THE SUPERIORITY OF CHRISTIANITY (2)
[p. 165] THE SUPERIORITY OF CHRISTIANITY (2)
Matthew 12:6 - 21; Matthew 12:38 - 50
This chapter develops the subject of the superiority of the new economy introduced by Christ, based upon the sovereignty of God and the delightful relationships set forth at the close of chapter 11. Christ is before us objectively and we are to learn from Him, seeing what He does and says. So here in chapter 12 He went through the cornfields and the disciples went further; they “were hungry, and began to pluck the ears and to eat”. He is showing that the old economy is broken, but He is introducing a new one, in which there is liberty.
The thought before us of relative values is seen throughout the chapter: “there is here what is greater than the temple” (verse 6). Then “the son of man is Lord of the sabbath” (verse 8), not only greater than it, but Lord of it. Then a man is said to be better than a sheep (verse 12), and finally we have what is “greater than Jonas” (verse 41), and “greater than Solomon” (verse 42). These representative values are for our consideration and instruction. The superior character of the christian economy and the relationships established in it give character to the present moment, as we see at the end of the gospel: “Baptising them to the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”. This exceeds all other dispensations, and chapter 11 shows how the Lord deals with us individually to bring us into the liberty of it.
The sabbath may be viewed as a type of Christ, and in Exodus it is first formally mentioned in relation to the manna (chapter 16). The manna represents Christ here in our circumstances; the sabbath would mean that He becomes rest to us. Then in chapter 31,
[p. 166] following the directions as to the pattern of the tabernacle, the sabbath again comes into view; it was to be kept, and it is stated that God rested on the seventh day “and was refreshed”, a beautiful thought not mentioned in Genesis. It seems to be connected with the operations of the tabernacle, all pointing to Christ and drawing out divine affection so that God could be refreshed as the result of the willing-hearted response of the people as bringing the material for His dwelling-place. The Sabbath was again introduced as if to impress us with the necessity of lying fallow in the presence of the divine revelation so as to absorb the force of it into our constitutions. We ourselves become material for the tabernacle as we take on this thought of Christ, as John says in his gospel: “the Word became flesh, and dwelt [literally, tabernacled] among us (and we have contemplated his glory, a glory as of an only-begotten with a Father), full of grace and truth”. The glory of Christ is among us. I think the Sabbath is a type to bring about conditions for the divine dwelling, but here what spoke so beautifully of Christ had become a great legal sign and had lost all its spiritual value. The Lord does not recognise it, for He went through the cornfields on the sabbath, indicating that He is introducing a new order of things.
Similarly the temple had lost its value and it is not here used as a type. It is here “what is greater than the temple”, not exactly Christ Himself, but what He is bringing in and we have part in. Solomon had anticipated something greater in his prayer at the dedication of the temple; Christ Himself is the true temple of God and is displacing all that is here, involving christianity, what we have by the Spirit.
The Lord’s quotation, “I will have mercy, and not sacrifice”, brought out the ignorance of His opposers. The law demanded, whereas He inaugurated a system in which mercy is prevalent, as John says of Him,
“full of grace and truth”. This chapter is to deliver us from legalists and to introduce us to greater things. Romans brings out that we are “vessels of mercy ... prepared for glory”, so that mercy introduces us into the best and greatest thoughts of God. The instructions here are especially meant to deliver us from legal systems, and in this connection Christ is spoken of as God’s Servant: “Behold my servant, whom I have chosen, my beloved, in whom my soul has found its delight. I will put my Spirit upon him ...”. He is effectuating all this for the pleasure of God and the first thing is that He is Lord of the sabbath and, having brought it in, He can dispose of it.
As Lord of the sabbath Christ has authority over all that is legal. People may assume that they can go on in their legal ways, but the Lord is supreme in that: “Are we stronger than he?”. We have withdrawn from what is iniquitous, following the injunction: “Let every one who names the name of the Lord withdraw from iniquity”. The Lord has still to say to these legal systems around, though we have to leave them. We judge them morally, but they are to be judged actually and the Lord has authority to deal with it all. The religious systems of christendom have largely taken on judaism and the Lord will deal with it finally, but here He is going on in grace.
In keeping with the thought of relative values, in verse 12 a man is compared with a sheep. Human life is of very little account nowadays, but the Lord is here calling attention to the value of a man, not a Jew, but a man. Presently the Jew will come into his place and we read that ten men will take hold of a Jew, but now it is a question of men. “There is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus”, 1 Timothy 2: 5. The salvation and blessing of men are in view.
Here is a man with a withered hand. “And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him” (verse 10). They were legalists, and were bringing up the question, not to settle it, but in order to have something against the Lord. He says, “What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days”. He established the law on moral grounds, not exactly as a matter of commandment.
