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 1:23-26 records Jesus’ healing of a demon-possessed man: “And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, saying, ‘Let us alone; what have we to do with Thee, Thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art Thou come to destroy us? I know Thee Who Thou art, the Holy One of God.’ And Jesus rebuked him, saying, ‘Hold thy peace, and come out of him.’ And when the unclean spirit had torn him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him.” Many people today do not believe in the existence of demons, despite the clear Biblical teaching on the subject. Others attribute every bad thing to the activity of demons, what is called a part-for-the-whole fallacy. Demons exist, but not every evil outcome is directly caused by their activity. We each possess a sin nature which is operative without demonic influence, and we all live in a sin-cursed world. However, demons are real – but Jesus is also real and infinitely stronger. This demon’s use of the names of Jesus is based on an occult belief that to know someone’s full name is to have control over that person. Jesus obliterates that pitiful, pathetic attempt to control Him. Instead, He exercises His authority to help a desperate man. Let us not overlook what really happened here: a twisted man, a man convulsed by evil, a man with no hope, was made well and whole. Similarly, Jesus desires to employ His authoritative power to restore us and replace any sense of hopelessness with His certain hope.