SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/7/2021 9:56 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-1 “Jesus
Was Powerful”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
9:23-26
Message of the verses: “23 When Jesus came
into the official’s house, and saw the flute-players and the crowd in noisy disorder,
24 He said, "Leave; for the girl has not died, but is asleep." And
they began laughing at Him. 25 But when the crowd had been sent out, He
entered and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. 26 This news spread
throughout all that land.”
We
begin today looking at the last section from chapter seven of MacArthur’s 2nd
commentary on the book of Matthew, a chapter he entitled “Jesus’ Power over
Death” something we began looking at on the 27th of May. I have to say that I like the title of this
section as perhaps many people today don’t look at Jesus as being powerful,
especially the unbelievers, but when one looks at the creation of this world
and then learns that it was Jesus who was the One who created it just by
speaking, then one must be convinced that Jesus Christ is powerful.
As
we look at the different miracles that Matthew writes about in his gospel
account we can be assured that we can see that it is Jesus’ power that most
uniquely sets Him apart from other men. Any other person could have been doing
similar things that Jesus did as far as being accessible, available, touchable,
and impartial, but could not do the things that Jesus did and that certainly is
a part of what Matthew is getting across as we have spoken of many times in
stating that the theme of Matthew is Jesus is the King and He rules over His
kingdom as this is just a sample of things that Jesus will do once the 1000
year kingdom begins shortly after what is called the Tribulation Period.
Matthew’s
account is much shorter than found in Mark and Luke’s gospel accounts. We do see that after the interlude which involved
the woman with the issue of blood that Jesus continued along to the house of Jairus. As He was making His way closer to the house
the first thing that He encounters is the professional flute players, and the
professional mourners, something that if a person had a lot of money would hire
many of them. I have to say that I can’t
play a flute so I know I could not do that job, and I certainly would not want
to be a professional mourner. Mourning,
to me, has to be personal, and mourning over the loss of a loved one has to be
personal along with mourning over sin too has to be personal, something that
the Spirit of God must do as He works in the hearts of believers convicting the
of sinful habits.
MacArthur
writes “In great contrast to those in the Western world of our day, funerals in
most ancient cultures, including that of Israel in the time of Christ, were not
occasions for quiet whispers and soothing music. They were instead characterized by the loud
wailing of voices and harsh dissonance of musical instruments such as those of
the hired ‘flute-players’ on this occasion.
The result, not unintended, was great ‘noisy disorder.’”
The
following is a description of Jewish funerals as they involved three prescribed
ways of expressing grief and lamentation.
The first was the tearing or rending of one’s garments, as this was
tradition that developed some 39 different regulations and forms. MacArthur writes “Among other things the
tearing was to be done while standing up, and the tear was to be directly over
the heart if the mourner was the father or mother of the deceased. Otherwise it was to be near the heart. The tear had to be large enough to put a fist
through, but could be sewn up with large, loose stitches for the first thirty
days—to provide covering of the body while allowing the tear to be clearly
noticeable. For sake of modesty, women
would rip their undergarments and wear them backward.” There are two more expressions of grief, which
I want to begin with in our next SD, but I want to say that as I was listening
to MacArthur’s two sermons on this subject we have been looking at since May 27th
I remember that much of the information on these three prescribed ways of
expressing grief came from the Talmud which was a Jewish book that spoke of
things like this in it along with other things that when one looks at it mostly
did not follow what the Old Testament had to say.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: Mourning is personal as I have stated, and
showing great emotion over the loss of a loved one, in my opinion does not
really bring comfort or help. I remember
when a missionary man that I knew died very suddenly that his wife did not shed
a tear because she knew where he was and that one day would see him again.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Mourning over sinful habits is something that
I certainly need to do more of.
6/7/2021 10:31 AM
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