Wednesday, May 15, 2024

PT-1 "Intro to Matthew 26:36-46"

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/15/2024 9:19 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                         Focus:  PT-1 “Intro to Matthew 26:36-46”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                              Reference:  Matthew 26:36-46

 

            Message of the verses:  36 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to His disciples, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." 37  And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and distressed. 38 Then He said to them, "My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me." 39 And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will." 40 And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, "So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour? 41 “Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." 42 He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, "My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Your will be done." 43 Again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. 44 And He left them again, and went away and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more. 45 Then He came to the disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 “Get up, let us be going; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand!’”

 

            I begin this introduction with a quote from John MacArthur’s commentary where he quotes a portion of a sermon given by Charles Haddon Spurgeon which he preached on April 12, 1885 which was named “The Man Christ Jesus.”  “It will not be enough for you to hear, or read [about Christ]; you must do your own thinking and consider your Lord for yourselves…The wine is not made by gathering the clusters, but by treading the grapes in the wine-vat: under pressure the red juice leaps forth.  Not the truth as you read it, but the truth as you meditate upon it, will be a blessing to you…Shut yourself up with Jesus, if you would know him.’ Just before that he had said, ‘[Yet] I am never more vexed with myself than when I have done my very best to extol his dear name.  What is it but holding a candle to the sun?’  Spurgeon concludes, ‘I cannot speak as I would of Him.  The blasé of this Sun blinds me!’  (The Metropolitan Tabernacle, vol. 31 [London: Passmore & Alabaster, n.d.], pp. 209,213). 

 

            If someone wants to listen to this sermon read by someone it can be found by searching the internet for Spurgeon’s sermons as I believe that most of his sermons can be found.

 

            I have to say that a couple of days ago that I listened to John MacArthur’s two sermons on these verses from Matthew 26:36-46 and I have to say that the messages given on these verses from MacArthur were a wonderful experience.  He stated that he spent much time thinking about what he was going to say and wished that he could just preach one sermon which would last well over two hours, but knew that would not be possible.  I have to say that I was moved by what is found in these verses and I hope that I can convey that as I attempt to write about them over the next few days or perhaps it will take more than a week to go through them, we will see.

 

            He goes on to write “Even when one’s best is done to study about and meditate on the Lord Jesus Christ, it becomes clear that the mystery is far too deep for human comprehension.  We know and believe that He is fully God and also fully man, but to state and even sincerely believe such a paradox is not to understand it.  It is far to profound even for Christian minds enlightened by the Holy Spirit to fathom.  With humility, awe, and reference we follow the Lord on His circuitous route to the cross.

 

            “By now it was probably near midnight on the Thursday of Passover week in A.D. 33.  Jesus’ three years of ministry were completed.  He had preached His last public sermon and performed His last miracle.  He also had celebrated the last Passover with His disciples.  But infinitely more important than that, He had come to be the last and ultimate Passover Lamb, the perfect and only sacrifice for the sins of the world.”

 

Lord willing we will finish this introduction in the next SD.

 

5/15/2024 9:45 AM

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