PT-1 “Thomas” (Luke 6:15b)

 

MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/2/2026 12:27 PM

My Worship Time                                                                                       Focus: PT-1 “Thomas”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                     Reference:  Luke 6:15b

            Message of the verse: “Thomas”

            There are a lot of things going on in my life today as things are changing due to the cancer that my wife is fighting in her body, and so my SD’s may be a little shorter than they have been, but hopefully the Lord will continue to use them to bring glory to my Savior’s name.

            “His skeptical reply to the other apostles’ claim to have seen the risen Lord Jesus Christ, ‘Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe’ (John 20:25), has earned Thomas the nickname, ‘Doubting Thomas.’  In fact, that phrase has come to label a skeptical, habitually doubting person.  While it is fair to say that Thomas tended to be a negative person, he was too good a man for such a one-dimensional appraisal of his character. 

            “According to John 11:16, 20:24, and 21:2, Thomas was also called Didymus, which means, ‘twin.’  Whether he actually had a twin brother or sister, however, is not recorded in Scripture. His name is given in the Synoptic Gospels only in the lists of the apostles.  But as he did with Philip and Bartholomew (Nathanael), the apostle John fleshes out some aspects of his character.

            “The first incident in which Thomas appears is recorded in John chapter 11.  After His unambiguous claim to deity and equality with the Father (10:30), the enraged Jewish leaders sought to kill Jesus (vv. 31, 39).  Because His time had not yet come (cf. John 7:30; 8:20), Jesus ‘went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was first baptizing, and He was staying there’ (John 10:40), along with the Twelve.

            “While they were there, Jesus received the news that His close friend Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, was seriously ill.  He may even had died by the time the messenger they sent reached Jesus and the disciples.  When He received the message, Jesus said, ‘This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it’ (11:4).  He did not mean that Lazarus was not going to die, but that death would not be the final outcome of his illness.  The apostles, who assumed that Lazarus was therefore going to recover, were no doubt relieved to hear Jesus’ words.  That the Lord remained where He was for two more days (11:6) must have further reassured them that Lazarus would recover.

            “But then the Lord dropped a bombshell on them: ‘Then aft er this He said to the disciples, ‘Let us go to Judea again’ (v. 7).  Shocked and appalled, the disciples protested incredulously, ‘Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone You, and are You going there again?’  (v.8). Why leave a fruitful ministry (10:41-42), they reasoned, and travel to Bethany in the vicinity of Jerusalem (the town was only two miles from Jerusalem [John 11:18]) where they risked begin arrested and executed?  Jesus replied (vv. 9-10) that He and they were perfectly safe during the divinely-appointed duration of His earthly ministry…

            MacArthur goes into much more details in his commentary on the gospel of John written in 2006.

            “The Lord then explained why they had to return to Bethany. ‘Our friend  Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go, so that I may awaken him out of sleep’ (v. 11).  Still not grasping the situation, ‘the disciples then said to Him, ‘Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover’’ (v. 12).  Since Lazarus was apparently on the road to recovery, there seemed to be no logical reason to risk everything by returning to Judea.  Finally, Jesus told them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead, and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let us go to him (vv. 14-15).  At last, the disciples realized what had really happened and understood that it was futile to try to talk Jesus out of returning to Judea.  But they were still very hesitant and fearful about going.”  I have commented on this section about Lazarus on the following dates 8:26-8:31 2016 when I was studying the gospel of John, so if you want to you can look those dates up on my blogsite.

7/2/2026 1:05 PM

             

Matthew (Luke 6:15a)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/1/2026 9:32 PM

My Worship Time                                                                                                 Focus:  Matthew

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                     Reference:  Luke 6:15a

            Message of the verse:  “Matthew”

            This evening I will begin looking at one of my favorite apostles, that is Matthew from the commentary of John MacArthur.

