It is an old Bible teacher’s quippy yarn that when you encounter the word “therefore” in the text, you should look above it to see what it is there for. It’s not exactly a hermeneutical principle, but it is worth considering in that it does indicate some kind of conclusion based on what came before. In this case, the sentence that starts this verse, is the necessary precursor to the command contained in the second sentence. “Moses my servant is dead – THEREFORE.”
Like the shift between the Old Judaic and the New covenants – the overall plan remains the same, but there is a vast difference in how things will work from a certain point on out. Failing to recognize these shifts always ends in confusion. And even within the covenants, shifts take place, like this one.
Moses’ ministry was focused on two things: 1 – Seeing the Israelites delivered from slavery in Egypt (a wonderful type of the Believer being delivered from the bondage of sin and the World.) 2 – Keeping God’s people in their wilderness wandering while communicating God’s will concerning how they were to conduct themselves in the World as His peculiar people.
That era, was now at an end.
The next era is all about conquering. Again, a wonderful type for the New Covenant Believer as we engage the perpetual battle against the remnants of indwelling sin.
Even then, will come even another era – truly inhabiting the land. A call and a warning to we under the New Covenant regarding standing fast in all Christ has delivered unto us so far. (Eph. 6:10-18)
Now back to our immediate text, it is interesting to note again the wording in vs. 2 – “therefore”.
Moses needed to pass off the scene before Joshua could lead Israel in conquest. And it is only until the issue of the Law is settled in Christ that we can actually begin the work of routing out the inhabitants of indwelling sin. If we try to do it BY the Law, we will fail. We will live in bondage. We must enter into the new era, the New Covenant, if we would have what that covenant promises.
The Christian life doesn’t stop at our initial deliverance – it only begins there.
Entering this beginning of our inheritance requires reliance on the Word already delivered to us, and then fresh, daily dependence upon the indwelling Holy Spirit to continually draw us to Christ and form His image in us progressively. Taking on and living out more and more of His own character as sons of God ourselves.
So the lesson here for us is this: Therefore, Moses my servant is dead – The Law covenant is dead. We do not live under it any longer. Moses was a great type of Christ as deliverer, but now we look to Him as our general, leading us into battle with sin. He is our Joshua too. He goes before us. He is fearless. He is undaunted by how cunning, pestiferous, many or frightening our sins might be. He knows well there are giants in this land. He has taken up the charge of leading us into all the Father has promised us. And He will not, He cannot fail. If we will follow and fight along side Him, He will bring us into victory. The days and campaigns may be long and hard – but victory is assured. Christ, is our Lord.
From Matthew 27:62-66 / Trying to do the Impossible
There are two passages in the Gospels that I find truly humorous. The first, is John 12:10 “So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well.” It it weren’t so seriously tragic on the part of the priests, one would have to laugh hysterically. Like Lazarus could in any way possible be intimidated by the threat of death after having been raised after 4 days dead. The very thought of it is so ludicrous as to defy one’s imagination. “Ooooh” I can hear him saying when he heard it – “they’re going to kill me. I’m SO scared!” Pretty tough to worry a guy who spent 4 days in the grave, only to be resurrected by the mere word of his Savior.
The 2nd humorous passage, again for how utterly ludicrous it is – is this one before us.
Jesus is dead and buried. Ostensibly, the fear on the part of the chief priests (Sadduccees) and the Pharisees was that Jesus’ disciples would come and take His body out of the grave and then claim He had risen from the dead. Little did they know He would soon appear to more than 500 (1 Cor. 15:6) – and that, all at one time.
What made their fear and attempt to secure the tomb so foolish? The promises of Ps. 16:8-11, expounded by Peter on the Day of Pentecost. Acts 2:23-24 has Peter saying: “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.”
Did you catch that last sentence? It was not POSSIBLE for Jesus to remain bound by death. It was not possible. And why can Peter make that claim? “For” vs. 25 begins – because, David has prophesied of Jesus hundreds of years earlier that The Father would not suffer the Son to “see corruption;” to succumb to the inevitable decay which attaches itself to every lifeless corpse. No, as David would say: “I saw the Lord always before me.”
So it is Peter in his Pentecost sermon unpacks the following elements of this astounding and prophetic Psalm.
Why was it impossible for the grave to hold Jesus?
a. Because Jesus was God. “I saw the Lord” (Ps. 16:8) “before me.” The incarnate body of Jesus could die, but He could not utterly die – He was and is – The Lord!
b. Because He must fulfill the prophecy. vss. 26-28 of the Psalm declare that the Father would NOT abandon Him in the grave, and would not let His body rot.
c. Because He was sinless. Though he could be killed, He could not die. Death has no final claim over one who is perfectly righteous. So vs. 27 declares that Jesus is “Your Holy One”.
Lastly, d. Because God had promised. So Peter would say in Acts 2:30 – that David, speaking as a prophet, and knowing that God had “sworn with an oath” that one of his descendents would sit on Israel’s throne, “foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ.”
Now because of all this, can I cite one more impossibility? It is simply this – I will not elaborate but leave it with you to sink in – especially if you are one who has somehow imagined your sin to be so great as though Christ’s blood is not sufficient for you: Rom. 5:20 “where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.”
No one. No matter what they have done. And no matter how long they have done it, can make their sin greater than His grace.
If you would have salvation, come to Him today. He is the God of the impossible. As Jesus told the disciples upon their incredulity over the difficulty of a rich man inheriting heaven – “And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” (Mark 10:27)
The Bible was written as a WHOLE, to reveal Christ Jesus above all things. This works on two levels. 1. That people might be reconciled to God through the revelation of God’s salvation plan through Jesus’ substitutionary death on the Cross. (John 5:39-40) 2. That Christians might be completely equipped to live rightly, and to be prepared for eternity in Heaven with God. (2 Tim. 3:15-17)
The Bible is designed & structured to meet those two needs.
