SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/21/2016 6:49 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Intro to John 11:17-36
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: John 11:17-36
Message of the verses: “17 So when Jesus came, He found that he had
already been in the tomb four days. 18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about
two miles off; 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary, to console
them concerning their brother. 20 Martha therefore, when she heard that Jesus
was coming, went to meet Him, but Mary stayed at the house. 21 Martha then said
to Jesus, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. 22
“Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You." 23
Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." 24 17 ¶
So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four
days. 18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem,
about two miles off; 19 and many of the
Jews had come to Martha and Mary, to console them concerning their brother.
20 Martha therefore, when she heard that
Jesus was coming, went to meet Him, but Mary stayed at the house. 21 Martha then said to Jesus, "Lord, if You
had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 "Even now I know that whatever You ask
of God, God will give You." 23
Jesus *said to her, "Your brother will rise again." 24 Martha said
to Him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last
day." 25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he
who believes in Me will live even if he dies, 26 and everyone who lives and
believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?" 27 She said to Him,
"Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even
He who comes into the world." 28 When she had said this, she went away and
called Mary her sister, saying secretly, "The Teacher is here and is
calling for you." 29 And when she heard it, she got up quickly and was
coming to Him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in
the place where Martha met Him. 31 Then the Jews who were with her in the
house, and consoling her, when they saw that Mary got up quickly and went out,
they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32 Therefore,
when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to
Him, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died."
“33 When Jesus therefore saw her
weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled,
34 and said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to Him, "Lord,
come and see." 35 Jesus wept. 36 So the Jews were saying, "See how He
loved him!’”
We move
into the next section and the next chapter in John MacArthur’s commentary on the
gospel of John which he entitles “The Resurrection and the Life—Part Two: The Arrival of the Savior.”
To those
who have read the Bible or have been to a Christian funeral, John chapter
eleven is familiar, as Jesus says “I am the resurrection and the life” in this
chapter which is very comforting to the family of a believer who has died and
his spirit has passed on to heaven where he will remain until the Lord Jesus
Christ comes in the clouds above the earth to receive his new body along with
all believers who are alive at the time of the Rapture.
In this
chapter we also see Jesus’ humanity shining forth very clearly, as we see in
this chapter the shortest verse in the English language “Jesus wept” which
shows the pain that He went through because of the death of His friend
Lazarus. Yes Jesus was human, as He
hungered, thirsted, cried, and loved, as He had to have these qualities of
being human in order to take the place of all who would believe in Him for
salvation. We sometimes overlook the
humanity of our Lord as we study the Scriptures, especially the gospels, but we
need to understand it in order to help us grow in our faith.
Death is a
subject that many people do not want to talk about because of the uncertainty
of it, that is no one knows when it will happen to anyone, and many times when
it is not expected we will say things like “I just talked to the person
yesterday or even a few minutes ago and now he is gone. I suppose that most everyone has fears about
dying as there has only been One who has conquered death, and that is Jesus
Christ and many in our world do not believe in Him for their salvation. Solomon wrote “No man has authority to
restrain the wind with the wind, or authority over the day of death; and there is no discharge in
the time of war, and evil will not deliver those who practice it.” (Notice the highlighted part of the
verse.) He also writes in Ecc. 2:18-19 “18
Thus I hated all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun,
for I must leave it to the man who will come after me. 19 And who knows whether
he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the fruit of
my labor for which I have labored by acting wisely under the sun. This too is
vanity.” Solomon writes this to show us
that after we die we will leave everything here on planet earth. It has been well said that you never see a
U-Haul following hearse.
Job tells
us “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return there” (Job.
1:21). Paul writes “For we have brought
nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either” (1 Tim.
6:7). Jesus told a greedy man who was
consumed by his earthly possessions “You fool!
This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what
you have prepared” (Luke 12:20).
I think of
Paul wrote to the Philippians in the first chapter “21 For to me, to live is Christ
and to die is gain.
22 But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me;
and I do not know which to choose. 23 But I am hard-pressed from both
directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better; 24 yet to remain on
in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. 25 Convinced of this, I know that
I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith,
26 so that your proud confidence in me may abound in Christ Jesus through my
coming to you again.” He also wrote in
what is known as the resurrection chapter, 1 Cor. 15, the following near the
end of that chapter “51 Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be
changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for
the trumpet will sound, and the
dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For this
perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on
immortality. 54 But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and
this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that
is written, "DEATH IS
SWALLOWED UP in victory. 55 “O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS
YOUR STING?" 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is
the law; 57 but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ.”
We will be
looking at the second of four divisions in this section of John’s gospel which
describes Jesus arrival in Bethany.
John
MacArthur gives us the outline we will be following “In this second scene in
the drama Jesus, the central figure in the story, arrives at Bethany. As verses 17-36 further set the stage for the
miracle, they reveal three visible demonstrations of Jesus’ genuine care: His coming, His claim, and His compassion.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I remember hearing for the very first time
the verses that I quoted from 1 Corinthians and they truly gave peace to a
troubled soul, for I heard them in January of 1974, the very time that the Lord
saved me.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible question: “Psalms.”
Today’s Bible question:
“Out of what did Adam and Eve make their first set of clothes?”
Answer in our next SD.
8/21/2016 7:27 AM
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