MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/16/2026
10:12 AM
My
Worship Time Focus: PT-1
“His Preaching”
Bible
Reading & Meditation
Reference: Luke 4:31-34a
Message
of the verses: “And He came down to Capernaum, a
city of Galilee, and He was teaching
them on the Sabbath; and they were amazed at Hs teaching, for His message was
with authority. In the synagogue there
was a man possessed by the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a
loud voice, “Let us alone! What business do we have with each other, Jesus of
Nazareth?”
In this morning’s SD we begin looking at the verses
above, and as mentioned it will take a couple of days to get through this
section.
There was no one better at preaching
than Jesus Christ. Now in Matthew 4:17
we can see the following “17 From that
time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at
hand.’” Matthew 11:1 notes that “when
Jesus had finished giving instructions to His twelve disciples, He departed
from there to teach and preach in their cities.” It was shortly after the incident recorded in
this passage that Jesus declared, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the
other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose” (Luke 4:13; cf. v. 18; Mark
1:38). Luke 8:1 fines Him “going around
from one city and village to another, proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of
God.” Then nearing the end of His
earthly ministry Jesus was still “teaching the people in the temple and preaching
the gospel” (Luke 20:1). Even after His
resurrection Jesus preached a final sermon to His disciples (Luke 24:27). The Lord’s example underscores the vital
importance of expository preaching in the church.
Matthew 4:13 tells us “13 And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in
Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali.” From this verse we learn that Capernaum was
Jesus’ adopted hometown and was a city of Galilee, located on the
northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee.
John MacArthur writes “Its name means, ‘city of Nahum,’ but whether it
was name for the Old Testament prophet Nahum is not known. Capernaum was a significant enough city to
have had a Roman centurion and a detachment of soldiers stationed there (Matt.
8:5). That the centurion had been there
long enough to have built a synagogue for the Jewish inhabitants (Luke 7:5)
suggests that he was permanently assigned there. A royal official (most likely in the service
of Herod Antipas) also lived in Capernaum (John 4:36). IN Luke 10:15, Jesus rebuked its people for
their exalted view of their city’s importance:
‘And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will be brought down to Hades!’ In fulfillment of the Lord’s words, Capernaum
was eventually destroyed so completely that its exact location is unknown. In
addition to Jesus, several of the apostles were associated with Capernaum,
including Peter and Andrew (Mark 1:21, 29), who moved there from Bethsaida
(John 1:44), and Matthew, whose tax collector’s booth was in or near the city
(Matt. 9:1, 9).”
MacArthur goes on to write: “As was His custom (cf. the exposition of
4:15-16 in chapter 23, of this volume),
Jesus was teaching them on the Sabbath in the synagogue. It may be that the Lord chose the same text
in Isaiah 61:1-2 that He preached on earlier in Nazareth. Whatever His text was, the people who heard
Him were amazed at His teaching, for His message was with authority. Amazed translates a form of the verb ekplesso,
which describes shock, amazement, or astonishment. The crowd in the synagogue was surprised, by
the power of Jesus’ teaching and His absolute authority. Unlike the teachers they were used to
hearing. Jesus did not quote other
rabbis, but declared the Word of God.
His teaching was powerful, true, delivered with great clarity, and
produced tremendous conviction. But on
this occasion, the convicting force of the Lord’s preaching hit, strangely
enough, a demon. In the synagogue that
day there was a man possessed by the spirit of an unclean demon. That demon, as the Greek text indicates,
literally indwelt him. That Luke
describes the demon as unclean does not indicate he was an especially
evil demon; all demons are unclean spirits (cf. 6:18; Matt. 10:1; 12:43; Mark
3:11, 30; 5:2, 8, 13; 7:25; 9:25).”
I realize that I did not get too far
with this section this morning but Lord willing will continue looking at it
this evening.
5/16/2026
10:48 AM
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