MORNING
Psalm
130
B1 What does this mean?
C1 Prayer
D1 The Hebrew word depths
is מַעֲמָק
maʻămâq. It means here the depths of distress
(TWOT). Compare: Psalms 69:2 NRSV I sink in deep mire, where there
is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps
over me.
D2 This life is one of distress for many reasons.
D3 The first person we should call on for help is God, the Counselor
of counselors.
E1 God does make a way.
E2 Sometimes it seems that there is no deliverance. Why?
F1 Sometimes other people get in the way.
F2 Sometimes fear.
F3 Sometimes being unsure.
F4 Sometimes other people wreck the chance. When we asked God for
help, God commissioned someone to be the deliverer (helper,
assistant), but that person/s refused or ignored it.
D4 Verse 3, sin will be punished.
D5 Verse 4,
E1 Translations:
F1 Psalm 130:4 NLT But you offer forgiveness, that we might learn
to fear you.
F2 Psalm 130:4 NIV But with you there is forgiveness, so that we
can, with reverence, serve you.
E2 Spurgeon writes:
Ver. 4. But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be
feared. One would think that punishment should procure fear, and
forgiveness love; but nemo majus diligit, quam qui maxime veretur
offendere —no man more truly loves God than he that is most fearful
to offend him. "Thy mercy reacheth to the heavens, and thy
faithfulness to the clouds" —that is, above all sublimities.
God is glorious in all his works, but most glorious in his works of
mercy; and this may be one reason why St. Paul calls the gospel of
Christ a "glorious gospel": 1 Timothy 1:11.
C2 Waiting and hoping
D1 Hope is expectation. We don’t know when, but we hope it happens
today.
D2 Psalms 147:11 GW The LORD is pleased with those who fear him,
with those who wait with hope for his mercy.
D3 Psalms 27:14 GW Wait with hope for the LORD. Be strong, and let
your heart be courageous. Yes, wait with hope for the LORD.
B2 How do I apply this to my life? Seek God first, watch for
opportunities, wait with expectant hope. Be a listener and helper if
able to help others in difficult situations.
EVENING
John
18
B1 What does this mean?
C1 Jesus Is Arrested
D1 Jesus knew everything when He approached Judas and those coming to
arrest Him.
D2 Verse 6 was a warning and testimony of Jesus’s power, but it was
ignored. They pressed on with determination to arrest Jesus.
D3 Verse 11, Jesus had to suffer first then enter His glory.
D4 Verse 14, Clarke notes: Caiaphas was he which gave counsel, was
an improper person to sit in judgment on Christ, whom he had
prejudged and precondemned: see on John 11:50-52. But Christ must not
be treated according to the rules of justice: if he had, he could not
have been put to death.
C2 Peter Denies Jesus
D1 Let us be careful of being over confident.
D2 Fear and panic can affect our judgment.
C3 High Priest Interrogates Jesus
D1 Jesus being slapped was illegal. He had not been condemned yet. He
answered truly. If justice had prevailed, Jesus would never have been
condemned, but they had in their counsels already condemned Him.
E1 Isaiah 50:6 NIV I offered my back to those who beat me, my
cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from
mocking and spitting.
E2 Compare: Acts 23:2-3 GW The chief priest Ananias ordered the
men standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth. 3 Then Paul said
to him, "God will strike you, you hypocrite! You sit there and
judge me by Moses' Teachings and yet you break those teachings by
ordering these men to strike me!"
D2 Compare: Jeremiah 26:15 NKJV But know for certain that if you
put me to death, you will surely bring innocent blood on yourselves,
on this city, and on its inhabitants; for truly the LORD has sent me
to you to speak all these words in your hearing.
C4 Peter Denies Jesus For the Second and Third Time
C5 Jesus Stands Before Pilate
D1 Verse 32, Jewish death penalty was stoning, but for the Romans, it
was crucifixion.
D2 Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges comments on
verse 32:
As already stated, S. John omits both the examination before
Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin at an irregular time and place, at
midnight and at ‘the Booths’ (Matthew 26:57-68; Mark 14:53-65),
and also the formal meeting of the Sanhedrin after daybreak in the
proper place (Matthew27:1; Mark 15:1; Luke 22:66-71), at which Jesus
was sentenced to death. He proceeds to narrate what the Synoptists
omit, the conference between Pilate and the Jews (John 18:28-32) and
two private examinations of Jesus by Pilate (18:33-38 and 19:8-11).
Here also we seem to have the evidence of an eyewitness. We know that
S. John followed his Lord into the high-priest’s palace (18:15),
and stood by the Cross (19:26); it is therefore probable enough that
he followed into the Procurator’s court.
D3 Jesus didn’t come to reign; He came to be our Passover Lamb (1
Corinthians 5:7). The crucifixion was another testimony to the Jews,
who should have known the Scriptures well enough.
D4 Verse 38, truth is reality. Herod was just disgusted.
E1 Lightfoot
writes:
[What is truth?] Christ had said, "For this cause came I into
the world, that I should bear witness to the truth": q.d. "I
will not deny but that I am a king, as thou hast said; for for this
end I came, that I should bear witness to the truth, whatever hazards
I should run upon that account." Upon this Pilate asks him, What
is truth? that is, "What is the true state of this affair? that
thou, who art so poor a wretch, shouldst call thyself a king, and at
the same time that thou callest thyself a king, yet sayest thy
kingdom is not of this world? Where lies the true sense and meaning
of this riddle?"
But supposing when Christ said, he came "that he should bear
witness to the truth," he meant in general the gospel; then
Pilate asks him, What is that truth? However, the evangelist mentions
nothing, either whether our Saviour gave him any answer to that
question, or whether indeed Pilate stayed in expectation of any
answer from him.
E2 An interesting devotion from Our
Daily Bread that should be read. I’ll just quote a portion: It
was the closest Pilate would come to life’s greatest discovery.
Jesus had just told him that He had come into the world to bear
witness to the truth. This prompted Pilate to ask, “What is truth?”
(John 18:38).
D5 Verse 40
E1 This is so hard to believe.
F1 What did Barabbas give? Violence and robbery.
F2 What did Jesus give? Physical healing and food and, much more
importantly, spiritual healing and food.
E2 These Jews chose Barabbas, one like themselves.
E3 Handful of Purpose on this passage has this comment:
VI. Questioned by the Ambitious. Pilate asked three questions of
Jesus, and profited nothing by them: (1) "Art Thou the King of
the Jews?" (John 18:33); (2) "What is truth?" (John
18:38); (3) "Whence art Thou?" (chap. John 19:9). By such
questions the Christ was "oppressed and afflicted," so He
"opened not His mouth." Men animated by selfish and impure
motives still oppress Him, whose Divinity is clear as the sun, by
their questionings regarding His character and teaching. He that
doeth His will shall know of the teaching whether it be of God (John
7:17).
B2 How do I apply this to my life? Believe John testimony about
Jesus, Jesus’s testimony of Himself, and be thankful.
I
hope
to have a devotional every day on John’s
Gospel starting with the last chapter of Luke’s Gospel.
This
is
the way I do my devotions. You may notice grammatical and spelling
errors. It is my hope you will also start or continue in your daily
reading and thinking about
the Scriptures. I do this Monday through Friday. It is a 3 year plan
of reading and thinking on 1 chapter in the Old Testament, which
takes 3 years, and reading and thinking on 1 chapter in the New
Testament once a year for a total of 3 times. So, I read through the
Old Testament 1 time and the New Testament 3 times over a period of 3
years. I
do this Monday through Friday and use Saturday and Sunday for other
devotions.
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