Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
Select a thought to read by choosing a collection, the month, and then the day:
Fill in the missing word in this sentence: In Romans 5, Paul wrote that "death reigned from Adam to _____________ . Can you fill in the blank? Who ended death's reign over man? Jesus, of course. But that is not the name that Paul put in that blank space. What Paul wrote was, "Death reigned from Adam to MOSES." This is a statement that none of us would believe, had not an apostle of Jesus been the one who wrote it. But how can this be? If Jesus is the Prince of Life, how is it that Moses is the one who ended death's reign over man?
When Paul said that Moses ended death's reign over man, he meant that what Moses ministered to men ended death's reign. Moses the man could not have done anything except that God anointed him with something good for the earth. God gave His holy Law to Moses to pass on to Israel, and it was the Law which Moses gave to Israel, not Moses the man, that ended death's dreadful reign. That being understood, however, how could the Law end death's reign, seeing that it was not perfect (Heb. 8:7) and could not make those who submitted to it perfect (Heb. 10:1)?
For all its weakness because of the flesh, the Law was a holy foretaste, a shadow, of Jesus and his priestly work (Heb. 8:5); it was an earthly pattern of heavenly things (Heb. 9:23). The Law carried so much weight in both heaven and earth that every transgression of it brought about God's hot displeasure. We are told that "He who despised Moses' Law died without mercy" (Heb. 10:28).
The elements of the Law were carnal. Those who kept the Law used dead and non-living things to perform the ceremonial rites that the Law required. They killed animals and used their blood and dead bodies to atone for sin. They build tents and temples for the worship of God. The priests and Levites were required to robe themselves in non-living clothes for worship, and to revere special days of the year as sacred. And in keeping the commandments of God contained in the Law, men were granted the promise of eternal life, for "He that doeth these things shall live in them." This means that those who kept the Law obtained the promise of eternal life by using dead things. They were made masters over death, they were taught by God how to make death their servant in order to attain to life. This effectively ended death's complete dominion over mankind. In God's Law that He gave to Moses, man first tasted the liberty from death that Jesus would bring.
Because keeping the Law saved mens' souls, the Law was "glorious", but its glory depended upon one thing: Jesus. The Law was holy because the One it spoke of was even holier. The Law was good because the One it spoke of was even better. What perfection was in the Law was there because it spoke of the One who was perfect. Keeping the Law loosed men from the power of death and delivered souls from hell because the One of whom it spoke holds the keys of both Death and Hell in his hand. The Law that was so holy that a man's attitude toward it would either save or damn his soul, and yet Jesus and his work is so much holier, that it made the mighty Law of Moses of no more effect whatsoever. Everything depended on Jesus, and when he accomplished his holy work, the Law was made irrelevant. What life its ceremonies contained fell dead at Jesus' feet. Even Moses' knees bow before Jesus.
Paul called Moses' Law "the ministration of death", and that is true. It used dead things to guide people to life; it was our "schoolmaster, to bring us to Christ" (Gal. 3:24), but it required dead ceremonies to be performed in the process. The Law liberated men from the dominion of death, but it needed dead things in order to stay functional. It liberated men from the power of death, but it also bound men to death because it required men to use dead things in their pursuit of eternal life.
Still, the Law was "glorious". It was so holy that any offence against it brought about a punishment from God. Yet, when Jesus came, his glory was so far superior to that of the Law, that the Law was relegated to God's trash can. The Sabbaths of the Law, for the breaking of which a person could be stoned to death (Num. 15:32-36), became nothing to God or man. The burning of the Law's specially formulated incense was so holy that Aaron's two oldest sons were killed by God for not following the rules concerning it, became sin to offer. Once God's Son Jesus came and suffered for the sins of the world, the offering of animal sacrifices, sacrifices that God Himself had ordained, became as the sins of murder and idolatry, making a man worthy of death (Isa. 66:3). Jesus was so precious to his Father that when he came to earth and did his wonderful work, the Father discarded that precious, holy Law that spoke of His Son. It had served its purpose, and it no longer held any value for the salvation of man. Think of it! Jesus is so precious to God that his death made it sin for men to continue to do what God once had demanded they do if they hoped to be saved from damnation!
Consider the greatness of the man Jesus, who brought to nothing the holiest thing on earth. The Law, so glorious and holy that it empowered those who obeyed it to escape the iron-fisted dominion of death, became nothing because of him. The Law that temporarily made men masters over death, itself died because the Giver of Life himself came and dwelt among us.
Yes, Moses ended death's reign over man, a reign that began in the Garden of Eden, but he accomplished that astonishing feat only because his Law was the shadow of the Lord Jesus. Praise God! Jesus is so great that just his shadow ended death's tyranny over man. Just his shadow frightened Satan and loosened his awful grip on man's throat. How it melts the heart to realize that this same Jesus, before whom angels bow and demons tremble, loves us so much that he was willing to suffer and die in our stead. We could have no better friend than he who made the worlds and sustains them still in his power. This tender-hearted Lord of life who loves us and gave himself for us will keep us by his love and power until the end, when he will destroy death itself for our sakes.
"The last enemy to be destroyed is death", Paul wrote. But the destruction of death is something that the Law could never have done. The Law needed dead things to stay alive; it used dead things and had to keep death around in order to be useful for man. But not Jesus. He does not need death in order to bless us. He blesses us with life, and that more abundantly. In the place that he has prepared for us, death will never have a part and will never again come to mind.