08 May 2020

Devotional Notes Psalm 130+John 18

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.
[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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