SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/14/2023 9:37 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-4 “The Attack”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference:
Matt. 22:15-17
Message of the verses: “15 Then the
Pharisees went and plotted together how they might trap Him in what He said. 16
And they sent their disciples to Him, along with the Herodians, saying,
"Teacher, we know that You are truthful and teach the way of God in truth,
and defer to no one; for You are not partial to any. 17 “Tell us then, what do
You think? Is it lawful to give a poll-tax to Caesar, or not?’”
I want to talk about the things that these leaders
had said about Jesus, and what I want to say about this is that it is the
truth, but they were trying to trap Jesus in saying these true things about Him
as can be seen in the 17th verse.
The truth is that Jesus would not be swayed by threats or opposition but
was known for standing His ground with courage and conviction. On my other blog post this morning from the
book of Acts I was writing about the Apostle Paul and the convictions that he
had, and went over what Paul said to Peter that is recorded in the book of
Galatians. I think that it would be
appropriate to quote these verses in this SD.
“11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For prior to the coming of certain men from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he began to withdraw and hold himself aloof, fearing the party of the circumcision. 13 The rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in the presence of all, "If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews? 15 “We are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles; 16 nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified. 17 “But if, while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have also been found sinners, is Christ then a minister of sin? May it never be! 18 “For if I rebuild what I have once destroyed, I prove myself to be a transgressor. 19 “For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God. 20 "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. 21 “I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly"” (Gal. 2:11-21).
Now as we once again look at what these men said about
Jesus and as mentioned that it was the truth, the problem is that they did not
believe what they were saying about Him, and if they would have believed it
then they would not have wanted to have Him put to death, which was their true
motive.
MacArthur
writes “Assuming that Jesus was inwardly reveling in their flattery the men
sprang their trap question: ““Tell us then, what do You think? Is it lawful to give a
poll-tax to Caesar, or not?’” One of the
highest forms of praise is to ask a person’s advice on an important issue. Therefore, after Jesus’ ego was, as they
supposed, stimulated by previous compliments, the questioners were certain
that, like most men, He would be eager to display the wisdom for which He had
just been praised. In doing so He would
blurt out an unguarded answer that would become His death warrant.”
I
will end this SD with another quote from MacArthur as he explains about the Poll-tax. “Poll-tax translates kensos taken from the Latin (i.e.,Roman) censere, from
which is derived the English census. Of the many taxes the Romans exacted from
occupied territories, none was more onerous to Jews than the poll-tax, a tax
payable yearly by every individual and therefore sometimes called the head
tax. Among other things, it was for the
purpose of collecting the poll-tax that Rome took a periodic census, such as
the one that had required Joseph and Mary to travel to Bethlehem just before
Jesus was born (Luke 2:1-4).”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: As I look at how it was that Jesus was born
in Bethlehem, which was what was prophesized that He would be born there it
causes me to remember that sometimes things like even taxes are used by God for
His glory.
My Steps of Faith for Today: God can do all things even causes taxes to
bring glory to Him, but there are times when I believe that the Lord does not
answer my prayers about issues that I face because He desires me to trust Him
as I go through them even though they are not what I would want to face. When I am weak then He makes me strong.
8/14/2023 10:06 AM
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