We are in a series called “Sword Sharpening” and looking at how to make the most of your time with the Bible. This week we are continuing our look at the storyline of the Bible, which we call His Story, and we will look at the sixth section, Matthew – John, and call it the ‘Kingdom Incarnate.’
Last week we talked about the glory departing and the exile, and we said that at the end of the exile, the people returned to Jerusalem and rebuilt the temple. But the presence of God didn’t return. The last of the prophets to write said that the presence would come back, but it would be different than what they thought.
Malachi 3:1 (NIV)
1 “See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the LORD Almighty.
The messenger who prepares the way is John the Baptist. And he prepares the way for Jesus.
I hope you will remember the points in ‘Kingdom Incarnate’: Tabernacles, Temple, Cross, and Resurrection. This section is covered in the four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). We learn that Jesus is the One who comes to fulfill God’s promise and return divine blessing to all nations. Jesus is of the lineage of Abraham and King David and is the fulfillment of all the promises made in the Old Testament, from Genesis to the prophets.
There are a couple of amazing connections to things we have been discussing in the Old Testament. The first one is the connection to the Tabernacle in the wilderness. When Jesus arrives on the scene, the Apostle John says He tabernacles.
John 1:14 (NIV)
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
The word dwelling or dwelt is the same word for tabernacle. Jesus tabernacles. Fully God and fully man, Jesus arrives on the scene. He is the perfect picture of a heaven-and-earth connection. Jesus also connects Himself as the Temple.
John 2:18-22 (NIV)
18 Then the Jews demanded of him, “What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” 20 The Jews replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” 21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.
“Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” He does this during the crucifixion and resurrection.
1 Corinthians 15:1-4 (NIV)
1 Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
Jesus models life as God intended by using the Bible in virtually every area of His life and ministry. We will look more deeply at this on the weekend, so be sure to attend in person or online.
Steve Lawes is a Church Consultant and also provides coaching for pastors, churches, ministries and church planters.
