Saturday, October 5, 2024

PT-4 "Terror" (Matt. 28:2-7)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/5/2024 9:30 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                                         Focus:  PT-4 “Terror”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matthew 28:2-7

 

            Message of the verses:  2 And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. 3 And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. 4 The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men. 5 The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. 6 “He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come; see the place where He was lying. 7 “Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you.’”

 

            I want to continue looking at these verses in today’s SD, and I want to begin by talking about the angel who invited the women to Come; see the place where He was lying.  Notice I highlighted to word was because He was not there anymore for He had risen from the dead.  So now at this point the women went into the tomb and they observed that it was indeed empty.  The angel would join them in the tomb and reiterated the same basic message, saying, “Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified.  He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him” (Mark 16:6).  It is possible that this message was repeated because the women found it so hard to believe, despite the fact that they now remembered Jesus’ prediction that He would rise on the third day.  It was hard to believe it when He told them that He would rise on the third day, and now that He had been raised from the dead it was still hard for them to believe it.  The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is certainly a very key point in the gospel message because if He had not been raised from the dead then He would be like all the other religions in the world because none of them have a risen Savior and Lord like Christianity. 

 

            A short time later Peter and John entered the tomb and they “beheld the linen wrappings lying there, and the face-cloth, which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself” (John 20:6-7).  So the burial clothes were just as they were when Joseph and Nicodemus laid the body to rest, except for the face-cloth, which was set to one side.  So this means that Jesus did not have to unwrap any more than He had to have the stone removed.  At one moment He was encased in the linen, and the next He was free, leaving the wrappings unchanged.  I have to say that this was a great miracle, the greatest miracle that has ever happened, a miracle that was planned from eternity past when there was no earth, no stars no anything where are planets are today.

 

            I will now complete this Spiritual Diary by quoting two paragraphs from John MacArthur’s commentary and perhaps will be able to finish this rather long section in my next SD tomorrow.

 

            “While the women were in the tomb, another angel joined the first ‘one at the head, and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying’ (John 20:12).  Their positions are reminiscent of the two golden cherubim who were on either side of the Mercy Seat of the Ark of the covenant (Ex. 25:18).  The two angels in the garden were posted at either end of the tomb of Jesus, who, by the sacrifice He had just made of His own life, became the true and eternal Mercy Seat for sinful mankind.

            The two angels gave still another reminder to the women, ‘Why do you seek the living One among the dead?’ they ask ‘He is not here, but He has risen.  Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of the sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again’ (Luke 24:5-7).  For a third time the women were told the glorious truth of Jesus’ resurrection, a truth whose fulfillment they should have been eagerly expecting.”

 

            I certainly do not fault these women or even the disciples who had a difficult time believing that Jesus had indeed been raised from the dead.  The truth is that He did rise from the dead, and the truth is that all who come to believe in Him to forgive all of their sins must believe this truth too. 

 

            Once again I want to ask those believers who are reading my Spiritual Diaries that are on the internet to please continue in praying for the nation of Israel as Satan is using other countries near Israel to try and destroy them.  Please pray for the peace of Jerusalem for that is Biblical.

 

10/5/2024 9:57 AM

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