This morning we're going to look at an important topic, namely, who is this Jesus?
You may remember that Jesus calmed the storm in Matthew chapter 8, 27.
As a result of that, the disciples asked,
What sort of a man is this that even the wind and sea obey him?
They know that he's a teacher, and a teacher can do lots of things.
I have been a teacher for 40 years, and I can do lots of things.
But when you get your degree, they don't give you authority to calm the sea.
If you want to come with me, we'll go after the service, we'll go to the lake,
and I'll command the lake to be still, and you'll quickly see how silly I am.
So, Jesus is a teacher. He's the rabbi.
But he must be more than a rabbi.
So, what kind of a person is this that even the wind and the sea obey him?
They're asking themselves.
Well, they are going to get a final exam,
because Jesus is going to ask them at the Mount of Transfiguration,
Who do people say I am?
And then he turns and asks that sticky question,
Who do you say I am?
Well, I mean, one answer is, we don't know.
That's what we're asking.
We've been asking ourselves for eight chapters.
Who are you?
They haven't gotten to that point yet.
They're in the middle.
They're between, what kind of a man is this that even the wind obey him,
and the point, you are the Christ, the son of the living God.
They are transitioning in their understanding and grasp of who Jesus is.
So, in chapter 12, we have three wonderful answers.
So, I thought I would begin by asking you this.
Okay?
Don't write anything.
Just keep it in your mind.
Number two, I want you to think of a very famous Hollywood actor.
Number three, I want you to think of a famous governor of California.
And the answer is Arnold Schwarzenegger.
So, who is he?
Is he a bodybuilder, as in his youth?
Is he the Hollywood actor?
Or is he the governor of California?
Or is he the failed TV personality?
There is no simple answer to that.
If you just choose one answer, you're not getting the whole picture.
You need to see all these things to understand
who Schwarzenegger is.
The same is true of Jesus.
One answer is not enough.
It does not give you a rounded picture of Jesus.
So, what happens in
Matthew, chapter 12,
is that we have a phrase
that is repeated three times.
That phrase is someone greater than X, Y, or Z is here.
So, let's look up those three verses
and figure out what Jesus,
this is Jesus speaking,
figure out what Jesus think he is.
If anybody knows who Jesus is,
you assume that Jesus knows.
And he does.
And so, we have first of all,
in verse 6,
someone greater than the temple
is here.
In verse 41,
someone greater than Jonah
is here.
And in the next verse,
someone greater than Solomon
is here.
temple,
Jonah,
Solomon.
Jesus is referring to the Old Testament.
The Old Testament is three times
the size of the New Testament.
There are thousands of verses.
Of all the things to refer to,
why does he refer to these three
rather than some other three?
David,
Isaiah,
Jehoiakim.
Why does he refer to temple,
Jonah,
and Solomon?
For the simple reason,
Solomon was a king,
Jonah was a prophet,
and the temple is where the priests
ministered.
You have prophet,
priest,
king.
In Deuteronomy 17,
God wants to establish
his own kingdom.
But he doesn't want his kingdom
to be just like any other
earthly kingdom.
You know,
the Egyptians,
the Babylonians,
the Amorites,
et cetera, et cetera.
He wants his kingdom
to be unique and special,
to reflect him
as God
and Lord
over his kingdom.
A theocracy.
Not a monarchy,
but a theocracy.
The kingdom of God.
Not the kingdom of Solomon,
not the kingdom of David,
but the kingdom of God.
So,
in order to
make it reflect him,
he institutes
three offices
or three organizations
or three institutions.
The priesthood,
the prophets,
and the kings.
So,
Deuteronomy talks about
prophet,
priest,
and king.
And what Jesus says
in Matthew 12,
that he,
that someone
is he.
He himself
is greater
than all the
Old Testament
prophets,
he is greater
than all the
Old Testament
priests,
and he is greater
than all the
Old Testament
kings.
Kings.
Someone greater
than.
So,
what,
to the,
to the question,
who is this Jesus?
Well,
he is lots of
other things,
but at least
he is prophet,
priest,
and king,
and the greatest
one,
the greatest prophet,
the greatest king,
the greatest
priest.
Let's take a look
at each one
of those three,
someone greater
than.
The first one
is someone
greater than
the temple
is here.
It's,
it's the Sabbath
and the priests,
and the disciples
are hungry,
so they are gleaming,
they're like harvesting,
and the Pharisees,
chapter 12,
as Mike said,
is filled
with tension,
it's filled
with conflict.
Jesus and the Pharisees
argue about everything,
and the first one
that comes up is,
why are you
disciples doing this?
