His judgments: for He hath judged the great whore [Babylon], which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of His servants at her hand.’ And again they said, ‘Alleluia.’ And her [Babylon’s] smoke rose up for ever and ever” (verses 1-3). The expression “much people,” (likely referring to the believers who are saved during the Tribulation) is comforting. It reminds me of Revelation 7:9-10: “After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hand; and cried with a loud voice, saying, ‘Salvation to our God [Who] sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.’” It also reminds me that I know many people who are in heaven now and many others who will be there one day. Let us be encouraged by the words of II Corinthians 5:8: “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.”