SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/9/2017
8:48 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-1 “The Specific Fulfillments”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: John
19:17-18, 23-25a
Message of the
verses: “17 They took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, bearing His own
cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew,
Golgotha. 18 There they crucified Him, and with Him two other men, one on
either side, and Jesus in between. 23 Then the soldiers, when they had
crucified Jesus, took His outer garments and made four parts, a part to every
soldier and also the tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece. 24
So they said to one another, "Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, to
decide whose it shall be"; this was to fulfill the Scripture: "THEY
DIVIDED MY OUTER GARMENTS AMONG THEM, AND FOR MY CLOTHING THEY CAST LOTS."
25 Therefore the soldiers did these things.”
We begin with a short quote from yesterday’s SD written
by John MacArthur to explain why John wrote what he wrote here: “John does not focus on features of Christ’s
physical suffering (as for instance Matthew does). Instead, John zeroes in on four aspects of
the cross that emphasize the magnificence of Christ’s person: the specific fulfillments of prophecy,” This
is what we will begin to look at this morning.
As we first look at these verses we may believe that John
is just stating an historical narrative, or perhaps a straightforward
description of Jesus’ crucifixion. However
the factual details are fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies concerning our
Lord Jesus Christ.
The first incident we want to look at is that the
soldiers “took Jesus, therefore, and He went out.” We learn that it was the soldiers who took Jesus
from the Synoptic Gospels as John does not use the word “soldiers” here. Now we want to look at Isaiah 53:7 “He was
oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to
slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not
open His mouth.” This is typical
of a sheep as I told the story in an earlier SD of a man who worked in a slaughter
house where cows were killed, and one day his boss asked him to slaughter a
lamb to which the lamb just crawled up into his arms not protesting what was
about to happen. This man told his boss
that he never wanted to do that again, and this story pictures our Lord as he
willingly was led away by the soldiers.
Another story I have is about a lady who while under the influence of
drugs and alcohol helped murder some people while living in Texas. While in prison she was saved by the grace of
God and began to grow in her faith.
Finally she had to pay for her sins of killing these people, (others
were also involved in the killings), and when it came time for he to be
executed she actually had to minister to the female warden who broke down on
the way to where she was to be executed.
I had a friend who was a friend of this woman and later he told me this
story about Carla Fay Tucker’s execution as he was in prison ministries and
became friends with her. The man who
supervised her execution told my friend that what he saw as amazing in that as
Carla Fay was going to lay down on the gurney where she would die that what
this man saw reminded him of a little girl who was being tucked into bed by her
father as she did not resist what was happening to her, and perhaps she was
thinking of her Lord who too did not resist what was about to happen to Him.
John MacArthur quotes F. F. Bruce:
“In stating that Jesus ‘went
out, carrying His cross’…[John] is …emphasizing that, as at His arrest in the
garden, Jesus is still in command of the situation. He is ‘taken’ to the place of execution, it
is true, but He is no reluctant victim, compelled to go whither He would not:
He goes with His executioners of His own volition and carries the cross for
Himself.”
Gerald L. Borchert states This,
Jesus was “not a helpless victim but the Shepherd-King laying down His life for
the sheep (10:11, 15, 17; 15:13).”
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: I can understand
better the love that Christ had for me, as I believe that He was thinking about
all whom He would die for as He was marched to the place where He would be
crucified in my place. Not greater love
than one who lays down His life for a friend.
My Steps of Faith for Today: To remember that great love that Christ has
for me in taking my place on the cross and I pray that I will be filled with
His Spirit to show love to others, those who like me do not deserve it.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “King Agrippa” (Acts 26:28).
Today’s Bible
question: “Where was Saul going when he
was struck by a light from heaven?”
Answer in our next SD.
5/9/2017 9:22 AM
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