Genesis – Beginnings: WHERE we came from. WHY we’re here. WHY the world is the way it is.
Exodus – Salvation requires supernatural DELIVERANCE from the BONDAGE of sin.
Leviticus, Numbers & Deuteronomy – What it looks like when RELATIONSHIP with God defines & impacts every area of life.
Joshua – The Christian life will be a BATTLE. Within and without.
Judges – Our AFFECTIONS toward God are constantly FLUCTUATING.
Ruth – Gentiles can enter into the PROMISES of Abraham.
1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles – When mankind rejects GOD’S RULE, and the utter failure of ALL Human Government.
Esther – God PROVIDENTIALLY ruling all, even when He can’t be seen.
Job – The chief question in life is WHO? not WHY?
Psalms – Learning to WORSHIP God in EVERYTHING.
Proverbs – Wisdom – Learning to THINK God’s way.
Ecclesiastes – Need for, and reality of PURPOSE in life in God.
Song of Solomon – Revelation of God’s PASSION for His Bride.
Prophets:
a. God NEVER ignores sin – by anyone.
b. God is faithful to His People & Promises.
c. God loves mankind, and is merciful to those who confess their sin and repent.
d. God CONSTANTLY Warns, Informs, Calls, Encourages, Receives & Restores.
New Testament
Matthew / Mark / Luke / John – The person and work of Jesus Christ: a. The Messiah/King of the Jews, b. The Son of God; c. The Son of Man; d. God in human flesh.
Acts – INVADING the world with the GOSPEL message.
Romans – The Gospel and all of its RAMIFICATIONS.
1 Corinthians – The UNITY of Gospel love in Christ’s Church.
2 – Corinthians – Taking advantage of our SUFFERING.
Galatians – Living in victory over sin by faith.
Ephesians – METANARRATIVE / The BIG picture from eternity past.
Philippians – Rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS.
Colossians – Our IDENTITY is completely in Christ.
1 & 2 Thessalonians – Living while WAITING.
1 & 2 Timothy / Titus – MINISTRY leadership in the Church.
Philemon – RESTORATION in Christ.
Hebrews – All the “BETTER” things in Christ.
James – Living an “INTEGRATED” life (faith AND works).
1 Peter – Living RIGHT in world GONE WRONG.
2 Peter – Growing in the KNOWLEDGE of CHRIST.
1 John – Knowing WHO we are by who & what we LOVE.
2 John – There will be DECEIVERS in the Church.
3 John – There will be SELF-PROMOTERS in the Church.
Jude – CONTENDING for The FAITH.
Revelation – The CONSUMMATION of all things in Christ Jesus.
The Story-line and Message of the Bible.
The Bible as revelation is written such, that an uninitiated reader would come away with the following things as controlling concepts:
1. God created the world and everything in it.
2. Mankind as a race, was created in the image of God – bearing His holy and flawless image (character).
3. In love, God gave humanity every benefit, and a warning not to eat that which God had put off limits, or we would die.
4. Man was tempted by the serpent to rule his own life and disobeyed God’s command.
5. Man hid in his shame.
6. Instead of man dying right away, God showed mercy. He sought man out, covered his nakedness and promised to send the “Seed” of the woman who would bruise the serpent’s head – the tempter behind the Fall. The race was spared – for now.
7. Man lost his access to the Tree of Life, and suffers the effects of this loss in physical corruption as well as in his separation from God. All human misery is linked to this fall.
8. Man very quickly descended into envy, hatred and murder.
9. While man continued to digress, in love God continued to sustain him.
10. God repeatedly intervened in the affairs of mankind to prevent its total demise, displaying special grace to certain individuals, thus preserving the race while also letting it suffer the first pains of His just wrath.
11. Out of the mass of fallen men, God chose one man – Abraham – and in making a covenant with him (a promise confirmed by signs) set Abraham and his offspring apart to be the means of preserving the witness, worship and Word of the true God among men. Through this arrangement (Abraham was told), all of the nations of the earth would eventually be blessed.
12. For the most part, the rest of mankind outside of this new nation were given up to their sin, though through this nation (Israel) the testimony of God, His purposes and His Word were preserved and could be sought.
13. Irrespective of their repeated rebellion and sinfulness, in grace, God preserved the nation which came from Abraham, and the promised “Seed” eventually did come through them in the person of Jesus Christ.
14. This Jesus who was fully both God and man, was rejected as the “Seed” by the vast majority of the nation (Israel) God had preserved all along.
15. This Jesus announced that God loved not only the Jews, but the whole world. So much so that He (Jesus) had been sent so that whosoever – without qualification – would believe in Him, would be spared from the final wrath of God still due on their sin, and instead gain eternal life with Himself.
16. Dying on the Cross at Calvary, and experiencing God’s wrath which is justly due to fallen mankind, Jesus arose from the dead on the third day, and commissioned those who believed in Him to make the good news of His death, burial and resurrection known to every living creature.
17. Those who believed God’s willingness to receive them if they believed on Jesus as their sin-bearer, and demonstrated that belief in serving Him, would be saved. Those not believing would remain under God’s wrath and would finally be condemned when Jesus returns to judge mankind for its rebellion against God.
18. His disciples engaged in telling this good news immediately, but still needed to be shown that this news was in fact to be made known to all people – not just the nation of Israel.
19. With supernatural signs attesting to it, this message began to be taken everywhere, and preached freely to everyone. “To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” (Acts 10:43)
20. God has demonstrated His love in sending His Son to die for human sin, so that if I believe, receiving Him as my savior, and Lord – I can be saved from God’s wrath too.
