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.)
The powerful and pithy preaching of Jesus is presented in Mark 1:14-15: “Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.’” We need to be careful not to dull or blunt the meaning of “believe the gospel” The good news of salvation includes basic facts such as His being born of a virgin, His living a sinless life, His dying on the Cross bearing our sins, His rising from the dead on the third day as He prophesied, His ascending to heaven to prepare an eternal home for us, and His promising to return for all believers. Certainly, this is good news! However, James, in his direct manner, reminds us that an intellectual assent to these truths does not save: “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils [demons] also believe, and tremble” (2:19). Satan and his malicious and misanthropic minions know all of the truths about Jesus; in that sense, they “believe.” They have not chosen to follow Him, though; they do not trust in Him. Thus, we see that “believe” in the preaching of Jesus means “trust.” It is a complete commitment to Who Jesus is and what He has done; it is a full faith in Him alone. May each one of us trust in Jesus in this total way, knowing that we can do nothing to save ourselves but that He can do and does everything.