Jesus on the Sabbath – Part 3 – A Greater Temple

Recently I penned a series of post on the Ten Commandments and as I was writing it, found that the Sabbath day was the only commandment not reapplied  to believers in the New Testament.

In writing that series of posts, I was reminded that the Sabbath day was one of the main irritants between the Lord Jesus and the Pharisees.

In our last post we saw that Jesus’s first response to the Pharisees, Jesus compared Himself to King David.  By extension, His followers were compared to Davids followers, and the “sinful” act they performed by eating food allowed only for the priests.

The story was perfect, and the comparisons of the two Kings refuted the Pharisees claim.  This first response could have completed the discussion but Jesus continues.

Two Temples

Matthew 12:5  Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless?

During the Sabbath, the priests were super busy.  Work work work.  The blood was a flowing and them sheep didn’t die without help!  All the offerings and sacrifices were labor intensive and the priests had to supply on the Sabbath for the Temple activities.

The temple servants were not held to the Sabbath rules, as well did the Pharisees know.  Jesus takes advantage of this.

Matthew 12:6  I tell you, something greater than the temple is here.

Using this exception for the servants of the temple, Jesus laid out His second reasoning in defending His followers of their actions.

He is the Greater Temple.

And as they were discussing in the grain field, Jesus claimed that the Greater Temple was right in front of them.

The Greater Temple has the authority over the activities of His servants.

As an aside, when I first started to realize that all things in the Old Testament were simply shadows of the Lord Jesus Christ, my mind was blown.  I still come back to missing such truths as

• Jesus is the real Promised Land
• He is the new Jerusalem
• The Lord is the Tabernacle, not made with hands

Are you “missing” the greatness of the Lord Jesus?  He is tha Alpha nad the Omega, and all things in the Old Testament were written as a type of His person and ministry.

One challenge for my reader – Consider all the sacrifices in the Old Testament, and how they typify the love and mercy of the Lord Jesus, of His character and actions while on this blue ball.

Please join me a s we venture into additional passages in the New Testament, and find out how Jesus relates to the Sabbath.

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Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion.