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.)
Jesus is coming again: “Behold, He cometh with clouds” (Revelation 1:7), and He promises, “I come quickly” (Revelation 22:7, 12, 20). The teaching is clear, but our response to it may be inadequate. I remember reading of a seminary student who was also a pastor; he said that he did not preach on prophecy because “prophecy distracts people from the present.” One of his professors wisely and humorously observed, “Then there is certainly a lot of distraction in the Scripture!” Indeed, since about 25% of the Bible is prophetic, we must study prophecy. Fulfilled prophecy is one of the great reasons to believe that the Bible is God’s Word to us. Still, some folks – preachers included – are reticent about prophecy. I know one reason: we do not want to be associated with datesetters like the Millerites of the 1840’s, who sold their belongings and waited in vain on hilltops for Jesus’ return. Matthew 24:36 is precise: “Of that day and hour knoweth no man.” No, we do not know exactly when, but we should not let false teachers rob us of the joy of the certainty of Jesus’ return for Christians, what Titus 2:13 calls “that blessed hope.” The well-deserved ridicule heaped on the Millerites and others like them should not dissuade us from the actual truth: Jesus is coming again even though no person knows the exact time of that return.