SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/28/2024 8:42 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-2 “Availability”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference:
Matthew 28:16
Message of the verses: “But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated.”
I want to begin with talking about what the last
recorded appearance of Jesus in Jerusalem, which was eight days after the
resurrection, and this was when Thomas saw the resurrected Lord for the first
time: “26 After
eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came,
the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, "Peace be
with you.’” Now the journey from
Jerusalem to Galilee would have taken a week, and then after they arrived there
in Galilee some of the disciples went fishing, during which time the Lord again
appeared to them, as He provided a large catch of fish for them which were too
heavy to haul into the boat. Then, after
having breakfast with His disciples Jesus would ask Peter three about his love
for Him, and then gave the commission to feed the sheep. This can be found in John 21:1-17, and this
is a very important passage. Now that
event would have occurred at least fifteen days after the resurrection and
perhaps even twenty days after the resurrection. Now we know that Jesus would ascended from
the Mount of Olives in the presence of His disciples, which means that they had
to take another week to travel back to Jerusalem. I remember seeing a movie that I thought was
fairly accurate about the soldier who was at the crucifixion of Jesus and was
asked by Pilate to find the body of Jesus.
The story shows that this soldier would become a believer in Jesus and
run away from his job at the end, but the part that I did not like was that he
and the disciples saw Jesus go back into heaven from Galilee.
Now because Jesus’ postresurrection
appearances covered a total of forty days, “To these He also presented Himself
alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a
period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of
God, (Acts 1:30), His giving of the Great commission on the Galilean
mountainside would have had to occur sometime between twenty and thirty-five
days after His resurrection.
MacArthur writes “We are not told
who was present when Jesus gave the Great Commission, but it seems probable that
it was the group of more than five hundred that Paul mentions in 1 Corinthians
15:6. That has been the view of many
biblical scholars throughout church history.”
Now this is something new to me as I thought it was only given to His
disciples, but it makes more sense to have been given to the 500+ people Paul
writes about in 1 Corinthians 15:6 which states “6 After that He appeared to
more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but
some have fallen asleep.”
MacArthur then goes on to write: “The fact that Matthew specifically mentions
only the eleven disciples does not limit the gathering to them. The angel’s message for the women to give to
the disciples seems to imply that the women would also see Jesus in Galilee
(see Matt. 28:7). There would have been
no reason for Jesus to send the eleven to Galilee, only to have them return a
few days later to the Mount of Olives for His ascension. It seems more reasonable that the Lord
assembled a large group of believers and that He chose Galilee for the meeting
place because most of His followers were from that region.
“Because the Great Commission
applies to all of His church, Jesus would surely have wanted to deliver it to
the largest possible group of His faithful followers. Not only were most of Jesus’ followers from
Galilee, but that region was secluded and was a safe distance from Jerusalem,
where most of Jesus’ enemies were. And
because the commission extends to all the world, Galilee, often referred to as
Galilee of the Gentiles, also was appropriate for that reason.”
Again I have to say that all of
these things MacArthur is writing about are new to me, but I believe they make
a lot of sense in the timeline of what happened after the resurrection of Jesus
from the dead.
He goes on to write “Wherever the
mountain was, it became a place of great sacredness, where more than five
hundred of Jesus’ disciples came with their weaknesses, confusion, doubts,
misgivings, and fears. They were not the
most humanly capable people in the world, nor the most intelligent or powerful
or influential. But they were where the
Lord wanted them to be, and that obedience gave evidence of their willingness
to be used in His service. Like Isaiah
after his vision in the Temple, they said, in effect, ‘Here am I. Send me’ (Isa. 6:8).”
The truth is that it was because
they were there, they met Christ. Also
because they were there, they were commissioned, commissioned to go and tell
the truth of Jesus’ resurrection, which is the greatest thing that has ever
been witnessed on this earth. Also because
they were there they received the Lord’s promise of His continual presence and
power as they ministered to the world in His name. Now here is a great point as MacArthur writes
“It all started with being available.”
Spiritual
meaning for my life: Being available
means not to be involved in the things of the world, but making sure as the
story of the young mountain climber told in an earlier SD, that I have to drop
the things of the world and make my way to the top of the mountain in order to
serve the Lord, to be available to serve the Lord.
My
Steps of Faith for Today: I trust
that the Holy Spirit will fill me in order to serve the Lord in the ways that
He has called me to serve Him.
10/28/2024 9:19
AM
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