SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/20/2023 9:23 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-2 “Intro to Matthew 20:29-34”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference:
Matt. 20:29-34
Message of the verses: “29 As they were
leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed Him. 30 And two blind men sitting by the
road, hearing that Jesus was passing by, cried out, "Lord, have mercy on
us, Son of David!" 31 The crowd sternly told them to be quiet, but they
cried out all the more, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!" 32 And
Jesus stopped and called them, and said, "What do you want Me to do for you?"
33 They said to Him, "Lord, we want our eyes to be opened." 34
Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes; and immediately they regained
their sight and followed Him.”
In yesterday’s SD I mentioned that I thought it
would be a very short one, but it seemed to me that the Lord desired for me to
add some things that I had not planned on adding. Perhaps we will mention some of the things
from yesterday’s SD later on as we start to dig into these verses about both
physical and spiritual blindness.
I
think the best way to look at this short introduction is to quote from John
MacArthur’s commentary.
“Jesus
was now on His way to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover with His disciples. Infinitely more important than that, however,
He was going there to suffer and die (20:18-19). He would be celebrating the Passover for the
last time and then giving Himself as the one, final, perfect Passover Lamb,
sacrificed for the sins of the whole world (Heb. 7:27).
“His
arrest, trial, and crucifixion were but a few weeks away. Why, we may wonder, did He take time to
minister to two blind beggars? IN light
of the disciples’ slowness to learn and believe, why did He not spend that last
few days alone with them, drilling into them what He so much wanted them to
understand?
“The
reason was His compassion (v. 34). When
better could Jesus have demonstrated the depth and breadth of divine compassion
than while He was on the way to His crucifixion? The Twelve would one day look back on the
healing in Jericho and on all His other acts of mercy and realize that their
Lord was never to preoccupied to be compassionate, never in too much of a hurry
to heal the afflicted, never in too much
agony Himself to be insensitive to the agony of others. That realization would be one of the most
important lessons they would learn from their Master. In these few verses is found one of the most
beautiful portrayals of the loving compassionate heart of God.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I, like the disciples at this time
period, are having a difficult time understanding the compassion of the
Lord. I know that He is compassionate to
me, but sometimes, I think, that I just don’t understand all of it.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I am seeking
to better understand and realize how much the Lord loves me. I know that He loves me but I just need to
better understand more about His love.
5/20/2023 9:42 AM
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