Jesus did not just metaphorically “tear down the temple,” but he literally and physically tore it down. That is, when Jesus died, “the veil of the temple was torn in two”
(Matt 27:51), serving as a “judgment on the temple.”
49Through “Jesus Christ’s
substitutionary work,” its tearing provided a new way for God’s people to enter God’s
presence as it signified that “access to the true Holy of Holies is henceforth free, in the
sense that the temple through which we now enter God’s presence is no longer of the
Israelite temple of stone, but the temple which is Christ, through his Holy Spirit.”
50This
tearing of the veil meant the passing away of an old creation and the bringing in of the
new
51as it introduced “access for all believer’s to God’s holy presence in a way that was
not available in the old creation.”
52Furthermore, it allowed for the bringing in of the
Gentiles and the world-encompassing and boundary-increasing priestly commission of
Adam to commence, which will ultimately result in the glory of God covering the face of
the earth.
They were dim shadows of Christ. Thus, the identity of the priesthood is perfectly realized in the priesthood of Christ. When the “Word became flesh and dwelt among us”
(John 1:14)
53Jesus came as the antitypical replacement of the old covenant temple, becoming the tabernacling presence of God on earth in his incarnation.
Jesus Christ, the incarnate God-man, being filled with the fullness of God and experiencing the indwelling of the Father and the Holy Spirit, was entrusted with the priestly task of serving God by guarding the holiness of his temple and his people. He, like the priests who preceded him, accomplishes this by attending to the Word of God, border management, sacrifice, and mediation. And yet, unlike the priests who preceded him, Christ is the faithful covenant partner, royal son of God, and the faithful priest who does not fail in his priestly duties.
God’s Word. Jesus, as the new and better priest, attended to God’s Word in a way that no previous priest had done. As the new and better priest, he maintained his personal holiness perfectly, living a sinless life, and proved himself to be the “last
Adam,” “the embodiment of true Israel,” and the long-awaited obedient son of God.
54He also extended the Word of God to others as the supreme teacher of God’s Word.
Like priests of old, Jesus was responsible for guarding his personal holiness (Exod 28-30; Lev 8; 1 Chr 23:13). From his birth, he was consecrated to be “holy.”
Indeed, at Jesus’ birth, the angel declared that he “will be called holy—the Son of God”
(Luke 1:35), combining ideas of priestly holiness (Lev 11:44-45; 19:2; 20:26; 21:8; 1 Pet
53 In his incarnation, Christ came as a tabernacle, manifesting God’s special presence on earth.
Michaels states that when Christ came in human flesh, he literally “encamped among us,” presenting the imagery of Jesus “pitching a tent” akin to the “tenting of God with the people of Israel in their desert wanderings,” such that the glory of the Lord was made manifest to the world through his earthly tent. J.
Ramsey Michaels, The Gospel of John, NICNT (Grand Rapids: W. B. Eerdmans, 2010), 79-80.
54 Crowe articulates a theology of Jesus as the last Adam, true Israel, and the long-awaited obedient son of God. He shows how both Adam and Israel, as sons of God, were expected to be obedient sons. However, both failed. Jesus, on the other hand, comes as the obedient son, doing what neither Adam nor Israel could do. Brandon D. Crowe, A Theology of the Obedient Life of Jesus in the Gospels (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2017).
1:14-16; 2:5) and sonship (Luke 3:23-38; Heb 1:6) in his declaration. Moreover, as Perrin has argued, Jesus would later be called the “Holy One of God” (Mark 1:24; John 6:69),
“a title ordinarily reserved for Israel’s high priest.”
55Scripture gives its readers a glimpse of Jesus’ childhood when it says that he “amazed” the teachers in the temple with his knowledge (Luke 2:47); afterward, the text says that Jesus “was submissive to [his parents]” (Luke 2:51), left the temple, and followed them home. In both cases, the text evidences that Jesus, even as a young boy, was committed to honoring God while he also respected his parents and “increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:52).
56Thus, even from his youth, Jesus was dedicated to living a holy, consecrated, and priestly life.
Following his baptism, the point at which it seems that Jesus ultimately began his priestly ministry,
57Jesus demonstrated his priestly commitment to obeying God further when he was driven into the wilderness, was tempted by Satan, and—unlike Adam—obeyed the will of God (Matt 4:1-11); whereas Adam was the disobedient priest, Jesus withstood the temptations of Satan, proving himself to be an obedient priest.
