MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/20/2026
8:09 AM
My
Worship Time Focus:
PT-1 “Jesus’
Power Over The Natural Realm”
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference:
Luke
4:38-40
Message of the verses: “Then He got up and left the synagogue,
and entered Simon’s home. Now Simon’s
mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Him to help
her. And standing over her, He rebuked
the fever, and it left her; and she immediately got up and waited on them. While the sun was setting, all those who had
any who were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and laying His
hands on each one of them, He was healing them.”
This morning we begin looking at what is a fairly long
section from John MacArthur’s commentary on these verses which have many things
in them to write about. I want to first
begin by writing about something that is near and dear to my heart at this
time, and that is the physical effects of the fall are universal and devastating. Birth is the firs step toward death. Deformity, illness, weakness, injury, disease, and death from the universal
biography of mankind. If He is to be the
Savior of His people and take them to the perfections of eternal heaven, the
Messiah then must have the power to reverse all these natural effects of the
fall, and there are many of them as mentioned above. This passage provides both a specific
illustration of and a general reference to Jesus’ power over the natural realm.
I am learning some things that are
making a lot of sense to me this morning, things that I had not realized in my
reading of Luke’s gospel in this section before, and it is my prayer that all
those who read this will also learn things too.
MacArthur writes “After preaching in
the Capernaum synagogue and casting a demon out of a man in the audience (vv.
31-37), Jesus got up and left the synagogue, and entered Simon’s home. The Sabbath service in the synagogue
usually ended around noon and was followed by the main meal of the day. This is the second Sabbath mentioned in Luke’s
gospel (cf. 4:16-30), and both of them featured hostility (either human or
demonic) to Jesus (cf. 6:6-11; 13:10-17).
“Simon Peter had not yet been
officially called to be a disciple (cf. 5:1-10; Matthew 4:18-22 and Mark1:
16-20) refer to a preliminary, temporary call; Luke to the final, permanent
call to follow the Lord) or an apostle (6:13-14). Luke did not need to introduce him to his
readers, because by the time he wrote his gospel, Peter was known to all of
them. At this point in the narrative,
however, he was still a member of the synagogue at Capernaum. Peter had been introduced to Jesus by his
brother Andrew (John 1:35-42). On that
occasion Jesus changed his name to ‘Peter’ (Greek) or ‘Cephas’ (Aramaic) to
indicate his future role as part of the foundation of the church (Matt.
16:16-18). Peter was originally from
nearby Bethsaida (John 1:44) and now operated a fishing business in Capernaum
with his brother Andrew (Matt. 4:18) and their partners, James and John (Luke
5:10), also recently called to follow Jesus (Mark 1:16-20). Having been present
in the synagogue to hear Jesus’ unparalleled exposition of the Word of God and
witness the amazing display of His power over the demonic realm, Peter invited
Him to his house for the Sabbath meal, along with Peter’s brother Andrew, James, and John (Mark 1:29).”
I will end
this portion of this section and Lord willing will pick it up this evening to
continue to look at it, as mentioned this is a long section from Luke’s gospel
that MacArthur writes about.
5/20/2026
8:55 AM