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 continue with applications drawn from Mark 14:26-52, the betrayal and arrest of Jesus. None of us would want to betray our Lord, but Romans 3:23 states absolutely, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” In this sense, all mankind is guilty of betrayal against Jesus; we have all “come short” of His holy standard. Thus, we can “come short” in the area of affection. Infamously, Judas betrays Jesus with a kiss (verses 44-45). This lengthy kiss on the cheek looked like an expression of genuine affection, but it was actually a signal to the armed mob to seize the Savior. Thus, this kiss becomes an ultimate symbol of hypocrisy. There is a vast difference between saying that Jesus is Savior and that He is my Savior. The former is lip service, a meaningless platitude, as fake as Judas’s kiss. The latter is personal and eternally meaningful. We can “come short of the glory of God” if our lips say what is not in our hearts. We can also “come short” if we do not say with our lips what is truly in our hearts. “But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:8-10). Our Savior God’s gracious expectation for us is that our lips and heart match perfectly.