2 Corinthians 3: – The New Covenant – The Missing Piece
For the New Testament Believer – this may be one of the most important principles you can grasp.
Maybe you’ve heard the saying that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
There was this old Mountain man who in later years found felling trees and cutting them up for firewood was getting too laborious. He heard about a newfangled machine called a chain saw that could really make his life easier, and went into town one day to buy one.
A week later he brought it back to the store and told the guy it didn’t help at all. That in fact he worked 10 times as hard and only got about 1/2 the results he would normally get from a week of cutting wood. He only got 2 trees down and cut.
The clerk thought the saw was malfunctioning and asked to see it. He pulled the starter cord and it roared to life like it should – when the Mountain man reared back and shouted “what’s that noise!?”
He knew a chain saw was supposed to make cutting wood easier – but he didn’t know how it worked. With the end result that it actually made things much worse.
In a nutshell, that is a major part of what was going on in the Church at Corinth. And it was not just making Paul’s life miserable, it was tearing the Church apart and creating all sorts of problems.
Getting to that key piece of knowledge they were missing is what this large section of 2 Corinthians up to Chapter 7 has at its core. And we get our hint of that in 1:13-14
2 Corinthians 1:13–14 / For we are not writing to you anything other than what you read and understand and I hope you will fully understand— just as you did partially understand us—that on the day of our Lord Jesus you will boast of us as we will boast of you.
Clearly they had misunderstood some things Paul had written earlier.
We see that in 1 Cor. 5, where he says that when he had written to them not to associate with sexually immoral people – he didn’t mean they couldn’t interact with anyone who wasn’t a Christian.
You’d have to exit the planet to do that.
No, his concern was not letting people who profess to be Christians and are acting in sexually immoral ways, or being drunkards, verbally abusive or swindlers – go on like nothing is wrong. In fact, if they won’t repent, they need to be excommunicated from the Church.
These types of misunderstandings along with the other issues that were plaguing that Church, he ties back to this problem of “partial understanding.”
They were missing something crucial in their understanding of what it means to be a Christian and the Church. Something which impacted every issue he had to address in his previous letters. And what he will take great pains to clarify in this letter.
I don’t know if you’ve ever played whack-a-mole, but that is how Paul must have felt in his dealing with this Church.
As soon as he addressed one problem, another popped up.
And in what must have seemed to have been in endless and exhausting succession.
Divisions over personalities; idolatry; immorality; misuse and abuse of spiritual gifts; materialism; competition for recognition in the Church; abusing the Lord’s table; un-severed ties from idolatry, etc..
And now, after his “severe letter” that we don’t have, some group – foisting themselves off as apostles – were trying to undermine Paul’s authority and ministry.
They said his sufferings; his unwillingness to treat the Corinthians like benefactors in refusing to take their money; his need to change plans in visiting them; his apparently lackluster preaching style and lack of credentials – all disqualified him from service.
So how is he to get to the bottom of all of this?
He has to fill in that critical piece of missing information I mentioned earlier.
Something they just did not get so far – never made the connection to rightly – that would re-shape their understanding of him, his ministry, the Church overall, and especially the false teaching which apparently was creeping in. In 2:17 Paul called such “peddlers of God’s Word”.
He’ll go on later in this letter to label them: “disgraceful”, “underhanded”, “unbelievers”, “false apostles”, “deceitful workmen”, and as they called themselves “super-apostles.”
The only reason they could gain a foothold in the Church is the same reason why all of these other problems kept popping up.
And the key point – getting ahead of myself is this: The Corinthian Christians had no real grasp of what it meant that they were living in the New Covenant.
And so they could not live in the implications of that status.
And this is what he begins to tackle in earnest in this 3rd chapter.
So let’s read it.
2 Corinthians 3 / Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you, or from you? You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all. And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory.
Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
What seems obvious from vs. 1, is that these “peddlers of God’s Word”, came to the Church at Corinth claiming some sort of endorsement as revered teachers or leaders. Where they got these endorsements we don’t know. Perhaps Jerusalem or some other Church or Churches. But from Paul’s comment, we can infer that an objection raised against Paul was that he had no such credentials.
2 Corinthians 3:1 / Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you, or from you?
Incredulous, Paul says “really”? Do you really need to raise this issue now? After all this time and after all that God has done among you?
2 Corinthians 3:2–3 / You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all. And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
In other words, the proof of my authenticity is your conversion to Christ!
I came and preached the Gospel, and you believed it and were saved. What more could possibly be needed to authenticate me?
These guys show up with letters written on paper with ink – but our letter of recommendation is the work of the Spirit in your hearts!
A permanent, supernatural inscription. And so…
2 Corinthians 3:4 / Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God.
We stand secure in our authenticity because we have seen the results IN YOU!
But there’s more.
And this is where Paul begins to get to the heart of all of the issues plaguing that Church while opening it up to us as well – where the key piece of missing truth left them vulnerable to these interlopers:
2 Corinthians 3:5–6 / Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
Paul is arguing that he operates on a totally different set of principles.
The qualifying aspect of his ministry isn’t about his abilities. He doesn’t even try to defend himself as a great preacher or organizer or anything else. The only sufficiency for the work he did among them was that he preached Christ – and brought them into the New Covenant.
This is vitally important.
Based on what he says here – which will be borne out later in the letter – these new guys were apparently trying to persuade the Church that they needed to go back and start living their lives in accord with the Law of Moses.
They weren’t necessarily Judaizers – saying Gentile Christians had to become Jewish in order to be good Christians. That issue is taken up in the book of Galatians.
This is far more subtle and can easily creep into churches today as well.