58Jesus withstood the temptations of Satan in the wilderness; and he would continue to withstand
55 Perrin suggests that “Holy One of God” is “a title ordinarily reserved for Israel’s high priest.” Perrin, “Jesus as Priest in the Gospels,” 83. See also Friedrich, “Beobachtungen zur messianischen Hohepriestererwartung in den Synoptikern,” 256-311; Fletcher-Louis, “Jesus as the High Priestly Messiah (Part 2),” 57-79.
56 Even from the age of twelve (Luke 2:42) Scripture indicates that Jesus’ life was set apart for service and obedience to God. His obedience to God is demonstrated in this Lukan narrative both in his dedication to his heavenly Father and also in his obedience to his earthly parents: “Jesus is obedient to his parents . . . , since in general obedience to the Lord includes obedience to parents (Col 3:20). Nevertheless, the incident has shown to Mary that Jesus’ obedience to his parents lies within a more fundamental relationship to God.” I. Howard Marshall, The Gospel of Luke: A Commentary on the Greek Text, NIGTC (Grand Rapids: W. B. Eerdmans, 1978), 130.
57 Perrin, Jesus the Priest, 54-90; Perrin, “Jesus as Priest in the Gospels,” 83
58 Sidney Greidanus acknowledges the parallel between Adam’s and Christ’s temptations when he writes, “As Adam was tempted by Satan, so Jesus would be tempted by Satan. But whereas Adam disobeyed God and followed Satan, Jesus obeyed God and sent Satan away (Matt 4:1-11).” Sidney Greidanus, Preaching Christ from Genesis: Foundations for Expository Sermons (Grand Rapids: W. B.
Eerdmans, 2007), 69. He further brings attention to Luke’s narrative (Luke 23-38), which “highlights the analogy between Adam and Jesus by inserting Jesus’ genealogy just before Jesus’ temptations and tracing Jesus’ lineage back to ‘Adam, son of God.’” Greidanus, Preaching Christ from Genesis, 69n9.
every temptation that would come his way throughout his life. While previous priests failed in this capacity and were guilty of sin, Jesus the new and better priest never sinned:
indeed, “in every respect [he] has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Heb 4:15; cf.
2 Cor 5:21; 1 Pet 2:22; 1 John 3:5). Not only did Jesus claim to be without sin,
59but others attested to his perfection as well.
60Christ’s perfect obedience to the will of God stands as an example for his followers to emulate; in fact, because of Christ’s success as priest in refraining from sin, he was able to present himself as an example for his people to follow (Eph 5:1-2; 1 Pet 2:20-22; 1 John 2:6). And yet, his sinlessness accomplishes so much more; Jesus’
personal obedience to the will of God made him a suitable sacrifice for sin.
61As a sinless priest, he did not need to offer sacrifices for himself. Instead, he “became obedient to the point of death” (Phil 2:8) and presented himself to God as a perfect sacrifice—a “lamb without blemish or spot” (1 Pet 1:19).
62His perfect sacrifice, thus, served to reconcile his people to the Father, guard them from the consequences of their own sin, and present them to the Father “holy and blameless and above reproach” (Col 1:22).
59 Jesus challenged his opponents to prove his guilt (John 8:46), to which there was no reply.
Others plotted against him, seeking to entangle him in his words, and yet they were unsuccessful (Matt 22:15). Jesus claimed to do what pleased his Father (John 8:29) and claimed to keep his Father’s commandments (John 15:10).
60 At several points throughout Jesus’ life, Scripture records the testimony of eyewitnesses acknowledging Christ’s innocence and perfection: Judas (Matt 27:4), Pilate (six times: Matt 27:24; Luke 23:14, 22; John 18:38; 19:4, 6), Herod Antipas (Luke 23:15), Pilate’s wife (Matt. 27:19), the repentant thief on the cross (Luke 23:41), and the Roman centurion (Matt 27:54).
61 Sproul writes, “The sinlessness of Christ does not merely serve as an example to us. It is fundamental and necessary for our salvation. Had Christ not been the ‘lamb without blemish’ he not only could not have secured anyone’s salvation, but would have needed a savior himself. The multiple sins Christ bore on the cross required a perfect sacrifice. That sacrifice had to be made by one who was sinless.”