Because it's not right.
And so,
Jesus responds
by saying,
look at what
David did,
and look at what
the priests did.
David ate
food
that was
consecrated
for the priests.
He,
David,
David himself,
is not a priest,
so he is eating
priestly food
even though
he shouldn't.
And you can say,
well,
that's wrong.
And the
priests work
on the Sabbath
in the temple,
and that's work.
And so,
they're wrong,
too.
So,
in a superficial
reading of this passage,
you will conclude
that David was wrong,
and the priests
were wrong.
But that's not
what's going on,
because Jesus
gives us an insight
to why it is not wrong.
And the insight
is from
Hosea 6.6,
I desire mercy,
not sacrifice.
So,
if David is hungry,
what is the
merciful thing
for the priest
to do?
Just say to him,
go hungry,
or to feed him.
If it is more
merciful
to feed him,
to give him food,
then Jesus
is also more
merciful by allowing
the disciples
to eat as well.
David is hungry
and he eats,
the disciples are hungry
and they eat.
It's a parallel
situation.
But what about
working on the
Sabbath?
The priests,
by giving David
food,
fulfill
his physical
needs.
They are meeting
his physical needs,
hunger.
But what about
working on the
Sabbath?
On the Sabbath,
well,
on every day
of the week,
they had to offer
certain sacrifices
to consecrate
the temple.
That is to say,
to keep the temple
holy so that it
could be a place
of worship.
On the Sabbath,
they offered
all the ones
that they normally
offer every day,
plus two more
lambs.
And furthermore,
they needed to bake
the bread,
take away the
old bread,
bake the new bread,
and present it to
God.
And if a child
needed to be
circumcised,
he would need to
be circumcised too
on the Sabbath.
They had to do
all this work.
Why isn't that
allowed?
Why is that
allowed?
Because by
consecrating the
temple,
they make it
possible for people
to come to God
and receive
forgiveness of sins.
So the person
would say,
I'm a sinner,
I have disobeyed you,
O Lord,
please forgive me.
And the
priest,
as mediators
between God
and man,
serve in such
a way that
he can receive
God's forgiveness.
Food
meets our
physical needs.
forgiveness
meets our
what?
Spiritual
needs.
So the
priests are
acting in a
merciful way,
both in terms
of basic
physical needs
and,
much more
important,
spiritual
needs.
They are
showing
mercy
in both
areas.
And what
does God
want?
God wants
mercy.
I want you
to really
understand that
God wants
mercy.
I want to
develop this
point some
more.
There's a very
important thing
that was going
on in
rabbinic
Judaism.
What's going
on is this.
In the
Torah,
there are
613
commandments.
613.
So the
rabbis,
naturally,
since they have
nothing else
to do,
ask themselves,
can we
list those
613
in order?
From the
lowest to
the highest.
From the
least important
to the
most important.
The least
important are
called the
lighter,
and the
most important
are called
the weightier,
and they
went at it
and did it.
The least
important
commandment
is this,
number 613,
at the bottom,
the very
bottom.
If you're
walking in
the forest,
and you
see a
small bird
that has
fallen from
its mother's
nest,
pick up
the bird,
climb the
tree,
put it
back in
its
mother's
nest.
That's
number
613.
You know
what number
612 is?
If you
climb to
the nest
and you
see lots
of eggs,
don't take
all the
eggs and
say,
God is
going to
give us
omelette
for breakfast.
don't take
all the
eggs,
leave some
for the
future,
so that
at least
that family
doesn't
become extinct.
So that's
612.
What are
the top?
Well,
usually when
rabbis discuss
these things,
I find it
historically
interesting,
but I
don't make
any spiritual
commitment
to what
rabbis
decide,
except in
this case,
Jesus also
is involved
in this
discussion.
And that
discussion is
in Matthew
23,
23.
Matthew
23,
23.
Remember,
lighter
means the
bottom of
the list,
heavier
means the
top of
the list.
So here
Jesus gives
us his
answer to
what are
the really
important
commandments.
So in
Matthew
23,
Jesus says,
Woe to
you,
teachers of
the law
and Pharisees,
you hypocrites,
you tithe,
you give
a tenth
of your
spices,
mint,
dill,
and cumin,
but you
have neglected
the weightier
matters of
the law,
justice,
mercy,
and faithfulness.
Not
paying taxes,
mowing the
lawn,
changing
clothes.
Justice,
mercy,
and faithfulness.
What's in the
middle of those
three?
Mercy.
Mercy is
what Jesus
considers at
the top of
the list.
Where is he
quoting from?
He is
quoting from
Micah,
chapter 6,
verse 8.
