Leaving Capernaum (Matt. 13:53)

 

SPIRITUAL DIAR FOR 5/20/2022 8:24 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                            Focus:  “Leaving Capernaum”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                    Reference:  Matthew 13:53

 

            Message of the verse:  “53 And it came about that when Jesus had finished these parables, He departed from there.”

 

            We can look at Matthew 4:13 and 8:5 to see that Jesus had been ministering in and around Capernaum for about a year as He was using it as His home base.  There is some speculation that he may have been living with Simon Peter while there.  Jesus will actually curse the majority of the people who live there because the majority who lived there did not realize who He was even though He did many great miracles there.  Perhaps they just seemed to get use to having the Son of Man living among them and did not pay much attention to Him.  What a tragedy!  Now because of the people’s rejection, His last teaching there was done in parables, in order that “while seeing they [would] not see, and while hearing they [would] not hear, nor…understand” (Matt. 13:13).  After Jesus finished the parables as seen in verse 53, the parables on the kingdom, He departed from there.

 

            It was in Matthew 11:23 that Jesus said the following about Capernaum “"And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day.”

 

            John MacArthur ends this short section by writing “Jesus had, in effect, pronounced a curse on Capernaum, and when He departed from there, the city’s doom was imminent.  Jesus never went there again except as He passed through to minister elsewhere.  He had come into the city and demonstrated power that could only have been from God.  Yet the people would not have Him as Lord.  Many marveled and some criticized, but few believed.  Now Capernaum’s opportunity was passed, and she entered a decline into oblivion from which she never recovered.  Today the city is in virtually the same state of ruin—without houses or people—that it was a few centuries after Jesus was there.  Apparently the town and the synagogue enjoyed a period of worldly prosperity for a while, but archeological excavations show increasing pagan influence on the Jews there.  The last synagogue built in Capernaum, erected over the floor of the one where Jesus taught, was decorated with various animals and mythological figures.  Having rejected the true God, the people were at the mercy of false ones.”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  It was a very sad situation that we have just studied and one wonders if that is going to be the case of our country.  Since Roe-V-Wade there have been in excess of 60 million babies killed in our country.  It was the desire of Planned Parenthood to kill as many black babies as they could, and many abortion clinics are in the inner city where it is mostly populated by black people.  Abortion could be called birth control by some, as people who have sexual relations, mostly out of wedlock use it to kill their unborn babies as a convenience.  As a country we have had great successes and I believe it was because of the religious freedom that we have which was sought by the first settlers who came here from Europe.  As I look at the curse that Jesus pronounced on Capernaum I wonder how long ago that His curse was on our country.  Was it when our country made it legal to kill innocent babies saying it was the right of a mother to kill her own offspring? 

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Pray for our country that God’s grace will allow better leadership to be put in place, and by that I mean leadership who have the right relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

5/20/2022 8:51 AM   

PT-3 "Intro to Matt. 13:53-58

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/19/2022 9:27 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                               Focus:  PT-3 “Intro to Matt. 13:53-58”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matt. 13:53-58

 

            Message of the verses:  “53 And it came about that when Jesus had finished these parables, He departed from there. 54 And coming to His home town He began teaching them in their synagogue, so that they became astonished, and said, "Where did this man get this wisdom, and these miraculous powers? 55 “Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? 56 “And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this man get all these things?" 57 And they took offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his home town, and in his own household." 58 And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.”

 

            Before I begin with the subject that I have been writing about as far as the introduction to these verses I just have to say that anyone who believes that Jesus did not have any physical half-brothers and half-sisters may they ought to look at verse 55 real close.  As far as His mother  Mary being a perpetual virgin where did all these offspring come from.  We are told that after Joseph found out that Mary was to have a child by the Holy Spirit that he did not have any physical relations with her until after Jesus was born.  Satan sure likes to try and mess things up.

 

            I begin with a quotation from MacArthur:  “In these eight accounts” (we looked at in our last SD) “there is exactly the ratio of belief to unbelief (one out of four) found in the parable of the sower.  By the marvelous wisdom and provision of the Lord, the Twelve, through these incidents, witnessed living demonstrations of the principles He had just taught them about men’s response to the gospel in the present age.  In these situations both the power of belief and the power of unbelief are revealed.”

