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.)
Mark 10:2-12 deals with the difficult subject of divorce, a subject which can stir up painful memories or powerful fears. As always, Jesus deals directly with a controversial issue. Verse 2 says, “And the Pharisees came to Him, and asked Him, ‘Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife?” tempting [testing] Him.” It is profoundly sad that these self-proclaimed religious leaders were not actually interested in definitive instruction regarding this important and distressing matter. Instead, they persisted in a confrontational attitude. They were not looking for answers; rather, they were trying to get Jesus to say something that would offend at least some, something that they could use against Him. Probably all of us know people who are regularly looking to stir up trouble, sometimes even in churches. We do not want to be those people, for that aggressive, acrimonious approach to life is the way of the Pharisees. Of course, we do have something to say about social issues. In fact, we have the right things to say as long as we say what Jesus says.