PT-2 “Rejecting The Righteous” (Luke 5:30-32)

 

MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/5/2026 9:48 AM

My Worship Time                                                           Focus:  PT-2 “Rejecting The Righteous”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                 Reference:  Luke 5:30-32

            Message of the verses:  “The Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?”  And Jesus answered and said to them, “It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick.  I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

            I mentioned in my Spiritual Diary last evening that there was not much left in this section to write about, but I will finish this SD this morning and then, Lord willing begin the last chapter in MacArthur’s first commentary on the gospel of Luke this evening.  I ordered the next volume a while ago and I hope that it will get here before I finish this volume.

            Now the truth is that God cannot save those who refuse to see themselves as sinners, the ones who ignore, gloss over, or trivialize their sin.  It is only those who understand by the grace of God and the convicting work of the Holy Spirit that they are the poor, prisoners, blind, and oppressed, headed for a Christless, Godless eternity in hell, and trust in Christ’s work on the cross as payment in the full for their sins (Col. 2:13-14) can be saved.  Now as James wrote, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6).

(Col. 2:13-14)

“13 ¶  And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14  by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

            John MacArthur writes “The Scribes and Pharisees had badly misunderstood God’s purpose in giving the law.  He did not give the law as a means of achieving self-righteousness, but to provoke self-condemnation, awareness of sin, conviction, repentance, and pleading to God for mercy.  The law is ‘our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith’ (Gal. 3:24).  As Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 1:9-10,

[God’s] law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching.

Only those who recognize themselves to be in the latter group can embrace the glorious gospel of forgiveness.  Such a one was Paul, the self-proclaimed foremost of all sinners (1 Tim. 1:15), who nevertheless found that ‘the grace of our Lord was more than abundant’ to save even him (v. 14).”

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  This reminds me of when the Lord saved me in January of 1974 in a Lums restaurant in Casselberry Florida after listening to a series of tapes from Hal Lindsey on the end times as taught in the Word of God.  My testimony has a lot more in it than this but I suppose this is the most important part of it as this happened on January 26, 1974.  I have to say the most important date of my life as the Lord saved my wife in April of that year and then our two children when they were very young, and then their children and spouses too, all seven grandchildren, actually one is in heaven as a stillborn child.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trusting the Lord to give grace to my wife as she continues to deal with cancer.

6/5/2026 10:10 AM

 

 

PT-1 “Rejecting The Righteous” (Luke 5:30-32)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/4/2026 6:29 PM

My Worship Time                                                          Focus:  PT-1 “Rejecting The Righteous”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                 Reference:  Luke 5:30-32

            Message of the verses:  “The Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?”  And Jesus answered and said to them, “It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick.  I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

            Today was a very sad day for my wife and I as we know now that if there is not a miracle from the Lord, or better yet, the rapture takes place that in the not to distance future she will go home to be with the Lord.  I will do my best to continue to write my Spiritual Diaries.

            It was their haughty disdain for the riffraff that are inside prevented them from attending Matthew’s banquet, but that did not mean that the Pharisees and their scribes weren’t aware of what was going on inside.  They expressed their disapproval by grumbling (gogguzo; and onomatopoetic word) at Jesus’ disciples.  They would not deign to speak to any of the tax collectors and sinners attending the banquet.  But they evidently expected the Lord and His disciples to follow the prescriptions of the rabbinic law, hence their anger and resentment toward them.

            MacArthur writes “Their question, ‘Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?’ reflects the scribes’ and Pharisees’ outrage that Jesus and His disciples would associate with those unclean outcasts.  Their question was a rhetorical one, intended as a stinging rebuke for what they viewed as outrageous behavior on the part of the Lord and His disciples.  The question exposes the scribes and Pharisees as proud, focused on externals, and hypocritical.  Imagining themselves to be the religious elite, they were in reality void of grace and strangers to salvation.  Jesus turned His back on the outwardly moral, and focused on transforming repentant sinners into a holy people.”