R. C. Sproul, Essential Truths of the Christian Faith (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 1992), 87.
62 Previous priests had to offer sacrifices to atone for their own personal sin (Lev 4:3-12). Jesus did not because, as a high priest, he was perfectly “holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens” (Heb 7:26). Christ attended perfectly to the Word of God throughout his life, making it so that he might offer himself to God as the perfect sacrifice on behalf of his people. Lea explains the significance of Christ’s superior sacrifice, which was rooted in his perfection: “The Aaronic high priests offered sacrifices first for themselves and then for the people. Since he was sinless, Christ did not need to offer any sacrifice for himself. He needed only to offer a single sacrifice once for all (Heb 10:10). He offered himself for sinful human beings, and he needed to offer no repetition.” Thomas D. Lea, Hebrews, James, HNTC, vol. 10 (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1999), 138.
As Christ attended perfectly to the Word of God in his personal obedience, he also attended perfectly to the Word of God as a teacher. Being in himself the λόγος (John 1:1),
63he was the very Word of God in himself.
64Thus, his teaching was perfectly in concert with the will of God, always teaching what accords with the mind of God. Being the new and better priest, Christ’s teaching never erred; this of course, was contrary to previous priests.
From the very beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, he dedicated himself to preaching and teaching, a ministry that was certainly the prerogative of Israel’s priests (Lev 10:10-11; Deut 33:8-11). In light of the wicked priests of his day, Malachi predicted both John the Baptist’s and Christ’s coming as priestly messengers (Mal 3:1). They did come as Malachi predicted, and Jesus’ initial message was, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15 // Matt 4:17), and he traveled Galilee “teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom” (Matt 4:23; cf. Matt 9:35; 13:54; Mark 1:21; Luke 4:15; John 18:20). Jesus came announcing that a major shift in redemptive history was taking place; the present age was passing away, and Christ was establishing a new one. As he came to establish the
63 The “Word” (or λόγος) is a personal title of the Son of God and should not be confused as being synonymous with “Scripture.” Frame writes, “God’s Word . . . is his self-expression.” John M.
Frame, The Doctrine of God (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2002), 471. In this way, the Bible is God’s way of expressing his nature and will to the world. The Bible is not necessary to God’s being. Yet, it is the created media by which God’s Word is delivered or expressed to humanity. Thus, humanity ought to respond to Scripture as to the voice of God.
64 Wellum notes that the Word is so integrally identified with God himself that Scripture presents the Word as eternal, sharing “in personal intercommunion with God” and “the intrinsic nature of God.” Crystalizing John’s teaching from John 1 on the λόγος, Wellum writes,
We can now summarize what John means by referring to Christ as the logos and ultimately giving him the title theos: Christ is eternal (‘In the beginning was the Word’; v. 1a); Christ is a distinct person from God the Father (‘the Word was with God,’ v. 1b; cf. ‘the only Son from the Father,’ v.
14); Christ shares the full deity of God (‘the Word was God’; v. 1c). And with the eternality, personality, and deity of the Word-Son-Christ in view, we can now understand just who it is that John says became incarnate: theos himself. (Stephen J. Wellum, God the Son Incarnate: The Doctrine of Christ, Foundations of Evangelical Theology [Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2016], 199-201) When John writes that the λόγος was “with God” and that “the λόγος was God,” he both affirms the uniqueness of the λόγος while also upholding his oneness with the Godhead: “Having distinguished the Word from God, John shows what they both have in common: they are God.” Andreas J. Köstenberger and Scott R. Swain, Father, Son, and Spirit: The Trinity and John’s Gospel, NSBT 24 (Downers Grove, IL:
InterVarsity Press, 2008), 49.
rule and reign of God on the earth, his message of the kingdom was one of repentance from sin and belief in the gospel.
65Jesus’ announcement of the “kingdom of God” being
“at hand” communicated not only the notion of Christ’s kingship or the idea of the institution of a political kingdom but also the notion of Christ’s priesthood and the institution and progressive realization of a sacral or priestly kingdom.
66Jesus’ identity as a teacher is confirmed throughout the New Testament. In fact, the term “Rabbi” (which means “teacher”; John 1:38) is one of the more common titles predicated of Jesus in the Gospels.
67But Jesus was more than just any normal Rabbi.
