SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/2/2022 8:19 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-5 “The
Principle”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
16:24
Message of the
verse: “24
Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let
him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.”
We continue today in our long journey through
Matthew 16:24, which is a very important verse as we are seeing. Today we want to begin by talking about the
people of Jesus’ day and what they thought about the cross. It was a very concrete and vivid reality, and
it was the instrument of execution reserved for Rome’s worst enemies. The cross was a symbol of the torture and
death that awaited those who dared raise a hand against Roman authority. The truth is that not many years before Jesus
and the disciples came to Caesarea Philippi, 100 men had been crucified in the
area. A century earlier, Alexander
Janneus had crucified 800 Jewish rebels at Jerusalem, and after the revolt that
followed the death of Herod the Great, 2,000 Jews were crucified by the Roman
proconsul Varus. Crucifixions on a
smaller scale were a common sight, and it has been estimated that perhaps some
30,000 occurred under Roman authority during the lifetime of Christ. If one looks at the 22nd Psalm
they will better understand the horrors of being crucified, as that Psalm
predicted how the Messiah would die some 1000 years before anyone was
crucified.
Whenever the disciples and the crowd
around Jesus heard Him speak of taking up the cross there was nothing mystical
to them about the idea. What they
pictured was a poor condemned soul walking along the road carrying (which is and
accurate translation of airo, meaning “to rise, bear, or carry”) the instrument
of his execution on his own back. A man
who took up his cross began his death march, carrying the very beam on which he
would hang, and this is a very graphic description of what it means in the life
of a believer to take up his cross daily, to be ready to pay the ultimate price
for the cause of Christ if asked to do so.
MacArthur writes “For a disciple of
Christ to take up his cross is for him to be willing to start on a death
march. To be a disciple of Jesus Christ
is to be willing in His service, to suffer the indignities, the pain, and even
the death of a condemned criminal.”
Now it is obvious that the extent of
suffering and persecution varies from believer to believer, from time to time,
and from place to place. Not every one
of the Apostles were martyred, but they were all willing to go that way. Peter writes “Beloved do not be surprised at
the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some
strange thing were happening to ypu; but to the degree that you share the
sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing; so that also at the revelation of His
glory, you may rejoice with exultation.
If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the
Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you” (1 Peter. 4:12-14).
10/2/2022 8:38
AM
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