            Now Jesus was overhearing the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus answered their challenge.  (My thoughts that He did not really have to hear what they were saying, as He knew what was going on in their hearts without hearing what they said.  Jesus’ reply consisted of three parts.  The Lord first gave an analogy, pointing out the self-evident fact that it is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick.  The scribes and Pharisees could not dispute that the tax collectors and sinners were spiritually sick; they were the sickest of the sick.  How could they argue that the Great Physician should not minister to them? The Lord’s reply was a powerful indictment of their cold hearts, wickedness, and hatred of the very downtrodden sinners they should have sought to help  They saw no sin in themselves, probably because they were not looking for it, and they saw no good or value in others, which actually shows their sinfulness.

            MacArthur then writes “Second, Jesus answered them from Scripture.  Matthew 9:13 records that He also told the scribes and Pharisees to ‘go and learn [an expression used by the rabbis to rebuke unwarranted ignorance] what this means: ‘I desire compassion, and not sacrifice.’’ The quote is from Hosea 6:6, and declares that God does not want external sacrifices but a heart that shows mercy (cf. Prov. 21:3; Isa. 1:11-17; Amos 5:21-24; Mic. 6:8).”

(Hosea 6:6)

“6  For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.’

(cf. Prov. 21:3; Isa. 1:11-17; Amos 5:21-24; Mic. 6:8).”

“3 ¶  To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.”

“11  "What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the LORD; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats. 12  "When you come to appear before me, who has required of you this trampling of my courts? 13  Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations— I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. 14  Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. 15  When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. 16 ¶  Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, 17  learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.”

“21 ¶  "I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. 22  Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them. 23  Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. 24  But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”

“8  He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”

“Those who show mercy to others as the Lord commanded (Luke 6:36) will themselves receive mercy from God (Matt. 5:7), but ‘judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy’ (James 2:13).  The scribes and Pharisees, who prided themselves on their rigid adherence to the law, had no excuse for failing to show mercy to those who so desperately needed it.”

(Luke 6:36)

“36  Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.’

(Matt. 5:7)

“7  "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”

            “Finally, Jesus answered them from His own personal authority as God incarnate, declaring, ‘I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.’  It is a statement full of irony, even sarcasm (cf. Paul’s sarcastic deflation of the conceited Corinthians in 1 Cor. 4:8).”

(1 Cor. 4:8).

“8  Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings! And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you!”

“Accepting on the surface the scribes’ and Pharisees’ evaluation of themselves as righteous and hence not in need of a Savior, Jesus judicially left them to their self-righteous folly (cf. Matt. 15:14).”

(cf. Matt. 15:14)

“14  Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.’”

“Later He would again make this point when He told His hearers that ‘there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need not repentance’ (Luke 15:7).  God seeks the truly repentant heart, not the hardened, self-exalting, self-righteous one.  It was the humble, repentant tax collector, not the self-exalting, self-righteous Pharisee who Jess said was justified (18:14).  It was His classifying of them as sinners in need of repentance that inflamed the Pharisees’ hatred of Jesus.”

            There is just a little more to look at in this section which Lord willing, I will look at in the morning.

6/4/2026 7:19 PM

 

  

 

 

PT-3 “Calling A Wretched Sinner” (Luke 5:27-29)

 

MORNNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/4/2026 9:48 PM

My Worship Time                                                        Focus:  PT-3 “Calling A Wretched Sinner”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                Reference:  Luke 5:27-29

Message of the verses:  “27 ¶  After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” 28  And leaving everything, he rose and followed him. 29  And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them.” (ESV)

            “A significant indication of the reality of Matthew’s transformed life is that he gave a big reception for Jesus in his house.  That it was able to accommodate a great crowd suggests that Matthew’s house was a large one, and is a further indication of the lucrative position he was walking away from.  Having experienced the joyous, liberating experience of having his sins forgiven and his heart transformed, he wanted to expose everyone he knew to the Savior.  Matthew did not invite the proud, elite, religious leaders (who would never have accepted an invitation from a tax collector), but his companions—the outcasts of society with whom he worked and lived daily.  There were, of course, many of Matthew’s fellow tax collectors, along some whom Luke tactfully referred to as other people (Matthew called them ‘sinners’ [Matt. 9:10]).  This group undoubtedly included thieves, thugs, enforcers, drunks, prostitutes—the very people whom the “Son of Man came to seek and save (Luke 10:10).  They had probably all heard of Jesus, and perhaps some had receptive hearts like Matthew’s.

