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.)
In Isaiah 9:6, Jesus, the Messiah, is called “The Prince of Peace.” It is no surprise, then, that peace – God’s best to us – is part of the Christmas account. In Luke 2:13-14, we read, “And suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.’ “ The arrival of the Prince of Peace is obviously God’s best to us; He did not merely send His best wishes but instead came to us Himself. The response of the angels to this remarkable advent is a great lesson to us, for they broke out into praise. One important form of praise is music, and the music of Christmas is especially lovely, both lyrically and compositionally. Many years ago, I attended a Christmas program at a local elementary school. It was, at best, silly and failed to hold the attention of the audience – until at the end when everyone was invited to sing “Silent Night.” A holy hush fell across the auditorium, people actually sang, and a thoroughly secular program ended on a beautiful note. That contrast was a powerful reminder of the power of praise. Let us sing the songs of our Savior’s birth. “Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we, Let all within us praise His holy name.”