PT-1 "Setting the Time" (Matt. 26:17-19)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/18/2024 12:03 PM

 

My Worship Time                                                                         Focus:  PT-1 “Setting the Time”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                              Reference:  Matthew 26:17-19

 

            Message of the verses:  “17 Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?" 18 And He said, "Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, "My time is near; I am to keep the Passover at your house with My disciples."’" 19 The disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover.”

 

            In the first paragraph from MacArthur’s commentary he goes over a list of feasts that were on the Jewish calendar and gives a short definition of them and so I thought that it would be a good idea to quote this paragraph so that we all can understand these feasts a bit better.  “The Jewish calendar was filled with religious celebrations, many of them involving feasts.  The feast of Pentecost, or of Weeks, commemorated God’s provision at harvest time (see Ex. 23:16).  It was that feast which the Jews were celebrating in Jerusalem when the Holy Spirit came upon believers and Peter delivered his first sermon (Acts 2).  The feast of Tabernacles, or Booths, commemorated Israel’s wandering in the wilderness for forty years, when they lived in temporary dwellings and were dependent of God’s direct provision for food and water (lee Lev. 23:33-43).  The Day of Atonement was the highest holy day of the year, culminating in the once-a-year sacrifice offered for sins in the Holy of Holies by the high priest.  The blood of the sacrifice was then sprinkled on the altar, symbolizing God’s provision of atonement for the sins of His people (Lev. 23:27-32).  The feast of Purim celebrated the protection from slaughter of the Jewish exiles in Persia through the intervention of Queen Ester (Ester 9:16-19).  The feast of Dedication, or Hanukkah, commemorated the victory of Judas Maccabeus over the Syrian despot Antiochus Epiphanes and the restoration of Temple worship in 164 B.C. (see 1 Macc. 4:36-61).

            “But in many ways the feast of Passover, closely associated with the feast of Unleavened Bread, was the central feast of the Jewish year.  These two feasts combined to make an eight-day celebration that began with the Passover.  As reflected in Matthew 26:17, the two were so closely connected in the minds of Jews that the feast of Unleavened Bread was used as a comprehensive designation that included the Passover.  The two names were, in fact, used interchangeably to designate the entire eight day celebration.  Technically, however, the Passover was celebrated only the first day, the fourteenth of Nisan, and the feast of the Unleavened Bread followed the fifteenth through the twenty-first of Nisan.”

 

 

4/18/2024 12:20 PM

 

Intro to Matthew 26:17-30

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/17/2024 11:27 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                      Focus:  Intro to Matthew 26:17-30

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                               Reference: Matthew 26:17-30

 

            Message of the verses:  “17 Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?" 18 And He said, "Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, "My time is near; I am to keep the Passover at your house with My disciples."’" 19 The disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover.

 

            20 Now when evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the twelve disciples. 21 As they were eating, He said, "Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me." 22 Being deeply grieved, they each one began to say to Him, "Surely not I, Lord?" 23 And He answered, "He who dipped his hand with Me in the bowl is the one who will betray Me. 24 "The Son of Man is to go, just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born." 25 And Judas, who was betraying Him, said, "Surely it is not I, Rabbi?" Jesus said to him, "You have said it

yourself."

  

             26 While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is My body." 27 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you; 28 for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. 29 “But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom." 30 After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

 

            In John MacArthur’s commentary he entitles this chapter “The Last Passover” as that truly was the last Passover that was celebrated even though in today’s world the Jewish people still celebrate Passover.  I am speaking on a technical way as once the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Passover Lamb died on the cross at the exact time that the Passover lambs were killed then there was no need for anymore Passovers to be celebrated.

 

            John MacArthur writes the following introduction for these verses:  “As noted throughout these volumes, Matthew presents Jesus as King, the sovereign Lord of the universe come to earth in human flesh.  Even in the midst of Jesus’ betrayal, mock trials, and execution, He is revealed in humble but regal dignity.  Far from diminishing His majesty and glory, those events portray the powerful and culminating expression of glory, those events portray the powerful and culminating expression of His sovereign grace and power.  Through man’s ultimate act of sinful depravity God accomplished His ultimate act of righteous redemption.

