His Message would be Verified (John 14:29-30a)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/8/2016 8:13 AM

My Worship Time                                                             Focus:  His Message Would be Verified

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  John 14:29-30a

            Message of the verses:  “Now I have told you before it happens, so that when it happens, you may believe.  I will not speak much more with you.”

            As we have studied the gospel of John we have seen on different occasions from it that the disciples of Jesus believed in Him as being the Messiah.  I want to site one example from the 6^th chapter of John “66 As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore. 67 So Jesus said to the twelve, "You do not want to go away also, do you?" 68 Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. 69 “We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God’ (John 6:66-69).”  However there were also many times that Jesus rebuked them because of their doubts, and as a result of this rebuking of them the disciples asked Jesus to increase their faith as seen in Luke 17:5.

            Jesus had strengthened their wavering faith earlier in John 13:19 when He told them “I have told you before it happens, so that when it happens, you may believe.”  Now what we are getting at in this SD is the fulfillment of prophecy, and of things that Jesus is telling His disciples that will happen to Him in order for them to continue to believe that He is who He says He is, and thus strengthen their faith, for at this time it was wavering again.  In Isaiah, the last part of chapter 52 through chapter 53 we read about the suffering Messiah and then in Psalm 22, as we read that it is as if we are standing at the foot of the cross while Jesus is being crucified.  One of the reasons that we can believe the Bible is because of the fulfilled prophecy and because of the miracles that are recorded in it.  This life of Jesus Christ fulfilled many of the prophecies from the OT that were spoken about Him as being the Jewish Messiah. 

            I can only think of one other religion that has eschatology in it, and by the way it is false, and that is the Muslim religion as they believe in a person called the 12^th Imam.  “The twelfth and final Imam is Muhammad al-Mahdi, who is believed by the Twelvers to be currently alive, and hidden in the Major Occultation until he returns to bring justice to the world. It is believed by Twelver Shia and Alevi Muslims that the Twelve Imams have been foretold in the Hadith of the Twelve Successors.”  (Wikipedia)  Now it is not the purpose of me going into Muslim eschatology in this SD, but to write about what the Bible has to say about eschatology and what Jesus is saying to His disciples in order for them to continue to believe in Him after He goes to the cross and then after the resurrection, for their faith as stated is now wavering. 

            Let’s go back to a prediction that is seen by Jesus in John 2:19-21 “19 Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." 20 The Jews then said, "It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?" 21 But He was speaking of the temple of His body.” Now we look at verse 22 to show what happened to His disciples later on: “22 So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.”

            What Jesus is telling His disciples here was very important for them to listen to as they will eventually understand all of it.

            MacArthur concludes this section by writing “The Lord’s words, ‘I will not speak much more with you,’ do not signal the end of His discourse, which actually continues through the end of chapter 16.  Rather, they are a reminder to the disciples that His time with them on earth was drawing to its close.  Jesus was fully aware of all that was to happen to Him; He was never taken by surprise.  He knew exactly how much time He had left with the eleven before the servants of the Enemy arrived to seize Him.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I have to say on a similar note that eschatology was the vehicle that the Lord used to draw me to Himself and for that I am ever thankful.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I trust the Lord that He will give me things out of His Word to give me encouragement at the time when I need it just as He did for His disciples.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:1-4).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who wept after saying he did not know Jesus?”

Answer in our next SD.

12/8/2016 8:49 AM