SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/1/2023 8:59 AM
My Worship Time Focus: “Intro to
Matthew 21:23-32”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference:
Matt. 21:23-32
Message of the verses: “23 When He entered
the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him while He
was teaching, and said, "By what authority are You doing these things, and
who gave You this authority?" 24 Jesus said to them, "I will also ask
you one thing, which if you tell Me, I will also tell you by what authority I
do these things. 25 “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?’ 26 "But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the people; for
they all regard John as a prophet." 27 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.
28 "But what do
you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go work
today in the vineyard.’ 29 “And he answered, ‘I will not’; but afterward he
regretted it and went. 30 “The man came to the second and said the same thing;
and he answered, ‘I will, sir’; but he did not go. 31 “Which of the two
did the will of his father?" They said, "The first." Jesus said
to them, "Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes will
get into the kingdom of God before you. 32 “For John came to you in the way of
righteousness and you did not believe him; but the tax collectors and
prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even feel
remorse afterward so as to believe him.”
In today’s SD we begin to look at Matthew 21:23-32,
and John MacArthur entitles this 27th chapter of his third book of
his commentaries from the gospel of Matthew “The Authority of Jesus.” I have to say that this will be a very short
Spiritual Diary, but after the past three days when my Spiritual Diaries were
fairly long it is good to have a short one to begin this first day of the month
of July in the year of our Lord 2023.
So
the question is what does the word “authority” really mean? The following comes from the 1828 Webster
dictionary written by Noah Webster:
AUTHOR'ITY, noun [Latin auctoritas.]
1. Legal power, or a right to command or
to act; as the authority of a prince over subjects, and of
parents over children. Power; rule; sway.
2. The power derived from opinion, respect
or esteem; influence of character or office; credit; as the authority of
age or example, which is submitted to or respected, in some measure, as a law,
or rule of action. That which is claimed in justification or support of
opinions and measures.
3. Testimony; witness; or the person who
testifies; as, the Gospels or the evangelists are our authorities for the
miracles of Christ.
4. Weight of testimony; credibility; as a
historian of no authority
5. Weight of character; respectability; dignity;
as a magistrate of great authority in the city.
6. Warrant; order; permission.
By what authority dost thou these things. Matthew 21:23. Acts 9:14.
7. Precedents, decisions of a court,
official declarations, respectable opinions and says, also the books that
contain them, are call authorities, as they influence the opinions of others;
and in law, the decisions of supreme courts have a binding force upon inferior
courts, and are called authorities.
8. Government; the persons or the body
exercising power or command; as the local authorities of the states.
In Connecticut, the justices of the peace are denominated the
civil authority
John
MacArthur writes “Authority is a strong word, denoting power and
privilege. A person with authority
exercises control over the lives and welfare of other people. Society cannot operate without having some
people in positions of authority; the alternative would be anarchy and
chaos. In the family, parents have
authority. In school, teachers and
administrators have authority. In the
community, the mayor, the city council, police, and firemen all have spheres of
authority. And so also in the larger
bodies of government.
“The
conflict in the encounter between Jesus and the religious leaders was over the
issue of authority, specifically Jesus’ authority, which they questioned and
which they feared would threaten their own positions of authority.”
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: It is a
good thing to realize that the Lord Jesus Christ is really the only authority
over all things, including my life.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Allow the Lord, through His Holy Spirit to have rule
over my life today and every day.
7/1/2023
9:22 AM
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