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 to the compelling story of the daughter of Jairus, a religious leader in Capernaum (Mark 5:22-43). After the devastating news of her death (verses 35-36), Jesus continued to her home: “And He suffered no man to follow Him, save Peter, and James, and John the brother of James. And He cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and seeth the tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly. And when He was come in, He saith unto them, ‘Why make ye this ado, and weep? The damsel is not dead, but sleepeth.’ And they laughed Him to scorn” (verses 37-40a). Jesus was not denying the reality of this girl’s death. Rather, His wording reveals that His power over death is as absolute as the power to wake a sleeping child. The response of the people in the house was distressing. We can commend them for being there and joining in the lamentation that was traditional in Israel. However, that they could quickly begin laughing indicated an insincerity, a lack of genuine emotion. That this scornful laughter was hurled at the Messiah was more than unseemly, for it revealed unbelief. Psalm 22:7a prophesied of Jesus that “all they that see Me laugh me to scorn.” The disdain of these people was a precursor to the greater abuse that was heaped upon Jesus as He died for our sins (Matthew 27:39-44). Those who sit “in the seat of the scornful” (Psalm 1:1) are “ungodly” (Psalm 1:4) and “the way of the ungodly shall perish” (Psalm 1:6b). May we instead respect and reverence our Savior. Surely He has earned our eternal worship.