SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/7/2021 11:00 AM
My Worship Time Focus: “Furry”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew 9:3
Message of the
verses: “3
And some of the scribes said to themselves, "This fellow
blasphemes.’”
I
see in this verse the word “fellow” is in there in order to tell us who the
scribes were talking about. It is not in
the original text, and so I looked up what this word means in my Online Bible
Dictionary: “1) to speak reproachfully,
rail at, revile, calumniate, blaspheme 2) to be evil spoken of, reviled, railed
at.” Not sure why they inserted the word
“fellow” as it seems a bit unusual to me.
“At once some of the scribes said to themselves, "This man is
blaspheming’” (Philips). “Some religion
scholars whispered, "Why, that’s blasphemy!’” (Message). I like this one the best of the ones I looked
at.
Let
us look at how Luke and Mark record this in their writings: “The scribes and the Pharisees began to
reason, saying, "Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who can
forgive sins, but God alone?’” (Luke 5:21).
“"Why
does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming; who can forgive sins but God
alone?’” (Mark 2:7). One thing that
these men were right about in their thoughts in that it is only God who can
forgive sins, and we will look at a verse from Isaiah to show this “"I, even I, am the one who wipes out your
transgressions for My own sake, And I will not remember your sins.” One more verse from Micah 7:18-19: “18 Who is a God like You, who pardons
iniquity And passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession?
He does not retain His anger forever; Because He delights in unchanging love. 19
He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot.
Yes, You will cast all their sins Into the depths of the sea.” I would like to mention that these verses
come at the very end of the book of Micah, with only verse 20 remaining in his
book: “20 You will give truth to Jacob And
unchanging love to Abraham, Which You swore to our forefathers From the days of
old.” One thing I like to do is look at
the end of different books, especially those in the NT letters as it seems to
me when a person knows that his time is coming to end on planet earth that He
writes something most meaningful. “but
grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be
the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen” (2 Peter 3:18).
One
of the great problems with the scribes and the Pharisees is that they thought
that they were all right with God and ready to go to be with Him in
heaven. Now speaking of what people say
before they know that they are going to go and be with the Lord, the following
verse from Matthew 23:13-32 are what our Lord has to say about the scribes and
Pharisees: “13 But woe to you, scribes
and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from
people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are
entering to go in. 14 [["Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites,
because you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers;
therefore you will receive greater condemnation.]] 15 “Woe to you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one
proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as
yourselves. 16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the
temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple is
obligated.’ 17 “You fools and blind men! Which is more important, the gold or
the temple that sanctified the gold? 18 “And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, that
is nothing, but whoever swears by the offering on it, he is obligated.’ 19 “You
blind men, which is more important, the offering, or the altar that sanctifies
the offering? 20 “Therefore, whoever swears by the altar, swears both by
the altar and by everything on it. 21 “And whoever swears by the temple, swears
both by the temple and by Him who dwells within it. 22 “And whoever
swears by heaven, swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits
upon it. 23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint
and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law:
justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have
done without neglecting the others. 24 “You blind guides, who strain out a gnat
and swallow a camel! 25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you
clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of
robbery and self-indulgence. 26 “You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the
cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also. 27 “Woe
to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs
which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s
bones and all uncleanness. 28 “So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men,
but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. 29 “Woe to you, scribes
and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn
the monuments of the righteous, 30 and say, ‘If we had been living in
the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding
the blood of the prophets.’ 31 “So you testify against yourselves, that you are
sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 "Fill up, then, the measure of the
guilt of your fathers. 33 “You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you
escape the sentence of hell?”
MacArthur
concludes his comments on this verse by writing “Their hearts were so hardened
against Christ that every miraculous evidence of His divinity and messiahship
drove them to deeper unbelief rather than to repentance. Even His most gracious and loving words and
acts drove them to greater fury against Him.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I think that just like the Pharisees I too,
must guard my thoughts for God knows everything and thoughts can become actions
both good thoughts and bad ones.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I trust the Lord with all that will go on as
I once again meet with a woman tomorrow who desires to meet my son.
5/7/2021 11:31 AM
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