 

            We can see the power of belief as we move through different parts of the Scripture.  A very important example comes from the life of Abraham where we read about how he believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness (salvation) and he became the father of a great nation of God’s chosen people.  Then Israel believed God and they walked through the Red Sea on dry land.  David believed God and was thus enabled to kill Goliath.  I think that many of these examples can be found in the 11^th chapter of the book of Hebrews.  Naaman believed God and was healed of his leprosy.  One of my all time favorite books of the Old Testament, the book of Daniel tells the story of Daniel spending a night with some hungry lions who did not bother him at all because of his great faith in believing God.  We move to the New Testament and talk about two blind men who believed God and received their sight and also more importantly their salvation.  Jairus believed our Lord and was rewarded by having his 12 year old daughter who had died come back to life.  The story of the Philippian jailer and how he became a believe along with his whole household is found in the book of Acts.  We could go on and talk about more which is what the author of Hebrews says after talking about many OT saints, and I believe that that list continues to go on as the church age continues.  In January of 1974 I believed God and through the power of the Holy Spirit who gave me an effectual call I to became a believer.

            I really hate to bring up the other side of the coin and talk about those who did not believe God, but I think that it is also necessary.  It surely begins with Adam and Eve, and even though they did become believers they certainly did not believe God and this was the cause of all of their children being born spiritually dead and in the need of a Savior.  Think about the story of Noah and how the entire world at that time did not believe God and they all perished in the flood with only eight people alive in the ark along with the animals.  The great spiritual leader Moses did not believe God and thus was not able to led the children of Israel into the Promised Land.  Aaron refused to believe God’s command about worship and led the people into idolatry, resulting in the loss of three thousand lives.  Nebuchadnezzar refused to believe God and became a senseless beast.  In the NT there were many would-be disciples who refused to believe God because they were offended by Christ’s teaching and thus they entered into eternity without hope.  How about the unbelieving Pharisees who were part of the plan to have our Lord crucified, and then the story of the worst apostate of them all, a man who walked with our Lord for three years and then Judas sold the Lord for a few dollars of silver and then hung himself over the guilt.  Felix, Festus, and Agrippa refused to believe God through the witness of Paul, and they were lost forever.

 

            MacArthur writes “Just as faith has the power to bring forgiveness of sins and eternal life, unbelief has the power to hold a person in his sins and under the condemnation of eternal hell.  Just as belief has the power to bring eternal happiness, joy, peace, and glory in God’s presence, unbelief has the power to bring eternal sorrow, pain, and anguish in God’s absence.

            “As the parable of the sower illustrates, most of the response Jesus faced and the disciples would face was that of unbelief.  Whether unbelief comes from the heart beaten hard by sin, from the rocky heart covered by a shallow layer of superficial belief, or from the thorny heart whose worldliness chokes out the truth of the gospel—all unbelief is a matter of will.  Unbelief is a choice; it is saying no to God in spite of the evidence.

            “Matthew’s account of the first incident illustrating the parable of the sower is preceded by the brief mention of Jesus’ departure from Capernaum.”  That is the subject that we will be looking at in our next SD, Lord willing.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As I look at the two lists of people, some believing and some not believing I can see that many of the unbelieving were really believers and their unbelief was in some ways worse because they knew the truth.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  It has always been my desire every since I became a believer to please the Lord, but many times I have failed to do so.  I still desire to please the Lord in all that I do and to do the work that He has planned for me to do before the foundation of the world.

 

5/19/2022 10:06 AM

PT-2 "Intro to Matt. 13:53-58"

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/18/2022 9:41 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                         Focus:  PT-2 “Intro to Matthew 13:53-58”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matt. 13:53-58

 

            Message of the verses:    “53 And it came about that when Jesus had finished these parables, He departed from there. 54 And coming to His home town He began teaching them in their synagogue, so that they became astonished, and said, "Where did this man get this wisdom, and these miraculous powers? 55 “Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? 56 “And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this man get all these things?" 57 And they took offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his home town, and in his own household." 58 And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.”

 

            We begin by looking at what I believe is the outline of what we will be looking at as we go through these verses.  “Beginning with 13:53 and continuing through the first part of chapter 16, Matthew records eight incidents in the life of the Lord that correspond to and demonstrate the truths presented in the two parables just mentioned.”  Now I realize that this is a repeat of what I ended our last SD with but I think that it is important not to disrupt the flow of what we are studying as far as the introduction to these verses.  The two parables that were mentioned were the wheat and tares and the sower.

