Matthew 12:6

Mat_12:6

That in this place Is One greater than the temple.

Christ greater than the Church

I. Look at the things essential in the structure of the church, and show what Christ is in relation to these. The things essential in the structure of the church are the plan, the foundation, and the materials.

1. Let us understand what Christ is in relation to the plan. The plan of the Christian Church is that of a temple. Everything we see suggests that God seeks manifestation. The temple was complete in Christ; the union of the Divine and human, the indwelling of the Divine Spirit, the manifestation of the Divine perfection, the operation of the Divine mercy-all were in Him. The life-plan of the Saviour developed by Christian life and fellowship.

2. The foundation. The foundation means the reason which both churches and souls give of the hope that is in them. The gospel of Christ is the foundation.

3. The materials of which it is composed. In respect of the house of God this is a great mystery; composed of divers elements. Christ fits every individual member into his appropriate place.

II. The purposes of the church, what christ is in relation to these.

1. Up-building, or culture.

2. Outbuilding, or conquest.

3. Worship, or adoration. Christ everything to the church in the process of culture. He liberates, elevates, and purifies. As to conquest the Church is Christs messenger. As to worship it is a holy priesthood. (A. McLeod, D. D.)

Christ greater than the temple.

The Church is nothing without its head. Whatever it is, He has created it. Whatever it does, He is its life! It is righteous, but it is with His righteousness. It is royal, its royalty comes from Him. It is a priesthood, He conferred the priesthood. Its love, its power, its faith, its hope, everything it is, everything it expects to do, find their explanation and root in its relation to Him. (A. McLeod, D. D.)

One greater than the temple

I. Our Lord Jesus Christ is greater than the temple.

1. He is so manifestly because He is God. He who dwells in the house is greater than the house in which He dwells, so that as God Jesus is greater than the temple. The Divine must be greater than any human workmanship; the self-existent must excel the noblest created thing. The temple was many years in building, and came to an end. Christ is from everlasting to everlasting. Hence our Lords authority was greater than that of the temple.

2. He is greater than the temple, for He is a more glorious enshrinement of Deity. In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. The manifestation of the Godhead in Christ is approachable.

3. Our Lord is a fuller manifestation of the truth than the temple was. The temple was full of instruction; but all in type. Christ says, He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father.

4. Because He is a more abiding evidence of Divine favour.

5. Because He is a more sure place of consolation.

6. Because He is a more glorious centre of worship.

II. Jesus ought to be regarded as greater than the temple,

1. We ought to think of Him with greater joy than even the Jews did of the greater and beautiful house.

2. We ought to consider Him with greater wonder than that with which men surveyed the temple.

3. He ought to be visited with greater frequency.

4. He ought to be reverenced with greater solemnity.

5. He ought to be honoured with higher service.

6. He ought to be sought with more vehement desire.

III. Practical reflections.

1. How carefully should the laws of Jesus Christ be observed.

2. How much more ought we to value Christ than any outward ordinance.

3. How much more important that you should go to Christ than that you should go to any place which you suppose to be the house of God. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

I. The superiority of christ to the temple of Jerusalem. His superiority in those respects which distinguish that temple above all others.

1. It was built under the immediate and special direction of God.

2. It was furnished with everything that was requisite to the purpose of its erection as it regards both God and man.

3. It was adorned with a visible symbol of the Divine presence.

4. It was frequented by all the tribes of Israel as the place set apart for their religious worship.

II. Inferences.

1. His lordship over the conscience. Every human authority must yield to His.

2. His power to bestow all spiritual blessing-peace, strength, glory.

(1) How signal are our privileges!

