MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/10/2026
7:47 AM
My
Worship Time Focus:
“Intro to
Luke 2:25-38”
Bible
Reading & Meditation
Reference: Luke 2:25-38
Message of the verses: “25 And there was a
man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and
devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit
was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by
the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the
Lord’s Christ. 27 And he came [b]by the Spirit into the temple; and when the
parents brought in the child Jesus, to carry out for Him the custom of the
Law, 28 then he took Him in his arms, and blessed God, and
said, 29 “Now, Lord, You are letting Your bond-servant depart
in peace, According to Your word;30 For my eyes have seen
Your salvation,31 Which You have prepared in the presence of
all the peoples:32 A light for revelation for the
Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel.”33 And His
father and mother were amazed at the things which were being said about
Him. 34 And Simeon blessed them and said to His
mother Mary, “Behold, this Child is appointed for the
fall and [e]rise of many in Israel, and as a sign to be [opposed— 35 and
a sword will pierce your own soul—to the end that thoughts from many hearts may
be revealed.” 36 And there was a prophetess, Anna,
the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years and
had lived with her husband for seven years after her marriage, 37 and then as
a widow to the age of eighty-four. She did not leave the temple grounds,
serving night and day with fasts and prayers. 38 And
at that very moment she came up and began giving thanks
to God, and continued to speak about Him to all those who were looking
forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.”
I will now quote this introduction
to these verses from John MacArthur’s commentary.
“All the promises in Scripture will
certainly be fulfilled, because God is ‘the faithful God’ (Deut. 7:9; cf. Hosea
11:12), the ‘God of faithfulness’ (Deut. 32:4) whose every ‘work is done in
faithfulness’ (Ps. 91:4). ‘His faithfulness
is a shield and bulwark’ to His people (Ps. 91:4), causing them to exclaim, ‘Great
is Your faithfulness’ (Lam. 3:23). Such
passages as Psalms 36:5; 40:10; 89:8; 100:5; 119:90; Romans 3:3; 1 Corinthians
1:9; 10:13; 2 Corinthians 1:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:24; 2 Thessalonians 3:3;
Hebrews 10:23; 1 Peter 4:19; and 1 John 1:9 also attest to God’s faithfulness.
“God promised Abraham and Sarah that
they would have a son despite their advanced age (Gen 17:15-19; 18:10, 14; cf.
Rom. 9:9), and she bore Isaac (Gen. 12:7; 13:14-17; 15:7, 18; 17:8; 26:3;
28:13, 35:12; 50:24; Ex. 12:25; 33:1; Num. 32:11; Deut. 1:8; 6:10; Josh. 23:5;
cf. Heb. 11:9), and ‘not one of the good promises which the Lord had made to
the house of Israel failed; and came to pass’ (Josh. 21:45; cf. 1 Kings
8:56). The Lord promised David, ‘Your
house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be
established forever’ (2 Sam. 7:16; cf. v. 28; 1 Kings 2:4; 8:24-25; 9:5). The promise will ultimately be fulfilled in
the Lord Jesus Christ, who will sit ‘on the throne of David and [reign] over
his kingdom, to establish it to uphold it with justice and righteousness from
then on and forevermore’ (Isa. 9:7; cf. Luke 1:32-33).
“But the most significant of all God’s
trustworthy promises is the promise that He would send His Son, the Messiah and
Savior, into the world. In 2 Corinthians
1:20, Paul wrote, ‘For as many as are the promises of God, in [Christ] they are
yes.’ ‘For the testimony of Jesus, ‘ the
apostle John added, ‘is the spirit of prophecy’ (Rev. 19:10). In keeping with
that truth, the Old Testament is filled with hundreds of prophecies of the
coming Christ, and the remainder will be fulfilled when He returns in glory.
“Immediately after the fall, God
promised to send a Redeemer (Gen. 3:15) and ‘when the fullness of time came,
God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law’ (Gal. 4:4). The Old Testament said that the Messiah would
be a descendent of Abraham (Gen 22:18) and David (2 Samuel 7:12-13; Ps. 89:3-4;
Jer. 23:5), and Jesus was (Matt. 1:22-23).
