Why Jesus Is My Hero #39 of 52
Things rarely remain the same for very long in this world: favourite restaurants come under new management who callously change the menu; favourite beauty spots in the countryside get bought up by property developers who turn them into housing estates; friends and family members drift apart, and we lose touch with people who were once close companions.
But there is one person who remains unchangeable: Jesus Christ. Hebrews 13:8 reminds us:
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever.”
In his sinless perfection, Jesus’ nature and character aren’t liable to change. The Jesus we can relate to today as Christians is the same Jesus who walked the earth 2,000 years ago. Certainly his situation has changed: he’s now seated at the Father’s side in heaven, ascended and glorified in a way that he never experienced during his time on earth. But it hasn’t changed his loving character. If it were you and I who were given such honour and authority, I’m pretty sure it would have gone to our heads and turned us into ruthless monsters on the ultimate power trip. But Jesus is the same meek, humble, servant-hearted, loving Lord he was when he walked to his death on the cross.
Some people accuse Christians of being out-of-date and out-of-touch with the modern world – times have changed, they say, and we need to revise our views and our ethics in the light of it. But if Christianity is first and foremost a relationship with a person, Jesus, then the more important question isn’t whether the times have changed, but whether that person has changed – has he revised his views on what he loves and what he hates, what pleases him and grieves him? But Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever – there is no shifting or changing with him – and so Christians seek to please him in the same way today that they did long before the Internet and the 60s and vanilla ice cream came along.
The writer to the Hebrews applies his truth in this way: “Jesus Christ is the same… Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings”. If Jesus hasn’t changed, nor should our views on right and wrong, on the nature of the world and of who God is.
But it also means we can have huge confidence for the future – Jesus will always love those who trust in him, he will always be interceding for us at the Father’s side, he will surely fulfill his promises and return one day to bring us to be with him. None of his fundamental characteristics like his trustworthiness or his faithfulness to his word are ever going to change. Hurrah!