The King and the Kingdom

Matthew 12:6-7 (ESV)

[6] I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. [7] And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.

Jesus had just been accused of allowing his disciples to work on the Sabbath because they had stripped some grain into their hands to eat while they were walking. His response is to say that that something greater than the temple is here and that he is Lord of the Sabbath. Later he will say that something greater than Jonah is here and something greater than Solomon is here. Why doesn’t he say someone instead of something? What does he choose the temple, Jonah, and Solomon? What is this chapter about? The answer is found in verse 28 when Jesus says, “the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Mt 12:28). When he says that something greater than the Sabbath, Jonah, and Solomon is here he is not referring simply to himself, but to the fact that where the king is there is the kingdom. He is Messiah and therefore the kingdom has come upon them. The irony is that the very ones looking for the kingdom reject their king.

The temple symbolizes all that the law stands for, but the temple is the shadow. The kingdom is the real thing. Jonah was a prophet who spent three days in the belly of a great fish. The king will spend three days in the earth (Mt 12:40) after his death, but like Jonah, he will come back. Solomon symbolizes Israel’s golden age, the height of their glory. That is what they hope Messiah will restore. Jesus has something greater in mind. The kingdom is greater than Solomon’s kingdom. Where the king is, there is the kingdom, but the very ones looking for the kingdom missed it and rejected their king.

Much of our own disappointment and discouragement is because God does not do things the way we expect. Like the Pharisees (Mt 12:14), I wonder how often we miss the king because of our preconceptions of what the kingdom will look like. How often do we miss the peace of God because we feel like the world is out of control? How often do we miss the joy of God because we can’t see his hand at work around us? How often do we neglect to do the work of God because we are so focused on ourselves and our needs and expectations? Like the Pharisees, I fear that in looking for the kingdom we often miss the king. May our prayer today be, “Father, help me to see where you are at work around me, and give me the courage to step into it by your grace.”