The idea is that once you are saved, the way to make progress in the Christian life is to go back and order your life by the 10 commandments.
They might well have been arguing: Paul’s preaching was great as far as it went – but if there is still so much sin and disarray – then it’s obvious they aren’t living according to the Law – the commandments.
Now this is a serious problem in the Christianity of Corinth, and today. For it soon leads to harsh legalism and abusive leadership. Abuse of authority by these men will be brought later in Ch. 11.
So Paul rears up and says “whoa!” We are ministers of a new covenant, one that is NOT based upon an external written code of conduct, but upon the indwelling Spirit of God in Believers. If you want to direct people to advance in their Christian lives by bringing them back to the Law of Moses, then you are unaware that the letter of the law kills. It is the Spirit that gives life.
Now I need a moment to unpack this covenant idea in order to really grasp what Paul is after. We toss this language around a lot and sometimes don’t define it well.
When God chose the Jewish people group out of all the ethnicities on the earth to be His chosen people – he set down the terms of an agreement between Himself and them: He formalized their relationship.
That agreement is called the Old Covenant, the Law of Moses or just “The Law” in the Bible.
Not long ago I officiated at the wedding for some friends.
And in that ceremony they took certain vows. Vows that are a binding agreement between them; a set of promises they pledge to each other in terms of their relationship. That is called a marriage covenant.
So God’s covenant or agreement with Israel is spelled out in the Old Testament – mainly in Exodus. It details how God will act toward them, and how they are expected to act toward Him. And both parties agreed to it.
But God also told them later, after they had long broken the terms of that agreement in every way conceivable and over centuries of time – that someday He would institute a New Covenant. A new agreement with those who really believed Him. That, is spelled out for us in detail in Jeremiah 31 and then again in Hebrews 8. You can read that on your own. The point being these are two radically different arrangements.
And it is this radical difference between the covenants that the Corinthians hadn’t really grasped.
It is behind why they were living such messed up lives, had messed up theology and were sitting ducks for messed up false teachers.
Paul is going to need this entire letter to tease out all of the implications of this – but the foundation of it all is what he says in this chapter.
Now the very heart, the core of God’s Old Covenant was the 10 commandments. Good in every way. Holy and righteous and not to be disregarded. But for all of its wonder, this covenant was never meant to be the permanent agreement between God and His people.
It was never designed to be used the way these new teachers were apparently trying to use it.
So he begins to put the two covenants side by side to show why going back to the commandments is NOT the way the Christian is meant to live.
The 2 covenants will not contradict one another. But they arrive at different ends and use different means.
The very heart of the New Covenant is NOT a new set of commandments, but the sending of the Holy Spirit to indwell us and give us new hearts.
We can only focus on 3 of the key differences between them this morning.
1st difference: The OC Letter kills. The NC Spirit gives life.
2 Corinthians 3:7–8 / Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory?
Why would Paul call the 10 Commandments a “ministry of death”?
Because no one could keep them. And as the Old Testament repeats numerous times: The soul that sins will die. This is repeated again in the New Testament: “The wages of sin is death.” Rom. 6:23
And even if they (or we) COULD keep them perfectly – we have Jesus’ words in Luke 17:10 “So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’ ””
It provided a picture of what salvation would take – a substitutionary death – but merely obeying the code – couldn’t save anyone.
Obeying the Law perfectly is only our duty. Nothing more. It can’t earn us anything. It is why is does not save.
Galatians 3:21–22 / Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
The Law had glory because it revealed God’s holiness. But there was a greater glory to come.
2nd difference: The OC was temporary. The NC is permanent.
2 Corinthians 3:9–11 / For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory.
Paul doesn’t denigrate the Law in any way, but at the same time calls it “the ministry of condemnation.”
Its glory – its bright and shining light was that it revealed the holiness of God.
And when we are exposed to that light – all of our defects really come into view.
Just like an X-ray can expose a broken bone but contributes nothing toward healing that broken bone, so the Law could reveal sin in the light of God’s holiness, but was never designed to fix the sin problem. It could – and still can – condemn. But it cannot justify. No matter how much anyone obeys it, it cannot make them right with God. Something else is needed.
So as glorious as the Law is, as an external code it was meant as a temporary arrangement.
Hebrews 9:9–10 / (which is symbolic for the present age). According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, but deal only with food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation.
2 Corinthians 3:12–16 / Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.
So since we have this more glorious – permanent hope in the finished work of Christ revealed in the Gospel we operate in an entirely different way than those who try to bring you to heel under rules and regulations.
When Moses came down from Sinai after meeting with God the 2nd time, the narrative says his face was so radiant from the encounter that the people were afraid to go near him. So he put a veil over his face to calm them. He would take it off when he went into the Tabernacle to talk with God, but put it back on when he came out. And this appears to have continued to be the case the rest of his life.
So what is Paul getting at?
The Law was a ministry of condemnation and death. Break the Law and you die. That was the basic reality.
When Moses’ face shone the way it did from being in God’s presence, that beaming light was terrifying, exposing every blemish and giving no relief – even though it was in fact only a temporary covenant. Moses’ covered his face, softening the blow. Easing the terror.
The end of the Law is condemnation. Period. Nothing else. What was in the process of fading away (the Law covenant) was nothing but condemnation. And Moses gave them some relief from being assaulted by the holiness of God exposing their sinfulness.
However, in the NC, the glory of this administration far, far outshines the Old.
It’s permanent, not temporary. It’s filled with the promise of the Spirit renewing the heart and mind and doesn’t leave the individual condemned in their sin.
Above all, it reveals the mercy and grace of God in the cross, in the face of Jesus Christ.