            “Luke’s not that they were reclining at the table indicates that this was a lengthy meal, with lots of time for extended conversation among friends.  No self-respecting Jew would eat a meal with the likes of this crowd.  Meals were important social statements of acceptance in Israel, and Luke describes several in his inspired record of Jesus’ ministry (cf. 7:36; 10:38-40; 11:37; 14:1; 22:14; 24:30).  This one not only celebrated the end of Matthew’s old life and the beginning of his new one, but was also an evangelistic outreach, with the Savior as guest of honor.  It is an amazing picture of Jesus receiving lost sinners.”

6/4/2026 10:00 AM

 

PT-2 “Calling A Wretched Sinner” (Luke 5:27-29)

 

EVENNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/3/2026 8:16 PM

My Worship Time                                                        Focus:  PT-2 “Calling A Wretched Sinner”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                Reference:  Luke 5:27-29

Message of the verses:  “27 ¶  After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” 28  And leaving everything, he rose and followed him. 29  And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them.” (ESV)

            “All of that was anathema to the Jewish people, who believed God was the only one to whom they should pay taxes.  Tax collectors were viewed as traitors to them people, where classified as unclean, and were barred from the synagogues.  They were also forbidden to give testimony in a Jewish court, because they were considered to be liars.  Repentance was deemed especially difficult for tax collectors” writes John MacArthur.

            He goes on to write “The Talmud listed two types of tax collectors, the gabbai, who collected the more general taxes such as the land, poll, and income taxes, and the mokhes, who collected the more specific taxes mentioned above (Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974], 1:5515-18).  There were two kinds of mokhes, the great mokhes, and the little mokhes.  The great mokhes did not himself collect taxes but employed others as substitutes.  The little mokhes would be employed by the great mokhes to actually sit in a tax booth and collect taxes.  Because they were the ones in contact with the people, they were the most despised of all tax collectors.  Since Jesus found him sitting in the tax booth, Matthew would have been a little mokhes—one of the most hated men in Capernaum.  That his booth was located near the shore (Mark 2:13-14) suggests that he collected taxes from the fishermen, which would have made him even more despised by them than the average little mokhes.

            “Undeterred by Matthew’s status as a social outcast Jesus stopped at his tax booth and said to him, ‘Follow Me.’  The Lord knew his heart.  He saw that Matthew was wretched and miserable; that he was distressed and burdened by his sin and hungering and thirsting for righteousness.  Matthew undoubtedly knew of Jesus, since the Lord had made Capernaum His home base (Matt. 4:13) and the word of His powerful preaching and the miracles He performed had spread far and wide (Luke 4:37).  Although he may not have understood at this point that Jesus was God, Matthew certainly recognized Him as a great prophet and preacher of God’s Word.  Like the Old Testament saints, Matthew knew that he was a sinner, and that his only hope for forgiveness lay in God’s mercy…In time Matthew, like the rest of the Twelve, would come to understand and fully believe the truth that Jesus is God.  Jesus forgave him based on his repentant heart and called him to be a disciple, and later to be an apostle (6:15).

            “Matthew’s immediate response revealed the genuineness of his desire for righteousness and salvation: he left everything behind, and got up and began to follow Jesus.  The change in his life was miraculous.  The tough, hard-nosed little mokhes became a humble man; in fact, there is no record in the Gospels of him speaking.  In his gospel, Matthew refers to himself only in his account of his calling (Matthew 9:9) omits any reference to leaving everything behind further indicates his humility.  His willingness to forsake everything and follow Jesus is in stark contrast to the rich young ruler.  When the Lord said to him, ‘Go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me’ (Mark 10:21), he ‘was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property’ (v. 22).”

            Now as we look at this passage of Matthew’s conversion we see that his decision was final; as he was abandoning his career.  The great mokhes for whom he worked would have someone else manning his tax booth almost instantly.  Matthew, therefore, made a far more drastic break with his past than the other disciples of Jesus as they were fishermen and could go back to their job, in fact there were who did that as seen in the end of John’s gospel, but the Lord reminded them (mostly Peter) that they were forgiven for leaving Him at the cross, and in Peter’s case for denying that he knew the Lord. 

