SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/17/2023 10:15 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-2
"He Accepted Divine Worship And Human Rejection”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matt.
21:15-17
Message of the verses: “15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw
the wonderful things that He had done, and the children who were shouting in
the temple, "Hosanna to the Son of David," they became indignant 16 and said to Him,
"Do You hear what these children are saying?" And Jesus said
to them, "Yes; have you never read, ‘OUT OF THE MOUTH OF INFANTS AND
NURSING BABIES YOU HAVE PREPARED PRAISE FOR YOURSELF’?" 17 And He left
them and went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there.”
In
the NASB and NASB95 versions the words that are quoted from the Old Testament
are in all caps. I guess that helps you
know that it is from the Old Testament, but I personally don’t like that
feature. At an rate the quotation that
Jesus is using if from Psalm 8:2, and the two Hebrew words for infants and nursing
babes refer to children under three years, the age at which Jewish children
were normally weaned. Something we have
already talked about and that is that the children who hailed Jesus in the
Temple were far past the age of weaning.
Jesus’s point was that if even tiny infants and nursing babes would be
prepared by the Lord to give praise to Himself, how much more could older
children be expected to praise Him? The
truth is that Christ will be praised, and if men will not praise Him, He had
declared to the Pharisees, “the stones will cry out” (Luke 19:40).
There is no doubt that Jesus was going to be
rejected, and because of that rejection will one day soon be crucified, but His
willing acceptance of that rejection demonstrated His divine kingship. Isaiah foretells this in 53:3 “He was
despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And
like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem
Him.” Jesus could have at any time
gotten rid of those evil men who were threatening, but that would have gone
against the plan that the Father had for Him to accomplish, that is to die for
the sins of the world, for those who have accepted the truth that Jesus took
their place on the cross, and accept it for themselves in order to be a child
of the King. Jesus told Peter right before
the rulers were talking Him to be crucified that He could have called twelve
legions of angels, but as stated it was God’s plan for Christ to die. One more thing and that is that Jesus was in
total control of what was happening to Him, not the ones who thought they were
in control.
John
MacArthur writes “In the simple but haunting words He left them there, is a
volume of truth. Jesus left the
unbelieving priests and scribes because they would not come to Him. They challenged Him again the next day,
asking, “By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this
authority?” He responded by asking them,
“The baptism of John was from what source, from heaven or from men?” And they
began reasoning among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will
say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe Him?’ But if we say, ‘From men,’ We
fear the multitude; for they all hold John to be a prophet.’ And answering Jesus, they said, ‘We do not
know’ He also said to them, ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I do
these things’” (Matt. 21:21-17).”
As
we look back at when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the colt of a donkey and the
people were praising Him believing Him to be their Messiah, the people were
looking for a political Messiah, and so a few days later in their disappointment
they would be yelling crucify Him. Then
Jesus came in and attacked their Temple, for this was the problem with the
people, not Rome. They needed to get
their spiritual life in order, but form most of them this would not happen, and
then in 70 A. D. the Temple would be destroyed and the Jews would not have a
place to call their home. They even
offered themselves as slaves to be bought but there were too many slaves on the
slave market and so they could not even do that. This fulfilled OT prophecy.
The
bottom line is Jesus attacked the Jews and not Rome, but when He does return to
earth in Revelation 19 He will destroy the rebuilt Roman Empire.
Remember
those words “He Left them” which is exactly what He did as He will not remain
where He is unwanted. Although every man
is accountable to God, He forces Himself on no one. And although salvation is first of all by God’s
sovereign initiative and power, no person is saved unwillingly. Because the
unbelieving chief priests and scribes would not receive Him, He left them and
went out to the city to Bethany, and lodged there, to be with His dear friends
Many, Martha, and Lazarus, and the other faithful disciples who trusted in, and
who loved Him.
6/17/2023 10:57 AM
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