And now, we can see God in the full radiance of His holiness without terror – because the Gospel tells us that the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin and shame.
We can face our sin in all of its wickedness, and not flee in terror, because it is revealed now, not in a written code, but in the face of the One who died for our sins.
This covenant still reveals all the same holiness of God that terrifies the sinner, but also reveals the Gospel of forgiveness and change. And the more we stare into it, the more we are transformed by it.
We move from terror to transformation.
2 Corinthians 3:18 / And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
The sad thing is, many people still look at that old law and imagine if they can just regulate their lives by it – God will accept them.
Paul says that is like reading the Old Testament with a bag over your head. You’re still trying to hide from the way it exposes sin by thinking it is something you can do.
Just as bad – and horrendously confusing is the Christian who comes to believe the Gospel, and then goes BACK to the Law to try and deal with the remainder of indwelling sin. Instead of looking to Christ and His finished work which brings the Holy Spirit to indwell them, they fall back to living by an external code of conduct and live in frustration and condemnation when they find they can’t do it. Or they live as hypocrites claiming they can do it. All the while knowing they’re lying.
Only when one comes to Christ in faith taking Him as their sin-bearer on Calvary, and the giver of the Holy Spirit to give them new ability to war against their sin – can they begin to see rightly. To take the bag off of their heads and put all of their hope in Christ – removing all the terror of God’s judgment.
They don’t know their sin any less, or think less of how horrible it is. But they know the remedy and the promise that in Jesus, they can face the unveiled holiness of God that devours all sin and wickedness – without fear.
This then is the 3rd key difference between the covenants.
3rd difference: The OC could only regulate actions. The NC transforms the very soul.
And it accomplishes this transforming work by our looking to Jesus and Jesus alone for our righteousness.
Where is freedom from condemnation?
2 Corinthians 3:17 / Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
Where is freedom from the power of sin?
Where is freedom from living by some external code that we cannot keep?
Where is freedom from false teachers who would try to bring us back under the Law of Moses to be right with God?
Where is freedom from the bondage of trying kill sin by just taking on more and more duties?
It is where the Spirit of the Lord is.
The OC Letter kills. The NC Spirit gives life.
The OC was temporary. The NC is permanent.
The OC could only regulate actions. The NC transforms the very soul.
Why is all of this so important for them and for us?
If you are not a Christian here today then the chief importance is this: No amount of being a good person or obeying even the commandments of God can rid you of your guilt and shame.
Only crying out for mercy, and trusting in the substitutionary death of Jesus in your place on the Cross – can clear the way for you to face this ineffably holy God without fear – and be reconciled to Him as your loving Father.
This is of the utmost importance. This is what salvation is. Coming to and trusting in Jesus Christ and His finished work on Calvary.
And for Believers, I will mention just 3 critical areas of importance.
1. Without this understanding of the New Covenant replacing the Old, one cannot know how the Bible fits together correctly.
It is why you find people confused about whether or not we need to follow the dietary codes of the Old Testament, or try to appropriate the land promises given to Israel or the material promises that were meant as types and shadows of our spiritual inheritance.
It gives fuel to people trying to blend Jewish ceremonies, feasts and customs with Christianity – in order to be more “complete” Christians.
Some will try to re-create an Israel-like Theocracy in today’s society because they confound the 2 covenants and do not understand we are operating under and entirely new arrangement.
2. It will lead either to Legalism or Libertarianism.
On the legalism side – Those who fall into this error will:
Become very harsh and censorious with others.
They will measure their own spirituality by how they follow the code – which will lead either to rank hypocrisy since they know they can’t keep the Law, or frustration and depression because they can’t keep the Law.
And they will never rest secure in the love of Christ.
They will fixate on behaviors rather than sins of the heart and mind, inward attitudes and dispositions. As long as they act OK, they don’t need to deal with inward greed, prejudice, hatred, unforgiveness, lust or covetousness, etc.
There is little doubt these super-apostles came into town and said: You know why this Church has so many sin problems? You’re not living according to the commandments.
And why is Paul’s ministry so ineffective to deal with it? Because you’re not living according to the commandments.
You people just need to shape up! To live according to the 10 commandments and God will bless you.
And Paul is saying, NO! – the reason why there are divisions, is because you are not walking according to the Spirit.
The real reason why you are still caught up in certain sins, is because you are not walking in the Spirit.
The real reason why you are so easily fooled by false teaching, so immature, factioned, competitive, argumentative, sensual and materialistic is because you are not walking in the Spirit.
We live in the New Covenant. The Spirit has been sent from the Father and the Son when He ascended on high. He gives new, holy impulses and leads you walk in a whole new way. But you are walking like you are still under that old covenant which has passed away.
On the Libertarian side: Some will imagine that since the New Covenant is not law or rules based, then it doesn’t matter what we do!
And of course this ignores the New Covenant’s chief feature: The gift of the indwelling Spirit of God who is the HOLY Spirit.
As the Puritan Thomas Brooks wrote:
The Spirit never loosens where the Word binds;
The Spirit never justifies where the Word condemns;
The Spirit never approves where the Word disapproves;
The Spirit never blesses where the Word curses.
The Spirit of God never leads us into sin or contrary to the holiness of God as revealed in His Word.
Those who walk by the Spirit will NOT fulfill the lusts of the flesh as Galatians 5 spells out in no uncertain terms.
3. Apart from the New Covenant: One will not know how to grow in Christ.
We will pursue behavior modification instead of transformation.
We will focus on externals instead of internals.
And look to one-time spiritual experiences and supposed spiritual secrets instead of learning to live in constant, conscious, deliberate dependence upon the Holy Spirit.
With the Corinthians we need to hear Paul as he presses us to grasp just how revolutionary the New Covenant Gospel is.
