SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/21/2024 7:58 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
“Intro to Matt. 27:45-53”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
27:45-53
Message of the verses: “45 Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all
the land until the ninth hour. 46 About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a
loud voice, saying, "ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?" that is, "MY
GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?" 47 And some of those who were
standing there, when they heard it, began saying, "This man is
calling for Elijah." 48 Immediately one of them ran, and taking a sponge,
he filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink. 49 But
the rest of them said, "Let us see whether Elijah will come to save
Him." 50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His
spirit. 51 And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom;
and the earth shook and the rocks were split. 52 The tombs were opened, and
many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; 53 and coming out
of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to
many.”
I begin this introduction with a story that John
MacArthur tells as he begins his introduction to the 21st chapter in
his fourth commentary on the book of Matthew which he has entitled “God’s
Miraculous Commentary on the Cross.”
He writes “Some years ago as I was driving to a
meeting on Good Friday morning, I heard a radio program on which the speaker
was making an attempt to acknowledge it as a very special day. It was a day, he said, when a certain man was
prosecuted for crimes he did not commit and, although innocent, was sentenced
to death. The speaker was of course
talking about the crucifixion of Christ.
He commented on the inspiration of that special Person and of all others
like Him who stand unflinchingly for what they believe in, disregarding the
consequences.
“But
as well-meaning as that speaker may have been, he utterly missed the true
significance of Jesus’ death. Like most
people in Western society, he knew many of the bare facts of the crucifixion
but had no grasp on its meaning apart from the obvious travesty of human
justice. And from what was said on the program, Jesus’ resurrection was
considered to be more myth and legend than history. No divine purpose, activity, or accomplishment
were so much as hinted at.”
In
an earlier SD I mentioned that by the time of Christ the Romans had crucified
some 30,000 men from Palestine alone.
When you think about that number one must believe that there were more
than one of these persons that were innocent of the charges against them. MacArthur adds that “The majority of them
were executed for insurrection and doubtlessly were sincere patriots who hoped
to free their people from oppression.
They died nobly for a cause they believed in. Why, then, we may ask, does history remember
the name of only one of these men?
I
want to wait until tomorrow’s SD to answer this question and then complete this
introduction to this 21st chapter of MacArthur’s fourth commentary
on Matthew. 8/21/2024 8:17 AM
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