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.)
People sometimes have mixed motives. Such is the case in Mark 12:28: “And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, ‘Which is the first commandment of all?’” This scribe (a legal expert) was impressed by Jesus’ response to the Sadducees (verses 18-27), in part because the Pharisees were rivals of the powerful and connected Sadducees. Matthew 22:34-35 provides more background information about this man’s approach to Jesus: “But when the Pharisees had heard that He had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked Him a question, tempting [testing] Him.” Combining the two accounts, we see that this man was intrigued by Jesus but was also interested in impressing his fellow religionists. There is a vast difference between carefully evaluating evidence (which is the crux of Christianity) and constructing trap questions. This man exemplifies James 1:8: “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” However, his question, one that was heavily debated in his circles, would still receive a definitive answer from Jesus, Who takes every opportunity to draw sinners like this man (and like us) to Himself. His graciousness in responding and the response itself both reveal that He is persistent in reaching out to all.