Greater Than The Temple…Lord of the Sabbath

Greater Than The Temple…Lord of the Sabbath

"I say unto you, that in this place is One greater than the temple" (Matthew 12:6)

This was a claim that they could not misunderstand: the temple was the place where the Lord Jehovah of Hosts was worshipped by His people.  For Jesus Christ to stand up and say that He was greater than the temple can mean but one thing.  Only the Being Who is worshipped is greater than the house of worship.  This is another of the many declarations in which He claimed to be God Almighty.  He continued His statement by saying that they, the Pharisees, would not have condemned the guiltless if they had understood the words of the prophet Hosea, "I will have mercy and not sacrifice" (Matthew 12:7; Hosea 6:6).  It was redemption grace that God wanted, and not merely the blood poured out upon the altar.

So Christ came to His conclusion.  We might paraphrase it as follows: "You have accused My disciples of breaking the law. But all they have done is to transgress your foolish rules which were written down, no doubt, with the thought of helping men to try to keep the original law, but which became in the hearts of this wicked people the end and not the means.  I am not looking into the hearts of men to try to find slavish keeping of a set of rules, I am looking for men who know and realize the loving heart of a tender Father.  He set aside the law that He had made Himself concerning the temple bread when His chosen King David was a fugitive.  So you cannot expect God to look with favor upon any act whatsoever which proceeds from hearts that have no love toward the Father, and which reject His Son."  No sabbath keeping could be acceptable to God from hearts that were rejecting Jesus Christ.

Finally, in one majestic phrase, He sets them right forever.  "For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day" (Matthew 12:8).  He Who had spoken from Mt. Sinai to Moses in the giving of the law stood before them to tell them that He was greater than the law He had made.  He was the promised Messiah, come to bring righteousness.  They wanted no righteousness, they wanted mere legalism.  The hollow shell meant very much more to them than the kernel, the crust much more than the bread.

Dr. Barnhouse urges us to examine our heart and not our ceremonies when it comes to worship.  If we are more concerned and focused  on how we worship than whom we worship, we are no better off than the Pharisees.

Further Reading: Matthew 12:1-14