SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/12/2017
10:10 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Intro to John 21:15-25
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: John
21:15-25
Message
of the verses: “15 So when they had
finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you
love Me more than these?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I
love You." He said to him, "Tend My lambs." 16 He said to him
again a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me?" He said to
Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You." He said to him,
"Shepherd My sheep." 17 He said to him the third time, "Simon,
son of John, do you love Me?" Peter was grieved because He said to him the
third time, "Do you love Me?" And he said to Him, "Lord, You
know all things; You know that I love You." Jesus said to him, "Tend
My sheep. 18 "Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used
to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will
stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you
do not wish to go." 19 Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death
he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, "Follow
Me!" 20 Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following
them; the one who also had leaned back on His bosom at the supper and said,
"Lord, who is the one who betrays You?" 21 So Peter seeing him said
to Jesus, "Lord, and what about this man?" 22 Jesus said to him,
"If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow
Me!" 23 Therefore this saying went out among the brethren that that
disciple would not die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but
only, "If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?" 24
This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and wrote these things,
and we know that his testimony is true. 25 And there are also many other things
which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the
world itself would not contain the books that would be written.”
After reading over the rather short,
short for MacArthur, I have decided to quote it as it gives us some good advice
to follow and gives us things to think about along with helping us understand
things that perhaps we have not understood before.
The name of this last chapter in
John MacArthur’s commentary on the gospel of John is “Epilouge—Part2: How to Be a Committed Christian.”
The true gospel call to follow Jesus
Christ is a call to self-denial. It is
not a man-centered call to self-fulfillment; there is no ‘Christianity lite.’ The gospel calls sinners to submit fully to
Jesus Christ, to find their lives by losing them, to gain their lives by
abandoning them, to live life to the fullest by emptying themselves. Our Lord’s message, frankly, was not user
friendly; it was not so much comforting as threatening. He did not make salvation easy, but hard;
Christ’s preaching, while motivated by love and compassion, filled with grace
and mercy, and offering forgiveness, peace, and joy now and forever, was still
demanding in the extreme. Jesus was t a
false confidence, a false assurance of salvation. ‘No one,’ He declared, ‘after putting his
hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God’ (Luke
9:62). He warned that those who would
follow Him must be willing to die to themselves, and He stressed the importance
of counting the cost of commitment to Him:
“26 "If
anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and
children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My
disciple. 27 “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be
My disciple. 28 "For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower,
does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete
it? 29 "Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to
finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, ’This man began to build and was not
able to finish.’ 31 "Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king
in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough
with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty
thousand? 32 “Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation
and asks for terms of peace. 33 “So then, none of you can be My disciple who
does not give up all his own possessions (Luke 14:26-33).’
In
Matthew 7:13-14 the Lord exhorted, ‘Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate
is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who
enter through it. For the gate is small
and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.’ Jesus does not offer sinners a superficial
makeover to satisfy their desire for self-improvement; He calls them to submit
to a complete takeover of their lives for His glory—with eternal benefits.
“As noted in the previous chapter of
this volume, chapter 21 forms an appendix or epilogue to John’s gospel,
bringing closure to it by resolving some questions left unanswered at the end
of chapter 20. The first fourteen verses
dealt with the disciples’ question of whether Jesus would still provide for
them now that He was ascending to the Father.
He would still meet their needs, as He illustrated with the incident of
the fish, and by providing them breakfast.
That settles a huge concern—divine care.
The remainder of the chapter focuses mainly on another concern—Jesus’
restoration of Peter the leader of the apostles so critical to the gospel
ministry after Christ’s ascension and the sending of the Holy Spirit. He was God’s choice to be the most
significant voice for the gospel to the Jews in the beginning days of the
church. As such, he is the main figure
in the opening chapters of Acts (2-12), and the other apostles needed to
continue to follow his leadership. In
the process of tying things up with Peter, believers can see an example of the essential
means to being a committed Christian: by
loving Christ more than everything else, by being willing to sacrifice
everything for Christ, and by following Christ.”
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: Remember
the cost of following Christ.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust the
Lord to see me through the procedure that I have to undergo this afternoon.
Answer
to yesterday’s Bible question: “The
Church of God” (1 Corinthians 15:9).
Today’s
Bible question: “What did Jesus teach
regarding judging?
Answer
in our next SD.
6/12/2017
10:48 AM
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