MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/23/2026
8:01 AM
My
Worship Time Focus:
“PT-1 “John’s Doubt”
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference: Luke 7:18-20”
Message
of the verses: 18The
disciples of John also reported to him about all these things. 19And after summoning two of
his disciples, John sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are You the
Coming One, or are we to look for another?” 20When the men came to
Him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to You, to ask,
‘Are You the Coming One, or are we to look for another?’”
This morning we begin looking at the
first main point in John MacArthur’s commentary on this section of verses. We will be looking at John the Baptist’s doubting,
something that all true believers go through from time to time.
John fulfilled his mission to
prepare the people for the coming of Messiah and to point Him out when He
arrived. John then faded from the scene,
as he himself had foreseen would happen as seen in John 3:30, “30 He must increase, but I must decrease.’” Once Jesus was introduced, the inspired gospel
writers put the spotlight on Him. As
this passage begins, John had been in prison for many months, as it could have
been for an entire year. Matthew 14:1-12
and also Mark 6:14-29 give the story of his imprisonment and eventual execution
by Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great and ruler of Galilee and Perea as
seen in Luke 3:1. I will at this time
quote from Matthew 14:1-12 to help us better understand what John went
through.
“1 ¶ that time Herod the tetrarch heard about the
fame of Jesus, 2 and he said to his
servants, “This is John the Baptist. He has been raised from the dead; that is
why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” 3 For Herod had seized John and bound him and
put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, 4 because John had been saying to him, “It is
not lawful for you to have her.” 5 And
though he wanted to put him to death, he feared the people, because they held
him to be a prophet. 6 But when Herod’s
birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company and pleased
Herod, 7 so that he promised with an
oath to give her whatever she might ask. 8
Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist
here on a platter.” 9 And the king was
sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he commanded it to be given.
10 He sent and had John beheaded in the
prison, 11 and his head was brought on a
platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. 12 And his disciples came and took the body and
buried it, and they went and told Jesus.”
To me this is a very sad story and
one of the reasons is that Jesus said John was the greatest person in serving
the Lord, and there were many great people who served the Lord in the Old
Testament. John had fearlessly rebuked
Herod for his illegitimate marriage to Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip
as seen in Mark 6:17-18. “17 For it was
Herod who had sent and seized John and bound him in prison for the sake of
Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because he had married her. 18 For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not
lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”
Enraged, Herodias sought to have John put to death. Herod, however, awed by John’s righteous and
holy character, “20 for Herod feared
John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When
he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly.” Herod was also fearful of the crowds who
revered John as a prophet as seen in Matthew 14:5 “5 And though he wanted to put him to death, he
feared the people, because they held him to be a prophet.” Instead, Herod kept John a prisoner at his
summer palace at Machaerus, located east of the Dead Sea on a hill overlooking it.
I realize that this is a rather
short SD, but it is Sunday morning, and my SD’s are usually shorter do to the
fact of going to services at our church.
Spiritual
Meaning for my Life today: Now it is because of the fact that I am
human, and certainly not perfect, that there are times when I too have doubts,
doubts about salvation from time to time, and doubts about the future events
that the Bible says are going to happen.
My
Steps of Faith for Today: Trusting the Lord and trusting His Word are
things I should be doing better than I am doing. Praying that I will do better at this!
8/23/2026
8:29 AM
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