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.)
Isaiah 54:4-6 is another passage that deals with the issue of fear: “’Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more. For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is His name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; the God of the whole earth shall He be called. For the LORD hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused,’ saith thy God.” This sense of “shame” is part of the Christmas story, too. The shepherds, due to their profession, were considered ceremonially unclean and could not worship at the Temple in Jerusalem. Yet, “the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, ‘Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, [Who] is Christ the Lord’” (Luke 2:9-11). These men had been told throughout their lives that they were not good enough to merit the hand of God’s blessing. Thus when the angel appeared, they would have expected and feared divine wrath and judgment. Instead, they are the first to hear of the great good news of the birth of the promised Messiah, and they are included in the invitation to “all people.” Soon, they are “glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen” (Luke 2:20). Surely our unchanging Savior God can likewise change our fears into praise and joy, now and for all eternity.