SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/15/2017
8:41 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-1 “The Expression of Selfless Love”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: John
19:25b-27
Message of the
verses: “But standing by the cross
of Jesus were His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and
Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus then saw
His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His
mother, "Woman, behold, your son!" 27 Then He said to the disciple,
"Behold, your mother!" From that hour the disciple took her into his
own household.”
Let us begin by looking at the entire 25th
verse in order to see the contrast between the first part with the second part
contrasted by the use of the word “but.”
“25 Therefore the soldiers did these things. But standing by the cross of Jesus were His
mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.” The contrast between the callous indifference
of the soldiers who were the ones gambling for the very cloths of Christ,
showing their intense hatred for Him and the love of a small group of Christ’s
followers as they stood at the base of the cross giving support and love for
Him. John MacArthur writes “They were
standing by (para; ‘beside,’ or, ‘alongside’)
‘the cross of Jesus,’ close enough for Him to speak to them. (Later, either
driven away by the soldiers, or unable to bear any longer the sight of Christ’s
suffering at such close range, they retreated some distance away to where a
larger group of Christ’s followers was standing [Luke 23:49].) Their love for Jesus overcame their fear (cf.
1 John 4:18), and they came to Him.”
Now if we think of the time of the birth of Jesus when
His parents took Him to the temple there was a man named Simeon who told Mary that
a sword would pierce her soul and this happened as watched what was happening
to her Son. Mary kept a very low profile
and is not mentioned much in the gospels.
John MacArthur wrote the following in his commentary on the first 12
chapters of Acts about Mary in contrast to what the role of her in Roman
Catholic theology, and we will close with that quote.
“Mary was a woman of
singular virtue, or she would never have been chosen to be the mother of the
Lord Jesus Christ. For that role she deserves
respect and honor (cf. Luke 1:42). But
she was a sinner who exalted God her
Savior. She referred to herself as a
humble bondslave to God, who needed mercy (cf. Luke 1:46-50). To offer prayers to her and elevate her to a
role as co-redemptrix with Christ is to go beyond the bounds of Scripture and
her own confession. The silence of the
epistles, which from the doctrinal core of the New Testament, about Mary is
especially significant. If she played
the important role in salvation assigned her by the Roman Catholic Church, as
if she were to receive prayers as an intercessor between believers and Christ,
surely the New Testament would have spelled that out. Nor do such Roman Catholic teachings as her
virgin birth and bodily assumption into heaven find any biblical support; they
are fabrications.”
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: I truly admire
the humility of Mary who had a very significant role in bringing Jesus Christ
to earth, and yet as stated above you hear very little about her. God is in the process of teaching me humility
and for that I am very thankful.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust the Lord as I go to the dentist to have
a tooth removed, that He will give me peace throughout this process and healing
will come soon.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Resists the proud, give grace
to the humble” (James 4:6).
Today’s Bible
question: “Where was Jesus crucified?”
Answer in our next SD.
5/15/2017 9:09 AM
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