SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/14/2017
11:31 AM
My Worship Time Focus: The Comforting
of the Disciples
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: John 16:5-7
Message of the
verses: 5 “But now I am going to Him
who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, ’Where are You going?’ 6 “But because I
have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. 7 "But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I
go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but
if I go, I will send Him to you.”
We can point out that the disciples of Jesus were being
selfish as they do what many of us do on many occasions and that is look out
for ourselves. Jesus was about to go to
the cross to die for the sins, not only for His disciples but for all who would
come to Him and receive salvation, and yet Jesus was caring more about His disciples
than what was going to happen to Him.
This is a wonderful example for all who are believers to follow, and yet
it is a difficult thing to do at times.
The disciples had been depending on Him for all of their needs and now
He was leaving them and as Jesus stated “sorrow has fill your heart. In no way can I say that I would have done
something different than they were doing, and so I can only as they say fact
find and not fault find as I point out the selfishness of the disciples.
As we continue to look at these verses a question comes
up as to why His disciples did not ask Him where He was going to go. MacArthur writes “Though Peter (13:36) and
Thomas (14:5) had ask Him earlier where He was going, the Lord’s point was that
their questions had reflected a concern for themselves and not a concern for
Him. Those earlier queries were more of
a protest over His abandoning them than an expression of genuine interest in
what He was about to experience. As R.
C. H. Lenske explains:
‘Peter’s question in 13:36 was of a
different kind; it was only a selfish exclamation which would not hear of Jesus’
going away alone. And the assertion of
Thomas in 14:5 was nothing but an expression of discouragement and dullness of
mind at the thought of Jesus’ going away while leaving the disciples to follow
later on a way that Thomas felt he did not know.’”
Now we mentioned that after Jesus mentioned these things
that sorrow had filled the disciples hearts as their thoughts were not centered
on what this moment meant to Jesus.
Jesus had stated earlier in John 14:28 “If you loved Me, you would have
rejoiced because I go to the Father.” We
mentioned while looking at that verse that the disciples should have been
excited that the Son of God was going to go back to the Father where He came
from so that He and the Father would once again be as they were before He came
to earth.
The disciples sorrow was actually unwarranted because
Jesus promises to send another Helper to be with them, and this means that they
would receive One just like Jesus as the Holy Spirit being the third person of
the godhead is as much God as the Father and the Son. The Helper would not come
until Jesus had finished His mission of dying on the cross to pay for our sins.
John MacArthur writes the following stating why the Holy
Spirit could not come until after the death of Christ stating that there are
two reasons why He could not come until after Christ’s death, resurrection, and
ascension: “First, the Spirit’s ministry
is to reveal the person and works of Christ.
That was not fully possible until after Christ finished His work of
redemption on the cross and ascended to His full glory in heaven. Second, the Father gave the Spirit to the
Church to vindicate His Son’s faithfulness in completing the work of salvation
in His death and resurrection (cf. John 7:39; Gal. 3:14). In his sermon on the day of Pentecost, Peter,
after referring to the death and resurrection of Christ (Acts. 2:23-32),
declared, ‘Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having
received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth
this which you both see and hear’ (v. 33).”
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: Since I have the
blessed Holy Spirit living in me I should do a better job at not being selfish
and be more loving.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Be more loving through the power of the Holy
Spirit’s power.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Mount of Olives” (Matthew
24:3).
Today’s Bible
question: “Who said ‘I am a man which am
a Jew of Tarsus, a city of Cilicia’?”
Answer in our next SD.
1/14/2017 12:23 PM
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