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.)
Rejection is a sad reality of life. Kids in school, with shifting cliques and best friends, learn about it early. Young people applying to college often are rejected by their first choice; it is hard having it written down on official letterhead that you are deemed not good enough. Salesmen must be able to handle rejection; they hear “No” much more than “Yes.” Christians also must deal with rejection, for unbelief is always in the majority: “Many be called, but few chosen” (Matthew 20:16b). Isaiah 53:3 prophesied that Jesus would be “despised and rejected of men.” Mark 6:1-4 records one fulfillment of this prophecy: “And He went out from thence, and came into His own country; and His disciples follow Him. And when the Sabbath day was come, He began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing Him were astonished, saying, ‘From whence hath this man these things? And what wisdom is this which is given unto Him, that even such mighty works are wrought by His hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? And are not His sisters with us?’ And they were offended at Him. But Jesus said unto them, ‘A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.’” Jesus returned to His hometown of Nazareth after performing many miracles. These events had become common knowledge throughout the land. However, the people of Nazareth had a pre-existing bias against Jesus. By not mentioning His father Joseph’s name, they were slandering His parentage. His miraculous birth was thus placed aside and attributed to immorality on Mary’s part. Even when these folks “were astonished” by Jesus’ words and works, they could not move past their prejudice. This hardness of heart is sobering and is a stern warning to all.