 

            “In the previous chapter, four initial elements of preparation for Jesus’ death were unlocked.  Each of those involved the plan and work of others than Christ Himself.  Now, on Jesus’ last day (Thursday) with the disciples until after His resurrection, Matthew presents four elements of Jesus’ own preparation for His sacrificial death:  experiencing the final Passover (26:17-25), establishing the Lord’s Supper (vv. 26-30), helping the impotent disciples (vv. 31-35), and praying to the Father (36-39).  The present chapter will discuss the first two of those elements.”

 

            Now I will continue looking at the next introduction which consists of Matthew 26:17-25 in which MacArthur entitles this section:

 

“Experiencing The Final Passover”

 

            “17 Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?" 18 And He said, "Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, "My time is near; I am to keep the Passover at your house with My disciples."’" 19 The disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover.

 

            20 Now when evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the twelve disciples. 21 As they were eating, He said, "Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me." 22 Being deeply grieved, they each one began to say to Him, "Surely not I, Lord?" 23 And He answered, "He who dipped his hand with Me in the bowl is the one who will betray Me. 24 "The Son of Man is to go, just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born." 25 And Judas, who was betraying Him, said, "Surely it is not I, Rabbi?" Jesus said to him, "You have said it yourself."

 

            MacArthur then gives this short introduction to these verses:  “Leading up to and including the beginning of the final Passover meal are four sub-elements of Jesus’ own preparation for His sacrificial death: setting the time (vv. 17-19), sharing the table (vv. 20-21a), shocking the Twelve (vv. 21b-24), and signifying the traitor (v. 25).”

 

            Lord willing in the next SD we will begin to look at “Setting The Time.”  I believe that this section will take a number of days to get through it, but what we will be looking at is some very important verses which speaks of the most important thing that has ever happened on God’s earth as the Son of Man is about to prepare Himself for His crucifixion, which will pay for our sins.

 

4/17/2024 11:55 AM

The Preparation of Betraying Hypocrisy (Matt. 26:14-16)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/16/2024 11:59 AM

 

My Worship Time                                          Focus:  “The Preparation of Betraying Hypocrisy”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matt. 26:14-16

 

            Message of the verses:  “14 Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15 and said, "What are you willing to give me to betray Him to you?" And they weighed out thirty pieces of silver to him. 16 From then on he began looking for a good opportunity to betray Jesus.”

 

            I have to begin this SD by staying that this will be a very short one, but the subject is probably known to most people who have read this section as it has to do with the betraying of Jesus by Judas Iscariot.

 

            In our last couple of SD’s we have written about the wonderful act of love that Mary did for the Lord Jesus Christ as she anointed His body for His burial, something that as we learned that she did not realize that she was doing this.  Now contrast this wonderful act of love with this despicable act that Judas Iscariot does as seen in these three verses, as Judas was not getting all he wanted out of his relationship with the Lord and so because of his love for money and his displeasure with Jesus he goes to the high priest to betray Jesus to them. 

 

            This act was probably done while the chief priests were still assembled in Caiaphas’s house, as Judas asked callously, “What are you willing to give me to deliver Him up to you?”  This no doubt brought surprise to those assembled there as one of Jesus’ own disciples would be the means of their destroying Him, the religious leaders eagerly did the following as they weighed out thirty pieces of silver to him.  Now I want to look at Exodus 21:32 to show that this was the price of a slave, as Judas not only sole out his teacher and leader and friend but betrayed the very Son of God, who had come to be his Savior, and did it for the price of a slave.  “"If the ox gores a male or female slave, the owner shall give his or her master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned (Ex. 21:32).

 

            MacArthur concludes this short section by writing “Having irrevocably committed himself to the treachery, from then on, Judas began looking for a good opportunity to betray the Lord.  In the eyes of Jesus’ enemies, the good opportunity would be when He was ‘apart from the multitude’ (Luke 22:6), as He soon would be in the Garden of Gethsemane.  In the greatest example of forsaken opportunity the world has ever known, Judas forever turned his back on the Lord and on his own salvation.  And the Lord forever turned His back on Judas.”

