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 continues His teaching based on the destruction of the wasteful fig tree (Mark 11:12-14, 20-22): “For verily I say unto you, ‘That whosoever shall say unto this mountain,’ “Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea”; ‘and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass, he shall have whatsoever he saith’” (verse 23). Since no one in the history of Christianity has moved a mountain into the sea, we need to spend a bit of time considering the implications of this verse. If it is literal, then no one has faith: we are all fruitless fig trees doomed to destruction. Did Jesus move a mountain? No, He did not. Furthermore, He refused to remove Himself from Mt. Calvary, where He died on the Cross. We should also think of the results of a mountain being cast into the sea – a death-dealing tsunami. It is hard to imagine a scenario short of the Tribulation period where such a miracle would be needed (and the earth-shaking events of that brief time proceed directly from the throne of God). Jesus’ language in verse 23, then, is clearly hyperbolic. He is telling us that through faith in Him we can accomplish whatever He sets before us. Really, He is the One Who will accomplish what needs to be done: “Being confident of this very thing, that He [Who] hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).