PT-3 "Intro to Matt. 26:31-35

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/7/2024 9:58 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                               Focus:  PT-3 “Intro to Matt. 26:31-35”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                              Reference:  Matthew 26:31-35

 

            Message of the verses:  “31 Then Jesus said to them, "You will all fall away because of Me this night, for it is written, ‘I WILL STRIKE DOWN THE SHEPHERD, AND THE SHEEP OF THE FLOCK SHALL BE SCATTERED.’ 32 "But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee." 33 But Peter said to Him, "Even though all may fall away because of You, I will never fall away." 34 Jesus said to him, "Truly I say to you that this very night, before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times." 35 Peter said to Him, "Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You." All the disciples said the same thing too.”

 

            I begin with another important quote from John MacArthur’s commentary.  “This is a lesson every child of God needs to learn and relearn.  Because it is not difficult to stand firm in the doctrine and moral standards when we are among fellow Christians, we are tempted to think we would never desert our Lord by compromising those truths and standards.  But when we are out in the unbelieving world and are separated from the strength of Christian fellowship, we discover how unfounded such self-confidence is.  Paul even had to remind the faithful Timothy that ‘God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline’ (2 Tim. 1:7), because Timothy had evidenced some proneness to be ashamed of his Lord (v.8).”  “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God.”

 

            I can understand how easily it is to kind of fall away from serving the Lord when away from the church family.  I worked in a foundry and the co-workers who worked there were men and women who were certainly not godly people and at times it was easy to be dragged down by them, but the truth is there is no place in the life of a believer for shame of Christ or for defection and desertion.  Shame of Christ is characteristic of unbelievers (see Mark 8:38) and should never be found in Christians.  Because of his continual reliance on the Lord, Paul could truthfully affirm to his son in the Lord “I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day” (2 Tim. 1:12).  Then to the Roman church Paul declared with equal confidence, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Rom. 1:16).

 

            It would be during this last night that the disciples were with Jesus being taught by Him, and then all of a sudden He is taken away and they will all flee that they will very rapidly learn that without His help faithfulness to Him is impossible.  No believer is equipped in his own understanding or power to engage in spiritual warfare with the flesh, the world, and Satan.  The important truth is beautifully expressed, John MacArthur writes “by nineteenth-century hymn writer John E. Bode in the hymn, ‘O Jesus, I Have promised.’ In one stanza the affirmation “I shall not fear the battle’ is qualified by ‘if Thou art by my side,’ and the affirmation ‘Nor wander from the pathway’ is qualified by ‘if Thou wilt be my guide.’”

 

            Here is another important quotation from MacArthur’s commentary:  “In predicting their desertion the Lord also taught the disciples another lesson about His divine omniscience.  Precisely as He declared all of them fled in fear when He was arrested a short while later that some evening (Matt. 26:56).

            “Although the disciples are essential participants in this account and are instructive examples for us, Matthew’s central focus, as always, is on Christ as King.  It seems the gospel writer’s intent is to preserve the dignity and glory of the King of kings even in the midst of defection, betrayal, and supreme malevolence.

            “Skeptics are inclined to ask such questions as: ‘What kind of leader is this whose followers all leave Him in the time of His greatest need?  What kind of leader is who has so little control over those under Him that He cannot keep them from running away when the battle gets hot?  Have not many men heroically stood their ground for lesser causes and in face of greater danger?  Ho could one who made such great claims as Jesus have been such a poor judge and builder of men?’”

 

            Lord willing we will get some answers to these important questions in our next SD.

 

5/7/2024 10:27 AM