Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and today and forever. Hebrews 13:8
I asked one of my granddaughters if she could identify the small photo that she found on our dresser. She thought the picture looked a bit familiar, but could not say who it was. It was not one of her brothers, nor one of her cousins, she was sure of that. I asked some of the other grandchildren if they knew whose picture it was. None of them could tell. Even when I told them it was someone they knew very well, they shook their heads. And they did not seem to believe me when I told them the picture was of myself, a school photo taken when I was in Grade 7. There is little wonder that they didn’t know; in the 65 years since the picture was taken, my appearance has gone through some radical changes. And that is usually true of the most of us. Even young people look at pictures of themselves taken a few years ago and are amazed at the changes. And that is just the changes in physical appearance. Many other changes take place in our personalities, our habits, our mannerisms, and so forth. Some changes are for the worse, some for the better. A cousin of mine recently remarked about how an old lady of our acquaintance had changed from being a bossy and interfering nuisance into a sweet and pleasant person. But there is One – identified in our text – Who will never, can never, and need never change.
There is one thing about the Lord Jesus that does not describe Him in the past: He is a man. With His incarnation, the Lord Jesus entered the human race, taking on Himself the form of a man (Hebrews 2:16). And there is something about His past that is not true today: He was dead. Our eternal hope is anchored on the reality of the resurrection and the knowledge that He Who died at Calvary lives in the power of an endless life (Hebrews 7:16). Apart from these we have One to Whom we look today who is unchanging and unchangeable. His divine nature as one of the Persons of the divine Trinity is as it ever was before the world began and after it will ever be when the world is gone. He is also unchanging in His office as Saviour and Mediator for His people.
In His office as mediator, the Lord Jesus never needs to assume this office from another nor yield it to another. Unlike the changing high priests of the Old Testament, our Lord was and forever is our Mediator. His qualification for this office is also eternal, so that the God Who could be satisfied with His work at Calvary will remain ever so. The Lord Jesus conducts His office of Mediator in love for us, and we know that His love for us is eternal, infinite, and universal.
The words of our text today seem so simple. But there is no truth more profound or more precious to us today than that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. – Jim MacIntosh