SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/3/2022 9:25 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-3 “The Perversion of the Faithless”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference:
Matt. 17:17-18
Message of the verses: “17 And Jesus
answered and said, "O unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall
I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me." 18
And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured at
once.”
We begin this SD by talking about the fact that the
thrill-seeking crowds followed Jesus for the personal benefit of His healing
and out of curiosity. I can’t help but
say this is at the heart of the health and wealth gospel messages going around
the world today. Now others who followed
Him were the gloating Jewish leaders and they did it in order to convict Him of
a capital crime. This is kind of like what the democratic press does as they
follow the conservative candidates waiting for what they feel is a mistake so
that they can pounce on them. I guess
the world hasn’t changed much. The truth is that His disciples knew that Jesus
was the Messiah as seen in Matthew 16:16, they were frequently confused about
the meaning of His teaching and His work.
We
know that Jesus would not vary from His divine mission nor succumb to Satan’s
temptation to despair. Jesus was on
earth to do His Father’s business from which nothing would deter Him. He therefore said to the father, “Bring him
to Me.”
When Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of
him,” because he had no choice in doing that, however Mark and Luke tell us
that the demon made a last ditch try to destroy the boy, as some thought that
the boy was dead after the demon was through with him. However Jesus said he was ok and he got up in
his right mind, healed by Jesus, as the demon was gone.
The
demon knew that his efforts were hopeless, because, like the demon who
tormented the man of Garasen (Mark 5:7) and the one who attacked the seven sons
of Seeva (Acts 19:15), he recognized the divine identity of Jesus. He was compelled to obey the Son of God.
MacArthur
concludes: “Although Jesus already had
successfully cast out countless demons (see Matt. 4:24; 8:16; 32, 9:33; 12:22),
Luke reports that on this occasion, the crowds ‘were all amazed at the
greatness of God’ (Luke 9:43).
‘Greatness’ is from megaleiotes, which
refers to great splendor or magnificence. It is the word used by Peter to
describe the divine majesty of which he, James, and John were eyewitnesses at
the transfiguration. It was perhaps with
that glory in mind that Luke here used the term to describe the crowd’s
amazement. Unknowingly, they to, had had
a small glimpse of the kind of majesty and splendor the Lord would reveal at
His second coming.”
11/3/2022 9:48 AM
No comments:
Post a Comment