SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/15/2020
8:19 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Part-1 “The
Light Dawns”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
4:12-17
Message of the verses: “12 Now when He
heard that John had been taken into custody, He withdrew into Galilee; 13 and
leaving Nazareth, He came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the
region of Zebulun and Naphtali. 14 This was to fulfill what was spoken
through Isaiah the prophet, saying, 15 “THE LAND OF ZEBULUN AND THE LAND OF
NAPHTALI, BY THE WAY OF THE SEA, BEYOND THE JORDAN, GALILEE OF THE GENTILES- 16
“THE PEOPLE WHO WERE SITTING IN DARKNESS SAW A GREAT LIGHT, AND TO THOSE WHO
WERE SITTING IN THE LAND AND SHADOW OF DEATH, UPON THEM A LIGHT DAWNED." 17
From that time Jesus began to preach and say, "Repent, for the kingdom of
heaven is at hand.’”
My
plan is for today’s SD and tomorrow’s SD is to look at the introduction to
Matthew 4:12-17 as we begin to get into the ministry of the King which starts
soon after his fasting in the wilderness and temptations by Satan. The term “The Light Dawns” is the title to
chapter nine from John MacArthur’s commentary on Matthew and actually comes
verse sixteen of chapter in the NASB.
This is a quotation from the OT, but as of yet I have not figured out
exactly where it came from, but I will keep looking.
When
we studied the gospel of John a few years back we saw that John used the word “light”
referring to Jesus and in this section of Matthew we also see this word
describing Jesus. It is a beautiful
metaphor which is used of Jesus’ nature and character. This word conveys the idea of the
illuminating truth-revealing and sin-exposing ministry of the Son of God. Light also reveals power as it takes power in
order to see light. The sun, for example
is a very powerful star that is the perfect length away from planet earth to
give us heat and light and this is because of its power. We mentioned John and so I want to look at
John 1:4-5 at this time “4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. 5
The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” Next we will look at verses 8-9 of John 1 “8 He
was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light. 9 There was
the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.” These two verses speak of John the Baptist
who some thought was the Messiah.
I
want to look now at John 3:19-21 “19 “This is the judgment, that the Light has
come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for
their deeds were evil. 20 “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does
not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 “But he who
practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as
having been wrought in God.’”
Now
we move to look at John 8:12 which is one of the times that we see Jesus
speaking using the word’s “I Am” which comes from the book of Exodus where we
saw that Moses was speaking to the burning bush and asked the One speaking
through this burning bush what His name was and the answer came back “I Am who
I Am,” and this is the words that Jesus uses seven times in the gospel of John
indicating that He is God: “Then Jesus
again spoke to them, saying, "I am the Light of the world; he who follows
Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.’” Jesus spoke these words while in the Temple
treasury which was the outer court, the court of the women, and He was there at
the conclusion of the feast of Tabernacles.
This feast celebrated what they called the illumination of the Temple
where they had a many candelabra’s burning for a week. Jesus comes in at the end of this celebration
and tells them that He is the Light of life.
John MacArthur writes: “A massive
series of candelabra was placed in the middle of the court of the women, and
for a week a great stream of light shinned out continuously—to commutate the
pillar of fire that led Israel during the wilderness wanderings under Moses. As Jesus entered the court of the women, the
light had just been extinguished. The
candelabra were still in place, but they now gave no light. Jesus’ declaration that He Himself was the
light of the world that would never go out must have struck His hearers with
great force.”
Many
times in the Old Testament we see that walking in the light was often used as a
figure of righteousness and also obedience to God, but walking in the darkness
was often a figure of wickedness and disobedience. “From those who leave the paths of uprightness
To walk in the ways of darkness” (Pr. 2:13); “18 But the path of the righteous
is like the light of dawn, That shines brighter and brighter until the full
day. 19 The way of the wicked is like darkness; They do not know over what they
stumble” Pr. 4:18-19). Jesus is
presenting Himself as the embodiment of righteousness and godliness, the very
light of the world and then we read in John 9:5 “"While I am in the world,
I am the Light of the world.’” Now
remember that the gospel of John focuses in on the fact that Jesus is God, and so
this being the Light of the world speaks of Jesus being God. There are more passages in the writings of
Paul and also Peter that speak of Jesus being the light like w Corinthians 4:6
and also 1 Peter 2:9 “6 For God, who said, "Light shall shine out of
darkness," is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” “9 But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD,
A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may
proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His
marvelous light” (1 Pet. 2:9).
Lord
willing we will look at the rest of this introduction in our next SD.
2/15/2020 9:20 AM
No comments:
Post a Comment