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 Mark 12:28-34, which we studied last week. Verse 34 concludes this passage: “And when Jesus saw that he [a scribe] answered discreetly, He said unto him, ‘Thou art not far from the kingdom of God.’ And no man after that durst [dared] ask Him any question.” Many in this gathering were “far” from salvation, for they were plotting to kill Jesus – and they would crucify Him by the end of the week. Others, though, like this scribe, were near (“not far”). The courage of this religious leader is impressive: in the presence of his peers, men who were scheming to murder Jesus, this scribe speaks the truth. Certainly he would have been mocked, possibly ostracized. Jesus’ interaction with this man is a good reminder that it is necessary to distinguish the individual from the group. Some unbelievers have made a settled decision to reject Jesus; others have not reached that point of hardness of heart. Whether far away or near, each one of us needs to choose to enter into a relationship with Jesus. If we make this choice, the Bible tells us that we are “in Christ”: “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1a). We are delivered from God’s righteous wrath (Romans 5:9), declared righteous (Romans 5:1), placed completely in His grace (Romans 5:2), and granted eternal life (Romans 5:17-21). There is no better place to be than “in Christ.”