SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/8/2023 9:07 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
“The Background and Setting”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
19:1-2
Message of the
verses: “1
And it came about that when Jesus had finished these words, He departed from
Galilee, and came into the region of Judea beyond the Jordan; 2 and great multitudes followed Him, and He
healed them there.”
As we look at these two verses what we can see is
that they mark an especially significant transition in the ministry of our
Lord. For about two years Jesus had been
preaching, teaching, and healing in Galilee which is in northern
Palestine. We have learned that at this
time, and for the last two months that His ministry had been mostly on the
teaching of His disciples, as He was preparing them for when He not be there
with them. Although they did not
understand this they would remember it later on after He was gone back to
heaven as the Holy Spirit would bring this remembrance to them.
We mentioned that when you see
discourse in Matthew it means that Jesus was preaching and He had just finished
the discourse to His disciples about believers being like children and so we read
“when Jesus had finished these words,” (compare 7:28; 11:1; 13:53; 26:1). At the end of this discourse we then see “He
departed from Galilee.”
Jesus had already mentioned to His disciples in
16:21 “From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to
Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and
scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.” Jesus would not at this time go directly
South to Jerusalem but rather east and then south by way of “the region of
Judea beyond the Jordan” and Jericho as seen in 20:29.
MacArthur writes “The region later came
to be called Perea, a name taken from the Greek peran, which means beyond.
Lying to the east of the Jordan River, this territory which had long
been sparsely populated was now well settled.
Because the Passover time was nearing, Jesus would be able to minister
not only to the residents of Perea but also to the many Jews traveling through
there as they also made their annual Passover pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
“As Jesus preached and taught in
Perea (See Mark 10:1), great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them there.” His ministry in that region is recorded in
Matthew 19-20, and as always, by demonstrating His power and His compassion,
Jesus’ healing miracles attested to His divine, messianic credentials.”
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: Jesus was
always on time in all of His ministries while on planet earth, as it was the
Holy Spirit who was directing Him, and so it was time for Him to end an
extended ministry in Galilee and move on to the next place.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I trust that
the Lord does have a plan for my life, each step of it and therefore desire to
follow those steps and do the things that He desires me to do. 2/8/2023 9:30 AM
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