 

            Let me just say that although it was prophesied that someone would betray Jesus, and Judas was the one who did this, I truly believe that it was in his heart to do this betrayal and because of his walking with the Lord for those three years, and then betraying Him to be killed, Judas knew a great deal about the Lord, thus will receive one of, if not the greatest punishment in hell.

 

4/16/2024 12:18 PM

PT-4 "The Preparation of Loving Worship" (Matt. 26:6-13)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/15/2024 12:46 PM

 

My Worship Time                                          Focus:  PT-4 “The Preparation of Loving Worship”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Matt. 26:6-13

 

            Message of the verses:  “6 Now when Jesus was in Bethany, at the home of Simon the leper, 7 a woman came to Him with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume, and she poured it on His head as He reclined at the table. 8 But the disciples were indignant when they saw this, and said, "Why this waste? 9 “For this perfume might have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor." 10 But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, "Why do you bother the woman? For she has done a good deed to Me. 11 “For you always have the poor with you; but you do not always have Me. 12 “For when she poured this perfume on My body, she did it to prepare Me for burial. 13 “Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.’”

 

            As one looks at this section from the other gospel writers they can see that the disciples’ indignation was not voiced openly but only among themselves, however we know that Jesus was aware of this and so He rebuked them for it.  “Why do you bother the woman? For she has done a good deed to Me. 11 “For you always have the poor with you; but you do not always have Me.”

 

            MacArthur writes “In the parable of the sheep and the goats the Lord had just graphically taught that meeting the physical needs of His people is of the utmost importance and is a mark of genuine salvation (Matt. 25:34-36).  But He was very soon to end His earthly ministry and return to His Father in heaven.  And before He returned He would suffer, die, and be raised up.  This was therefore not the time for philanthropy but adoration, not the time for charity but for worship.  Just as she had done on an earlier occasion, Mary now had ‘chosen the good part’ (Luke 10:42) and was performing a beautiful good deed to her Lord.”

 

            He goes on to write about a very important point:  “Genuine worship is the supreme service a Christian can offer to Christ.  There is a time for ministering to the poor, the sick, the naked, and the imprisoned.  There is a time for discipling new believers and helping them grow in the faith.  There is a time for discipling new believers and helping them grow in the faith.  There is a time for careful study and teaching of God’s Word.  But above all else that the Lord requires of His people is their true worship, without which everything else they may do in His name is empty and powerless.

            “The worshiper emulated by Mary does not ask, ‘How much is it going to cost?’ or ‘Do I have the time?’ Like her, the true worship gives Jesus whatever he has, knowing it is trifling compared to what has been received from Him.”

 

            We can see in this particular and unique act of worship, when Mary poured this perfume upon the body of Jesus, even without her realizing it she did it to prepare Him for burial.  It became a symbolic deed that anticipated His death and His burial.

 

            It was what Mary did that was of such a lasting significance that Jesus declared the following ““Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.”  Through the accounts of this story in three of the gospels, the Holy Spirit secured for posterity a memorial to her love and generous worship.  In fulfillment of the Lord’s prediction, for nearly thousand years what this woman did has indeed been spoken of in memory of her.  Mary is perpetually an example to all Christians of unselfish, sacrificial adoration.

 

            This ends this section and Lord willing we will look at the last subsection in this chapter which MacArthur entitles “The Preparation of Betraying Hypocrisy.”

 

4/15/2024 1:07 PM

 

PT-3 "The Preparation of Loving Worship" (Matt. 26:6-13)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/14/2024 7:59 AM

 

My Worship Time                                          Focus:  PT-3 “The Preparation of Loving Worship”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                              Reference: “Matthew 26:6-13”

 

            Message of the verses: “6 Now when Jesus was in Bethany, at the home of Simon the leper, 7 a woman came to Him with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume, and she poured it on His head as He reclined at the table. 8 But the disciples were indignant when they saw this, and said, "Why this waste? 9 “For this perfume might have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor." 10 But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, "Why do you bother the woman? For she has done a good deed to Me. 11 “For you always have the poor with you; but you do not always have Me. 12 “For when she poured this perfume on My body, she did it to prepare Me for burial. 13 “Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.’”

