Then the Lord referred the Pharisees to another passage of Scripture. “Have you not read in the law that on the Sabbaths the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless?” (Matt. 12:5). Even without the dispensational change, it was lawful for the priests to break the Sabbath in the temple. If they were outside of the temple and broke the law, they were really lawless. However, if they were in the temple and broke the Sabbath, it was lawful. Therefore, the temple was greater than the law, and the temple was higher than the Sabbath law. Outside of the temple, people needed to keep the Sabbath law, but when they were in the temple, they were freed from that law. Outside of the temple they were bound, but in the temple—hallelujah—they are free! Christ is the greater temple. When we are in Christ, we are really freed from religious regulations, forms, and rituals.
It was as if the Lord was telling the Pharisees, “Do you not realize that I am the greater temple and that all My disciples are in Me? Therefore they are free. There is no need for them to keep the law. Why do you need to keep the law? It is because you are outside of the temple. However, these who are following Me are in Me; therefore, they have the liberty and the right to do anything I tell them, because I am the temple.”
The Lord Jesus is not so simple. His word is simple, but the meaning of His word is profound. It is simple, yet it is full of God’s mystery. He told the Pharisees that if you eat with David, you are justified, and if you do anything on the Sabbath day in the temple, you are also justified. He is the real David and He is also the greater temple. David is higher than the law, and the temple is also higher than the law. Have you seen that Christ is higher than all the laws? If we do not have Christ, we need to keep the laws. If we have Christ, however, we are free! Hallelujah! We are not free to be lawless, but free to be filled with Christ.
The Lord also told the Pharisees that He was the Lord of the Sabbath. The Lord of the Sabbath is much higher than the Sabbath. He even owns the Sabbath and possesses it. Therefore, the Owner of the Sabbath can do anything He likes with it. Of course, you should keep the Sabbath if you do not have the Owner of the Sabbath.
Jesus is the real David, He is the greater temple, and He is even the Lord of the Sabbath. How strong were His answers! How right, profound, all-inclusive, and meaningful they were! No one could deny that He is the very Christ—the wisest One!
Following this, the Lord did something else on the Sabbath to offend the religious ones. “And departing from there, He came into their synagogue. And behold, a man having a withered hand. And they inquired of Him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbaths? that they might accuse Him. And He said to them, What man shall there be of you who shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the Sabbaths, will he not lay hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep! Wherefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbaths. Then He says to the man, Stretch out your hand. And he stretched it out, and it was restored sound as the other. And going out, the Pharisees took counsel against Him, how they might destroy Him” (Matt. 12:9-14).
On the first Sabbath the Lord did something to reveal who He is. On the following Sabbath He did something to rescue His sheep. As the members of His Body, we are His sheep. What He did on the first Sabbath was something of a vindication of Himself as the Head. However, what He did on the following Sabbath was to take care of the members of His Body. As long as we do anything with Him, we are free from the regulations, and as long as we do something for His members, we are also free from the regulations. Some have asked if it is scriptural to baptize people more than once. It is a fact that many dead sheep who have been buried in the water have become alive. It is something for the sheep. Some may say that such a thing is not scriptural, but we need to look at so many dead ones who have become alive by being buried.
To heal the sheep is much more important than to keep the Sabbath. Which do you prefer? Do you prefer a way in the letter of the Scriptures without life, or a way that helps the sheep to be living? Do you think the Lord is concerned about His people keeping the Sabbath? No, the Lord does not care for that. He is the good Shepherd, and He has many sheep. He cares for His sheep, not for the keeping of the Sabbath.
Should we think that the Lord cares for religious service without life, although it seems to be fundamental and scriptural? No! What the Lord seeks is that people be alive! Do you think the Lord prefers a silent, scriptural, fundamental worshipper, so careful to behave according to the Scriptures, or a noisy Christian who shouts, “Hallelujah! Jesus is Lord!” If you were the Lord Jesus, which kind of Christian would you prefer? Hallelujah! Today is not the day of the law, not the day of regulations, but the day of Christ. We should not care for the law, but for Christ and for His sheep. Again we see the wisdom of the Lord in His answer to the religious ones. He gave them such a simple answer, yet it was so profound, revealing Himself and the church.
Then some of the scribes and Pharisees came to the Lord Jesus, asking Him to show them a miracle or a sign. “But He answered and said to them, An evil and adulterous generation seeks a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet. For as Jonah was in the belly of the sea monster three days and three nights, so shall the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. Men, Ninevites, will stand up in the judgment with this generation and will condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, a greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the south shall be raised in the judgment with this generation and shall condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, a greater than Solomon is here” (Matt. 12:39-42).
The request of the scribes and Pharisees to see a sign was a challenge to the Lord. It was as if they said, “Show us your power!” However, the Lord Jesus did not perform a miracle for them. He did not care for their challenge. He only said there would be one sign given to them—the sign of Jonah. Jonah was cast away by the people. He did not show his power, for he was powerless outwardly. He was swallowed up by the sea, and for three days and three nights he was powerless. Eventually, however, he came out on dry land. It was as if the Lord Jesus said, “I am the greater Jonah. The more you challenge Me, the more I am powerless. One day you will put Me on the cross. I am willing, and I would not do anything to stop you. I will be in the tomb for three days, but on the third day I will rise again. This is the real sign.” This means that the unique sign of this age is for Christ to die on the cross and rise again that He might release us in resurrection. The biggest sign today is not anything done outwardly, but a person buried and risen with Christ. This is the sign in this age. Therefore, Christ is the greater Jonah.
Then after His resurrection, Christ is the real Solomon, judging and discerning with wisdom. “Behold, a greater than Solomon is here” (Matt. 12:42). Solomon is mentioned after Jonah, even though in history Solomon was before Jonah, because here the order is according to the spiritual significance. Christ first of all had to die and then be raised to be the King. He had to be Jonah first, and then He could be Solomon. We first need to experience Christ as the dead and resurrected Jonah, and then we can experience Him as the wise Solomon. He is the greater Jonah, and He is the greater Solomon. He is the greater Prophet, and He is also the greater King. He is the One who brings us into death and brings us out of death in resurrection, and He is also the One who judges and discerns within us. For Christ to be greater than Jonah means crucifixion and resurrection. For Christ to be greater than Solomon means that He is the One who has been entrusted with all of God’s economy. He judges, and He has the wisdom to judge. In addition, He is the One who builds the temple of God. First, He passed through crucifixion into resurrection, as typified by Jonah. Then after resurrection, He accomplished God’s economy and fulfilled God’s purpose on the earth. This was fully typified by Solomon.
In conclusion, these cases show us that we do not need the Sabbath law. Neither do we need David, the temple, Jonah the prophet, or Solomon the king, because we have Christ. Christ is everything. He is our David, He is our temple, He is the Lord of the Sabbath, He is our Jonah, and He is our Solomon. As long as we have Christ, we need nothing more. Thus we can see by all these cases that the New Testament service is outside of religion, but altogether with Christ.