 

            In verses 54-58 we see the first incident which involves the problem with Jesus and His hometown people that He grew up with.  To those people Jesus was a stumbling block, and the soil of their hearts was obviously hard.

 

            Now the second incident involved Herod which is seen in Matthew 14:1-12, and his heart was also hard but who rejected the Lord more out of indifference than hatred.

 

            Now the third incident had two parts to it and centered first on the large multitude whom Jesus miraculously fed and then around the people of Gennesaret as seen in 14:13-21, 34-36.  Now in both instances, the initial fascination with Jesus was positive but superficial.  We see that the first group followed Jesus because they were fed, and the second group because they were healed.  Their interest eventually withered, just like the plants in the shallow soil when the sun comes out.

 

            We move onto the fourth incident which occurred between the two parts of the third and it involved the twelve disciples, whose “good soil” was evidenced by their worshiping Jesus after He walked on the water and calmed the storm as seen in 14:22-33.

 

            Next the sixth incident and it centered on the Canaanite woman who immediately confessed Jesus as Lord and begged Him to deliver her demon-possessed daughter and this is seen in 15:21-28.  Now the soil of her heart was soft and fertile, and the seed of the Word too firm root.

            The seventh incident involved the Galileans who brought their sick and afflicted to Jesus for healing but they made no genuine commitment as seen in 15:29-39.  Here we see a mixture of shallow and thorny soils, in which the gospel was partially but not permanently received.

 

            The eight incident is the last one and so we will look at it and then, Lord willing, we will talk more about these eight accounts in our next SD.  This eight and last incident involved the Pharisees and Sadducees who sought to test and entrap Jesus by asking for a special sign (16:1-4).  The soil of their hearts was obviously hard.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am thankful that the soil of my heart was ready to receive the Savior back on the 26^th of January in 1974.  Jesus had prepared my heart even when I did not realize that He was doing so, and for that I will be eternally thankful.

 

My Steps of Faith for today:  Trust the Lord to fill me with His Holy Spirit and to put on the armor and use it to battle the forces of evil that are against me as a believer in Jesus Christ.

 

5/18/2022 10:06 AM

Intro to "The Power of Unbelief" (Matt. 13:53-58)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/17/2022 9:51 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                         Focus:  PT-1 “Intro to Matthew 13:53-58”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                              Reference:  Matthew 13:53-58

 

            Message of the verses:  “53 And it came about that when Jesus had finished these parables, He departed from there. 54 And coming to His home town He began teaching them in their synagogue, so that they became astonished, and said, "Where did this man get this wisdom, and these miraculous powers? 55 “Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? 56 “And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this man get all these things?" 57 And they took offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his home town, and in his own household." 58 And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.”

 

            In his commentary John MacArthur talks about the giving of the parables that we have just gone over since we began looking at this 13^th chapter on the 15^th of March ends the disciples’ basic instructions.  The nation of Israel through the Pharisees and other leaders has given up on their Messiah, and this was the reason that Jesus was teaching in parables.  Parables had two purposes, that is hiding the truth from the unbelievers and making the truth to those who were believers, and so as we have been learning the disciples stated that they knew the truth of the parables that Jesus was using to teach with.  Jesus said to His disciples “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted…Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand” (Matt. 13:11, 13).  Just think about the truth of what Jesus said and if you are a true believer in Him then you too have been granted to understand what these parables mean, as they speak of the Kingdom of Heaven.  What a privilege!

 

            MacArthur writes “As far as preparation of the disciples was concerned, the two most important parables of Matthew 13 were those of the sower and the wheat and tares.  The story of the sower made clear that some people would believe the gospel but many would not; and it prepared them to anticipate the four basic responses men would make to the gospel.  The vivid story of the wheat and tares made clear that, for the present period of Christ’s kingdom, the saved and the unsaved would coexist side by side.  The Twelve—and all succeeding witnesses of Christ—would carry on their ministry in a time of both belief and unbelief and of both good and evil.”  I have to say that when I was much younger while being raised in this country (USA) that there surely was not nearly as much evil as I see now, which makes me believe that our Lord is ready to return to planet earth very soon to take His bride back to heaven to be with Him forever.  Evil will still exist, in fact the tribulation period, the last seven years of history on planet earth as we know it will be the greatest evil shown since the world began.  Jesus stated that if He did not return to stop the wars that were going on that there would not be anyone left.  However the good news is that Jesus Christ is in total control of the things that are gone on, on planet earth even though it seems at times the evil is in control. 

