SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/27/2016
7:47 PM
My Worship Time
Focus:
Pt-1 The Master Persecuted
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: John 5:9b-16
Message of
the verses: “Now it was the Sabbath on that day. 10 So the Jews were saying
to the man who was cured, "It is the Sabbath, and it is not permissible
for you to carry your pallet." 11 But he answered them, "He who made
me well was the one who said to me, ’Pick up your pallet and walk.’" 12
They asked him, "Who is the man who said to you, ’Pick up your pallet and
walk’?" 13 But the man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus
had slipped away while there was a crowd in that place. 14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple
and said to him, "Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you."
15 The man went away, and
told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. 16 For this reason the Jews were persecuting Jesus,
because He was doing these things on the Sabbath.”
As we begin to look at the end of verse nine we see
the reason for the Jews wanting to persecute Jesus, for it was on the Sabbath
when, not only Jesus performed this miracle, but He told the man to take up his
bed and walk, which according to them broke the Sabbath law, remember according
to them. As we have already mentioned
this was the beginning of the Jews persecution of Jesus and it would go all the
way to the cross where they would have Him put to death on the cross.
John MacArthur writes “Jesus’ refusal to observe the
legalistic and man-made Sabbath regulation of rabbinic tradition was a major
point of contention between Him and Israel’s religious establishment (cf. Matt.
12:1-14; Mark 2:23-3:6; Luke 6:1-11; 13:10-17; 14:1-6; John 7:21-23; 9:14-16). In fact, the Lord deliberately chose to heal
this man on the Sabbath to confront superficial and bankrupt Jewish legalism. The man’s condition was not life threatening,
and he was constantly at the pool. Jesus
could have easily chosen another day to heal him. But the Lord not only wanted to show mercy to
this man; He also wanted to call the nation to repentance by confronting the
self-righteous and unbiblical stipulations that led to their illusions of spiritual
life. They had become experts at
substituting their traditions for God’s commands (Matt. 15:9)” “They worship me in vain; their teachings are
but rules taught by men’ (Matthew 15:9 NIV).”
I have one more quote to write and it is from a man
named Gerald L. Borchert who is quoted by John MacArthur: “The Sabbath had become a pervading theme in
Jewish life….So significant was the Sabbath that a major section of the Mishna
was devoted to Sabbath rules. Sabbath
obedience became in fact an eschatological issue because it was through at
least minimally that the coming of Messiah was linked to the perfect keeping of
Sabbath. The actions of Jesus were thus
regarded by Sabbath-oriented Jews as being diametrically opposed to the expectations
of the rabbis who probably would have categorized Jesus as an antinomian
libertarian. He did not seem to be
concerned for the precious rules of the rabbis.
“Not only in John, but also in the Synoptics is
Jesus portrayed as seemingly unconcerned for the rabbinic traditions about the
Sabbath….The rules of the rabbis were as misunderstanding of God’s design for
the Sabbath. The Sabbath was not the
means to God’s approval, as the rabbis seem to have suggested. The Sabbath was not merely a rule for humans,
but a gift to humans (cf. Mark
2:27). It was to be used to honor God
and to benefit his people. More
importantly, Jesus was Lord of the Sabbath (cf. Mark 2:28). If, therefore, anyone would have a right to
act on Sabbath, it was Jesus.” Let us
look at Mark 2:27-28 “27 Jesus said to them, "The Sabbath was made for
man, and not man for the Sabbath. 28 “So the Son of Man is Lord even of the
Sabbath."”
I have to admit that all of this talk about the
Sabbath by the Pharisees when I first became a believer caused me a lot of
problems and it seems to have taken me a long time to better understand
it. First of all, as we have been
learning the system that was in place by the Jews during the time when Jesus
walked on the earth was a false religion as the Pharisees were trying to make
the Jewish people live up to a certain standard that they had made up in order
to have eternal life, and this is something that deals with in many places of
the gospels. Mt 23:15 “"Woe to you,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to
make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son
of hell as yourselves.” This is just one
example that I have thought of. Also the
verses from Mark speak of man being made for the Sabbath, and that He was Lord
over the Sabbath have also given me more insight into this issue, for after all
it was the Lord who gave the Jews the Law at Mt. Sinai and so when He came to
earth He had to fulfill that Law in order to be able to die on the cross for
our forgiveness.
I don’t know if I should mention what I am and have
been thinking about but in the book of Numbers chapter 15 we read “30 ’But the
person who does anything defiantly, whether he is native or an alien, that one
is blaspheming the LORD; and that person shall be cut off from among his
people. 31 ’Because he has despised the word of the LORD and has broken His
commandment, that person shall be completely cut off; his guilt will be on
him.’" 32 Now while the sons of Israel were in the wilderness, they found
a man gathering wood on the Sabbath day. 33 Those who found him gathering wood
brought him to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation; 34 and they put him
in custody because it had not been declared what should be done to him. 35 Then
the LORD said to Moses, "The man shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall
stone him with stones outside the camp." 36 So all the congregation
brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death with stones, just as the
LORD had commanded Moses.” This section
is kind of like what is found in Acts chapter five when after the church was
only very young they found Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, lying and they
instantly died after Peter talked to them about their lie. My problem with the section in Numbers has been
settled, but it was on my mind for some time, but because Jesus is Lord of the
Sabbath He could do what He wanted to do, and also doing a miracle on the Sabbath
was not work in the sense that it broke any of God’s laws, just the Pharisees
rules, and I might add very stupid ones at that, and as mentioned Jesus had to
fulfill every part of the Law to be qualified to die on the cross for our sins. We will look at this just a bit more in our
next SD.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: I am eternally thankful that Jesus kept the
Law so that He could go to the cross and die for me, for it is something that I
would never be able to do.
My Steps of Faith
for Today: Continue to trust the Lord to show me things in His Word that I don’t
understand as well as I should.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible question: “Urim and Thummin” (Exodus 28:30).
Today’s Bible question: “When writing 2 Corinthians which visit was
Paul planning?”
Answer in our next SD.
2/27/2016 8:48 PM
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