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.)
Revelation 6 is a well-known chapter (even in popular culture), featuring the famous four horsemen of the Apocalypse. The vivid and original word pictures of this passage should not obscure the main point: Jesus is authoritative. I am old enough to remember when the bumper sticker “Question authority” became a statement of rebellion. This imperative sentence – a command! – always seemed nonsensical to me. Who was ordering me to question authority? Who has that much sovereignty? The irony was lost on anyone who slapped that sticker on a car. However, we do naturally bristle at authority that is totalitarian or otherwise illegitimate. In Revelation 6, it is Jesus Who exercises His legitimate power to open the seals of the deed of dominion that we discussed in chapter 5. John writes, “I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals” (6:1). Verses 3, 5, 7, 9, and 12 repeat this action of authority. Right now, Jesus is withholding His righteous justice against rebellious mankind. At the end, though, He must stop the violence and viciousness of man and Satan. At that point, man’s nihilism will be exposed, for rebellion for rebellion’s sake is merely a mindless allegiance to bad leadership and evil control. May we instead choose to follow Christ Jesus and His kind and constructive authority.