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 Revelation of Jesus Christ” (1:1) records the murders of two effective evangelists during the Tribulation by the Antichrist (Revelation 11:7). The nihilistic nastiness of the opponents of Jesus is revealed in their response of repulsive revelry: “And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city [Jerusalem], which spiritually [figuratively] is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth” (verses 8-10). The extent to which these benighted unbelievers “believe [the] lie” (II Thessalonians 2:11) that the Antichrist is worthy of worship is revealed in this twisted celebration (what has been called the “Satanic Christmas”). Their gleeful gloating contrasts completely with our Lord’s response to death: “’As I live,’ saith the LORD God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live’” (Ezekiel 33:11a). The sobering truth is that a world that celebrates death must itself inevitably die.