(2) How solemn is our responsibility! (Various.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat 12:6. Δέγω, I say) This form of speech expresses great authority.—τοῦ ἱεροῦ, the temple) In which the priests minister. The Temple gives way to Christ, the Sabbath (Mat 12:5) to the Temple; therefore the Sabbath (Mat 12:8) to Christ.—ἔστιν ὧδε, there is here) He does not say, “I am greater.” Jesus was lowly in heart. See Mat 12:41-42, ch. Mat 11:4-5. Thus too in Luk 4:21, He says, This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears; and again, ch. Mat 19:9, This day is salvation come to this house. See also Mat 13:17; Joh 4:10; Joh 9:37.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat_12:6. As in Mat_12:3 f. Jesus had reasoned a majori (from the fact of David, when hungry, being allowed to eat the shew-bread) ad minus (to the fact of the hungry disciples being allowed to pluck the corn on the Sabbath), so in Mat_12:5 He reasons a minori (viz. from the temple, where the Sabbath is subordinated to the sacrificial arrangements) ad majus, viz. to His own authority, which transcends the sanctity of the temple, and from acting under which the disciples might well be the less disposed to be bound to keep the Sabbath. The key to this argument is to be found in Mat_12:6, which contains the minor proposition of the conclusion: what is allowable in the case of the servants of the temple, namely, to work on the Sabbath, must be conceded to the servants of Him who is greater than the temple; I am greater than the temple; therefore, and so on.

In all the elevation and truth of His self-consciousness Jesus points with τοῦ ἱεροῦ μεῖζόν ἐστιν ὧδε to His own person and character as surpassing the temple in sanctity and greatness; not to the Messianic work (Fritzsche, de Wette, Baumgarten-Crusius), with which the plucking of the corn had nothing to do; nor, again, to the interests of the, disciples! (Paulus, Kuinoel); nor, finally, to the ἔλεος in Mat_12:7 (Baur). The neuter μεῖζον, a greater thing, is more weighty than the masculine. Dissen, ad Dem. de cor. p. 396. Comp. Mat_11:9.

ὧδε] demonstrative, as in Mat_12:41-42. Notice how sublimely great is the consciousness that God is dwelling in Him in a higher sense than in the temple; comp. note on Joh_2:19.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat 12:6-8 . The principles involved . The facts stated raise questions as to the reasons. The Pharisees were men of rules, not accustomed to go back on principles. The passion for minutiæ killed reflection. The reasons have been already hinted in the statement of the cases: ὅτε ἐπείνασεν , Mat 12:3 ; ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ , Mat 12:5 : hunger , the temple ; human needs, higher claims. These are referred to in inverse order in Mat 12:6-7 .

Mat 12:6 . λέγω δὲ ὑμῖν : solemn affirmation, with a certain tone in the voice. τοῦ ἱεροῦ μεῖζον . Though they might not have thought of the matter before, the claim of the temple to overrule the Sabbath law would be admitted by the Pharisees. Therefore, Jesus could base on it an argument a fortiori . The Sabbath must give way to the temple and its higher interests, therefore to something higher still. What was that something? Christ Himself, according to the almost unanimous opinion of interpreters, ancient and modern; whence doubtless the μείζων of T. R. But Jesus might be thinking rather of the kingdom than of the king; a greater interest is involved here, that of the kingdom of God. Fritzsche takes μεῖζον as = teaching men, and curing them of vice then going on. It may be asked: How did the interest come in? The disciples were following Jesus, but what was He about? What created the urgency? Whence came it that the disciples needed to pluck ears of standing corn? We do not know. That is one of the many lacunæ in the evangelic history. But it may be assumed that there was something urgent going on in connection with Christ’s ministry, whereby He and His companions were overtaken with extreme hunger, so that they were fain to eat unprepared food ( ἀκατέργαστον σῖτον , Euthy. Zig. on Mat 12:7 ).

