SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/31/2021 9:56 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-2 “Judas’s Call”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
10:4b
Message of the
verse: “and
Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Him.”
We
want to continue to go through this section about the call of Judas as it is
very important for us to understand why Jesus called Judas. I promised in our last SD to look at some Old
Testament passages which have to do with Judas, although his name is not
mentioned, but after his deed we know that the prophecies were about him. David predicted Christ’s betrayal, and
actually it was 1000 years before it happened as he wrote the following in
Psalm 41:9 “Even my close friend in whom I trusted, Who ate my bread, Has
lifted up his heel against me.” Let us
compare a couple of more Psalms at this time with that one: “12 For it is not an enemy who reproaches me,
Then I could bear it; Nor is it one who hates me who has exalted himself
against me, Then I could hide myself from him. 13 But it is you, a man my
equal, My companion and my
familiar friend; 14 We who had sweet fellowship together Walked in the
house of God in the throng. 15 Let death come deceitfully upon them; Let them
go down alive to Sheol, For evil is in their dwelling, in their midst” (Psalm
55:12-15). “20 He has put forth his
hands against those who were at peace with him; He has violated his covenant. 21
His speech was smoother than butter, But his heart was war; His words were softer than oil, Yet they were drawn swords”
(Psalm 55:20-21). MacArthur adds “Although
that passage primarily referred to David, its greater significance applied to
Jesus Christ, as He Himself declared (John 13:18). “"I do not speak of all of you. I know
the ones I have chosen; but it is that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘HE
WHO EATS MY BREAD HAS LIFTED UP HIS HEEL AGAINST ME.’”
David
was not the only one who wrote about this event as Zechariah even predicted the
exact price of the betrayal when he wrote the following in Zechariah 11:12-13 “12
I said to them, "If it is good in your sight, give me my wages; but
if not, never mind!" So they weighed out thirty shekels of silver
as my wages. 13 Then the LORD said to me, "Throw it to the potter, that magnificent
price at which I was valued by them." So I took the thirty shekels
of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of the LORD.” Again MacArthur adds “At the Lord’s command,
the prophet had shepherded the Lord’s people (vv. 4-11), and the wages they
paid Zechariah represented the ‘magnificent price’ at which their descendants
would value the Messiah Himself.”
Next
we want to look at John 17, Jesus’ High Priestly prayer, and we will look at
verse 12 as He mentions the one who betrayed Him there “"While I was with
them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded
them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the
Scripture would be fulfilled.” Martin
Luther translated the phrase “son of Perdition” as “lost child,” that is, a
child whose nature and intention is to be continually wayward and lost. We see from this passage that Jesus lost none
of the Twelve except the one who was confirmed in his sin and refused to be
saved. MacArthur writes “He chose Judas
in order to fulfill Scripture, knowing that Judas would reject that choice.” We see here why Jesus chose Judas and I know that
some will have a problem with this, but one must remember that it was Judas’s
decision to do what he did as we know that the Lord can do nothing wrong so we
cannot blame the Lord for what Judas did.
I
desire to finish this very important section in our next SD as I do not want to
put too much on these SD’s about the call of Judas so that we can think about
what happened and why it happened.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I have to remember that God has His own plans
and all of them will be fulfilled. I
have to remember that when I pray and not always think about what the outcome
of my prayers should be answered in the way that I want them to be answered.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust that
the Lord will answer some things that I am praying about and do it in His own
way.
8/31/2021 10:26 AM
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