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 1:40-42 records one of my favorite accounts in the Gospels: “And there came a leper to Him, beseeching Him, and kneeling down to Him, and saying unto Him, ‘If Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean.’ And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth His hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, ‘I will; be thou clean.’ And as soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed.” That this lonely leper (and he was lonely, ostracized from society) dared to approach Jesus speaks of both this man’s desperation and Jesus’ approachability. Throughout His ministry, our Savior was sought out by the outcasts of society, including hated tax collectors and despised Samaritans. His interactions with these outsiders were characterized by “compassion.” Not only did Jesus perform a miracle by “immediately” healing this man, He did so by touching him. Our Lord could have healed without this kind touch, of course, but this man would not have had such basic human contact since he was diagnosed with leprosy. This small detail reminds us that our relationship with Jesus is not at all onerous to Him. He does not sniff with superiority or roll His eyes (I write this with reverence) when we draw close to Him. Instead, He welcomes us with open arms and touches us with His spike-shattered hands.