 

            We can get the picture that none of the disciples had any idea of what Mary was doing in this loving act of worship, and so we can see that they were very insensitive as the disciples were indignant when they saw this, and said, "Why this waste?  Now at this time I desire to finish looking at the paragraph that John MacArthur was writing and then I wish to take a few minutes to write something that I mentioned in a part of my last SD on this subject.  “At the instigation of the traitorous Judas (see John 12:4-5) they suggested that the ‘perfume might have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor.’  One thing we do know and that is Judas was not interested in the poor.  “Even had that pragmatic and seemingly altruistic notion been pursued, however, it would not likely have benefited many poor people.  Because Judas was treasurer of the group and also a thief, he no doubt would have embezzled most of the money for himself (See John 12:6).  Now that he was totally disillusioned with Jesus, he probably felt even more justified in stealing whatever he could before going his own way.”

 

            It seemed to me that this act that Mary did for Jesus, this wonderful act of worship that the Lord was speaking to me, and what came to my head was that I do do some of these types of acts of worship but not nearly enough.  The other day I was listening to a sermon, and I don’t remember who was speaking but the subject of getting the gospel around the world was the theme and at that moment I got to thinking of how the Lord worked in my heart a while back to start putting my spiritual diaries onto a blog site. I had been writing Spiritual Diaries since the late 1990’s as I began doing them after meeting a medical doctor who began this process many years earlier.  I decided to put them on my computer so that I could save them, and then quite a few years later was encouraged to put them onto a blog.  Our daughter and son-in-law had trouble in conceiving children and so they went overseas to adopt as son in Kyrgyzstan and while there they began a blog about their experiences.  That is what the Lord used to cause me to begin to write the blogs that I write.  My wife and I were living on the Hawaiian island of Kawaii, and it was there that I began my first blog, but for some reason I began two blogs and so I was putting some of those older Spiritual Diaries onto the second blog.  In my heart I believe this is my worship to the Lord and believe that the Holy Spirit of God is the One who uses this act of worship that I do each day.  I also believe that the Holy Spirit of God is using these Spiritual Diaries to take the gospel around the world as there are many more of them looked at outside the United States than inside the United States, and that has not been the cause for the first 10 years that I have been doing this.  It humbles me to see what the Spirit of God is doing with this simple act of worship to my Lord and my Savior, Jesus Christ and my prayer is that He will continue to give me the inspiritation to write and post my Spiritual Diaries onto my blogs each and every day until the Lord returns at the Rapture of the Church, and then by His grace will use them even into the Tribulation period.

 

4/14/2024 8:26 AM

PT-2 "The Preparation of Loving Worship" (Matt. 26:6-13)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/13/2024 10:31 AM

 

My Worship Time                                          Focus:  PT-2 “The Preparation of Loving Worship”

 Bible Reading & Meditation                                            Reference:  Matthew 26:6-13

 

            Message of the verses:  “6 Now when Jesus was in Bethany, at the home of Simon the leper, 7 a woman came to Him with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume, and she poured it on His head as He reclined at the table. 8 But the disciples were indignant when they saw this, and said, "Why this waste? 9 “For this perfume might have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor." 10 But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, "Why do you bother the woman? For she has done a good deed to Me. 11 “For you always have the poor with you; but you do not always have Me. 12 “For when she poured this perfume on My body, she did it to prepare Me for burial. 13 “Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.’”

            I mentioned that I wanted to talk more about the Mary who did this loving deed for Jesus in today’s SD.  MacArthur writes “Mary had always been specially attentive to the Lord’s teaching (see Luke 10:39), and it seems that on this occasion she accepted the reality and understood the significance of Jesus’ impending death better than the Twelve.  She may have sensed that in His tragic death somehow lay her redemption.  She understood what the disciples did not want to understand, that Jesus had to die in order to be raised again.  Unlike them, she was not caught up in the carnal, selfish desire for Christ to establish His earthly kingdom immediately in order to share in the glory and privilege that event would bring.”