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple--or rather, according to the reading which is best supported, "something greater." The argument stands thus: "The ordinary rules for the observance of the sabbath give way before the requirements of the temple; but there are rights here before which the temple itself must give way." Thus indirectly, but not the less decidedly, does our Lord put in His own claims to consideration in this question--claims to be presently put in even more nakedly.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 6. In this place is one greater than the temple.] Does not our Lord refer here to Mal 3:1? Compare this with Heb 3:3. The Jews esteemed nothing greater than the temple, except that God who was worshipped in it. Christ, by asserting he was greater than the temple, asserts that he was God; and this he does, in still more direct terms, Mt 12:8, The Son of man is Lord of the Sabbath-is Institutor and Governor of it. Compare this with Ge 2:3, and see the notes there.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(6) In this place is one greater than the temple.—Better, Here is something greater than the Temple. The Greek adjective is neuter in the better MSS., and the word “here” we may think of as accompanied (like the “destroy this temple” of Joh_2:19) by a gesture which interpreted the words. The passage thus referred to furnishes obviously the true explanation of our Lord’s assertion of His greatness here, and spoken, as it probably was, to scribes from Jerusalem, may have been intended to remind them of it. The body of the Son of Man was the truest, highest temple of God, and the disciples who ministered to Him were entitled to at least the same privilege as the priests in the Temple at Jerusalem. The range of the words is, however, wider than this their first and highest application. We are taught to think of the bodies of other sons of men as being also, in their measure, temples of God (1Co_6:19), and so there follows the conclusion that all works of love done for the bodies or the souls of men as little interfere with the holiness of a day of rest as did the ministrations of the priests as they laboured to weariness in the ritual of the Temple. Inasmuch as the disciples were not at the time engaged in any direct service to their Master, but were simply satisfying the cravings of their own hunger, their act, strictly speaking, came under the general rather than the special application of the words. Man, as such, to those who take a true measure of his worth, is greater than any material temple.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But I say unto you,.... Who Christ knew would be ready to object, as above, and therefore prevents them, by saying,

that in this place is one greater than the temple; meaning himself, who was the Lord and Proprietor of the temple, and in his human nature the antitype of it; see Joh 2:19 and was infinitely more sacred than that. Some copies read "something greater"; referring either to the human nature of Christ, in which the Godhead dwells bodily, and so infinitely greater than the temple; or to the health of his disciples, which was in danger, through hunger: or to the ministry of the apostles, which, by satisfying nature, they were more capable of performing; either of which was of more moment than the sacrifices and service of the temple. Christ's argument is, that if the temple, and the service of it, excused the priests from blame, in doing things in it on the sabbath day, which otherwise might not be done; then much more might his presence, who was greater than the temple, excuse his disciples from blame in this action of rubbing and eating the ears of corn; which was done to satisfy hunger, and to render them the more capable of performing their ministerial function; and which was of more importance than the service of the priests.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

6 But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple.

Ver. 6. But I say unto you] q.d. Whereas you will here object, that that was done in the temple; I tell you I am greater than the temple: for in me the Godhead dwelleth bodily, Col 1:19; as in the temple was the ark, where the glory of God appeared, so that it filled the temple sometimes. Take notice here, by the way, how good it is to have some grave and godly man to be a beholder and judge of our actions, to whom we may approve them, whatever other ill-affected think of them- Equitem mihi plaudere curo, saith the heathen poet. And Libanius (though an atheist) could say, Βασιλειου με επαινησαντος κατα παντων εχω τα νικητηρια (ad Basil). If Basil commend me, I care not what all others say of me. Christ’s white stone will comfort a Christian against the black coals of the world’s censures. If Demetrius have a good report of the truth, and such a one as St John to bear record for him, he need not care though Diotrephes prate as fast against them both with malicious words, 3Jn 1:9-12, as the Pharisees did here against the disciples, when Christ defended them.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

One greater than the temple - Here the Saviour refers to himself, and to his own dignity and power. “I have power over the laws; I can grant to my disciples a dispensation from those laws. An act which I command or permit them to do is therefore right.” This proves that he was divine. None but God can authorize people to do a thing contrary to the divine laws. He refers them again Mat 12:7 to a passage he had before quoted (See the notes at Mat 9:13), showing that God preferred acts of righteousness, rather than a precise observance of a ceremonial law.

