Always the Same

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday  and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8 (NKJV)

Most of the prepared foods we buy have  a use-by date, and we’re usually careful to check for it because we want to know that the food is edible and will not make us sick.  Over-the-counter medicines also carry an expiration date, and we look for it, but sometimes we’re not as diligent as we should be in getting rid of the old items and buying new ones.  In our family, we seldom have headaches, but a few weeks ago, I was in a pinch to find a headache remedy for my son and found that I had one bottle and  quickly reached for  it.  Imagine my surprise when I checked the epiration date and found that it  was sometime in 2020. Without an alternative, I gave him two of the tablets, hoping they would work.

Our focus text  for this  week makes it clear  that Jesus has no expiration date attached to Him. He’s always the same.  Reading the Gospels, we can’t help  being amazed by the mighty works He did all over Judea and Galilee and in the surrounding areas. People came from afar to seek His help. A Canaanite woman, not of the Jewish tradition, approached Jesus and asked Him to heal her devil-possessed daughter {Matthew15:22). Jesus spoke with her for a while, testing her faith in His ability to grant her request. She came through with a powerful show of belief.  The Lord healed her sick child immediately.

That was a long time ago, right?  But the writer of Hebrews says Jesus is the same today as He was then. This is an explosive idea in our world of constant change.  We can hardly comprehend it.  But it is true.  If, like the Canaanite woman, we  have faith in Christ’s matchless  power, He is readily available to grant our request, whether it’s for healing or some other pressing need.  All that was available through Him  when He lived and worked here on earth is  available to us now. His grace, which He lavished on Mary Magdalene, purging her life of menacing demons, can be fully ours.  That grace has no use-by date before it becomes worthless. Likewise, His unfathomable love did not run out after He poured it out on  bereaved widows, scarred lepers, and  penitent tax collectors. There’s plenty  for us also.

In every way, Jesus is current. Over two thousand years ago,  He walked among the people of Palestine doing them good. Today He lives in the Spirit among us, always ready  to do us good. Let us  rejoice in our ever-present Christ!

Always,

Judith

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“Lo, I am with  you always.
Even to the end of the world.”
Matthew 28:20 (KJV)