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.)
One of the besetting issues of life is fear. Our natural tendency to be afraid is exacerbated by challenging circumstances and by our current culture that seeks to employ fear as a weapon of control. In Isaiah 7:4 (part of what I call the Gospel according to Isaiah), we read a message to King Ahaz of Judah: “Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted for the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of R ezin with Syria, and the son of Remaliah.” The immediate problem was geopolitical: Syria and Israel (the ten northern tribes) were rebelling against Assyria and were attempting to draw Judah (the two southern tribes of Israel) into this shaky confederation. God’s counsel through the prophet Isaiah was to trust in Him rather than in any entangling alliance. The content of chapter 7, though, goes beyond that historical conflict. Verse 14, for example, is a well-known Messianic prophecy: “Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” Matthew 1:23 clarifies that this prophecy was fulfilled in the birth of Jesus Christ. It is compelling that an angel had spoken to Joseph just before about Mary’s seeming infidelity: “Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost” (verse 20). An angel had previously assured Mary: “Fear not, Mary: for thou has found favour with God” (Luke 1:30). The prevalence of fear surrounding the Virgin Birth of Jesus (a central and necessary tenet of the Christian faith) needed to be dealt with, and it was. A simple application for us is that our fears are known by our Savior God and that He is ever at work to ease them.