SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/30/2024 8:56 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-1 “Compassion”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference:
Matthew 28:1
Message of the
verse: “1 Now
after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week,
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave.”
Let us begin this SD by looking at the words after
the Sabbath, as this translates an unusual construction in the Greek, opse de sabbaton. MacArthur writes “The phrase could be rendered,
‘well after the Sabbath,’ indicating that a considerable amount of time had
elapsed since the Sabbath ended. The
actual time was from sundown the previous evening, when the Sabbath had ended,
until it began to dawn the following day, which was Sunday, the first day of
the week, totaling perhaps ten hours.
John states specifically that when the women came ‘it was still dark’
(20:1).”
I can say that I am happy that the
New Testament has four gospels in it, especially now as I am studying what
happens during and after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is good to look at all of them in order to
get the complete picture of what went on right after the resurrection of Jesus
Christ, and the only way that can be done is by studying all of them. It is my recollection that Jesus did not go
back to heaven, as described in the first chapter of Acts until 40 days after
His resurrection from the dead, so there were different things that He did
before going back to heaven to sit at the right hand of God interceding for
those who belong to Him.
MacArthur continues to explain “The
first day of the week also translates an interesting Greek phrase, which
literally means, ‘day one with reference to the Sabbath.’ The Jews did not have names for days of the
week, such as Monday, Tuesday, and so on, but simply numbered them in relation
to the Sabbath. Sabbath means ‘seventh,’
and although it was the end of the week, because it was the central and holy
day, all other days were reckoned by it—as the first, second, third, and so
forth, day after the Sabbath.” I can
tell you that I for one am happy to learn this as it is new to me, as I did not
know that the Jews did not have names for the days of the week like we have
now.
Now in studying for a long time the
28th chapter of Matthew one of the things that was learned was that
because Jews considered reference to “a day” as meaning any port of that day,
and this came important when one looks at how long Jesus was dead, and in the
tomb. Sunday was the third day of Jesus’
interment, the day which He had repeatedly predicted would be the day of His
resurrection: “From that time Jesus
began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many
things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be
raised up on the third day” (Matthew 16:21).
There are other references that speak of this including Matt. 17:23;
27:64; Mark 10:34; and Luke 18:33.
MacArthur explains that “The phrase ‘after
the Sabbath’ could also refer figuratively to the new day of rest for God’s
people. As a commemoration of God’s
resting after creation, the Sabbath was to be a day of rest and worship for
Israel (Ex. 20:8-11). But the day before
Jesus arose from the grave was the last divinely ordained Sabbath for His
people, because on the followed day the New Covenant in Jesus Christ was
ushered in. That Sunday was the dawning
not only of a new day but of a new era in redemptive history.
“It is because of the resurrection
that Christians worship on Sunday rather than on the Sabbath.”
Lord willing we will continue to
look at this section tomorrow.
I want to say that I am not one to predict
when the Rapture of the Church will happen, but a long time ago, and I have to
say that I don’t remember who I was studying, but remember studying that this
person, and I only use qualified people to help me in my studies, said that it
is possible that the Rapture of the Church could happen on what is called Rosh
Hashana, which is the Jewish New Year. “Rosh
Hashana, which translates from Hebrew to mean ‘the head of the year,’ is one of
Judaism’s holiest days. The two-day
celebration marks the start of the Jewish New Year and is filled with
traditions, like eating a round challah and saying prayers near a body of water.” “Rosh Hashana” “Evening of Wed, Oct. 2, 2024—Fri,
Oct 4, 2024.”
9/30/2024 9:27
AM
No comments:
Post a Comment