            “Luke’s introduction of Matthew marks the halfway point both in the second group of  four apostles (Phil, Bartholomew, Matthew, and Thomas) and in the list of Twelve.  Although he was the author of one of the four Gospels, little is revealed in the New Testament about him.  Matthew himself in his own gospel (9:9-10) and Luke (5:27-29) briefly describes his call by the Lord, and the reception for sinners he gave afterwards.  Those two incidents mark Matthew’s only appearance in the Gospels, apart from the lists of the apostles.  Matthew’s silence about himself in his gospel in particular reveals him to have been humble, self-effacing, and content to remain in the background.”  As I think about this last statement it comes to my mind that perhaps Matthew did not want to be recognized because of the fact that he was a tax collector, which made him hated by those in Israel.

            “Like several of the other apostles, he had two names:  Matthew (Matt. 9:9) and Levi (Luke 5:27).  He was a tax collector by profession, which makes his selection as an apostle all the more remarkable.  Tax collectors were despised outcasts in Jewish society.  They were traitors, who opportunistically collaborated with the Romans for their own financial gain.  Tax collectors purchased tax franchises from the Romans, and anything they collected beyond what was required of them (cf. Luke 3:12-13) went into their own pockets.  They practiced larceny, extortion, exploitation, and even loan sharking, loaning out money at exorbitant interest to those who were unable to pay their taxes.  Tax collectors also employed thugs to physically intimidate people into paying whatever they demanded, and to beat up those who refused.

            “All of that infuriated the Jewish people, who believed that God was the only one to whom they should pay taxes.  They scorned tax collectors, classified them as unclean, and banned them from the synagogues.  Since the Jews considered tax collectors to be habitual liars, they were not permitted to give testimony in a Jewish court.  Tax collectors came to symbolize the epitome of evil (cf. Matt. 18:17; 21:3-12; Luke 5:30; 7:34; 18:11).

            “There were two types of tax collectors, the gabbai, who collected the general taxes such as the land, poll, and income taxes, and the mokhes, who collected the more specific taxes, such as those on the transport of goods, letters, produce, using roads, crossing bridges, and almost anything else the greedy traitors could think of (cf. Alfred Edersheim,  The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah  [Grand Rapids; Eerdmans, 1974], 1:515-18).  There were in turn two kinds of mokhes, the great mokhes, and the little mokhes.  The great mokhes did not actually collect taxes, but hired others to do so for him.  The little mokhes would be employed by the great mokhes to actually collect taxes.  Because they were the ones who interacted with the people on a regular basis, they were the ones who bore the brunt of their anger and hatred.  Matthew was one such little mokhes (Luke 5:27), one of the most despised and reviled men in Capernaum.

            “Yet when Jesus called him, Matthew unhesitatingly ‘left everything behind, and got up and began to follow Him’ (Luke 5:28).  Unlike some of the other apostles who had been fishermen (cf. John 21:1-3), Matthew could never go back to his profession.  The great mokhes for whom he had worked would have immediately replaced him.  Why was Matthew willing to walk away from his lucrative business and follow Jesus knowing what the future held?  Despite being an outcast from Judaism, Matthew was nonetheless very familiar with the Old Testament, more than any other gospel writer.  Matthew believed in the true God, and understood the Scriptures.  Like most of his countrymen, he was expecting the Messiah to come.  Apparently through his interaction with those from whom he collected taxes, he had heard all about Jesus’ miraculous works and powerful preaching.  His heart was ready when the Lord called him, and his faith was strong enough for him to drop everything and obey the call.

            “The genuineness of Matthew’s repentance and faith revealed itself in the banquet he gave in his home after Jesus called him (Matt. 9:10; Luke 5:29; with characteristic humility, Matthew did not mention that the reception was in his own house.) He invited his fellow tax collectors and other associated sinners—the riffraff of Jewish society.

            “After this reception, Matthew fades from the gospel record.  Neither is anything known for certain about his life and ministry after Pentecost. Most accounts agree that he preached the gospel to the Jewish people before ministering to the Gentiles, possibly in the vicinity of the Caspian Sea, or in Persia, Macedonia, or Syria.  Nor do the traditions agree on the place or manner of his death.  According to some accounts, he was burned at the stake, while others state that he was beheaded or stoned to death.  But in any case this man, who freely abandoned a lucrative, if criminal., career to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, never looked back.  Matthew willingly gave his all for Him to the very end.”

