TEMPLE WORSHIP continued
As Part of the series called:
Things That Make You Go H’mmm?

Matthew 12:6
“But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple.”

Last week, we summed up the underlying proof scriptures for why Jesus’ disciples had not violated the 4th Commandment by plucking corn and eating it on the Sabbath, as accused by the Pharisees. We pointed out that the Pharisees already knew about God’s provision made in Deuteronomy 23 for hungry people to pluck and eat food on the Sabbath, but they ignored and changed God’s word by the traditions of men. Jesus realizing this uses an example of David seemingly violating God’s Law by eating the Showbread with his men. Jesus goes on to point out that the Levite Priest attending the altar not only approvingly gave David the Showbread, but that they routinely did all kinds of work on the Sabbath as part of their ministerial service to God and the people. Why or how did they get by with doing all this work on the Sabbath?

Because all this work was necessary, just as it was necessary for David and his men to eat. It is an “ox in the ditch” kind of deal, meaning it had to be done or someone would suffer. Jesus being the heir to all of the Father’s historical riches is using His and their ancestry to try and demonstrate to these Pharisees that He is the Christ. He chose David as an example in order to stimulate their minds to make the leap of faith that Jesus is the very Christ. It is not just for them that Jesus did these things, it is for us also.

How should using David as an example stimulate the Jewish mind or ours into realizing that Jesus is the Christ? Remember, Christ means the Chosen or Promised One. David is a key figure in God’s promise train. One reason David is a key is the Christ had to be a descendant of David, because God promised David that the Messiah would be a Son of David. We will talk more about Jesus being a Son of David in a bit.

Right now, I need to get back to our theme verse and our overall series thought. Let me restate our theme verse “But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple.” Now, let me restate our series thought, Things That Make You Go H’mmm?

So, let me tell you what should make us all go H’mmm regarding these events Jesus brings up about David, plus what all this has to do with Temple Worship.

There wasn't a Temple in David’s time! God would not allow David to build a temple. Why wouldn’t God allow David to build a temple? The answer is probably not what you think it is. The answer was not what David thought it was. Let me give you the short answer for why God would not allow David to build Him a temple.

Because God knew that men would worship the temple they built and not God.

“But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple.”