David Bahn – Reflections

Jesus is greater than the temple. Temples crumble and fall – eventually. Yet we build them, spending time, money, sweat, and energy to construct them. Is this wrong? Should Christians simply meet under a tree or in our homes?

Matthew 12:1-8

At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. ²But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” ³He said to them,  “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: ⁴how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? ⁵Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? ⁶I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. ⁷And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. ⁸For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

Some might say that Jesus is opposed to building temples or church buildings. There is, however, no evidence of that in these words. He did say that something greater than the temple was present on that occasion. Indeed that is true: something far greater than the temple was present there. The Lord of life and salvation was in their presence. The Lord of the Sabbath was with them. He is the embodiment of mercy and will offer himself as the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world.

Jesus also said – regarding the Jerusalem temple – that there would come a time when one stone would not be left on top of another. Those words came true in dramatic fashion when the Roman Emperor Titus tore down the temple, prying stones apart to get at the gold melted by the fire he had set there. Jesus’ words to the people of his day express a truth more profound than the importance of a building or its temporal nature.

Jesus is saying that there are more important things even than beautiful temples dedicated to the glory of God. Surely he was speaking of himself – the Lord of the Sabbath. Jesus is Lord of all, and as such the One to whom the Sabbath is properly dedicated. Mark’s gospel tells us that on this occasion Jesus also says that the Sabbath was made for man, not the other way around (Mark 2:27).

When Jesus says, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice,” he reminds us that God’s greatest glory is shown not in buildings or even ritual of worship. God’s greatest glory is shown in the kind and merciful interaction of one sister and brother in Christ to another. God’s glory is in his mercy shown in Christ and reflected in the lives of those who follow him. We may well build buildings and dedicate them to his glory. But let us be sure that they are places of mercy, grace, kindness, and salvation – not condemnation, judgment, legalism and self-righteousness.