SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/11/2016 7:40 AM
My Worship Time Focus: The Charge
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference:
John 10:32-33
Message of the verses: “32 Jesus answered them, "I showed you
many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?" 33
The Jews answered Him, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for
blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God.’”
I have to
believe that just as people of today do, that is that they are shown the truth
that Jesus Christ is indeed who He claims to be, but because their eyes have
not been open to the truth, for they may say that He is a good man, or that He
is a prophet, they don’t believe He is God come in the flesh to save His people
from their sins.
We have
mentioned that Jesus came to die, but He had to die at the time when the
Passover Lambs were killed, and so Jesus knew that this was not the time for
Him to die so He calmly faced His opponents murderous rage and said to them “I
showed you many good (and MacArthur adds “the adjective kalos means ‘noble,’ ‘excellent,’ or ‘beautiful’) ‘works from the
Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?’
The Lord did not soften or withdraw His claim to be equal with God. Instead, He forced them to face and deal with
His miraculous good works done at the direction of the Father (cf.
5:19-23). Those works offered visible,
tangible, and inescapable proof of His oneness with God (cf. 5:36), and thus
proved that He was not a blasphemer, as, in fact, His opponents were. The Lord’s question also put the Jewish
leaders in the awkward position of opposing the very public and popular good
things He had done in healing the sick, feeding the hungry, liberating the
demon-possessed, and even raising the dead (cf. Luke 7:14-15; 8:52-56; John
11).”
I think
that sometimes it is easier to believe a lie than the truth, and even though
these Jewish leaders of Jesus’ day knew that Jesus was telling them the truth
they believed the lies that their “false religion” was teaching them. People today are the same as they can see
people tell lie after lie, even in public, and because they are blinded by the
truth they would rather believe the lies, it is as if they had blinders on so
that they could not see the truth. In
the case of these spiritual leaders of the Jews we learn the following as to
why they would eventually crucify our Lord Jesus Christ “22 "Men of
Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God
with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your
midst, just as you yourselves know- 23 this Man, delivered over by the
predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands
of godless men and put Him to death (Acts 2:22-23).”
The Jews
would go on and explain to Jesus “For a good work we do not stone You, but for
blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God.’” Jesus had proved the Oneness that He had with
His Father through the miracles that He did, so the charge of blasphemy was
null and void, yet they did not believe it.
MacArthur
concludes this section with a very important point we need to know and
understand. “In contrast to those who
deny that Christ ever actually claimed to be God, the hostile Jews understood
perfectly that He was saying exactly that.
But they refused to consider the possibility that His claim might be
true. In their minds, Jesus was guilty
of the ultimate act of blasphemy because, as they told Him, ‘You, being a man,
make Yourself out to be God.’ As was the
case with Jesus’ earlier claims to deity, their ultimate reaction was a plot to
kill Him (5:16-18; 8:58-59). Ironically,
their charge of blasphemy was the reverse of the truth. Far from being a mere man who was arrogantly promoting Himself as God,
Jesus was in fact almighty God who had selflessly humbled Himself in becoming a
man to die for the world (1:14; cf. Phil. 2:5-11).”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: As I continue to study the sovereignty of God
this week this SD fits right into what I am studying.
My Steps of Faith for
Today: Trust the Lord to give me
peace as I watch a great nation crumble right before my eyes as people continue
to believe lies and not believe the truth.
Memory verses for the week:
(Romans 6:5-7) “5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness
of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection; 6
Therefore knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that
our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves
to sin; 7 for he who has died to is freed from sin.”
Answer to yesterday’s Bible question: “Kadesh-Barnea” (Deuteronomy 9:23).
Today’s Bible question:
“Who came to Jesus’ tomb while it was still dark?”
Answer in our next SD.
8/11/2016 8:27 AM
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