Micah begins
by asking,
with what shall
I come before
the Lord?
And then he
comes with an
answer.
He has told
you,
O man,
what is good,
and what does
the Lord
require of
you?
Justice,
mercy,
and walking
with your
God.
In
Matthew,
Hosea says,
God says,
I desire
mercy.
So God
desires
mercy.
In Micah,
it's slightly
different.
Micah is
asking,
what should
I do?
And the
answer is,
he has
showed you,
O man,
to do
justice,
to do
mercy,
and to
walk.
So God
desires
mercy,
and God
wants us
to desire
mercy.
Mercy is
important to
him,
and it is
important to
us.
And Jesus
says,
the priests
are serving
with mercy.
They are
taking care
of physical
needs,
they are
taking care
of spiritual
needs.
But the
statement is,
someone greater
than the
temple is
here.
how is
Jesus greater
than the
temple?
Well,
in Israel,
in the
Old Testament,
Israel failed
to keep the
covenant.
They disobeyed
God,
they forsook
him,
they abandoned
him,
they pursued
other gods,
they broke
the Ten
Commandments
constantly,
and so God
sent them
to exile.
That was
the big
punch.
so they
ended up
in exile.
The reason
they ended
up in exile
is because
of their
sins.
In
relationship
to the
temple,
by sinning,
they could
sin in an
even very
specific way
in relationship
to the
temple itself.
listen to
the words
of Jeremiah
711.
Has this
house,
which is
called by
my name,
become a
den of
robbers in
your sight?
You should
recognize the
words,
den of
robbers.
They were
abusing
the temple
and making
it a place
where all
of these
criminals
hide.
So they
sin,
and they
hide in
the temple,
and everybody
would see
them in
the temple,
and they
say,
oh,
they're
religious
people,
how
wonderful.
You remember
when Jesus
cleansing the
temple,
he says,
my father's
house is
called as a
house of
prayer,
but you
have made
it a den
of robbers.
the temple
can be
abused.
Secondly,
the enemy
can destroy
it,
and indeed
in 586,
the Babylonians
invaded Jerusalem
and captured
it and
destroyed the
temple,
and so when
they came back
from captivity,
they needed
to rebuild
the temple.
In 70
AD,
the Romans
destroyed the
temple,
so people
can abuse
it,
our enemies
can destroy
it,
but what
is worse
is what
happened in
Ezekiel.
Ezekiel has
a vision
in which God
abandons the
temple.
The glory of
God moves
up,
moves out of
the temple,
out of the
city,
out of the
country,
and goes
away.
So,
the underlying
imagery in
Ezekiel is
the departure
of the glory
of God.
God has
abandoned us.
Will he
ever come
back?
So,
people can
abuse it,
enemies can
destroy it,
and God
can abandon
it,
can abandon
it.
But even
when the
temple is
being used
correctly,
it has
limited access
to God.
The outer
court,
the holy
place,
and the
most holy
place.
God sat
enthroned on
his throne
above the
Ark of the
Covenant,
Testament.
But only
one person,
only once
a year,
could that
person come
before God.
Once a year,
one person,
out of a
population of
two and a
half million.
That's really
restricted access
to God.
What does
Jesus do?
He removes
all these
obstacles.
By dying
on the
cross,
he opens
a way for
us to
enter,
and that
is reflected
in the
tearing of
the curtain
from top
to bottom.
It is
saying no
more
restrictions,
everybody is
welcome,
come in.
The
temple
houses
God.
So what
happens when
the temple
is destroyed?
Where is
God now?
Where is
God now?
With
Jesus,
it is
Emmanuel.
What does
Emmanuel mean?
God is
with us.
Where is
God?
God is
with us.
Where with
us?
Here in
Jesus.
Jesus is
greater than
the temple
because he
is where
God is.
He is
where God
is.
Moving on
to the
no,
not moving
on,
still.
What
happens
if we
keep the
Sabbath
correctly?
That is,
if we do
on the
Sabbath what
God wants
us to do
on the
Sabbath,
namely to
rest,
but to show
mercy.
Rest doesn't
mean you just
sit on the
sofa and
don't do
anything for
24 hours.
rest.
It's not
that people
who are in
coma are
the best
believers.
That's not.
If we
observe the
Sabbath
correctly,
we rest.
I want
you to go
to chapter
11,
verse 28.
Go back
to Matthew
chapter 11,
verse 28.
This great
invitation
is,
come to
me all
you who
are weary
and burdened
and I
will give
you rest.
Take my
yoke upon
you and
learn from
me,
for I
am gentle
and humble
in heart
and you
will find
rest for
your souls.
