Matthew 12:6
“But I say to you that something greater than the temple is here.”
This is so cool. Jesus hints at who He is, God. I can’t recall Him having done this yet. This has to happen. But not too soon, as this throws the pharisees over the edge. This is one of the reasons they sought to kill Him.
Jesus and God the Father are so humble. Amazingly so. Humans are obsessed with building their kingdoms, increasing their popularity. Making a name for themselves. Some of that isn’t bad, but much of it is pride. To my surprise and to many others, God is humble.
When Jesus came to earth, He was born on the road in a difficult position. Those in attendance were poor shepherds. He could have prompted the rich and powerful to be there in the richest of settings. He grew up in a poor place that had a bad reputation. That was intentional. He wanted to connect with the lowly.
So, when Jesus comes out and does a little self promotion, it’s because the world needs to know it. He isn’t tooting His own horn. Pastor George said in the weekend service that we need to believe in Jesus, the God man. It’s not enough to use His name, but our beliefs about Him need to be true. That’s why He shares this with the pharisees.
We cheer Jesus on. We worship Him. We are learning about Him as well. More descriptions will come. He will paint a full picture before He is finished here. It is marvelous.
Jesus is doing the work of redemption. Adam and Eve sinned and condemned us all. Jesus is on earth to fix that. Only He can do it. The Old Testament is full of prophetic descriptions of Him and what He will do. He is living a perfect life and dying on a cross in our place. It’s a substitutionary death. He is taking our place, so we don’t have to pay the penalty for sin.
This is so loving. Jesus said in John 15:13, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” He is showing His great love by living and dying for us. He isn’t just stepping in front of the bullet for us. That is one action for a brief second. Starting at the Passion and finishing with His death, that’s around 15 hours where all the sins of mankind were laid upon His shoulders. All the physical torture was part of it, but there was the soul torture which was probably far worse. He did this so we wouldn’t have to die for our sins. That’s love. He is something far greater than the temple.
Thank You, Jesus for who You are. Help us not to be ashamed of You. Help us to proclaim You proudly.