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 began looking at the disciples’ question of Mark 9:11: “And they asked Him, saying, ‘Why say the scribes that Elias [Elijah] must first come?’” In verse 12, Jesus taught His confused followers that their understanding of “the Son of man” needed to be broadened to include the Old Testament prophecies regarding His suffering and death. Then, in verse 13, He directly addresses the Malachi 4:5-6 prophecy regarding Elijah: “But I say unto you, ‘That Elias [Elijah] is indeed come, and they have done unto him whatsoever they listed, as it is written of him.’” Matthew 17:13 adds this explanation: “Then the disciples understood that He spake unto them of John the Baptist.” Thus, John the Baptist fulfilled the Malachi passage with a ministry that was like Elijah’s and that prepared the people of Israel for the Messiah, Jesus Christ. It is sobering that both the Savior’s forerunner and the Savior were killed by sinful mankind. Yet, God’s plan of salvation was not thwarted by the heat of hate but rather predicted it. Let us remember that “when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son” (Romans 5:10a).