Mark adds Mar 2:27 “the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” That is, the Sabbath was intended for the welfare of man; it was designed to promote his happiness, and not to produce misery by harsh, unfeeling requirements. It is not to be so interpreted as to produce suffering by making the necessary supply of wants unlawful. Man was not made for the Sabbath. Man was created first, and then the Sabbath was appointed for his happiness, Gen 2:1-3. His necessities, his real comforts and needs, are not to be made to bend to that which was made “for him.” The laws are to be interpreted favorably to his real wants and comforts. This authorizes works only of real necessity, not of imaginary wants, or amusements, or common business and worldly employments.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

A greater than the temple: so what can be done for the temple without a sin, may be done for him without a crime. (Bible de Vence)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

The Jews had very superstitious conceits concerning the temple, and might object, But the priests’ works are done in the temple. The Jews had a saying, that in the temple there was no sabbath. They looked upon the temple as sanctifying all actions done there. To obviate this, (saith our Saviour),

In this place is one (that is, I am)

greater than the temple. The temple was but a type of me. If the temple can sanctify so much labour, will not my authority and permission, think you, excuse this little labour of my disciples?

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

6. One greater than the temple — And, therefore, able to dispense with temple and ritual sanctities when they come in collision with the object of my mission, or the maintenance of my ministers in the performance of that mission. It in fact adds a force to our Lord’s words, that the word greater is, in the Greek, in the neuter gender. Christ is a greater existence or thing than the temple.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Matthew only. But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple (tou ierou meizon estin wde); "Gr. a greater thing" (Revised Version margin). A similarly difficult neuter is found in vers. 41, 45. If the neuter be insisted upon, we must understand Christ to refer to his cause, the work in which the disciples were engaged. This was greater than the temple; lunch more, therefore, was it greater than the sabbath. Probably, however, our Lord is referring to himself, to his own Person and character, but uses the neuter, either as forming a more decided contrast to ieron , or as being more weighty than the masculine. (cf. Mat_11:9, note) Also it was less defined and more mysterious. He could not reveal to them the secret of his presence. Observe the use, even at this stage in his ministry, of words implying the decadence of the temple service. (cf. Joh_4:21 Act_6:14) In this place; here (Revised Version), as in vers. 41, 42.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The application of the argument:

v. 6. But I say unto you, That in this place is One greater than the Temple.

v. 7. But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.

v. 8. For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath day.

Christ’s argument itself could not be challenged, but He now brings out the principles involved to reveal the smallness and the uncharitableness of their hearts. In the first place: He is greater than the Jewish Law and the Temple. What was permitted to the priests that served in the Temple must surely be conceded as a right to His disciples. Then also: The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. The greatest law finding its application here is the law of charity, Hos 6:6. All the sacrifices made in punctilious observance of the letter of the Law cannot be placed on a level with the mercy, with the love, which is the fulfillment of the Law. A heart that realizes the need of the neighbor and cheerfully helps in obtaining all that is needed, is engaged in a higher form of worship than that which upholds a rigorous legalism. And finally: Christ openly declares that He is the Lord of the Sabbath. He is the founder of the New Covenant. All the Old Testament precepts concerning sacrifices, Sabbath, festivals, were only shadows of things to come. They have lost their force since Christ has now been revealed. The Word of God and the law of love alone rule in the New Testament.

The Observance of Sunday

"Those that are of the opinion that the order of Sunday has been established as necessary in place of the Sabbath, are badly in error. For the Holy Scripture has abrogated the Sabbath, and teaches that all ceremonies of the old Law may be omitted after the revelation of the Gospel; and yet, since it has been necessary to establish a certain day, in order that the people might know when they should come together, the Christian Church has ordained Sunday for that purpose, and has had all the more pleasure and desire for this change, in order that the people might have an example of Christian liberty and know that the observance neither of the Sabbath nor of any other day is necessary."

