SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/18/2023 10:19 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-5 “The Plan of His Suffering”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
20:17-18a
Message of the verses: “17 As Jesus was
about to go up to Jerusalem, He took the twelve disciples aside by
themselves, and on the way He said to them, 18 "Behold, we are going up to
Jerusalem;”
I want to begin with a quotation from John MacArthur’s
commentary, one that I have highlighted in that book. “The disciples knew they were going to Jerusalem to celebrate the
Passover with Jesus, but they did not know that Jesus was Himself God’s
ultimate and only true Passover Lamb.
They were still thinking lion, but He was thinking Lamb. They were thinking kingdom, but He was
thinking sacrifice. They were thinking
glory, but He was thinking suffering and death.” I wonder what people are thinking today?
The
truth is that the Old Testament told exactly what was going to happen to the
Messiah, as I have mentioned before in talking about Psalm 22, Isaiah, 53, and
also different passages in the book of Zachariah. It is easier to think about
Jesus as the Lion rather than the Lamb, especially when one sees all that is
going on in, not only our country, but all over the world as we are in great
need of the Lion of Judah to come and take care of all the evil that we see
everywhere. God is in charge, and just
as Jesus came as a Lamb, He will come as a Lion at the end of the Tribulation
period and then all the evil from that period of time will end. He will take
those who are still alive and have done so much evil and send them to where all
the non-believing evil people are, and eventually, at the Great White Throne
Judgment will send them into a Christless eternity in hell. You have to accept the Lamb and what He has
done for you before you can accept the Lion.
One
of my favorite passages in the Word of God, and I have many, but in Luke
chapter 24 the story is told about two disciples who even after the
resurrection, was known did not fully understand what Jesus had done. “25 And He said to them, "O foolish men
and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! 26 “Was it
not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His
glory?’” (Luke 34:25-26).
When
writing to the Corinthians in what is called the resurrection chapter Paul
again had to remind them of something that he had taught them when he was there
teaching them about salvation and other spiritual matters. He writes “1 Now I make known to you,
brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which
also you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which
I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also
received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He
was raised on the
third day according to the Scriptures, (1 Cor.
15:1-4).
Here
is something that Peter wrote “10 As to this salvation, the prophets who
prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, 11 seeking to know what person or
time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the
sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow” (1 Peter 1:10-11).The
sufferings would come first and then the glories would follow just as Peter
wrote.
The
sufferings and death of Jesus were always in God’s plan. When Jesus was only a few weeks old and when
His parents brought Him to the Temple we read what Simon told Mary, His mother,
“Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and
for a sign to be opposed—and a sword will pierce even your own soul” (Luke
2:34-35). In the gospel of John we read
what John the Baptist said “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of
the world” (John 1:29). A couple more
verses from the book of Revelation “6 And I saw between the throne (with the
four living creatures) and the elders a Lamb standing, as if slain, having
seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into
all the earth.” “Saying with a loud
voice, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and
wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing’” (Rev. 5:6, 12).
I close this SD with another quote from John
MacArthur’s commentary “Jesus
was going to Jerusalem because that is where He was to sacrifice Himself for
the sins of the world, in perfect accordance with God’s revealed plan.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I am so thankful that the plan of God
included me to receive an effectual call from His Holy Spirit.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I want to continue to keep my friends Troy
and Charlotte in prayer that I will have the opportunity to do a short Bible
study with them.
4/18/2023 10:56 AM
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