Rest in
Matthew 11,
rest in
Matthew 12.
How do
we find
this rest
that Jesus
promises in
chapter 11?
Clearly
first by
coming to
him,
but then
by accepting
his teaching
on how
things are.
so,
moving on
then to
the next
title,
someone
greater than,
it is
someone
greater than
Jonah.
And the
next verse,
someone
greater than
Solomon.
Why did
he choose
Jonah and
Solomon?
Why didn't
he choose
Isaiah and
Josiah?
Why not
Hezekiah and
Jehoshaphat?
Why these
two?
Why Jonah
and
Solomon?
Because if
we look at
Jonah and
Solomon,
we see
something.
Let's look at
this passage.
Let's read it.
In Matthew
23,
I'm sorry,
Matthew 12,
verse
41.
The men
of Nineveh
will stand
up at
the judgment
with this
generation
and condemn
it because
they repented
at the
preaching
of Jonah
and now
one greater
than Jonah
is here.
The queen
of the south
will rise
at the judgment
with this
generation
and condemn
it because
she came
from the
ends of
the earth
to listen
to Solomon's
wisdom and
now one
greater than
Solomon is
here.
If we
look at
the men
of Nineveh
and the
queen of
the south,
we can
see both
similarities
and differences.
Let's take
a look at
the obvious
differences.
How does
the queen
of the south
differ from
the men
of Nineveh?
The most
obvious one
is that she
is a woman
and they
are men.
She is
royalty,
she is a
queen,
they are
just
commoners.
If she
is queen,
I suspect
she is
rich.
If they are
average citizens,
I suspect
they are
not rich.
They are
just,
anybody here
rich?
I am not
rich.
If she
is queen,
then she
is famous
and important.
If you are
average citizen,
nobody
knows you.
I go to
city hall to
pay city
taxes and
they don't
even know
who I
am.
I felt
so offended.
I thought
they would
put the
red carpet
and blow
the trumpet.
Samir is
coming,
Samir is
coming.
They
couldn't
care less.
but the
most important
difference
between the
queen and
the people
is that
she came
to Jerusalem
to hear
Solomon.
The men
of Nineveh
did not
come.
Jonah
went to
them.
They
came.
He
went.
But the
same
result
took place.
They
both
heard the
word of
God.
They
both
heard the
word of
God.
They
both
believed
in God.
They
both
had
faith,
expressed
their faith
in them.
You can
see that
in 1
Kings
chapter
10.
And
Jesus
says,
they
will
both
stand
up
with
this
generation
and
condemn
it.
She
came
to
hear
Solomon.
Not
Jesus,
but
Solomon.
She
came
to
hear
Solomon.
Look
at
Matthew
11,
28.
What
does
Jesus
say?
Come
to me.
And
she
came.
Not
to
Jesus
because
he
wasn't
even
born
yet,
but
to
Solomon.
and she
heard
the
word
of
God.
And
they
heard
the
word
of
God
and
repented
and
God
spared
Nineveh.
And
so,
what should
we
conclude?
What
should we
think
in the
light of
all of
these
things?
Let
me
suggest
three
things.
number
one,
we
need
to
start
to
ask
ourselves,
who
is
this
Jesus?
And
the
answer
is,
it's
a
complex
answer.
It's
not a
simple
answer.
Jesus
calls
himself
the
son
of
man.
He
does.
But
Jesus
is
the
one
who
is
greater
than
Old
Testament
kings.
Jesus
is
one
greater
than
Old
Testament
prophets.
And
Jesus
is
greater
than
Old
Testament
priests.
Who
is
Jesus?
He
is
the
one
who
is
greater
than
everything
in
the
Old
Testament.
I
thought
he
was
bold
when
he
says
no
one
knows
the
father
except
me.
Boy,
Jesus
doesn't
have
any
limits.
I
mean,
when
he
goes,
he
goes.
He
runs
with
it.
Nobody
knows
the
father
except
me.
I
am
greater
than
all
the
prophets.
I
am
greater
than
all
the
priests.
I
am
greater
than
all
the
kings.
You
can
imagine
the
poor
disciples
thinking,
boy,
who
is
this
guy?
And
the
answer,
you
are
the
Christ,
the
son
of
the
living
God.
We
should
think
big
of
Jesus.
Jesus
isn't
just
your
friend.
He
is
our
friend.
But
he
isn't
just
your
friend.
He
is
a
lot
more
than
that.
He
isn't
just
your
body.
He
isn't
just
the
one
who
is
there.
He
is
this
but
he
is
a
lot
more
than
that.
