MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/19/2026
10:10 AM
My
Worship Time Focus:
PT-3 “The
Historical Setting”
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference: Luke
3:1-2a
Message of the verses: “Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of
Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was
tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philp was tetrarch of the region of
Ituraea and Tachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, in the high
priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas,”
I will pick up from MacArthur’s commentary from where
I left off last night: “Further, after his removal from office five of Annas’s
sons and one of his grandsons served as high priest, as did his son-in-law Caiaphas,
who held the office from A.D. 18-36.
Since high priests were appointed and deposed at the whim of the Romans,
Caiaphas’s unusually long tenure testifies to his skill as a politician. His ruthless determination to preserve his
own status and power can be seen in his proposal that Jesus be executed (John
11:49-50)—an unwitting prophetic prediction of the atoning nature of His death
(vv.51-52).
(John 11:49-50)
“49 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest
that year, said to them, "You know nothing at all. 50 Nor do you understand that it is better for
you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should
perish.’”
(vv.51-52)
“51 He did not say this of his own accord, but
being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, 52
and not for the nation only, but also to
gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.”
“Annas was proud, ambitious, and
notoriously greedy. A major source of
his income came from the temple. He
received a share of the proceeds from the sale of sacrificial animals; only
those for sale at the temple (for exorbitant prices) would be approved as an
offering. Annas also got a cut of the
fees the money changers charged to exchange foreign currency (only Jewish money
could be used to pay the temple tax; cf. John 2:14.”
(cf. John 2:14)
“14 In the temple he found those who were selling
oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there.”
“So
notorious was his greed that the outer courts of the temple, where the business
was conducted, became known as the Bazaar of Annas (Alfred Edersheim, The
Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah [Reprint; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,
1974], 1:371-72). Annas and Caiphas
especially hated Jesus because He twice disrupted their temple business
operations (John 2:13-16; Matt. 21:12-13).”
(John 2:13-16; Matt. 21:12-13)
“13 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and
Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the
temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the
money-changers sitting there. 15 And
making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and
oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their
tables. 16 And he told those who sold
the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of
trade.’”
“12 ¶ And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all
who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the
money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 13 He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house
shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.’”
“These two wretched individuals, as
greedy and corrupt as the pagans they despised, exercised tremendous control
over the people of Israel. Their rule
was especially obvious, since they corrupted their God-ordained authority (cf.
Matt. 23:1-3).”
(cf. Matt. 23:1-3)
“1 ¶ Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his
disciples, 2 "The scribes and the
Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, 3 so do
and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach,
but do not practice.”
“The
epitome of their wickedness came during the mock trial of Jesus, in which they
played the leading roles.
“It was into the world of these
seven men that John and Jesus came proclaiming the word of God. Four of them, Pilate, Herod, Annas and
Caiaphas, would play important roles in the unfolding drama of the Lord’s life,
ministry, and death. All of them
symbolized the moral and spiritual darkness that the Light of the world (John
8:12) came to dispel.”
(John 8:12)
12 ¶ Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the
light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have
the light of life.’”
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: As I look at what is going on in our world
today it causes me to be angry and want justice for those who are causing the
problems, both in our country and also what is going on in the Middle East. I
know that I would be much better off to just pray about it and let the Lord
work out all the details, and I would then not get angry over it.
My Steps
of Faith for Today: My wife is experiencing pain in her left side
for a few weeks now with no relief, and so I pray that this would be resolved,
as we pray about it.
4/19/2026
10:38 AM
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