            In the Gospel there are two times that Jesus was anointed like Mary was doing this time, and in the first time it was by an unknown lady when Jesus was invited by a Pharisee to have dinner with Him.  This time it was Mary, and my understanding that this was Martha and Lazarus’ sister.  At any rate this was done as an act of unmeasured love that Mary poured the perfume upon His head as He reclined at the table.  The perfume was a pound of pure nard from what John tells us in 12:3.  In that adoring testimony of love and honor Mary poured out her soul in worship even as she poured out the perfume.  Being absolutely controlled by adoration for her Lord, she lost all sense of restraint and economy.

            I want to do one more quote from MacArthur’s commentary and then continue this section in the next SD.  Saturdays and Sundays are usually shorter SD’s for me as there are things that I have to do, and today is no exception.

            “May did not offer that valuable possession to support a program or a ministry but offered it to Christ Himself.  She did not selfishly seek a visible and tangible result from her generosity but without hesitation offered her most expensive earthly possession to the Lord in an act of effusive, adoring worship.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  It is my desire to have the same kind of attitude that Mary had in offering her sacrifice of love to the Lord.  When doing things for other people, especially believers it is like doing things for the cause of Christ even though He is not on the earth at this time.  Mary surely has set the bar very high and has set a wonderful example of sacrificing to the Lord.

            My Steps of Faith for Today:  I trust that through the Holy Spirit that I will be able to do the things for the cause of Christ in the same wonderful attitude that Mary did as that is such a wonderful example of love for the Lord.

4/13/2024 12:02 PM

 

PT-1 "The Preparation of Loving Worship" (Matt. 26:6-13)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/12/2024 10:31 AM

 

My Worship Time                                          Focus:  PT-1 “The Preparation of Loving Worship”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                Reference:  Matthew 26:6-13

 

            Message of the verses:  “6 Now when Jesus was in Bethany, at the home of Simon the leper, 7 a woman came to Him with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume, and she poured it on His head as He reclined at the table. 8 But the disciples were indignant when they saw this, and said, "Why this waste? 9 “For this perfume might have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor." 10 But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, "Why do you bother the woman? For she has done a good deed to Me. 11 “For you always have the poor with you; but you do not always have Me. 12 “For when she poured this perfume on My body, she did it to prepare Me for burial. 13 “Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.’”

 

            The first thing that I have to say about this section of Scripture is that it is a very familiar portion of Scripture and I have always been fascinated by what Jesus says in verse 13 “Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.’”

 

            What we are looking at in Matthew’s gospel is a flashback to the previous Saturday, when Jesus came into the area of Bethany, and Bethphage, which is just east of Jerusalem and near the Mount of Olives as seen in Matthew 21:1; and Mark 11:1.  In this touching account, a third preparation for Jesus’ crucifixion is portrayed.  It is in stark contrast to that of what the Sanhedrin were doing, as this story reflects loving worship rather than hateful rejection.

 

            This story is also mentioned in the gospel of John and it happened after Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead, as Martha, Marry, Lazarus were all present here and Martha was serving and helping Simon the leper with the supper.

 

            MacArthur adds “Since a leper was not allowed to live in towns or cities or to associate with nonlepers, it is clear that Simon had been cleansed.  And because that dread disease was incurable by medical means, he apparently had been healed miraculously by Jesus.  In deep gratitude for that deliverance, he had asked Jesus and the others to his house for a meal.”

 

            It was during the supper that a woman, who Matthew does not mention her name comes, but in fact John does mention her name, and it is Mary.  “Mary then took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume” (John 12:3).  Mark tells us the following in Mark 14:3-5 “3 While He was in Bethany at the home of Simon the leper, and reclining at the table, there came a woman with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume of pure nard; and she broke the vial and poured it over His head. 4 But some were indignantly remarking to one another, "Why has this perfume been wasted? 5 “For this perfume might have been sold for over three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor." And they were scolding her.” 

 

            I will stop now and I want to continue to write about Mary as I begin the next SD.

 

4/12/2024 10:50 AM