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.)
Mark 2:13-14 recounts the call by Jesus of the Apostle Matthew: “And He went forth again by the sea side, and all the multitude resorted unto Him, and He taught them. And as He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him, ‘Follow me.’ And he arose and followed Him.” Tax collectors like Matthew (as he would come to be known) were generally despised as collaborators with the oppressive Romans and as crooks, for they grew rich by charging above the amount required by the Romans. Matthew’s conversion to Jesus is dramatic and genuine, for he could never go back to his old job – his extremely lucrative old job. The four fishermen could have returned to their vocation, but not Matthew. Instead, the man who once recorded the payment of taxes would record the payment of sins by Jesus, for Matthew would write the Gospel that bears his name. A principle emerges from this efficacious calling; Jesus can see in us what others cannot. No one else could have imagined that a traitorous extortionist would become a good and godly disciple. Ephesians 2:10a states, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works.” Like Matthew, we are God’s works in progress, “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).