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 twelve disciples who were commissioned by Jesus for a short-term missions trip (Mark 6:7-13) understood that many would not be interested in their message, for Jesus told them that some “shall not receive you” (verse 11). It is tempting, thus, to pull back, to withdraw. It is true that the soft sofa, the television, and the backyard deck or fire pit will not reject us – but they do not have souls in need of eternal salvation. In the face of rejection by many, then, (Matthew 20:16b), it is helpful to remember that we are accepted by the One Who most matters. Ephesians 1:6b assures us, “He [God the Father] hath made us accepted in the Beloved [God the Son].” The remarkable teaching of this verse is that through faith in and forgiveness through Jesus, we become fully acceptable to God the Father – as acceptable as God the Son is. This assessment does not rest upon the outcomes of our work for the Savior. Rather, we are called to simple faithfulness, with the promise that such consistency of effort will be rewarded by our gracious Savior: “Well done, good and faithful servant…enter thou into the joy of thy Lord” (Matthew 25:23). Therefore, rejection by the world is an infinitesimal price to pay in comparison to the eternally infinite acceptance that we have in Christ Jesus.