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.)
Last week, we saw from Scripture that one group of people who will inhabit the Millennial Kingdom on earth is the Jewish people who turn to Jesus during the Tribulation and survive until its end. Another group that will enter this literal “thousand years” reign (Revelation 20:2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) of Jesus is non-Jewish people who also are saved during the Tribulation and are alive after Armageddon. Jesus said in Matthew 25:31-33, “When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory: and before Him shall be gathered all nations: and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: and He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.” “Nations” is a Hebrew term usually translated “Gentiles” (non-Jewish people). The “sheep” represent believers who come to Jesus during the Tribulation and evidence their faith by their kind and courageous treatment of the persecuted Jewish remnant (Matthew 25:35-46). We should note that works do not save, but saving faith works: “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone” (James 2:17). At a time when opposing the wickedness of the Antichrist places an individual in grave danger, some will dare to do the right thing because of their newfound faith in Jesus. Their immediate reward is to enter into the Millennial Kingdom: “Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, ‘Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world’” (Matthew 25:34). Our Lord is “a Rewarder of them that diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6c).