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.)
As busy as Jesus was in His earthly ministry (was anyone ever busier?), He did sometimes step aside from the press of people. Mark 3:13 records, “And He goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto Him whom He would: and they came unto Him.” We need to recognize that this time away from the crowds was not actually time away from ministry. Rather, it was and is an integral aspect of effective service. It is easy to feel guilty about vacation time or other periods of relaxation. However, Jesus set an example for us that we must take seriously. A weekly day of rest was ordained from the beginning. Here, Jesus extends that concept to other periods of time. No one knows our needs better than Jesus, and He is the One Who went “up into a mountain.” Commenting on a similar event in Mark 6:31, the gifted preacher Vance Havner once exclaimed, “If we do not follow Christ’s example to ‘come apart,’ we may, indeed, just come apart!” This rest, then, is more than preparation for ministry; it is actual ministry. Anyone who thinks differently can argue with Jesus about it.