According to Micah 5:2, the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, and
Jesus was (Matt. 2:1). Isaiah (40:3) and
Malachi (3:1) predicted that Messiah would be preceded by a forerunner, and
John the Baptist fulfilled that role for Jesus Christ (Matt. 3:1-3; Luke
1:17). Jesus was the prophet like Moses
(Deut. 18:15-18; cf. Acts 3:20-22); the ‘priest forever according to the order
of Melchizedek’ (Ps. 110:4; cf. Heb. 5:5-6); the suffering Servant who bore the
sins of His people (Isa. 53:4-6; cf. 1 Peter 2:24); the ruler of the nations
(Ps. 2:6-9; Isa. 9:6; cf. Rev. 19:15-16); and the one exalted to the Father’s
right hand (Ps. 110:1; cf. Acts 2:32-36; Heb. 1:3; 10:10-12). Those are but a few of the numerous Old
Testament prophecies the Lord Jesus fulfilled (cf. Ps. 2:7 with Heb. 1:5; Isa.
11:2; 61:1 with Matt. 3:16; Acts 10:38; Zech. 9:9 with Matt. 26:63; John 1:29;
Isa. 52:14; 53:3 with Matt. 26:67; John 19:3; Isa. 50:6 with Mark 14:65; John
19:1; Ps. 22:16; with Matt. 27:35; John 20:25, 27; Ps. 22:1 with Matt. 27:46;
Ps. 22:7-8 with Matt. 27:39-44; Ps. 22:18 with Luke 23:34; Isa. 53:12 with Luke
22:37; Ex. 12:46 with John 19:33, 36; Zech. 12:10 with John 19:34, 37; Isa.
53:9 with Matt. 27:57-60; Ps. 16:10 with Acts 2:25-31; 13:35; Isa. 29:18 with
Matt. 11:5).
“But despite the clear testimony to
the Lord Jesus Christ in the Old Testament (cf. Luke 24:27, 44-47; John 5:39)
only a small, believing remnant in Israel were prepared to recognize Him when
He arrived. Among them was an old
couple, a common priest named Zacharias and his barren wife, Elizabeth, who
became the parents of Messiah’s forerunner (Luke 1:5ff.) Also a part of that small believing remnant
was a young couple just beginning their life together, Joseph and Mary, Jesus’
earthly father and the virgin in whom He conceived by the Holy Spirit (Luke
1:34-35). The shepherds who received the
angelic announcement of Jesus’ birth (Luke 2:8-20) were also members of the
believing remnant. All of them were
humble people, far from the elite circles of Jewish thought, education, or
religion. Yet they were chosen by God
for monumental service in connection with the birth of the Messiah.
“In verses 25-38, Luke introduced
two more members of the believing remnant, who further testified to the infant
Jesus’ true identity and mission: Simeon and Anna. Both were advanced in years, lived in
Jerusalem, were associated with the temple and were ‘looking for the
consolation of Israel’ (v. 25) along with ‘all those who were looking for the
redemption of Jerusalem’ (v. 38). They,
like John the Baptist would later be, were burning and shining lamps (John
5:35) in the spiritual darkness of a hypocritical and apostate nation.”
I have to say that I have written
many Spiritual Diaries since I began to write them way back in the 1990’s and I
don’t think that I Have ever had as many verse references as that are in this
SD, but looking at these references I have to believe that they tell the story
of the Messiah in wonderful ways, so it was worth the effort to write all of
these references.
Spiritual
Meaning for My life today: It is a wonderful privilege, blessing, and
honor to be born-again into the family of God, something that has been the very
best thing that has ever happened to me in my life.
My
Steps of Faith for Today: To continue to trust the Lord for what is
going on in our life, knowing that God is in control, and that He loves us and will
continue to guide us.
4/10/2026
8:49 AM
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