68His teaching was not like that of the scribes; the difference was that he taught
“as one who had authority” (Matt 7:28-29). Matthew records Jesus’ claims to his own authority in the Sermon on the Mount when Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said . . . , but I say to you . . .” (Matt 5:21, 27, 31, 33, 38, 43), proof that “Jesus possessed
65 Commenting on the two themes of repentance and belief of Christ’s kingdom message, Edwards writes,
The announcement of the kingdom at Jesus’ debut in Galilee is presented by Mark as the definitive moment of history. . . . The arrival of God’s kairos demands a change in thinking. The new and unparalleled possibility presented to humanity in the gospel calls for a unique response. That
response is contained in the word “repent” (1:15; see discussion of the term at 1:4), which demands a decisive change. Coupled with the command to repent is the command to ‘believe.’ If repentance denotes that which one turns from, belief denotes that which one turns to—the gospel. Both verbs in Greek are present imperatives, that is, they enjoin living in a condition of repentance and belief as opposed to momentary acts. Repentance and belief cannot be applied to certain areas of life but not to others; rather, they lay claim to the total allegiance of believers. (James R. Edwards, The Gospel according to Mark, PNTC [Grand Rapids: W. B. Eerdmans, 2002], 47)
66 Wessel and Strauss write, “The kingdom is realized not through conquest but through sacrifice. It will be consummated when he returns in power and glory.” Walter W. Wessel and Mark L.
Strauss, Mark, in EBC, vol. 9, ed. Tremper Longman III and David E. Garland, rev. ed. (Grand Rapids:
Zondervan, 2010), 711.
67 See Matt 23:7, 8; 26:25, 49; Mark 9:5; 10:51; 11:21; 14:45; John 1:38, 49; 3:2, 26; 4:31;
6:25; 9:2; 11:8.
68 Carson explains how the term Rabbi was understood during Jesus’ day:
The word literally means ‘my great one,’ but was a common term of honour addressed by a student to his master, his teacher (as John’s explanatory aside points out, for the sake of his Greek readers).
By the end of the first century AD the word became restricted to certain ‘ordained’ teachers who had successfully completed an appropriate course of rabbinical instruction. But at this point in the century there was apparently no official ordination; the title was used as a courtesy honorific, applied by respectful people to those they recognized as public teachers of divine subject matter. It is commonly applied to Jesus (John 1:49; 3:2; 4:31; 6:25; 9:2; 11:8), even by Nicodemus, himself a scholarly ‘rabbi’ (3:1-2). Similarly, the disciples of the Baptist could address their master the same way (3:26). (Carson, The Gospel according to John, 155)
greater authority than Moses,”
69the priest of Israel. In saying this, Jesus was not deprecating the teachings of old; instead, he was accentuating his own divine authority and was identifying himself as the fulfillment of those teachings.
70Jesus asserted his teaching authority more fully as he continued in his Sermon on the Mount, delivering numerous commands to his disciples, calling on them to obey his teachings: In the Sermon, “with about fifty imperatives in roughly one hundred sentences, we certainly hear Jesus’ commands. Since the king has arrived and begun to reign, Jesus’ commands explain how disciples ought to live under his authority.”
71Jesus is the new and better priest, in part, because of his perfect allegiance to the Word of God. In attending to the Word of God, he served to guard it as he maintained his personal holiness and as he perfectly declared God’s will to the world. He succeeded in this as no other priest had ever done. Furthermore, unlike other priests, his teaching continues to transcend his earthly ministry. Truly, he is the eternal Word of God from the beginning (John 1:1), and, following his death, burial, resurrection, and ascension, his teaching has continued through the ministry of the Spirit and the church (Acts 1:1-11; 1 Pet 2:9-10).
69 Schrock, “A Biblical-Theological Investigation,” 269.
70 When Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said . . . , but I say to you,” he was insisting that “he came not to abolish the Law but to see it fulfilled more effectively.” John Nolland, The Gospel of Matthew: A Commentary on the Greek Text, NIGTC (Grand Rapids: W. B. Eerdmans, 2005), 228. In his interpretation of the law, “Jesus’ understanding of keeping the law meant a great deal more than making sure that the letter of the law was not infringed. For him it was important that the deeper implications of what God had commanded be understood and put into practice.” Morris, The Gospel according to Matthew, 112. Moreover, as Jesus offers his own words as a “juxtaposition with the speaking of God,” he is making the striking claim to possess the “distinct capacity to speak the demand of God into the present situation.”
Nolland, The Gospel of Matthew, 230. As he offers his “counterassertion,” he “appears to accept the legal focus” of the teachings of old, but he “does so only to parody and discredit it as an adequate framework for appreciating the thrust of the commandment” (230). Jesus, thus, regards himself as the prime interpreter and applier of God’s law and as its fulfillment. As the new and better priest, Jesus established himself as the perfect teacher of God’s Word.
71 Daniel M. Doriani, The Sermon on the Mount: The Character of a Disciple (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2006), 8.