EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/6/2026
8:30 PM
My
Worship Time Focus:
“The Inquisition”
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference: Luke
5:33
Message of the verse: “And they said to Him, “The disciples of
John often fast and offer prayers, the disciples of the Pharisees also do the
same, but Yours eat and drink.”
I have to begin with a quotation from John MacArthur
because he has puts some words in his commentary that I am not all that
familiar with: “Luke’s failure to
specify the antecedent of they further links this passage to the
previous one. If this incident took
place at a different time, Luke would have needed to identify the people who
were speaking. According to Matthew’s
account, the disciples of John the Baptist were the ones asking the question
(Matt. 9:14).”
(Matt. 9:14)
“14 ¶ Then the disciples of John came to him,
saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?”
There is
no contradiction between Matthew and Luke, however, since Mark 2:18 records that
both the Pharisees and John’s disciples approached Jesus. No doubt individuals from both groups fired
the same question to the Lord.”
Mark 2:18
“18 ¶ Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were
fasting. And people came and said to him, “Why do John’s disciples and the
disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?”
“That the disciples of John appeared
with the scribes and Pharisees is surprising.
After all, John was Jesus’ forerunner, who pointed Him out as ‘the Lamb
of God who takes away the sin of the world!’
(John 1:29; cf. v. 36) and pointed his own disciples be associated with
Jesus’ bitter enemies?” I would say that
these are some good questions to be asked.
“It must be remembered that not all
of those who followed John were present when Jesus was baptized, or when John
pointed Him out as the Lamb of God. Nor
were they all convinced that Jesus was the Messiah; even John had his moment of
doubt (Luke 7:19), as years later Paul encountered some disciples of John who
did not even then know that Jesus was the Messiah
(Acts 19:1-7)
“1 ¶ And it happened that while Apollos was at
Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he
found some disciples. 2 And he said to
them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No,
we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 And he said, “Into what then were you
baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.” 4
And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling
the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.”
5 On hearing this, they were baptized in
the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when
Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began
speaking in tongues and prophesying. 7
There were about twelve men in all.”
(Luke 7:19)
19 ¶ calling two of his disciples to him, sent
them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for
another?’”
“Since
John was by this time in prison (Luke 3:20), he was not available to confirm to
his disciples that Jesus was the One he heralded.”
(Luke 3:20)
“20 added this to them all, that he locked up
John in prison.”
“Many of
John’s followers who did not believe Jesus was the Messiah and nonetheless made
a serious spiritual confession when they were baptized. They had acknowledged their sin and sought forgiveness,
in an effort to prepare themselves for Messiah’s coming kingdom. It was natural for such committed people to
associate with the religious elite, the Pharisees and scribes.
“John’s disciples and the Pharisees
reproached Jesus’ disciples for violating Jewish religious custom by failing to
fast and offer ritual prayers.
Fasting was one of the three major practical expressions of Jewish
piety, along with prayer and giving alms.
All three were done publicly and ostentatiously by the religious elite
to showcase their supposed godliness before men. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus warned
against such hypocrisy:
2 "Thus, when you give to the needy, sound
no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the
streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have
received their reward. 3 But when you
give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is
doing, 4 so that your giving may be in
secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 5 ¶
"And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they
love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they
may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you,, they have received their reward.
6 But when you pray, go into your room
and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who
sees in secret will reward you… 16 ¶
"And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for
they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I
say to you, they have received their reward. 17
But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 that your fasting may not be seen by others
but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will
reward you. (Matthew 6:2-6, 16-18)
“Though the Pharisees fasted twice a
week (Luke 18:12) on Monday and Thursday, there is only one fast mandated in
the Old Testament. On the Day of
Atonement, the Lord commanded the people of Israel to humble or afflict their
souls (Lev. 16:29, 31), which is a reference to fasting (cf. The Zondervan
Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, s.v. ‘Fasting’). The rabbinical writings forbade eating—even as
much as a single date—or drinking on the Day of Atonement. On a day set aside for mourning over and
repenting from sin, eating was deemed inappropriate. There are nonrequired fasts mentioned in the
Old Testament (e.g., Judg. 20:26; 1 Samuel 7:6; 31:13; 2 Samuel 1:12; 12:16; 1 Kings
21:27; 2 Chronicles 20:3; Ezra 8:21, 23; Neh. 1:4; 9:1; Ester 4:1-3; Ps. 69:10;
Dan. 9:3; Joel 1:13-14; 2:12, 15), but they were spontaneous, associated with
grief, mourning, and humbly seeking God.
“What outraged the scribes, Pharisees,
and disciples of John was that the disciples of Jesus ignored the tradition
ritual fasts and continued to eat and drink. Accosting Jesus, they
demanded an explanation for that egregious breach of Jewish custom.
6/6/2026
9:09 PM
I have to
say that if a person is looking for an answer to prayer, and it does not come
to him or her, that fasting is a good way to come to the Lord. When a person fasts their mind is clearer and
then they can have a better understanding of the Word of God. After I retired from my regular job I went to
a cabin to fast and read God’s Word and other good spiritual books in order to
see what the Lord wanted me to do after I retired, after all I was 52 years
old. Fasting is good for you body and
good for your soul, and the best part is that after three days without food you
are not hungry at all, however if you fast for a very long time and become
hungry it is time to eat. You can see
this in the life of our Savior as He fasted for forty days after His baptism,
and I think that was in order to reflect on what His mission was on earth.
No comments:
Post a Comment