 

            Here is how MacArthur actually begins his introduction to our verses seen above and we will only quote one short paragraph and then, Lord willing, we will begin looking at a more extensive look at the introduction to Matthew 13:53-58 beginning tomorrow.

 

            “Beginning with 13:53 and continuing through the first part of chapter 16, Matthew records eight incidents in the life of the Lord that correspond to and demonstrate the truths presented in the two parables just mentioned.” 

 

5/17/2022 10:19 AM

 

             

PT-4 "The Parable of the Housholder: Proclamation" (Matt. 13:51-52)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/16/2022 11:11 AM

 

My Worship Time                         Focus:  PT-4 “The Parable of the Householder: Proclamation”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                              Reference:  Matthew 13:51-52

 

            Message of the verses:  “51 “Have you understood all these things?" They *said to Him, "Yes." 52 And He said to them, "Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings forth out of his treasure things new and old.’”

 

            We begin this SD with the words “brings forth” found in verse 52.  MacArthur writes that brings forth “is from ekballo and carries the idea of casting out, scattering or distributing widely.  In this context is also connotes generosity, giving out the truth of God both wisely and liberally.  Apart from the Lord Himself, the apostles were the supreme Bible scholars, preachers, teachers, and theologians of all time—scribes and disciples without equal (cf. Matt. 11:11).”  “"Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”

 

            MacArthur goes on to explain:  “As is clear from the parables of the sower, the wheat and tares, and the dragnet, the message of the gospel is not simply the offer of heaven but a warning about hell.  What makes the gospel such good news is its power to save men from the indescribably bad destiny toward which every person without Christ is headed.  A person does not have to choose hell to go there.  He only has to refuse the claims of Jesus Christ—or do nothing at all.”

 

            In a similar way, however not to the same degree of authority, Jesus’ charge to the Twelve is given to every believer, and in particular to those He has called to teach and preach His Word.  This is speaking of Spiritual Gifts which the Holy Spirit gives to each and every believer in the Church in order to cause the Church to function in the way that our Lord designed it to function.  Now if these gifts come from the Holy Spirit, and are used in His power then Jesus is the One who will receive the honor and glory.  However if people are trying to do this on their own, then Christ will not receive glory, and when the Judgment Seat of Christ takes place this will only be wood, straw, and stubble given out.  The important thing for all believers is to be continually filled with the Holy Spirit in order to do the things that we have been called to do in eternity past:  “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them” (Eph. 2:10).

 

            Believers knowing the truth that they know is an awesome responsibility to warn the unsaved about hell and to offer them the way of escape through our precious Lord.  “Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest to God; and I hope that we are made manifest also in your consciences” (2 Cor. 5:11).  MacArthur adds “The Christian’s heart is cold indeed who is not deeply concerned and exercised about those around him who are destined for the eternity of hell.  To have the gift of eternal life but not to share it with those who now have only the prospect of eternal death is the epitome of selfishness and lovelessness.”

            The challenge to all believers is to tell others what will happen to them in what we can describe as automatically, that is doing nothing to go to hell, and to show them the truth in love, and not in judgment.  Leave room for the Holy Spirit to do what He is to do:  7 "But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. 8 “And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10  and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; 11  and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged” (John 16:7-11).

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  We have just been explained what we as believers are to do, and we are to do it in love, and in the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord to bring people into my lives in order to be able to tell them the truth of the gospel, and so that the Spirit will bring conviction to them to change their direction from automatically going to hell to go to heaven.

 

5/16/2022 11:47 AM

PT-3 "The Parable of the Housholder: Proclamation" (Matt 13:51-52)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/15/2022 8:03 AM

 

My Worship Time                        Focus:  PT-3 “The Parable of the Householder:  Proclamation”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                     Reference:  Matt 13:51-52

 

            Message of the verses:  “51 "Have you understood all these things?" They said to Him, "Yes." 52 And He said to them, "Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings forth out of his treasure things new and old.’”