That Christianity is not just a better form of Judaism or any other religion, but a radically new relationship to God in Christ, whereby the Spirit is working in us new wills, new desires, and deep intimacy with Christ.
And this is worked out in us as we move from the glory of the Old Covenant, to the wonder of mercy and grace in the New Covenant, until we are at last fully conformed to the image of Christ.
From one stage of glory to another.
Going back to Moses, is going backward. Period.
We must learn a new way to live fixed upon Christ, empowered by the Spirit, resting in His promises.
2 Corinthians 3:18 / And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
Joseph of Arimathea. From all the accounts combined, we learn that he was a wealthy man; a member of the Sanhedrin; that he buried Jesus with the assistance of Nicodemus; that he had not consented to Jesus’ condemnation by the Sanhedrin, and, that he was a disciple of Jesus. He was not someone who just heard Jesus and secretly believed, but he was a follower, a learner, a true disciple.
Note first: That God has His people in all sorts of unexpected places.
If the Scripture had not recorded it, no one would have suspected that any in the Jewish leadership which condemned Jesus was actually one of His disciples. And yet here Joseph is.
One wonders how Joseph walked such a fine line when his fellow leaders were so violently opposed to Jesus? Somehow he did it. One thinks too of Joanna, who was married to Herod’s own household manager (Luke 8:3). She was apparently one of those who financially supported Jesus in His ministry. Or consider the closing of Paul’s letter to the Philippians when he sends greetings from the saints of “Caesar’s household.”
No doubt, some today would look on such with great suspicion and wonder how they could serve in such places without compromise. But we forget examples such as Joseph ruling over Egypt, while also being required to marry the daughter of a pagan priest. Or Daniel, serving several pagan and even brutal administrations in Babylon. Yet they they were. Serving God in the most unlikely of places.
I know it is popular in some circles to place an almost magical superiority to those who labor in direct ministry – pastors, preachers, teachers, etc. But it is more the norm, and just as blessed and sovereignly appointed to serve God where you are.
Has God placed you in a strange and difficult secular environment? Do not lament it – embrace it. Be God’s light in that place. Do not measure your impact or importance by some invented metric of ministry. Be light there. Be salt there. Let God have the freedom to place you where He deems best in His plans and purposes – though the direct connection to those plans and purposes may not be revealed to us. Sanctify your labors, whatever they may be by serving as unto the Lord in them. The prophet Amos never disowned being a sheepherder and a fig-picker from Tekoa. But he was God’s man too. And so are everyone of His disciples, wherever His providence may have placed you.
Ryle writes cogently here: “This fact is full of comfort and encouragement. It shews us that there are some quiet, retiring souls on earth, who know the Lord, and the Lord knows them, and yet they are little known by the church. It shews us that there are diversities of gifts among Christ’s people. There are some who glorify Christ passively, and some who glorify Him actively. There are some whose vocation it is to build the Church, and fill a public place, and there are some who only come forward, like Joseph, in times of special need. But each and all are led by one Spirit, and each and all glorify God in their several ways.” Ryle, J. C. 1860. Expository Thoughts on Matthew. New York: Robert Carter & Brothers.
Note second: The wonder of the Gospel revealed in the use of Joseph’s tomb.
In Jesus’ occupying Joseph’s grave, we have the doctrine of substitution writ large.
Jesus didn’t just die for our sins, He took His place in our grave. In the place that denominates once and for all that death is final and hints of no unfinished work. This is the work of faith that all who trust in Christ are bid to do – to consider our grave as already filled. That Jesus not only died for us, He was buried for us. There is no going back. The old life is sealed away and cannot be revisited. He took all of our punishment, all of our sin, all of the justice due to us. He submitted to every last aspect of God’s judgment.
Throughout the centuries, as Christians were called upon to recite the Apostle’s Creed, or see it reformulated to accommodate baptismal candidates, the confession was similar to this:
Do you believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth?
Do you believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was born of the Virgin Mary, was crucified, died, and was buried, rose from the dead, and is now seated at the right hand of the Father?
Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy universal Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting?
There has always been an emphasis placed upon the burial of Jesus, not only His death and resurrection. Burial is the proof that the death has really occured. That the sufferings are over. That the debt has been satisfied once and for all. And that there is no going back.
The tomb Joseph placed Jesus in, was one he had purchased and constructed for himself. So let me ask you, who occupied your tomb? Has Jesus died and been buried in your place? Have you taken His death for yours, and placed Him in your tomb so that you never fear death and judgment again? Is the work of saving grace really complete to you in your heart and mind as a tangible and lasting reality?
If so, then think one step further with me. So, that tomb is now empty as well – in the absolute hope and promise of the resurrection. Indeed, Christian, for all who look to Christ as their sin-bearer, their substitute – the grave we once thought was ours, has already been occupied – and emptied. And we are free in Him!
As was common in Jesus’ day, women of some substance would often become benefactors of teachers and other notable figures. So we read here of Mary Magdalene. But with her stand Jesus’ mother – Mary, and most likely, Salome, Mary’s sister and Jesus’ aunt. It is quite a trio. In truth, we know precious little about them excepting Jesus’ Mother of whom we know the most from the Biblical record.
Note first: It is a simple fact of history that in times of great distress, often, women display a courage in the face of what seems to be hopeless – that ought to make many men ashamed.
By this time in the narrative, virtually all of Jesus’ disciples have run for cover. The seeming lone exception to that is John, whom John’s Gospel records was also at Mary’s side at the crucifixion. But the rest? Gone. Fled. Most from the Garden, and then Peter from the scene at the High Priest’s house. And yet here these three stand. Looking on from a distance, but unwilling to run and hide.