            Now the aorist tense of the verb anistemi (got up) coupled with the imperfect tense of the verb akoloutheo  (began to follow) illustrates Matthew’s response.  There was a decisive decision to break with his past, then a continual patter of following Christ.  Matthew began to experience then a continual pattern of following Christ.  He began to experience new longings, and also new aspirations, new affections, a new mind, and a new will; so in short, he became a new creature:  “17  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).  The traitor, extortioner, robber, and outcast sinner became the apostle and evangelist of Jesus Christ, and he would later on become the author of the first book in the New Testament, although he probably did not know that.  Matthew lost a temporal career, but gained an eternal destiny; he forfeited material possessions, but he gained “an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven” (1 Peter 1:4); he lost sinful companions, but gained the fellowship of the Son of God.

6/3/2026 9:08 PM

 

PT-1 "Calling A Wretched Sinner" (Luke 5:27-29)

 

MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/3/2026 11:06 AM

My Worship Time                                                                 Focus:  “Calling A Wretched Sinner”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                Reference:  Luke 5:27-29

Message of the verses:  “27 ¶  After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” 28  And leaving everything, he rose and followed him. 29  And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them.” (ESV)

            The first thing I want to say is that this SD will not be too long this morning as I am needed to help care for my wife this morning.  Next this section will probably take a number of days to complete as it is very long.

            Now after healing the paralytic found in 5:17-26, Jesus went out of the house where He had been teaching.  Then the Lord was followed by a huge crowd that dogged His steps in fascination and wonder, and He continued to teach them as He was walking along a road near the shore of the Sea of Galilee as seen in Mark 2:13.  But Jesus had a divine appointment to keep, and He noticed (lit., gazed intently at’) a tax collector named Levi sitting in the tax booth.  Levi is better known as Matthew, who is the author of the Gospel that bears his name.  Now since Capernaum was the largest city on the lake and was a crossroad for the east-west and the north-south trade, he likely had a flourishing enterprise.

            Matthew’s occupation as a tax collector made him one of the most hated and despised men in Israel.  Tax collectors were the dregs of Jewish society; that were the lowest of the low on the social scale, and symbolized the worth sinners.  (cf. v. 30; 7:34; 18:11; Matt. 18:17; 21:31)  That Jesus would save a tax collector, and then make him an apostle, was utterly inconceivable to the scribes and Pharisees.

            I will not quote a paragraph from MacArthur’s commentary to end this morning’s SD.

            The Roman occupation of Israel involved more than just a military presence; the nation was also subject to Roman taxation.  The taxes in Galilee, for example, were forwarded by tax collectors to Herod Antipass, and by him to Rome.  Antipas sold tax franchises to the highest bidder, and such franchises were a lucrative business.  Tax collectors had a certain amount that they were required to collect, and whatever they collected beyond that they were permitted to keep (cf. Luke 3:12-13).  In addition to the pool tax (on everyone, including slaves), income tax(about 1 percent), and land tax (one tenth of all grain, and one fifth of all wine and fruit), there were taxes on the transport of goods, letters, produce, using roads, crossing bridges, and almost anything else the rapacious greedy minds of the tax collectors could think of.  All of that left plenty of room for larceny, extortion, exploitation, and even loan sharking, as tax collectors loaned  money at exorbitant interest to those who were unable to pay their taxes.  Tax collectors also employed thugs to physically intimidate people into paying, and to beat up those who refused.”

6/3/2026 11:28 AM

Intro to “Calling a Wretched Sinner; Confronting Self-righteous Hypocrites” (Luke 5:27-32)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/2/2026 9:30 PM

My Worship Time          Focus: Intro to “Calling a Wretched Sinner; Confronting Self-righteous Hypocrites”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                Reference:  Luke 5:27-32

            Message of the verses:  “27After that He went out and looked at a tax collector named Levi sitting in the tax office, and He said to him, “Follow Me.” 28And he left everything behind, and got up and began following Him.

