For Reading and Meditation:
Matthew 8:18-34
Have you ever wondered why Jesus is never referred to as Jesus the Great? We speak of Alexander the Great, Charles the Great, and Peter the Great but never Jesus the Great. And why? Because He dwells in a sphere where no real comparisons are possible. It simply doesn't seem right to use the designation "the Great" of our Lord as we would of others. Our Lord has no peers, no rivals, and no successors. He is so different from every other leader, so unique, so superior, that He qualifies for a place on His own. The things He said about God are not the same as the sayings of any other religious teacher. The claims He made for Himself are unparalleled. His analysis of human society goes deeper and is more devastating than that pronounced by any other man. The challenges and demands He made on His followers are more searching than those put forward by anyone - past and present. As James Francis said of Him: "He never wrote a book, never held an office, never had a family, never went to college, never did any of the things that usually accompany greatness. But ... He is the centerpiece of the human race and the leader of its column of progress. "I am within the mark when I say that all the armies that have ever marched, all the navies that were ever built, all the parliaments that have ever sat, all the kings that have ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of people upon this earth as powerfully as has that one solitary life."
Jesus, my Lord and my God, all the descriptions of You fall short of defining Your real glory and worth. Yet my soul recognizes, even though it cannot put it into words, the glory that belongs to You by sovereign right. I love You Lord Jesus. With all my heart. Amen.