How was Jesus greater than the temple?

-
Christ and The Pharisees
Christ and The Pharisees (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Matthew 12:1–8 “I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. …For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath” (vv. 6–8).

Christ’s call for the heavy-laden to come to Him for rest (Matt. 11:28–30) provides an excellent backdrop for this passage on the Sabbath, the day of rest prescribed in the Old Testament (Ex. 20:8–11). If Jesus gives rest to His people, His view of the Sabbath helps us understand the nature of His respite.

Judah’s failure to keep the Sabbath was one reason God sent the nation into
exile in 586 B.C. (2 Chron. 36:11–21; Jer. 17:27). After the people returned
to Palestine (2 Chron. 36:22–23), many religious leaders worked to ensure the
Sabbath would be kept so that they would not be kicked out of their land
again. They built a “fence” around the Torah — God’s law through Moses — out of various oral traditions, reasoning that the people, in keeping the oral
laws, would also obey the letter of the Law protected by the fence. So tenuous was the tie between the oral dos and don’ts and the Word of God that some said the traditions were like mountains hanging by a hair (scant biblical foundation).

The disciples’ failure to keep the oral laws explains the complaint of the
Pharisees in today’s passage (Matt. 12:1–2). Plucking grain on the Sabbath is
forbidden according to these traditions. Jesus’ response reveals that the
Pharisees are misguided. God’s law is not always to be applied woodenly;
occasionally, someone may seem to break the letter of the Law and yet not be
guilty of transgression (Matt. 12:3–5). David, on the run from Saul, freely
ate the bread normally reserved only for the priests (Lev. 24:5–9; 1 Sam.
21:1–9). Without sinning, the priests do the work required for the worship of
God on the Sabbath (Lev. 24:8; 1 Chron. 23:24–32). In their zeal to obey the
letter of the Law, the Pharisees have not kept its spirit, which calls for
mercy to supersede ceremonial regulation when the two seem to be in conflict
to us (Matt. 12:7). As Matthew Henry comments, “The works of necessity and
mercy are lawful on the Sabbath.”

Ultimately, Christ justifies His disciples’ actions not only with an appeal to
Old Testament principles, He also appeals to His own authority. If temple
service permits the priests to “break” the Sabbath, how much more is Christ,
who is greater than the temple (v. 6), able to ignore the customs of men?

John Chrysostom wrote: “Did Christ then attempt to repeal a law so beneficial
as the sabbath law? Far from it. Rather, he greatly magnified the sabbath. For
with Christ came the time for everyone to be trained by a higher requirement”
(Homilies on the Gospel of St. Matthew, 39.3). In Christ we know that mercy
and justice, biblically defined, must guide how we apply the letter of the
Law. We are as bad as the Pharisees if we ignore these principles. Author: RC Sproul

Related articles

Enhanced by Zemanta

Popular posts from this blog

Speaking in tongues for today - Charles Stanley

-
Image
There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. … But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all. … And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healing, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues. … Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way - 1 Corinthians 12:4, 7, 28, 30—31 The Lord Jesus Christ had come and gone. The church—newly birthed—was in a transition time. The new covenant was seen as a threat to the Jewish leaders; therefore, there was persecution for those who had chosen to follow Christ. The new religion, in its infant stages, had no Bible, few leaders, and absolutely no support from the government. Astounding that it survived, isn’t it?  How in the world did it survive with so little going for it? Power. Not just a force, but mighty, visible power. Th...
Read more

What is the glory (kabod) of God?

-
Image
2 CORINTHIANS 4:17 "This light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison." Scripture places a high value on God 's glory, and it is not hard to figure out why. Since the inherent glory of the Lord is something that He will not share with others (Isa. 42:8), we know that His glory is something that He prizes highly; indeed, He prizes it more highly than anything else. We should, therefore, set the glory of God as the goal and overarching emphasis of our lives. Whatever we lose for the sake of making the Lord's glory known will be worth it when we see the dazzling light and beauty of; the divine glory (28:5; Rev. 21:23). Glory has to do with light and beauty, but those aspects do not sum up what the Bible means when it speaks of the glory of God. Interestingly, the Hebrew word kabod , which is translated into English as "glory," has the root meaning of "weight" or "heaviness....
Read more

The Holy Spirit causes us to cry out: Abba, Father

-
Image
Pentecostés. Óleo sobre lienzo, 275 × 127 cm. Madrid, Museo del Prado. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) To bring out the same truth in another way, Paul says God sent Jesus (as a Man) to live under the Law in order “to redeem those under law, that we [Jews and Gentiles ] might receive the full rights [adoption] of sons” ( Galatians 4:5).  By “full rights” or “adoption” he means entering into the privileges and responsibilities of sonship. He uses it also of the sonship of Israel (Romans 9:4). Galatians 4:1, 2 indicate that the son and heir of a wealthy family in Paul’s day would be treated as a slave until he became of age.  Then he would receive the adoption, that is, all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities that belonged to an adult member of that family. Adoption was also used in the modern sense, so that Gentiles who were not sons of Abraham became true heirs, true sons of God , by faith.  Jesus died, not just to save us from the fires of hell, bu...
Read more