There is a God-given strength in women which is too often forgotten. A portion remaining of the imago dei that finds particular expression in the female sex. How many (if not most) will see their husbands pass before they do, and must face life alone when most vulnerable? Such widows are all around us. And how many have had weak, cowardly and selfish husbands abandon a family, leaving the wife and mother to fend for herself and her off-spring. This too ought to make very many men blush with shame.
And yet so strong is this God given grace, that countless women have raised their children all alone, eked out the most meager of livings to provide what they could, and subsisted on very little to provide and protect – when that is the God-given domain of men?
Ever since Eden, when Adam first abdicated his responsibility to provide for and protect Eve, resulting in humanity’s defection from God, women have been forced to fill roles they were never designed for. It has left both society and the Church with great and grave disorder.
Men, take note. At this horrific scene, there were “many women there, looking on at a distance” – when all the proud boasters that they would rather die with Jesus than abandon Him – were no where to be seen. The sin of cowardice is a great one indeed.
Note second: How often in Church history, it has been a small cadre of faithful women who have kept the doors of the local Church open, when the men have gone off after other things.
There is a feminine instinct for faithfulness that has persisted even through the Fall that makes itself known when the Church is in dark days. A propensity toward devotion that has sadly waned in the male sex, and by grace has been preserved in women. It has led many a godly woman to remain faithful to the house of God when a careless or godless husband offers little support or even opposition to their mate’s desire to serve The Lord. It is a loud and resounding rebuke.
Note third: The feminization of the Church, is a sure sign of male failure.
It is widely lamented in conservative circles that there has been an explosive growth in female pastors and leadership in the Church. But there should be no surprise, when we look at the lack of solid male leadership taking its proper role. And not male leadership by way of chest-thumping “me Tarzan you Jane” faux-masculinity – but leadership in the true sense of men going somewhere, and bidding others to come along.
If as a men, husbands, or mere Christians, we ourselves are not seeking Christ, pursuing holiness, ordering our lives in such a way that they display that we are on our way to Heaven and to conformity to the image of Christ – is it any wonder if no one follows?
When leadership by doing and going, has been supplanted by leadership by commanding and demanding, it is no surprise at all that respect is lost and chaos ensues.
As I was taught in science class in High School; “nature abhors a vacuum.” It is true in the physical realm and in the spiritual as well. When sound, God-fearing, Christ-seeking, purposeful men provide no leadership in the Church, others will be drawn in an attempt to fill the vacuum. Yes, it will leave the Church inherently disordered. On the one hand, since the Fall, women will seek offices and roles not their own – but perhaps even more importantly, men have stepped aside from true spiritual leadership. And I find us more to blame than those who have been drawn into the vacancy we’ve left.
Note last: The exposition of Luke 7:47 the presence of Mary Magdalene is. “Her sins, which are many, are forgive – for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.”
No, the account in Luke 7 is not of Mary Magdalene, though many of tried to make a connection. There is no textual basis for the link. But the principle still applies.
We are only told about this Mary, that 7 demons had been cast out of her. Tales of her being a prostitute and other charges are unfounded. All we know is that she had been at one time in severe bondage to malevolent spirits, and that Jesus had set her free.
We can easily see why Jesus’ mother was there – this was her Son’s murder. And we can easily see why Salome was there – Mary was her sister, and Jesus her nephew. But this Mary? She had no natural connection to Jesus. There was no self-benefit to be found supporting such a malefactor as Jesus was charged with being. No. Mary is here, because she had been loved much by the Redeemer. She had been freed from her bondage to Satan’s minions. She had been forgiven her sins and her trespasses. She had been cleansed and forgiven of so much – that her reciprocal love was very great indeed. She has no problem being linked with Jesus publicly.
Nothing will make our love for Christ braver and more fervent, than a clearer apprehension of what we’ve truly been forgiven of, and freed from in Christ.
Why does our love for Him wane so? Because we have a light view of our own sin, what its true penalty was before God, and therefore what a price Jesus paid that we might be forgiven and restored to the Father.
Every attempt at self-justification and the minimizing of our sin, has a direct and proportional impact on the diminishing of Christ’s love for us, and ours for Him. It cannot be avoided.
It is true, we can be led into a morbid and unhealthy fixation on our own sin – but only if in it, we fail to look at the Cross and see its every facet met in the life, death, burial and resurrection of Christ – and of the inheritance to be made ours at His return. We have no need to see any part of our being through rose colored glasses, if we will but see Him in all of His mediatorial glory.
There stands Mary Magdalene. Notorious in her previous bondage to evil. Gazing on the Lamb of God, who in His death, took all of her sin and guilt and shame upon Himself, that she might be counted righteous in Him.
Note first: What a double miracle is given to us in this account.
And when I refer to a double miracle, I am not referring to the physical miracle of the veil being torn.
As for the physical veil, there were actually 2 veils in the Temple. One, separated the courtyard from the sanctuary – where the table of shewbread, the altar of incense and the 7 branched candlestick were. Only the priests could enter here, none of the lay people. And it would have been remarkable, and visible to all if this were the curtain torn.
The second curtain was that which separated the sanctuary – or holy place” – from the Holy of Holies – where the Ark of the Covenant resided. Only the High Priest, and that, only once a year could go behind this veil. And He could do that only on the Day of Atonement. If anyone else were to go in there, they would be killed instantly. We know from the Old Testament that the garment the High Priest wore for that special occasion had a series of bells sewn into its bottom fringe. The idea was that as long as those bells were tinkling, those outside knew the Priest was still alive and walking and that the Atonement sacrifice had been accepted. Some say in addition that there was a cord around one of the High Priest’s ankles, so that if he did die in there, his body could be retrieved by pulling him out with this cord. Whether this part is true or not I do not know.
