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 merciful, withholding our deserved punishment for our sins. Without this mercy, such righteous judgment would be swift and absolute. Because Jesus desires to exercise this mercy, it is also swift and absolute. In Mark 10:46-32, we find the moving account of blind Bartimaeus. He supported himself by “begging” (verse 46). As soon as Jesus neared, Bartimaeus “began to cry out, and say, ‘Jesus, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me’ “ (verse 47). When the crowd attempted to shush him, “he cried the more a great deal, ‘Thou Son of David, have mercy on me’ “ (verse 48 ). This man did not first plead for healing; no, he rightly focused on his spiritual needs. Of course, he lived in a time when the prevailing theology of the Pharisees taught that anything bad that happened to an individual was a direct result of bad behavior. This cruel and reductionist ideology was clearly wrong, for it ignored the inherently merciful nature of God. Like Bartimaeus, we all need mercy, and we must admit that we need this mercy. Only then can we begin to better understand Who Jesus is and what He freely offers to us.