There is a great deal of judaism among us and it cuts across that which is obviously right. There are things so obviously right that you do not need to go to Scripture for authority for them. The obvious rightness of a thing should settle a great many of our problems; things that are trifles are often made difficulties. The Lord goes on to say to the man: “Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other”. How beautiful that is! The Lord had established the rightness of the thing, and if you are not persistently a legalist you will see it. Often one hears it said that a thing cannot be right because a man is not right, but a right thing is right no matter who does it. It is important that we follow what is right. You do not necessarily follow with a man if he is not right, because he is not worthy of being followed, but you follow with those that call on the name of the Lord out of a pure heart. The truth, even the Bible, has come down to us through hands that are questionable; we cannot say that all those who brought it down to us were christians, but the things are right.
As the chapter proceeds, sectarianism develops and this culminates in their attributing the Lord’s works to Satan. There is no forgiveness for a man that sins against the Holy Spirit, so it is a crucial matter. There is complete exposure of the evil, but the end of the chapter brings out the brethren and stabilises [p. 169] what is of God. The crowds are unstable; left to themselves they are harmless, but they are amenable to bad influences, in contrast to those at the end of the chapter whom the Lord can speak of as His brethren. The greatness of the new dispensation is developed as the Holy Spirit comes into view, whereas the old dispensation has become bad, not only as legal, but because Satan has obtained control of it. The wicked spirit comes back and brings seven others worse than himself (verses 43 - 45).
The sin against the Holy Spirit is a dispensational matter, and there is no forgiveness for it. The greatness of the new dispensation is seen in the place the Holy Spirit has in it, hence there is no hope for one who speaks against Him, as we see here and in Hebrews 10: 29: “Who hath trodden under foot the Son of God ... and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace”. One often wonders about things that are happening in christendom today; virtually the Son of God is trodden under foot and there is the sin against the Holy Spirit. It is said of Babylon in Revelation 11: “Where also our Lord was crucified”; in principle He is crucified afresh.
The old economy is not only judged, but it is shown to be inferior, even at its very best, to what we have in christianity. So here the Lord alludes to what is “greater than Jonas”, and “greater than Solomon” (verses 41, 42). It alludes to the personnel of the assembly: if a man, as such, is greater than a sheep, how much greater he is as coming to Christ! Here man as in Christ is in view according to the new order of things, for all other men are valueless. In Exodus 4 Moses cast his rod on the ground and it became a serpent, showing how man came under the power of Satan. But Jehovah said: “Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand”, indicating that man should become usable [p. 170] for what was primarily in the mind of God as recovered in Christ. Then Moses put his hand into his bosom and it became leprous; that is man’s state as away from God; but, when at God’s word he put his hand into his bosom again and drew it out, “Behold, it was turned again as his other flesh”, healed and usable again, showing the value of man as taken up in Christ, I must be sure that I am like that, for I am of no value otherwise.
There has been a danger of trying to take up the truth of the assembly as in chapters 16 and 18 without the underlying moral state, involving the question of good and evil. Adam was told not to take of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but he did, and raised the whole moral question. God would not reinstate him as he was before, but only on moral lines. Adam understood this in some measure; hence he called his wife Eve. He had named her Ishshah before, indicating that she was taken out of him as God made him; now she is Eve, “the mother of all living”, for the seed of the woman was to bruise Satan’s head. She could only be that on the ground of sacrifice.
That which is “greater than the temple”, “greater than Jonas”, and “greater than Solomon” is what is secured in Christ morally. The Jews wanted a sign, though Christ Himself was a sign before their eyes, raising the dead, healing the sick and so on. So the only sign for them now is the sign of Jonas; the Lord Jesus was to die, involving that man, with all attaching to him, is condemned. The Spirit of God has been opening up that sign ever since — the meaning of the death of Christ. The whole race of man after the flesh has gone down, and a new generation come to light on moral lines: “Whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother” (verse 50).
Jonah’s preaching in Nineveh shows the importance of the testimony in a city. A city represents the concentration of worldliness, and God sets up His testimony there. The men of Nineveh had this wonderful testimony and they repented at the preaching of Jonah. God may give repentance to some in our city, hence the importance of seeing that the testimony is rightly regulated and all support given to it. The assembly is here with this in view; as in Corinth there were a Jewish synagogue, Greek temples and the assembly of God, so in chapter 14 a man coming to the assembly would find God there and be convicted. We must keep before us the idea of the temple: where God dwells. Jonah went right through Nineveh to the other side of the city; the whole city is in mind and we should not be limited in our thoughts. The sign of Jonas involves the death of Christ, but the assembly is the positive thing answering to it. So the Lord told His disciples to tarry in the city where He was crucified, and where He lay in death, until they were endued with power from on high, this bringing the assembly into view. At Nineveh one man brought about repentance; why could not one hundred and twenty men and women in a city effect something? Jonah was a man of faith; he was a changed man, disciplined by God, and had learned what it was to repent himself. This spirit should mark us today.
“More than Jonas” and “more than Solomon” suggest development and growth. It is not so much Christ personally, but the superiority of the new dispensation, and the assembly is in view. Jesus said to Saul, “Why persecutest thou me?”; that is the saints; again, he was to go into the city and “it shall be told thee what thou must do”, Acts 9: 6. The Lord had something there in testimony representative of Himself.