29And Levi gave a big reception for Him in his house; and there was a large crowd of tax collectors and other people who were reclining at the table with them. 30The Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling to His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?” 31And Jesus answered and said to them, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. 32I have not come to call the righteous to repentance, but sinners.’”

            The following is John MacArthur’s introduction to these verses that we will then be looking at as we go through this section of Luke’s gospel.

            “Human beings are inherently religious.  The image of God in man, through corrupted by the fall, still compels people to worship.  As a result, there are thousands of religions, philosophies, and worldviews, ranging from primitive animistic religions all the way to sophisticated religious systems.  But those religions, though differing widely from on another in the details, nevertheless fall into two categories.  On the one hand, there is the religion of human achievement; on the other hand the religion of divine accomplishment.  In every religion other than biblical Christianity, man achieves salvation by his own efforts.  Buddhists seek nirvana by following the Eightfold Path; Muslims hope to enter Paradise by following the Five Pillars of Islam; Mormons seek godhood through baptism, membership in the Morman church, accepting Joseph Smith and his successors as prophets of God, and going through the temple ceremonies; Jehovah’s Witnesses seek to earn everlasting life on earth by their morality and door-to-door proselytizing; Roman Catholics seek salvation by means of the Mass, sacraments, prayer, and good works that cooperate with grace to enable them to earn heaven (even if they have to be aided by the works of others to escape purgatory).

            “But all such self-religious efforts to achieve salvation are utterly futile and serve only to damn the eternal souls of those who vainly t rust in them.  There is only one way to receive right standing before God, the religion of divine accomplishment—belief in the saving gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.  The gospel, the ‘glorious gospel of the blessed God’ (1 Timothy 1:11), the ‘gospel of the grace of God’ (Acts 20:24), ‘is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes’ (Rom. 1:16).  The heart of the gospel is that ‘Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures’ (1 Cor. 15:3; cf. Matt. 26:28; 2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 1:4; Eph. 1:7; 5:2; 1 Peter 2:24; 3:18; 1 John 2:2; Rev. 1:5), ‘so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life’ (John 3:15; cf. vv. 16, 18, 36; 1:12; 6:40, 47; 11:25-26; 20:31; Acts 16:31; Romans 10:9).  Salvation is entirely ‘by grace…through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast’ (Eph. 2:8-1).  Grace completely excludes works as a means of salvation (Rom. 11:6).  God justifies the ‘ungodly,’ not the godly (Rom. 4:5). The redeemed are those ‘to whom God credits righteousness apart from works’ (v. 6) and ‘has saved…and called…with a holy calling, not according to [their] works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted [them] in Christ Jesus from all eternity’ (2 Tim. 1:9).

            “By the time of Christ, the religion of Israel had degenerated into a system of works-righteousness, of external ritual instead of internal reality.  As the apostle Paul lamented concerning his fellow Jews, ‘Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive as that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works’ (Rom. 9:31-32).  Secure in their self-righteousness many, like those in the synagogue at Nazareth (4:14-30), refused to acknowledge that they were spiritually impoverished, imprisoned, blind, and oppressed (4:18).

            “It was against that backdrop of self-righteousness based on outward conformity to the law of God (cf. Mark 10:20) that Jesus made one of His most clarifying and definitive statements.  In verse 32, He declared, ‘I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.’  That statement expressed the essential uniqueness of Christianity and concisely summarizes His mission.  It sums up the whole glorious scheme of salvation: the Lord Jesus Christ came to save repentant sinners (19:10).  Christ’s statement also defines the church’s mission.  The heart of all gospel ministry is calling sinners to repentance.  Salvation is not for those who think they are righteous, like those in the synagogue at Nazareth and the scribes and Pharisees, but for those who know they are not, like the tax collector in Luke 18:13-14).  Thus Jesus centered His ministry on people who understood their lost condition.  Often, these were the outcasts of society, which earned Him a reputation as ‘a friend of tax  collectors and sinners’ (Luke 7:34).  Because such people were willing to come to grips with their true condition as hopeless sinners, the Lord was able to minister to them (cf. 1 Cor. 1:26-31).

