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 activity of Jesus’ disciples in Mark 2:23-24 needs a bit of explanation: “And it came to pass, that He went through the corn fields on the Sabbath day; and His disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn. And the Pharisees said unto Him, ‘Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful?’” According to modern laws, their taking of grain (the meaning of “corn” here) would be a clear violation, involving criminal trespassing, criminal mischief (two words which really do not seem to belong together), and theft. However, the Mosaic Law made specific provision for hungry people to have access to such needed food (Leviticus 19:9; 23:22; Deuteronomy 23:25). The story of Ruth gleaning from the fields of Boaz to provide for herself and Naomi, her mother-in-law, is a familiar outworking of this compassionate decree of God. Thus, the Pharisees’ accusation was based on their wrong interpretation of how the Sabbath was to be kept and what constituted work. The name “Pharisees” literally means “separatists.” There are certainly many things that we should separate ourselves from, but the Word of God is not one of them. These separatists were guilty of placing their own ideas above God’s. Such presumption remains a possibility today. Let us avoid this troubling temptation by remembering “that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation” (II Peter 1:20).