This is an interesting insight. When Jesus quoted Jeremiah and called the Jews in the Temple a 'den of thieves', ..what exactly were they guilty of stealing?
As with most quotes we have if what Jesus said, the quotes are evidence of him either fulfilling the Law with acts, or fulfilling what was said through the Prophets. Specifically two different quotes of holy scripture bring understanding to the 'den of thieves' statement Jesus made.
-
Isaiah 56:4-7
4
For this is what the Lord says:
“To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths,
who choose what pleases me
and hold fast to my covenant—
5
to them I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name
better than sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name
that will endure forever.
6
And foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord to minister to him,
to love the name of the Lord,
and to be his servants,
all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it
and who hold fast to my covenant—
7
these I will bring to my holy mountain
and give them joy in my house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and sacrifices
will be accepted on my altar;
for my house will be called
a house of prayer for all nations.”
-
So we see here that speaking to those under the old covenant who were raised under the Law, the Lord saw the actions of the obedient, and promised to honor them. He considered the Temple as the place where His chosen people would be an example of His righteousness, and the Temple where they could be in His presence in prayer. Prayer lifted up to Him glorified Him, as prayer lifted up to Him was acknowledgement that glorified Him as what was righteous, what was holy in their lives. A house of prayer for all nations, an example for mankind to witness.
The second holy scripture gives us a better understanding of where holiness that is of God alone, was now being replaced with religious ceremonies, and traditions of Israelites. The Temple was becoming a Temple of self righteous practice, the Priests were becoming hypocritical.
-
Jeremiah 7:1-11
1
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord:
2
“Stand at the gate of the Lord’s house and there proclaim this message:
“ ‘Hear the word of the Lord, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the Lord.
3
This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place.
4
Do not trust in deceptive words and say, “This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!”
5
If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly,
6
if you do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm,
7
then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your ancestors for ever and ever.
8
But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless.
9
“ ‘Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, a burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known,
10
and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, “We are safe”—safe to do all these detestable things?
11
Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the Lord.
-
A den of robbers, is a place where those who commit theft, find safety from the authorities they act against. So we have Israelites using the Temple and their place within a promise God made to them, as an excuse to do what they desired of their own will. They were claiming righteousness as their own, yet abandoned it in their acts. In this way, they were stealing honor away from God, to honor their will.
-
Mark 5:25-34
And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years.
26
She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse.
27
When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28
because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.”
29
Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.
30
At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”
31
“You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”
32
But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it.
33
Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth.
34
He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”
-
So here in this context we have a specific example of personal need overcoming our faith to accommodate our will. In the end, she repented, and Jesus recognized her faith. A better example I cannot think of to describe how faith in Christ's authority honors the Father. When mankind claims holiness as of themselves, it denies the Father the glory of His Kingdom. It is for believers, a form of theft, stealing, by claiming holy acts as of our own will.
You were not kind, kindness came through you and you should give thanks for it. You were not faithful, faithfulness came through you and you should give thanks for it. You were not gentle, you denied yourself your reaction, so that gentleness could come through you, and you should give thanks for it. All these examples and more explain how the life in us is of Christ because we are his, of him. We serve the Father's will, not our own. It is His power that comes through us in acts we serve with. And the glory should go to Him, not ourselves or our church, or our society, or our authorities.
As we were not raises under Law, and have a new covenant with Christ, we are called to set ourselves aside, and have holiness come through us. This is a showing of humility, just like a eunuch, as we sacrifice our nature to do what serves the will of the Father because of our faith in His Son. This honors the Father, by us recognizing His Son authority.
The Prince of this world would have the living consider the flesh as what contains holiness. In this way, he would be considered the authority of holiness, as he has been given authority over what is set before us. The flesh is not the life in us. Life is spiritual, it is the breath of God, and it is eternal. As the children of the world continue to develop in celebration of holiness as a part of themselves, they grow further from this Truth of Life. There will come a time when those who know the Truth will be considered the enemy, completely mad, and better of dead.
The Kingdom of God is the same Kingdom on earth as it is in Heaven. The Father and His Authority are glorified for the holy attributes. It is mankind that has the opportunity to honor this, and prove themselves as servants, solely on faith. Everything we are raised to be runs in complete opposition to the Truth, that is why it is a sufferance to carry the Truth forward. But for those who battle to serve the will of God, there is hope, love, and faith. And the strength they need is in the life they carry in them and are carried by.
Claiming holiness is a form of self esteem in this generation, no longer are there stone or wooden Gods we pray to for these attributes, instead we claim these attributes as emotions and learned moral behaviors. All are theft, as they do not glorify the Father, recognizing Him as what is righteous alone.
Consider this. Pray about it.
-
No comments:
Post a Comment