There
is
no
one
or
nothing,
no
person
and
no
institution
greater
than
Jesus.
Someone
greater
than
Solomon
is
here.
Someone
greater
than
Jonah
is
here.
Someone
greater
than
the
temple
is
here.
The
second
point,
and I
want
you
to
reflect
about
this.
Look
at
what
happens
to
the
gospel.
The
gospel
does
not
differentiate.
It
doesn't
matter
whether
you
are
a
woman
or
a
man.
It
doesn't
matter
whether
you
are
a
royalty
or
whether
you
are
a
commoner.
It
doesn't
matter
whether
you
are
rich
or
whether
you
are
poor.
It
doesn't
matter
whether
you
are
famous
or
not
famous.
it
doesn't
matter
whether
you
are
highly
regarded
by
society
or
not
highly
regarded
by
society.
It
doesn't
matter
whether
you
came
to
hear
the
gospel
or
the
gospel
went
out
to
you.
I
became
a
Christian
because
I
was
really
interested
in
the
truth.
So
rather
than
majoring
in
medicine
as
all
my
family
wanted
me
to
do
I
wanted
to
know
the
truth.
So
foolishly
I
majored
in
philosophy
and
then
God
changed
that.
So
I
majored
in
philosophy
because
I
was
searching
for
the
truth.
Other
people
aren't
searching
for
anything.
You
are
minding
your
own
business
and
I
sit
next
to
you
and
I
say
have
you
heard
of
Jesus?
As
we
did
with
InterVarsity
Christian
Fellowship
and
Campus
Crusade
and
Navigators
you
go up
to
total
stranger
and
you
interrupt
his
life
and
some
people
are
searching
and
they
come
and
some
people
are
not
searching
and
God
comes
to
them.
It
doesn't
matter
how
you
hear
the
gospel
you
hear
the
gospel.
And
the
third
thing
you
need
to
remember
is
now
that
I
have
either
come
or
it
has
come
to
me
what
do
I
do
next?
What
do
I
do
next?
Look
at
the
queen
of
Sheba
what
she
did
look
at
the
Ninevites
what
they
did
and
look
at
what
Jesus
tells
us
to
do.
41
verse
41
the
men
of
Nineveh
will
stand
up
at
the
judgment
with
this
generation
and
condemn
it
because
they
repented
at
the
preaching
of
Jonah
and
now
one
greater
than
Jonah
is
here
what
do
we
need
to
do
we
need
to
repent
we
disobey
God
we
ask
his
forgiveness
we
repent
what
did
she
do
the
queen
of
the
south
will
rise
on
the
judgment
with
this
generation
and
condemn
it
because
she
came
from
the
ends
of
the
earth
to
listen
to
Solomon's
wisdom
and
now
one
greater
than
Solomon
is
here
she
listened
not
just
for
curiosity
if you
look at
1st
Kings
10
she
confesses
that
God
is
the
Lord
a
Gentile
confessing
that
God
is
Lord
we
call
that
conversion
they
repented
she
listened
what
does
Jesus
tell us
to do
go
back
to
11
28
come
to
me
all
you
who
are
weary
and
burdened
and
I
will
give
you
rest
take
my
yoke
upon
you
and
learn
from
me
for
I
am
gentle
and
humble
in
heart
and
you
will
find
rest
for
your
souls
for
my
yoke
is
easy
and
my
burden
is
light
what
should
we
do
we
should
come
to
Jesus
that
is what
God
is asking
us to
do
why
should
we
come
to
Jesus
because
he
knows
the
father
because
he
is
greater
than
the
priests
he
is
greater
than
the
prophets
and
he
is
greater
than
the
kings
he
is
it
nobody
is
greater
than
Jesus
have
a
high
opinion
of
Jesus
not
low
but
high
the
highest
you
can
come
up
with
that
is
who
Jesus
is
let's
have
a
word
of
prayer
thank
you
father
for
these
brothers
and
sisters
thank
you
for
many
of
us
whom
you
have
extended
your
grace
to
and
allowed
us
to
come
and
repent
and
listen
thank
you
because
we
belong
to
your
family
thank
you
because
you
have
extended
your
mercy
to
us
by
meeting
our
physical
needs
and
our
spiritual
needs
father
we
pray
as a
church
that
you
would
help
us
to
take
this
great
treasure
that
you
have
bestowed
on
us
and
share
it
with
our
community
help
us
to
know
how
best
to
minister
what
is
the
most
effective
way
of
ministering
and
may
you
bless
our
efforts
to
honor
you
I
ask
this
father
in
Jesus
name
amen