SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/28/2016 9:57 AM
My Worship Time Focus: The False Coronation
Bible Reading & Mediation Reference: John 6:14-15
Message of the verses: “14 Therefore when the people saw the sign which He
had performed, they said, "This is truly the Prophet who is to come into
the world." 15 So Jesus, perceiving
that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him king,
withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone.”
As we look
at verse fourteen we see that the people said that Jesus was “The Prophet” who
came into the world. This comes from the
book of Deuteronomy: “15 "The LORD your God will raise up
for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you
shall listen to him. 16 "This is
according to all that you asked of the LORD your God in Horeb on the day of the
assembly, saying, ’Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, let me
not see this great fire anymore, or I will die.’ 17 “The LORD said to me, ’They
have spoken well. 18 ’I will raise up a prophet from
among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak
to them all that I command him. 19’It shall come about that whoever will
not listen to My words which he shall speak in My name, I Myself will require
it of him (Deut. 18:15-19).”
Let us look
at one more section from the NT “19 “Therefore repent and return, so that your
sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the
presence of the Lord; 20 and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for
you, 21 whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things
about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.
22 "Moses said, ’THE LORD GOD WILL
RAISE UP FOR YOU A PROPHET LIKE ME FROM YOUR BRETHREN; TO HIM YOU SHALL GIVE HEED
to everything He says to you (Acts. 3:19-22).”
As we will
see later on in this chapter the providing of food for all of these people
reminded the people of Moses and the manna that was provided for them while in
the wilderness, but we will also see that Christ will tell them that it was God
the Father who gave them the food, and not Moses.
These
people know the Scripture and they correctly understood the things that the
Messiah would do when He would come into the world, but as we also will see
that they did not understand the spiritual things that the Messiah would do. So right away they wanted to make Him King,
and we have to realize the reason why they wanted to make Him King, and that
was for physical reasons and not spiritual reasons. They did not, as many today do not realize
that Jesus had to come to earth the first time in order to care for the sin
problem, while in His second coming which is what these people wanted Him to do
at the first coming, He will bring about the Kingdom of God here on earth. MacArthur writes “With Him as their provider,
they would never want for food, and would have the potential to be healed of
every illness. They could march to
Jerusalem, overthrow the Romans, and establish the ultimate social welfare
state. Jesus, however, refused to be
forcibly made king on their selfish (and unrepentant) terms. Therefore, He sent the disciples away by boat
(Matt. 14:22; Mark 6:45), dispersed the crowd (Matt. 14:23; Mark 6:45-46), and ‘withdrew
again to the mountain by Himself alone.’”
Jesus was
not moved by what the Jews wanted Him to do, for as stated in other Spiritual
Diaries we see Jesus in the gospel of Luke when He was 12 years old in the
temple teaching the scribes and Pharisees about God and then He tells His mother
and father that He was about the business of His Father. The last thing that Jesus said from the cross
was “it is finished,” so being about His Father’s business was complete as He
died for our sins, taking our punishment, taking the wrath of God on Himself
that was due us and died. The Greek word
translated “it is finished” is a word that means “paid in full” and was stamped
onto a person who was released from prison after he had paid in full for the
crimes he had done.
John
MacArthur concludes this section and this chapter in his commentary by writing
the following paragraph: “Jesus does not
acquiesce to whims or fancies. He comes
to no man on that man’s terms. People
cannot manipulate Him for their own selfish ends. Some modern evangelists, in an attempt to be ‘seeker-friendly,’
present Jesus to unbelievers as a quick fix for felt needs like health, wealth,
and self0esteem—superfically marketing Him as providing everything unbelievers
want. But that turns the gospel message
upside down. People do not come to
Christ on their terms, so that He can heal their broken relationships, make
them successful in life, and help them feel good about themselves. Instead, they must come to Him on His terms. Jesus graciously loves believers and grants
them a rich legacy of joy (John 15:11), peace (John 14:27), and comfort (2 Cor.
1:3-7). But at the same time, He calls
sinners to mourn over their sin (Matt. 5:4), repent (Matt. 4:17), and
acknowledge Him as the sovereign Lord (Rom. 10:9; cf. Phil. 2:9-11), to whom
they owe complete obedience (John 14:15, 21; 1 John 5:3). Even today, He continues to withdraw from those who seek
Him for their own self-serving ends, just as He did from the crowd that sought
to make Him king on their terms. And, as
becomes clear later in chapter 6, He drives others away with the hard demands
of the gospel (v. 66).”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: Jesus Christ is Lord, and when I accepted Him
as my Savior, I also accepted Him as my Lord to use me and to do with me what
He desires to bring honor and glory to Him.
My Steps of Faith For
Today: Continue to learn more about
my Lord, and to learn more about how I am to love Him.
Answer to our last Bible question: “John the Baptist” (Luke 7:19).
Today’s Bible question:
“Where was the confrontation between Elijah and the prophets of Baal?
Answer in our next SD.
3/28/2016 11:16 AM
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