From Matthew 12:42 / Something Greater Part 3

As Matthew has arranged it, this portion has contain Jesus’ 3 “greater than” statements regarding Himself.

In the first, something greater than the Temple is here – He demonstrates how it is He is the fulfillment of all the Old Covenant signs and symbols pointed to. Soon, He will actually inaugurate the New Covenant. The Old era will have come to it consummation in Him. And it is why going back to those Old Covenant feasts, festivals and practices are so foolish. It is going back to pictures when the reality is right in front of us.

Then, He speaks of how He is greater than Jonah. By contrast and comparison we are meant to infer how He had come to the most hostile and distant people from God (even though they professed nearness to Him) and preached judgment – but also salvation. A salvation Jonah never preached. At this point in time, Israel as as much the enemy of God as Assyria was the enemy of Israel in Jonah’s day. And yet God came to rescue them and grant repentance.

Now comes Jesus’ third statement.

“The queen of the South” Jesus says, “will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.

In context, not only is the Pharisee’s unbelief rebuked by the example of Jonah, He’ll go on to show how it is rebuked yet again in the account of how the pagan Queen of Sheba came from a great distance to see Solomon for herself – simply because she had heard such great things about him. Whereas these guys, had watched and seen Jesus close-up for quite some time, and still scoffed!

Once again, we see a number of things here by way of contrast and comparison.

1 – Solomon sought out and spoke wisdom: Christ is the very wisdom of God – 1 Cor. 1:30 / “And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption.”

2 – Solomon’s reign brought temporal and temporary peace – the golden age of Israel’s history: Christ is the very Prince of Peace – and brings reconciliation to God the Father. Rom. 5:1 / “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

3 – Solomon was seduced by the world: Christ said “fear not, I have overcome the world”. John 16:33 / “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

4 – Solomon was unfaithful to his wives: Christ remains ever faithful. And doesn’t Scripture repeat and emphasize the great truth of His faithfulness? 2 Timothy 2:13 / “if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.” Hebrews 2:17 / “Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” Hebrews 3:5–6 / “Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.” Revelation 19:11 / “Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.”

5 – Solomon dressed himself in splendid garments: but in Luke 2:11-12, “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” Humbling Himself to our condition.

6 – Solomon was King of Israel: Christ is pictured in Rev. 19:11-16 / “Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.”

7 – Solomon built an earthly Temple: Christ Himself IS the Temple in the New Jerusalem – Revelation 21:22 / “And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.”

8 – Solomon built a temple out of material stones: Christ is building His Temple out of the living, redeemed stones of Believers – Eph. 2:19-22 / “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” 1 Peter 2:4–5 / “As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

What then are we to make of all this?

Let me suggest just three things:

1 – Salvation rests solely in the person and work of Jesus Christ, not in any system of rules, regulations, rites, rituals or imagined good works.

We are saved by grace through faith – not by our efforts.

All of man-made religion finds a way for people to somehow reach God. But Biblical Christianity is all about how our God reached down to us.

How He found us in our sin and rebellion against His right to rule us, and now re-establishes His rule, as He created us to serve His plans and purposes.

Even the very commandments God has given cannot make us worthy.

At most, the perfect Laws of Moses can only serve to reveal how broken and sin-stained we are – how we cannot keep His Law perfectly.

Only the mercy and grace of God in the substitutionary death of Christ on Calvary can wipe out our sin.

Only He can save us from the just wrath of God which is due to us.

Something greater than the Temple is here: It is Jesus Christ. The one who fulfills all the things the Temple and its laws, rites and rituals were meant to typify.

I have often told the story of how my wife and I met. It was on the internet. Living in different states, we could only see each other infrequently. So I had a picture of her as the screen saver on my computer.

And I will confess that a couple of times, I longed to be with her so, my lips my have touched that screen.

But we’re married now. I get to see her, hold her hand, kiss her and live life with her.

If now, AFTER we are married, I go back and kiss her picture instead of kissing her – well, that’s a pretty serious defect wouldn’t you say? She sure would!

That’s just what is it like when people go back to Old Testament rites, rituals and regulations rather than serving the Christ who has come in person!

Those things were pictures. He’s the authentic.

Christians serve Christ, not a system.

We seek His Lordship, not a bunch of rules and laws.

We seek to please Him, not a written code.

2 – The Christian lives by faith, not by sight.

We do not look to signs, omens, feelings, impressions and mystical experiences to guide us, or assure our hearts and minds; We rely on the revelation of God’s character in His Word, in Christ, and the promises we can rightly discern in His Word.

And how do we define “faith” as it is in the Bible? It is believing that all of what God has said in His Word is true, and ordering our lives accordingly.

A number of years ago I heard a very famous preacher tell people over and over that they should follow him and send their money to Him because “a miracle settles it all.”

No it doesn’t! Jesus Himself told us that on judgment day – Matt. 7:21-23 ““Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”

Some will prophesy – rightly! Cast out demons and do many mighty works in His name – and yet they will not be His at all!

Paul reminds us there is a lawless one who will come some day: 2 Thess. 2:9-10 “The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.”

So Isa. 8:19-20 “And when they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living? To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.”

As Believers we do not need signs from God regarding this and that in life – we need His Word, studied, rightly understood, believed, obeyed and applied.

And if you are not a Believer yet today…‌

In Luke 16, Jesus told the account of a man who died in his sin, and while in Hell pleaded with Abraham that someone would reach his 5 brothers who were still alive – to warn them not to die in their sin: Luke 16:27 / “And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house—

Luke 16:29 / But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’

So the man shot back, Luke 16:30 / And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’

To which Abraham finally replied: Luke 16:31 / He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’ ”

If you are demanding God give you some sign that the Gospel is true and that you need to come to Christ now to receive the forgiveness of sins – it will not be coming.

He does not answer to you, you, and all of humanity answer to Him!

If you will not hear God’s Word to repent of your sin and believe on Christ – no sign He could give you would be sufficient.

Such is the wickedness of our rebellious hearts. Come to Him now, before it is too late!

3 – A true grasp or reality can be had, only in the light of the Person and work of Jesus Christ.

Until He is in His proper place in our thinking, we do not live in reality as God knows it. We live only by the fallen wisdom of this godless age.

Christ has come: 1 Cor. 1:30 “And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,”

And –

Colossians 2:1–4 / “For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments.”

Solomon was wise – but Christ is wisdom itself. When we know who He is, why He came, what He is doing now and how all things will end in Him – THEN, and only then do we understand life and how to live it.

So we read in Ephesians 1:7–10 / “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.”

If God’s plan for the fullness of time – if what He is aiming at in everything, in creation, in us, in everything – is to unite all things in Christ, everything in Heaven and on earth – then we must reckon with that as framing all of reality and existence.

We cannot live in truth, until we live in this reality. We must live all of life in reference to Him.

Something greater than the Temple is here: All that the Temple and its laws, rites, rituals and regulations pictured.

Something greater than Jonah is here: The One who accomplishes all of God’s will – the One who is the very subject of the Gospel message of reconciliation to God.

Something greater than Solomon is here: Everything we can possibly know about God, His plans and purposes in creation, all of life and what it means, and what is to come – is wrapped up in Him.

Look nowhere else. Serve no one or nothing else.

2 Corinthians 4:6 / For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

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