 

            We can see from this short section of Matthew chapter thirteen that the wise householder was frugal and he was careful not to waste the supplies.  When they were reusable, food that was not eaten and also clothing that was no longer worn were returned to the treasure to be used again.  I guess that their society was not made up of throw-away things like ours in our country is today.  When further need arose, economy demanded that these old supplies would be dispensed first, before any of the new things.  That too seems different than our society especially with children who seem to only want new things even though the used things are in good condition.

 

            The twelve disciples that Jesus was calling learners would become the twelve apostles, the sent ones; Judas would be replaced by Matthias as seen in Acts 1:23.  It was through these twelve apostles, along with Paul, who was the apostle appointed “last of all” (1 Cor. 15:8), the Lord entrusted the continued revelation of His Word and the founding of His Church.  This would happen through the work of the Holy Spirit through these men in a similar way that the Holy Spirit worked in the life of Jesus Christ while on earth, and needless to say this was of great importance and it certainly His desire that His Holy Spirit continue to fill His church in order for it to grow and bring glory to the Lord.  The disciples knew the old truths of His previous revelation and were being given additional truths that were new.  They would proclaim the significance of both of them.

 

            It is my desire to finish this section in our next SD, but I have a couple of things to write before I close out this one.  As I was posting one of my older SD’s onto my other blog from Ephesians chapter six and verse four earlier today a question came up as to what is the most important thing that can go on in the church today.  The answer was the continued filling of the Holy Spirit in the believers.  I mentioned that Dr. Warren Wiersbe in his commentary on Ruth and Ester mentioned that he thought that if the Holy Spirit was taken out of the church today that there would be little difference in the life of the church today.  I am not sure if that is totally true, but it is true enough to be a very sad thought.

 

            In studying for my Sunday school class on the book of Hebrews I can see the difficult job that these thirteen Jewish men had in the transformation of the Church age from the Jewish age.  Even though we now live in the church age there are great truths to be taught from the Old Testament which goes along with what the Apostles had to learn and to teach.

 

5/15/2022 8:25 AM

PT-2 "The Parable of the Householder: Proclamation" (Matt. 13:51-52)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/14/2022 9:27 AM

 

My Worship Time                        Focus:  PT-2 “The Parable of the Householder:  Proclamation”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matt. 13:51-5 2

 

            Message of the verses:  “51 “Have you understood all these things?" They said to Him, "Yes." 52 And He said to them, "Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings forth out of his treasure things new and old."

 

            I want to begin by looking at Matthew 9:38, and I have to say that before I go ahead and quote this verse that this verse has become precious for me because it is the name of a little booklet that I have been reading most every day in order to pray for different ways for Baptist Mid Missions.  If one would like to follow this prayer booklet for thirty days they can download it from the Baptist Mid Missions website.  Just search BMM and once on the site search for “Pray 938.  It only takes a few minutes a day to go over this but the rewards are out of this world.

 

            “"Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest."  Now as far as why we are looking at this today we can see that Jesus had instructed the disciples to “beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest” as seen in Matt. 9:38, in order to proclaim the coming harvest of judgment and to warn men of it and tell them how to escape it while they could.  MacArthur writes “In the following four chapters, we see Him specifically call them to this ministry and begin teaching, training, and in every way preparing them for it.”

 

            Now in our last SD we talked about the disciples affirmative response, and so based on this Jesus then said to them, "Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household.  MacArthur then adds A grammateus (scribe) literally referred to one who wrote.  But among Jews the term had long carried that distinctive connotation of a man who was a learner, interpreter, and teacher of the law, God revealed Word that we now call The Old Testament.  Although the scribes and rabbis had added so much tradition that it subordinated and often contradicted God’s true Word (Matt. 15:6), their purported task was to study and interpret Scriptures.  They were the theologians of Judaism, and many were members of the high Jewish council, the Sanhedrin.”

 

            Now under Jesus’ instruction, each of the Twelve was becoming a genuinely learned scribe and a true disciple of the kingdom of heaven.  They also had become like a head of a household, who brings forth out of his treasure things new and old."  Now the head of the household was responsible for the entire welfare of the family, and a major part of what his duties were was to maintain ample supplies of food, clothing, and all other things the members of the household might need.  He kept these supplies in a storehouse, or treasure, from which he would dispense items as they were needed.  One of the things that has come to my mind is that there were some of these Twelve who would write parts of the New Testament, speaking of scribes.  We will stop for today.  5/14/2022 9:48 AM