"St. Paul and the entire New Testament have abolished the Sabbath of the Jews, in order that it may be palpable that the Sabbath concerns the Jews only. Therefore it is not necessary that the heathens keep the Sabbath, though it was a great and strict law with the Jews. The prophets have also adduced that this Sabbath should be abolished. Isaiah, in the last chapter, verse 23, says: When the Master comes, there will be such a time that one new moon will follow the other, one Sabbath be beside the other. As though he would say: Every day will be Sabbath, every day will be new moon. Thus, in the New Testament the Sabbath no longer exists after the rude, external form. For this commandment also has a twofold meaning like the other commandments, an external and an internal, or spiritual, one. With the Christians of the New Testament all days are holy days, and all days are free. Therefore Christ says: The Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath, Mat 12:8. Therefore Paul in various places admonishes the Christians to permit themselves to be bound by no days: Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain, Gal 4:10-11. Again, to the Colossians still more plainly: Let no man, therefore, judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy-day, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days, which are a shadow of things to come, Col 2:16-17; Rom 14:5.

"Though the Sabbath is now abolished and the consciences are free from it, it is still good, and also necessary, to observe one special day in the week, in order to use, to hear and learn the Word of God on that day. For not everyone can tend to it every day. Nature also demands that men be quiet one day in the week, and both men and beasts abstain from work. But whosoever would make a necessary commandment of the Sabbath, as of a work demanded by God, must keep the Saturday, and not the Sunday; for the Saturday is commanded to the Jews, and not the Sunday. The Christians, however, have till now kept the Sunday and not the Saturday, for this reason, since Christ arose on a Sunday. This is a certain indication that the Sabbath no longer concerns us, and all of Moses [the ceremonial law]; else we should be obliged to keep the Saturday; and this is a great and strong proof that the Sabbath is abrogated. For throughout the whole New Testament we find no passage in which the celebration of the Sabbath is commanded to us Christians.

"Why, then, is the Sunday observed by the Christians? Although all days are free, and one is as the other, it is still useful and good, yea, very necessary that one day be celebrated, whether it be the Sabbath, the Sunday, or any other day. For God wants to lead the world carefully and rule over it peacefully; therefore has He given six days for work, but on the seventh day servants, day-laborers, and workmen of all kinds, yea, also horses, oxen, and other working cattle, shall have rest, as the sense of this commandment is, in order that by rest they might find recreation. And above all, that they who at other times have no leisure, may hear the sermon on the holy day, and thereby learn to know God. And for such reasons, namely, for the sake of charity and necessity, has the Sunday remained, not on account of the Law of Moses, but for the sake of our need, that we might rest, and that we might learn the Word of God."

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

6. But I say unto you, that in this place is one greater than the temple. The thought is: If priests in the service of the temple can break the letter of the law and be blameless, how much more can the disciples of him who is the Lord of the temple do so in his service and by his authority?

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

6. μεῖζον for μείζων.

6. μεῖζον. The neuter gives the sense of indefinite greatness; cp. Luk 11:32, πλεῖον Σολομῶνος ὧδε, and Eur. Ion, 973, καὶ πῶς τὰ κρείσσω θνητὸς οὖσʼ ὑπερδράμω, where τὰ κρείσσω is equivalent to τὸν θεόν.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

6.] μεῖζον seems the better supported reading, and sustains the parallel better: a greater thing than the temple is here. See Joh 2:19. The inference is, ‘If the priests in the temple and for the temple’s sake, for its service and ritual, profane the Sabbath, as ye account profanation, and are blameless, how much more these disciples who have grown hungry in their appointed following of Him who is greater than the temple, the true Temple of God on earth, the Son of Man!’ I cannot agree with Stier that the neuter would represent only “something greater, more weighty than the temple,—namely, merciful consideration of the hungry, or the like:” it seems to me, as above, to bear a more general and sublime sense than the masculine; see ver. 41, &c.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(L) 6. But I say to you, That more than the temple is here.] The “more than the temple” is the Son of Man = the Messiah. If the temple was not subservient to Sabbath rules, how much less the Messiah!

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

One greater [μειζων] . The correct reading makes the adjective neuter, so that the right rendering is something greater (Rev., in margin). The reference is, of course, to Christ himself (compare vv. 41, 42, where the neuter pleion, more (so Rev., in margin), is used in the same way). Compare, also, Joh 2:19, where Christ speaks of his own body as a temple. The indefiniteness of the neuter gives a more solemn and impressive sense.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.