EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/9/2026
7:59 PM
My
Worship Time Focus: PT-1 “In a Synagogue”
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference: Luke
6:6-11
Bible Reading & Meditation
“6 On another Sabbath He entered the synagogue and
taught; and a man was there whose right hand was withered. 7 Now
the scribes and the Pharisees were watching Him [closely to
see if He healed on the Sabbath, so that they might find a
reason to accuse Him. 8 But He knew what
they were thinking, and He said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up
and come forward!” And he got up and came forward. 9 And
Jesus said to them, “I ask you whether it is lawful to do good on the
Sabbath or to do harm, to save a life or to destroy it?” 10 And
after looking around at them all, He said to him, “Stretch out your
hand!” And he did so; and his hand was restored. 11 But
they themselves were filled with senseless rage, and began discussing
together what they might do to Jesus.”
I begin this evening with what is a
longer section than the last one, but as always, I will take my time so that
what I write will be used by the Spirit of God to speak to those who read it.
On another Sabbath, Jesus
again confronted the Pharisees over the exact same issue of the Sabbath. Now we
don’t really know where this incident took place because Luke does not identify
it, however he does write that this took place in a synagogue perhaps in
Capernaum. However Matthew , Mark, and
Luke all place it immediately after the incident in the grainfields, which
suggests it happened soon afterward, perhaps even on the next Sabbath, but we don’t
know for sure. Now in keeping with the
priority of His ministry Jesus was teaching (cf. 4:14-15, 31, 44; 5:15,
17).
(cf. 4:14-15, 31, 44; 5:15, 17)
“14 ¶ And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit
to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding
country. 15 And he taught in their synagogues,
being glorified by all.”
“31 ¶ And he went down to Capernaum, a city of
Galilee. And he was teaching them on the Sabbath,”
“44 And he was preaching in the synagogues of
Judea.”
“15 But now even more the report about him went
abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their
infirmities.”
“17 ¶ On one of those days, as he was teaching,
Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every
village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was
with him to heal.”
The content
of His message was not recorded, but He would have been preaching the gospel
(3:18; 4:18; 7:22; 20:1; Mark 1:14)—the good news that the poor, prisoners,
blind, and oppressed could be freed from their sin and the heavy burden of a
false, damning, legalistic religion (4:18-21).
(3:18; 4:18; 7:22; 20:1; Mark 1:14)
“18 So with many other exhortations he preached
good news to the people.”
“18 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to
proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set
at liberty those who are oppressed,”
“22 And he answered them, "Go and tell John
what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk,
lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have
good news preached to them.”
“1 ¶ One day, as Jesus was teaching the people in
the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the
elders came up”
“14 ¶ Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into
Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God,”
John MacArthur writes: “In the
synagogue on that particular Sabbath was a man…whose right hand (only
Luke, with his careful attention to medical detail, notes that it was his right
hand) was withered; that is, atrophied due to paralysis. This man was the main object of Jesus’
attention, and his healing was another assault on the Pharisees’ restrictions for
the Sabbath.
“As always, the scribes and the
Pharisees were there, hoping to find something for which they could condemn
the Lord. As always, these zealous
legalists were watching Jesus closely
translates a form of the Greek verb paratereo, which means, ‘to
observe carefully,’ ‘to be on the lookout,’ or ‘to pay heed to.’ Often, as it does here, the word takes on a
sinister tone, and could be translated, ‘to lurk’, ‘to watch for an
opportunity,’ or ‘to lie in wait’ (cf. 14:1; 20:20; Mark 3:2). The scribes and Pharisees were by no means
neutral observers, but rather spies.”
(cf. 14:1; 20:20; Mark 3:2)
“1 ¶ One Sabbath, when he went to dine at the
house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully.”
“20 ¶ So they watched him and sent spies, who
pretended to be sincere, that they might catch him in something he said, so as
to deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor.”
“2 And they watched Jesus, to see whether he
would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him.”
“Specifically, they were watching
Jesus to see if He healed on the Sabbath, so that they might find reason to
accuse Him. Ironically, these self-appointed
guardians of the Sabbath system did not want to stop Jesus from breaking their
Sabbath rules; they actually wanted Him to perform a healing, so they would
have cause to indict Him. Christ’s
performing a healing would thus best suit their heinous hatred. Interestingly, never throughout His entire
ministry did they doubt His ability to heal (cf. 5:17-26), which proved His
ability to forgive sin (5:24).”
(cf. 5:17-26)
“17 ¶ On one of those days, as he was teaching,
Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every
village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was
with him to heal. 18 And behold, some
men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to
bring him in and lay him before Jesus, 19
but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up
on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst
before Jesus. 20 And when he saw their
faith, he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” 21 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to
question, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but
God alone?” 22 When Jesus perceived
their thoughts, he answered them, "Why do you question in your hearts?
23 Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins
are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? 24 But that you may know that the Son of Man has
authority on earth to forgive sins"—he said to the man who was
paralyzed—" I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home."
25 And immediately he rose up before
them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God. 26 And amazement seized them all, and they
glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, “We have seen extraordinary
things today.’”
(5:24)
“24 But that you may know that the Son of Man has
authority on earth to forgive sins"—he said to the man who was
paralyzed—" I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.’”
“Yet the
convoluted reasoning in their sinful, prideful, obstinate hearts was that if
Jesus did heal, the consequence would be that they could charge Him with breaking
the Sabbath.”
Now I want to end this SD by again
looking at a part of the Ten Commandments that speak of the Sabbath. 8 "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it
holy. 9 Six days you shall labor, and do
all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath
to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or
your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or
the sojourner who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the
LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” (Exodus 20:8-11)
6/9/2026
8:38 PM
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