SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/26/2021 9:13 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-1 “The
Response of the People”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
9:33b
Message of the
verse: “and
the crowds were amazed, and were saying, "Nothing like this has
ever been seen in Israel.’”
I have mentioned in earlier SD’s
that there was a response after each set of three miracles done by Jesus found
in Matthew chapters 8-9, and that we are now looking at the response of the
people after the three miracles that Jesus just performed near the end of
Matthew chapter 9.
John MacArthur writes “In this text
the Holy Spirit shows the responses given to Jesus after the third and last set
of miracles recorded in Matthew 8-9.”
The first response that we will see is:
“The Response
of the Multitude.”
This first response by the multitudes
is seen in verse 33b “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.” Now we have to take a moment to think about
all the wonderful miracles that God has done in the history of Israel beginning
with how Abraham and Sarah had a child way past the time when people could
conceive and bear children. Think about
all the miracles that were done when God brought the children of Israel out of
Egypt, and then afterwards as the Red Sea was divided so that the children of
Israel walked through the sea on dry ground, but the Egyptians were drowned as
they tried to do the same. Moving on to
the battle of Jericho as God knocked the walls down after Israel walked around
the city, and those walls were actually a double set of walls with some space
in between the two walls. Elijah and
Elisha also did many miracles when they were ministering in Israel. I think you get the point we are trying to
use here.
MacArthur writes “Thhaumazo (‘marveled’) means to be
greatly amazed and astounded, to be overcome with awe. The intensified forms of the verb found in
Matthew 27:14 and Mark 12:17 carry an even stronger meaning. As Jesus’ miracles increased so did the
astonishment of the crowds. They became
amazed beyond amazement. When Jesus
stilled the storm on the Sea of Galilee, the disciples were more afraid of the
divine power that stilled it than they were of the storm itself. The vast number and variety of healings and
other miracles made them both incontestable and incomprehensible.”
There was also a problem as many of
the astounded people were, in fact many of them were fickle in their praise for
Jesus. An example of this was when Jesus
came into Jerusalem on what we call “Palm Sunday” as the crowds were putting
palm branches down and also even their coats as they were praising Jesus, but
then came Friday when it all changed and probably some of the same people were
yelling “crucify Him.”
There were many, many people who
followed Jesus along those dusty roads as He did miracle after miracle, but
were not interested in the miracle of the second birth, only what Jesus could
do for them in a physical means. Does
this remind you of the “health and wealth gospel?” Think about what happened in the sixth
chapter of John as Jesus confronted the crowds telling them that they only were
following Him because He feed them. His
response “Truly, truly I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs,
but because you ate of the loaves, and were filled. Do not work for the food which perishes, but
for the food which endures to eternal life.”
We all have to be sure that is why we are following Jesus, and that is
because He has given eternal life to all whom the Father has given to Him, and
none will be lost in the process.
6/26/2021 9:50
AM`
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