title big guy
big man
Matthew 12:38-42
In today's text, Pharisees and scribes appear and ask Jesus to show him a sign. A semeion is a wonderful miracle that shows that Jesus is the Christ. Jesus criticizes them as “an evil and adulterous generation” and says that the only thing he will show them is the sign of the prophet Jonah.
The sign of Jonah means that the fact that Jonah preached to the people of Nineveh and made them repent is a sign that Jesus came into this world to preach the gospel. These words contain criticism that the people of Nineveh repented after hearing Jonah's preaching and were saved, but the Pharisees and teachers of the law did not repent and rejected Jesus' proclamation. That is why it is said that the Gentiles, the people of Nineveh, will judge “this generation,” that is, the Pharisees and teachers of the law on the Day of Judgment. Then comes the story of Solomon, that the queen of the heathen came to visit him in reverence, but on the day of judgment, the queen of the heathen will judge them, the descendants of Solomon.
Jesus brought up their most respected Jonah and Solomon, but contrary to their expectations, he was proclaiming judgment on them. However, this is only an introduction. The main body comes at the end of verses 41 and 42.
“But behold, one greater than Solomon is here” (42c).
They may have been reassured that the names of the prophets Jonah and King Solomon came out of Jesus' mouth while they were looking for a sign. To them, Jesus spoke like a bombshell. They may have felt something like blasphemy from these words. How dare you compare Jesus, a young man from the countryside, with the prophets Jonah and Solomon! What's more, can you say they're bigger than them?
In John 4:12, there is a conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well at Sychar. When Jesus offered to give the woman living water, the woman asks:
“Are you saying that you are greater than our father Jacob?”
The woman could not accept that Jesus, who looked weary and asked for a drink, was greater than Jacob.
Likewise, the Pharisees and teachers of the law respected Moses, who gave them the law, prophets like Jonah, and great kings like David and Solomon. They also held the temple, the symbol of their authority, the highest.
This is common sense that all Israelis take for granted, so it seems that there were some attempts to accommodate this tradition even in the early church.
For example, the genealogy of Jesus at the beginning of the Gospel of Matthew is intended to reveal that Jesus is a descendant of David and Solomon. People believed that the Messiah would come from among the descendants of David, and in the Gospels Jesus is often referred to as the “Son of David.”
There are many passages in the Gospel of Matthew that try to portray Jesus like Moses. Like Moses, Jesus survived the king's infanticide atmosphere, and like Moses, he enters and escapes into Egypt. And like Moses, who received the Ten Commandments on the mountain, Jesus taught on the mountain and proclaimed new commandments.
If the early church had stopped here, they would be reduced to a sub-Judaism and Christianity would not have been born. However, as is well shown in today's text, early Christianity did not stop there. No matter how great Jonah is, “here is one greater than Jonah!” No matter how great Solomon was, they exclaimed, “Here is one greater than Solomon!”
No matter how great Moses is, Jesus is greater than Moses. If you look at the six dispensations in the Sermon on the Mount, “You have heard what they said to the ancients... But I tell you,” reinterpreting the law Moses spoke of with a new authority. Here Christianity transcends Judaism.
If you look at the beginning of chapter 12 of today's text, there is a dispute with the Pharisees over the fact that Jesus' disciples cut and ate ears of wheat on the Sabbath. Jesus tells the story of David and his companions when they were hungry and went into the temple and ate the bread that was not to be eaten except by the priests.
“One greater than the temple is here” (Matthew 12:6).
This also implies that “someone greater than David is here.”
This new ordinance is the beginning of the gospel. Neither the people of Jerusalem nor those who learned much, but the little people of Galilee had a new sense of history. Everyone exalts Moses and the prophets, David and Solomon, and supports only the temple, but they live flatly before them, supporting the Pharisees and scribes who are the masters of the temple ruling system, and a small crowd from the countryside, “Moses The greater”, “the greater than Jonah”, “the greater than Solomon”, “the greater than David”, and “the one greater than the temple is here!” They had a new awareness.
Did we learn a lot when we were young to imitate great people? Admiral Yi Sun-sin, Kang Gam-chan, Eulji Mundok, King Sejong ... There were usually generals and kings. Maybe it's the influence of military culture. In the 1960s and 70s, as well as 10 years ago, when high school students were asked to choose the person they admire the most, President Park Chung-hee and First Lady Yuk Young-soo used to take first place. I remember the days of elementary school when I was proud of my heart while memorizing the National Education Charter. Of course, the rankings may change a bit today, but the fundamentals will not change. Still, if you ask a student who has won first place in the SAT about their feelings and plans, they will reveal their aspirations for a high-ranking office.
Just as the Pharisees and teachers of the law looked for only signs and looked only to the glory of David and Solomon, Christians today also exalt the Lord with their words, but they are thinking about becoming successful in this world and becoming rich. They always ask for wisdom like Solomon and faith like David, but behind the scenes, there is a request to enjoy power and wealth like that of a king. In that case, no matter how much you cry out to the Lord with your mouth, Jesus will never be greater than David or greater than Solomon.
People today try to be David and Solomon, and claim to be the greater man. However, in Matthew's Gospel, the opposite is true, when believers technically describe themselves as “little ones” hoi mikroi) or “most little ones” (hoi elachistoi).
In Matthew 18:1 and below, the disciples ask Jesus who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus raised a child and said that the person who becomes like that child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, and to receive such a child is to receive the Lord. A child is a representative of a very small person. But Jesus is uniting himself with that being. Also, in the story of <The Last Judgment> in Matthew 25, the Son of Man says that whatever he did not do for the least of them he did not do for me, and whatever he did for the least of his people he did for me, he said, and united himself with the least of them. make it This is the gospel, and this is the work of the Greatest. Those who receive this by faith and apply it in their lives are saved.
Among the Pharisees and teachers of the law, the greatest person is something great like Moses, David, or Solomon. But with Jesus this standard is reversed. Even if they are not the famous people in the history books, ordinary people who can be right next to me, that is, the smallest people, are said to be the biggest.
The Pharisees and scribes always praised the glory of King Solomon and King David, ignoring the little ones and condemning them. In front of the foreign army of Rome and the emperor's subordinates, he crouched, flattered, and cooperated, but he tried to rule over the weak and spoke of the glory of David and Solomon when he opened his mouth. The early church did not find any hope in them. No matter how you look at them, they were by no means the greatest, and neither were they to be imitated.
One day they found out, the biggest one was unexpectedly close. I came to realize that Jesus, who was always with them, who was disregarded by people because he was from Galilee, was greater than Solomon, greater than David, and greater than the temple.
And I realized that Jesus Christ, the greatest, united himself with the least of the people, exalted the smallest people as the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, saved his flag, and loved him to the end until he took up the cross. When they stood in front of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, they just kept getting smaller. But in the sight of Jesus, I could be the greatest. In the presence of Jesus, the spirit was revived and I was able to taste the new world.
This is the secret of the Christian faith.
This is the reality of our faith.
I return to the One who is greater than Ona than Moses, and I praise and exalt him, and sooner or later I come to know that I am the most precious being. I am living my life looking at the one who is greater than Solomon and greater than the temple, and sooner or later I come to see that I, who is extremely insignificant, is being praised for being “the greatest person in the kingdom of heaven.” Everyone is trying to be the biggest in the world and bluffing, but when you look into the fear that lurks in them, it's really sad.