Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
John 2:19-22
Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body. When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.
This will be my third post on what it means to say that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ. The first mention of an anointed in the Old Testament was the priesthood of Aaron and the second is of the kings of Israel being anointed to rule over God's people. King Cyrus is a type of how the two roles are brought together and fulfilled in one person. Historically, he is the one who gave the decree allowing the Jews to return home from their exile and rebuild the Temple and Jerusalem.
The prophecy spoken by Jeremiah that is referenced in Ezra and 2 Chronicles is that of "Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob's tents, and have mercy on his dwellingplaces; and the city shall be builded upon her own heap, and the palace shall remain after the manner thereof." Isaiah prophecies in chapter 44 that Jerusalem will be inhabited and the decayed places will be raised up. In Chapter 45, the Lord says through the prophet that Cyrus is His anointed and that "I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for price nor reward, saith the LORD of hosts.".
This theme of rebuilding God's city and temple, freeing His people from bondage, and gathering them together unto Himself is found throughout the Old Testament. In the Psalms we find statements about building up Zion and Jerusalem like "Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem. Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.", "For God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah: that they may dwell there, and have it in possession. The seed also of his servants shall inherit it: and they that love his name shall dwell therein.", "When the LORD shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory.", and "The LORD doth build up Jerusalem: he gathereth together the outcasts of Israel." Amos prophecies "In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old: That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the LORD that doeth this.", and Zechariah prophecies "And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD: Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.". Notice how Zechariah prophecies that the one who "shall sit and rule upon his throne" as king is the same person as the "priest upon his throne".
All of this is fulfilled in Jesus by His death and resurrection. It is the Temple of His Body that is crucified and then raised up. Jesus said that if He is raised up (on the cross), that He would draw all people unto Himself. It is also the basis for our worship, that is the worship that He established that is in Spirit and in truth.
It is said in Luke 1:74 "That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear", the last enemy being destroyed of course is death, which was defeated in His crucifixion and resurrection in glory. The service that we have been freed to offer to God is the worship in Spirit and in truth that Jesus spoke of to the samaritan woman at the well. With circumcision being the sign of God's people, Paul writes that we as Christians are the circumcision which worship God in the Spirit and elsewhere that this circumcision is "made without hands" where we are "Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.". We are to continue in being united with Him through the celebration of Holy Communion where we gather on sunday, the day of the week on which our Lord was raised from the dead, in order to proclaim the sacrifice of His death until He returns as often as we "eat of this bread" and "drink of this cup".
By being united to Jesus through His Church, we become God's people, ransomed by His blood on the cross and freed from death by His glorious resurrection. Jesus gave His apostles the promise that through them and on Peter our Lord would build His Church over which the gates of hell would never prevail. Paul describes the Church as being "God's building" which the apostles all labor together to build up, trusting in God to give the increase. The Church is the Body of Christ, over which Christ Himself is the Head. There are many members, being all joined together, which no member can say to another "I don't need you", that all work together to form the Body. Being united to Christ, we are individually members of Him and the Body of His Church. Being "bought with a price", our bodies become temples of God and we have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. This is why we are taught to present our bodies as a living sacrifice unto God as our "reasonable service" (worship according to the Word spoken of in John 1:1-14).
Being united to Christ through His death and resurrection, may I learn to better glorify God in my body and in my spirit, which are God's, so that I may offer myself up to God as a living sacrifice, acceptable unto God, which is my reasonable service to Him.
No comments:
Post a Comment