While some debate just which veil Matthew is referring to here, the writer to the Hebrews seems to put the arguments to rest. See: Hebrews 4:16; 6:19–20; 9:11–28 and especially Heb. 10:19-22 – “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”
Here then is the double miracle. That God the Father, upon the death of Jesus, tore that inner curtain from top to bottom, so that Christ could enter in for us – and make the way for us to enter in too – AND, so that the glory of God always veiled behind that curtain could now spill out into the world.
Sin has been met. A full atonement has been made. The glory of God goes out into all the world through the preaching of the Gospel, and everyone who hears and believes is invited to come and be reconciled fully to the Father without fear!
Glory!
And I would be remiss if I tried to couch all of this in better words than those already penned by J. C. Ryle: “The rending of the veil proclaimed the termination and passing away of the ceremonial law. It was a sign that the old dispensation of sacrifices and ordinances was no longer needed. Its work was done. Its occupation was gone, from the moment that Christ died. There was no more need of an earthly high priest, and a mercy seat, and a sprinkling of blood, and an offering up of incense, and a day of atonement. The true High Priest had at length appeared. The true Lamb of God had been slain. The true mercy seat was at length revealed. The figures and shadows were no longer wanted. May we all remember this! To set up an altar, and a sacrifice, and a priesthood now, is to light a candle at noon-day.
That rending of the veil proclaimed the opening of the way of salvation to all mankind. The way into the presence of God was unknown to the Gentile, and only seen dimly by the Jew, until Christ died. But Christ having now offered up a perfect sacrifice, and obtained eternal redemption, the darkness and mystery were to pass away. All were to be invited now to draw near to God with boldness, and approach Him with confidence, by faith in Jesus. A door was thrown open, and a way of life set before the whole world. May we all remember this! From the time that Jesus died, the way of peace was never meant to be shrouded in mystery. There was to be no reserve. The Gospel was the revelation of a mystery, which had been hid from ages and generations. To clothe religion now with mystery, is to mistake the grand characteristic of Christianity.
Let us turn from the story of the crucifixion, every time we read it, with hearts full of praise. Let us praise God for the confidence it gives us, as to the ground of our hope of pardon. Our sins may be many and great, but the payment made by our Great Substitute far outweighs them all.—Let us praise God for the view it gives us of the love of our Father in heaven. He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, will surely with Him give us all things.—Not least, let us praise God for the view it gives us of the sympathy of Jesus with all His believing people. He can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities. He knows what suffering is. He is just the Saviour that an infirm body, with a weak heart, in an evil world, requires.1
Note second: We are never to build much on areas of Scripture that are unique and ill-defined.
It is of particular interest, that this event is not more widely entertained – either in Jesus’ day or ours. Even the most ancient commentators give it very little attention. That the Holy Spirit left but very scant details indicates to us that the spectacular nature of it is not to become a curious diversion. Yet, in our day, how many are diverted by what appear to be little more than parlour tricks by the religious charlatans that plague Christianity in the United States especially.
Here then s a great lesson – no matter how spectacular, no matter how supernatural and stupendous – when we are talking about the death of Jesus The Christ – it barely warrants attention. We are back to the Mount of Transfiguration: Listen to HIM!
A number of commentators note that the problem with our inserted punctuation (not in the original) most likely leads to a misreading. It probably should read that upon the earthquake, many tombs broke open. Then, upon Jesus’ resurrection, some saints were raised too and entered the City as proof of the supernatural work of Christ’s resurrection.
In any event, we are not given leave to speculate beyond what is written – and to stand in awe of the miracle.
Let us be content to accept that Jesus’ death and resurrection are so full of cosmic importance, that it has rippling effects we cannot even begin to fully take in and understand. It is a true wonder. Let us then just bow before the spectacle of it all – and give God our sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving.
Christ has died. Salvation has come. Let us believe – and praise Him.
These are some of the most enigmatic words in the whole of Scripture. And there is no end of speculation on exactly what they mean.
Surely, Jesus knew He was not abandoned in totality even as in His final gasp He said “Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit.” He knew His Father was still the One to whom He could and should commit Himself. While He felt the full weight of the wrath of God – for what else is His full wrath but to feel oneself utterly forsaken by Him? To have no part in rejoicing in His felt goodness, grace, mercy, love and favor – this Beloved is the very essence of Hell itself. Abandoned by God. Separate from the source of all goodness.
And yet – there is this divine paradox. He at the very same moment can commit Himself to the Father – for he knows what the Father is about in sacrificing the Son. He is making the atonement whereby guilty sinners might be cleansed from every stain, and reconciled to the Father to experience the fullness of what it means to have God and to be had by God as dear children. He is satisfying the eternal justice of the perfectly holy God on behalf of others.
Astounding!
So what then DOES this cry mean?
Whatever else, it cannot mean less than this:
1. Father – take note of why you forsake me now, that those who you have given me might be one with us. Remember your plan. Take full note of my willing sacrifice, and save your people.
2. And more, since these words are quoted from Psalm 22. With David in that Psalm He is saying: “I feel so forsaken, yet I know the good outcome of it all. I know as that Psalm goes on that “You are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel” and that even though “I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; my strength is dried up like a potsherd and my tongue sticks to my jaws” – yet! “From You comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will perform before those who fear Him. The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek Him shall praise the Lord.” In the last day “they shall come and proclaim His righteousness to a people yet unborn, that He has done it.”
And lastly –
3. Ah my Father – what a thing you are doing in this! This is why you have forsaken me, and it fills my broken heart with the joy of this salvation accomplished.
ResponsiveReiding 