First, as a pious Jew who was zealous for the Lord, Jesus showed respect for the Temple. He referred to it as "the house of God" - But he said to them, 'Have you not read what David did when he and his followers were hungry - how he went into the house of God and how they ate the loaves of offering which neither he nor his followers were allowed to eat, but which were for the priests alone? - Matt. 12:4 - and "My Father's house" - Just before the Jewish Passover Jesus went up to Jerusalem and in the Temple he found people selling cattle and sheep and pigeons, and the money changers sitting at their counters there. Making a whip out of some cord, he drove them all out of the Temple, cattle and sheep as well, scattered the money changers' coins, knocked their tables over and said to the pigeon-sellers, 'Take all this out of here and stop turning my Father's house into a market.' - John 2:13-16 -
Jesus taught that "everything in the Temple was holy and sacred because of the sanctifying presence of God." - Alas for you, blind guides! You who say, "If a man swears by the Temple, it has no force; but if a man swears by the gold of the Temple, he is bound." Fools and blinds! For which is of greater worth, the gold or the Temple that makes the gold sacred? Or else, "If a man swears by the altar it has no force; but if a man swears by the offering that is on the altar, he is bound." You blind men! For which is greater worth, the offering or the altar that makes the offering sacred? Therefore, when a man swears by the Temple he is swearing by that and by the One who dwells in it. - Matt. 23:16-21 -
Second, Jesus' zeal led Him to purge the Temple of the money changers and weep over it as He reflected on its coming destruction. The Book of Malachi 3:1 prophesied the cleansing of the Temple as something the Lord and His Messenger would do, Jesus' act implied His deity. Consequently, the Pharisees, Scribes and the chief priests sought how they might destroy Jesus. - Mark 11:15-18, 13:1; Luke 19:41-47; John 2:16 -
Third, because Jesus was the Son of God incarnate, Jesus taught that He was greater than the Temple. 'Or again, have you not read in the Law that on the Sabbath day the Temple priests break the Sabbath without blamed for it? Now here, I tell you, is something greater than the Temple. And if you had understood the meaning of the words: What I want is mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the blameless. For the Son of Man is master of the Sabbath. - Matt. 12:5-8 - Jesus' teaching that if the temple of His body was destroyed in three days He would raise it up, likewise affirms His superiority to the Temple building. 'Jesus answered, 'Destroy this sanctuary, and in three days I will raise it up.' - John 2:19 - That saying of Jesus may have provided the basis for the claim of the two false witnesses at His trail who stated that Jesus said, 'I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.' - Matt. 26:59-61, 27:40; Mark 14:55-59, 15:29 -
Finally, Jesus taught that the Church is the new temple. 'When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi he put this question to his disciples, 'Who do people say the Son of Man is?' And they said, 'Some say he is John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.' 'But you.' he said 'who do you say I am?' Then Simon Peter spoke up, 'You are the Christ' he said 'the Son of the living God.' Jesus replied, 'Simon son of Jonah, you are a happy man! Because it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven. So I now say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church. And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it. - Matt.16:13-18 -
At the moment of Jesus' death, the veil of the Temple was torn from top to bottom. - Matt. 27:51; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45 - By His death, Jesus opened a new way into the presence of God. A new order replaced the old. No longer was the Temple in Jerusalem to be the place where peoples worshiped God. From now on they would worship God 'in spirit and truth.'
Sir, said the woman. 'Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, while you say that Jerusalem is the place where once ought to worship.' Jesus said:
'Believe me, woman, the hour is coming
when you will worship the Father
neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
You worship what you do not know;
we worship what we do know;
for salvation comes from the Jews.
But the hour will come - in fact it is here already -
when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth:
that is the kind of worshiper
the Father wants.
God is spirit,
and those who worship
must worship in spirit and truth.' - John 4:20-24 -
The first Christians were converted Jews. They continued to worship at the Temple as Jesus had. - Luke 24:52; Acts 2:46, 3:1, 5:12, 20:21, 42 - As they began to understand the meaning and significance of Jesus' person, work and teaching, they realized they were the new people of God, infused by God's Spirit. As such, they were a new, living Temple. A new order had replaced the old. Saint Stephen, the first Christian martyr, a Christian of Gentile background was the first person to understand that the Church had replaced the Temple as the place where God's presence was manifested in a special way among His peoples.
Saint Stephen insight was carried forward by Saint James, who identified the Church with Amos' prophecy about the 'tabernacle of David, which has fallen.' According to Saint James application of Amos' prophecy about the end times, the restoration of David's tabernacle, the Temple, would serve as the rallying point for Gentiles wished to come to the Lord.
That day I will re-erect the tottering hut of David,
make good the gaps in it, restore its ruins
and rebuild it as it was in the days of old,
so that they can conquer the remnant of Edom
and all the nations that belonged to me.
It is the Yahweh who speaks, and he will carry this out. - Amos 9: 11-12 -
Saint James understood the Church as the new temple that fulfilled that prophecy.
When they had finished it was James who spoke. 'My brothers' he said 'listen to me, Simeon has described how God first arranged to enlist a people for his name out of the pagans. This is entirely in harmony with the words of the prophets, since the scriptures says:
After that I shall return
and rebuild the fallen House of David;
I shall rebuild it from its ruin
and restore it.
Then the rest of mankind,
all the pagans who are consecrated to my name,
will look for the Lord,
says the Lord who made this known so long ago. - Acts 15:13-18 -
Page 2
If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.
By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
No comments:
Post a Comment