EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/25/2026
8:26 PM
My
Worship Time
Focus: “John’s Personal Character”
Bible
Reading & Meditation
Reference: Luke 7:24-25
Message of the verses: “When the messengers of John had left, He
began to speak to the crowds about John, “What did you go out into the
wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the
wind? But what did you go out to
see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Those who are splendidly clothed and live in
luxury are found in royal palaces!”
This evening I begin looking at the
first sub-point from John MacArthur’s commentary, as I have already listened to
the sermon that is about the verses above, and this helps me better understand
the things found in MacArthur’s commentary.
Now as noted in the 15th
chapter of this volume from MacArthur’s commentary, which was the last chapter
that I looked at, that John was imprisoned and unable to come to Jesus in
person. Apparently experiencing some
doubts, based on what was happening to him and not happening with Jesus, John
sent two of his own disciples to ask Him if He was really the Messiah. Now in response, the Lord put on a convincing
display of His divine power for their benefit and sent them back to John seen
in Luke 7:21-21 which says “23 In that
hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on
many who were blind he bestowed sight. 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. 23 And blessed is the one who is
not offended by me.’” Now after the
messengers of John had left, He began to speak to the crowds about him. Jesus now drives home His point that it was
inconsistent for the people to accept John as a prophet, but rejected Jesus as
Messiah. Three rhetorical questions from
His response, and the first two emphasize John’s personal character.
We will now look at the Lord’s first
question, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?” which
stresses that John the Baptist was not a vacillator, swaying here and there in
the breezes of popular opinion, but was a man of firm, unshakeable
convictions. Now those convictions led
him to fearlessly confront Herod Antipas, which led to John’s arrest and
eventual execution. It was his
uncompromising boldness and his passionate commitment to the truth that caused
thousands of people to travel up to forty or fifty miles or even more into the wilderness
where John had spent his entire ministry as seen in Matt. 3:1; cf. v.3;
Isa. 40:3, and I will now look at those verses.
(Matt. 3:1; cf. v.3; Isa. 40:3)
“1 ¶ In those days John the Baptist came preaching
in the wilderness of Judea,”
“3 For this is he who was spoken of by the
prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’”
“3 ¶ A voice cries: "In the wilderness
prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”
The people
came into the wilderness to hear him preach repentance in readiness for the
Messiah.
MacArthur now writes: “Jesus then asked a second rhetorical question
that further reveals John’s character. ‘What did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Those who are splendidly clothed and live in
luxury are found in royal palaces!’ Malakos
(soft) is translated ‘effeminate’ in 1 Corinthians 6:9. It calls to mind the frilly, lacy,
embroidered clothing that has always been worn by the pampered nobility. John’s wardrobe was just the opposite; it
consisted simply of ‘a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt’ (Matt.
3:4). Instead of the fancy delicacies of
some royal court, his diet consisted of ‘locusts and wild honey’ (v. 4).
“But John was no effeminate flatterer
of nobility; he was not a panderer living in luxury in Herod’s palace,
but a prisoner languishing in a dungeon.
William Hendrikes writes,
“Those who
wear ‘soft’ garments are the people without backbone, sycophants who readily
kowtow to those in authority and are rewarded with a high office in the king’s
palace, a position that enables them to be gorgeously appareled and to live
luxuriously in harmony with the high station in life to which they have attained.
(Exposition of the Gospel According to Luke, New testament Commentary
[Grand Rapids: Baker, 1978],396).
“John not
only spoke like a prophet, but also lived like one. There was not a trace of self-aggrandizement
in his life. He did not live a life of
indulgent luxury, but of austerity and self-denial, of separation from the
world and devotion to God. John’s denial
and devotion may be seen in his lifelong abstention from alcoholic beverages
(Luke 1:15), which suggests that he had taken a Nazirite vow (cf. Num.
6:2-4). John’s prophetic integrity rang
true with the people because of his unimpeachable personal character.”
8/25/2026
9:00 PM
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