Even though the king was responsible both directly and
indirectly for Daniel being in the lion’s den, he prayed on Daniel’s behalf, “May
your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!” I can understand the “your God” at this point
at some level. The king obviously
thought highly of Daniel, fasting on his behalf and losing sleep over the
issue. Why not commute the sentence? He
couldn’t do it and maintain his own belief and that of his subjects, in his
infallibility. In the king’s haste early
in the morning to get to Daniel can you feel a similarity to the women going to
the tomb of Jesus? Payback was swift for
those officials who tricked the king into this arrogant decree and in the end,
the king commanded the people to tremble in fear before the God of Daniel,
finishing with words very closely resembling the words of the Babylonian king
before him in Chapter 4. Daniel’s exile
caused two separate kings, one Babylonian and one Persian, to give glory to
God. Is your exile going as well?
The call of Matthew puts the disciples into uncomfortable
situations. Matthew wants to introduce
his old friends to his new friends, the tax collectors to the one he believes
to be Messiah. That gathering and feast
with these men was scandalous and the Pharisees asked the question that must
have been on the disciples’ minds, what in the world are you doing here with
these people? Jesus makes no excuses for
His presence here, these are the sick ones, and He is the healer, so where else
would He be? His reference to calling
sinners to repentance reminds them that a convenient way to change the subject
is to refer to the other one who has recently called for repentance of sinners,
John, and to compare their ministries, one feasting and the other fasting. Jesus, in calling Himself the bridegroom,
certainly was offensive, I am the one you’ve been waiting for is the implication. Like Daniel, Jesus makes no pretense of
bowing to authority other than the Father.
As a pastor and as a father, I understand John’s words, “I
have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” It is indeed a wonderful thing to know that
those in your care are walking in the truth.
Apparently Gaius was a man of peace, a man of hospitality, who gave aid
to and welcomed traveling evangelists, those who went out “for the sake of the
name.” There was, however, a problem, a
man in the local church called Diotrephes (fantastic sermon on this man by John
McArthur here)
“who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority.” This man didn’t acknowledge the authority of the
apostle John. Think about that one for a
minute. John wrote a Gospel, was exiled
for his faith, and was the beloved disciple and this man, Diotrephes, refused
to accept John’s authority. The same thing happens today in some churches which
fail to believe the Word of God. The
same thing happens every day in our lives when we refuse to accept the authority
of God in aspects of our lives. The cross
happened for that very reason. John is
clear, don’t be like Diotrephes. Who’s
the authority in your life, yourself, some other person, or Jesus?
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