            “This dramatic incident answers the question of whose sins Jesus would forgive.  It reveals how deep into the dregs of society He would delve to rescue lost sinners.  In this account Jesus saved someone at the very bottom—a hated, despised tax collector.  The story of His call of Levi (Matthew) and its aftermath falls into two contrasting parts: His call of a wretched sinner, and His confrontation of self-righteous hypocrites.”

6/2/2026 10:44 PM

 

 

“The Consequences” (Luke 5:25-26)

 

MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/2/2026 9:19 AM

My Worship Time                                                                             Focus:  “The Consequences”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                Reference:  Luke 5:25-26

            Message of the verses:  “Immediately he got up before them, and picked up what he was lying on, and went home glorifying God.  They were all struck with astonishment and began glorifying God; and they were filled with fear, saying, “We have see remarkable things today.”

            I have writing about the healings that Jesus did while on planet earth stating that all his healings were complete, as is the case with the paralyzed man, and they were all done instantaneously.  Also there were no lingering effects of his disability, no gradual healing, with a long period of rehabilitation before he was “healed.”  Instead we see immediately he got up before them, and picked up what he had been lying on, and went home. Unlike the leper, the paralytic did not have a contagious disease, and hence was not required to go first and show himself to the priests.  As was often the case when someone was healed, the paralytic went on his way glorifying God (cf. 13:13; 17:15; 18:43).

(cf. 13:13; 17:15; 18:43)

“13  And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God.”

“15  Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice;”

“43  And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.”

This man rejoiced not merely because he was physically healed, but even more so because his sins had been forgiven.  Jesus connected His power over the effects of sin with His authority over sin’s guilt.  The One who healed necessarily could forgive.

            John MacArthur writes “Between the religious leaders, who remained implacably hostile despite this and other displays of Christ’s divine power and authority (cf. 6:11; 11:15, 53; 13:17; 15:1-2; 19:47), on the one hand he healed paralytic on the other was the crowd.  Struck with astonishment at the amazing, unprecedented (cf. Mark 2:12) miracle they had just witnessed, they also began glorifying God (cf. 7:16; Matt. 15:31).  Further, they were filled with fear.  Phobos (fear) can refer to panic induced by frightening circumstances or events.  It can also describe general, long-term apprehension or anxiety (it is the source of the English word ‘phobia’).  Third, and most significantly, it is the fear that results from and understanding of God’s holiness, power, and presence, which is how it is always used in the Synoptic Gospels and Acts (1:12, 65; 2:9; 7:16; 8:37; 21:26; Matt. 14:26; 28:4, 8; Mark 4:41; Acts 2:43; 5:5, 11; 9:31; 19:17).  In that sense, it is a healthy fear.  It can produce reverence for God, and help believers avoid sin (cf. 2:Cor. 7:1, 11) and lead godly lives (Phil. 2:12).”

(cf. 2:Cor. 7:1, 11)

“1 ¶  Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.”

“11  For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter.”

(Phil. 2:12)

“12 ¶  So then, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now even more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”

“Godly fear also motivates believers to mutually submit to each other and serve each other (Eph. 5:21).

(Eph. 5:21)

“21 ¶  submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.”

“It also prompted Paul’s desire to persuade others of his personal integrity (2 Cor. 5:11).

(2 Cor. 5:11)

“11  Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience.”

            “The crowd acknowledged that they had seen remarkable things, but not all of them were convinced of Christ’s deity.  Some concluded that He was merely a man to whom God had given authority (Matt. 9:8).  Despite the unprecedented display of His divine, miraculous power, many refused to believe.  ‘But through He had performed so many signs before them,’ (John wrote, ‘yet they were not believing in Him’ (John 12:37; cf. 1 Cor. 1:22).  Paul explains the spiritual pathology of such senseless rejections:

“And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which your formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.  Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. (Eph. 2:1-3)

“And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (2 Cor. 4:3-4).”

Spiritual Meaning for my Life Today:  As I look at the passage above from Ephesians 2:1-3 it shows me that Satan is always active in the believer’s life and therefore putting on the Spiritual Armor is necessary. 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  “13  Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14  Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15  and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16  In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 

and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18  praying at all times in the Spirit, with all and prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.”

6/2/2026 10:13 AM