7/1/2026 10:15 PM

 

“Intro to Chapter Seven” (Luke 6:15-16a)

 

MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/1/2026 8:55 AM

My Worship Time                                                                       Focus:  “Intro to Chapter Seven”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                Reference:  Luke 6:15-16a

            Message of the verses:  “Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot; Judas the son of James”

            This morning I want to quote the introduction to this seventh chapter of John MacArthur’s commentary “Common Men, Uncommon Calling—Part 6: Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot Judas the son of James.”

            “A seemingly paradoxical biblical truth, one that appears counter-intuitive to human wisdom, is that God exalts the humble but humbles the proud.  As the psalmist noted, ‘God is the judge; He puts down one and exalts another’ (Ps. 75:7).  Moses was perhaps Israel’s most honored leader.  Yet according to Numbers 12:3, ‘Moses was very humble, more than any man who was on the face of the earth.’ ‘A man’s pride will bring him low,’ Solomon warned, ‘but a humble spirit will obtain honor’ (Prov. 29:23; cf. v. 25).  Ezekiel 17:24 expressed that truth in picturesque language:  ‘All the trees of the field will know that I am the Lord; I bring down the high tree, exalt the low tree, dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish.  I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will perform it’ (cf. 21:26).

            “The New Testament also reveals God’s sovereign humbling of the proud and exalting of the humble.  In her Magnificat, Mary praised God because ‘He has brought down rulers from their thrones, and has exalted those who were humble’ (Luke 1:52).  So significant is this principle that the Lord Jesus Christ repeated it on three different occasions (Matt. 23:12; Luke 14:11; 18:14).  James exhorted his readers, ‘Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you’ (James 4:10).

            “Jesus’ choice of the Twelve was consistent with God’s use of humble people (cf. 1 Cor. 1:26-29).  None of them were members of Israel’s religious establishment; they included no scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, or priests.  Nor were they taken from the social elite, the literate, the educated, or the theologically astute.  None were from Jerusalem, the center of Jewish culture; except for the traitor Judas Iscariot, they were from Galilee, whose inhabitants were despised by the rest of the Jewish people.  The Gospels portray the Twelve as plain, common, and ordinary men.

            “In spite of the fact that they were empowered to do miracles, the apostles were by no means the stars of the gospel accounts; they were at best the supporting cast.  There are no records of the miracles they did (until the book of Acts) and very few instances of any significant act by any of them.  While Peter made a profound statement acknowledging Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God (Matt. 16:16), he then brashly rebuked the Lord and was in turn sternly rebuked by Him (vv. 22-23).  Peter’s one impressive act, walking on the water, was spoiled when his faith failed (Matt. 15:15-17; 16:5-12), or lack of humility (Mark 9:33-34; Luke 9:46-48).

            “But despite their shortcomings, the Twelve willingly gave up everything to follow Jesus Christ (Matt. 19:27; Luke 5:11), and made a permanent break with their past.  That set them apart from many who temporarily followed Jesus, as an examination of John chapter 6 reveals.  A large crowd was attracted to Jesus because He healed the sick (v.2) and fed them (vv. 5-14).  The next day many of them crossed the Sea of Galilee in search of Jesus (vv. 22-25).  Knowing their hearts (cf. v. 64), the Lord rebuked them for following Him with improper motives (vv. 26-27).  He then taught them profound truths about Himself that many were not prepared to accept (vv. 28-65), and ‘as a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore’ (v. 66).  Turning to the Twelve, Jesus asked them, ‘You do not want to go away also, do you?’ (v. 67).  Speaking for all of them, ‘Simon Peter answered Him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have words of eternal life.  We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God’’(vv. 68-69).  Unlike the fickle crowds, the Twelve (with the exception of Judas; (vv. 70-71) were convinced that Jesus was the Messiah as well as the Son of God.”

Spiritual Meaning for my life today:  Pride is something that can get me into trouble, while being humble can exalt the Lord.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to trust the Lord as I go through this great deal of trouble in dealing what is going on with my wife as she battles cancer, an awful foe.

7/1/2026 9:30 AM