Main idea: Jesus quotes from Exodus to: explain God’s power to raise the dead, describe his ministry of bringing eternal life, and show how his teaching supersedes the message of Moses.
- Jesus quotes from Exodus to explain God’s power to raise the dead. Mark 12:24-27; Exodus 3:1-6
- Jesus quotes from the book of Exodus to describe his ministry of bringing eternal life. John 6:30-35; Exodus 16:4
- Jesus quotes from the book of Exodus to show how his teaching supersedes the message of Moses. Exodus 20:1–19; Exodus 21:22-25
A. Jesus message supersedes Moses message about hate. Matthew 5:21-22
B. Jesus message supersedes Moses message about lust. Matthew 5:27
C. Jesus message supersedes Moses message about retribution. Matthew 5:38-39
Remember history class? Remember how boring history seemed? Especially if you had a boring teacher, history could be a real drag. Who cares if Magellan sailed around the world in 1592? Who cares if over a million people were killed during the Chinese Cultural Revolution? Who cares if man first walked on the moon on July 21st, 1969?
These events are just a few of the many momentous events that have shaped our world. Contrary to popular opinion, history is important. We need to know our history, and we need to understand how history has shaped the present because if we fail to understand our past, we will fail to understand who we are today.
The Bible tells us about events that happened in the ancient past. Believe it or not, these past events continue to shape our lives today. The people and events recorded in the Old Testament are not dead, nor are they static. The events of the Bible continue to send shock waves into our present, and the effect and consequences of what ancient people did or didn’t do continue to reverberate into our lives today. If we want to understand who we are as God’s people, we need to understand who these Old Testament people were, and how what they did affects our lives today.
One way to understand the people and events of the Old Testament is to see how Jesus talked about those events. How did Jesus refer to the Old Testament in his teachings? Sometimes, Jesus showed that he was the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies. Sometimes, Jesus used the Old Testament to illustrate his own teaching, and sometimes, Jesus showed how his message took precedence over and superseded the message of the Old Testament.
One of the Old Testament books Jesus used in his teaching is the book of Exodus. Jesus quotes from Exodus to explain God’s power to raise the dead. Jesus quotes from Exodus to describe his ministry of bringing eternal life, and Jesus quotes from Exodus to show how his teaching supersedes the message of Moses.
Jesus quotes from Exodus to explain God’s power to raise the dead. Jesus quotes from Exodus to describe his ministry of bringing eternal life, and Jesus quotes from Exodus to show how his teaching supersedes the message of Moses.
First, Jesus quotes from Exodus to explain God’s power to raise the dead.
Mark 12:24-27
Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God? For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong.”
Jesus quotes from the book of Exodus, where we read about Moses’ encounter with God, who speaks to Moses from a burning bush. Exodus 3:1-6
Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
Jesus quotes from this passage in Exodus to explain God’s power to raise the dead. In addition to teaching about the resurrection, Jesus makes other points. For example, Jesus criticizes the Jews for not knowing and understanding the Scriptures. Jesus told the Sadducees: “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures (Matthew 22:29).” The Sadducees’ misunderstanding of God’s word led them astray into false ideas about God.
On several occasions, Jesus criticized his listeners for their lack of spiritual understanding. Jesus even rebuked his own apostles for not being able to understand what he was saying. If Jesus were here this morning, I wonder what he would say to us. Would Jesus say to us: “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures?”
The older I get, the less sure I am about things about which I was once convinced. The reason I’m less sure is that I’ve had more time to read. I’ve had more time to study, and I’ve had more time to think. Don’t ever stop learning. Don’t ever think you know everything. We would be naive to think that everything we believe is one hundred percent correct. I guarantee you that if you really study the Bible with an open mind, you’ll discover that some of the things you’ve believed for a long time have a better explanation.
Jesus criticizes the Sadducees because they didn’t understand the Scriptures, and Jesus criticized them because they didn’t understand God’s power to do miracles. Jesus is referring to the miracle of raising the dead back to life, but we can apply Jesus’ words to unbelief in general.
When we come to the Bible, we must start with certain presuppositions. A presupposition is an assumption about something that is believed uncritically. When it comes to the Bible, we must start with the assumption that God exists, and God is an all-powerful God who can do the impossible. When we start with the presupposition about the existence of an all-powerful God, the miracles in the Bible are not difficult to believe.
Easter is just around the corner. Easter is the Christian celebration of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. Skeptics and atheists attack this foundational doctrine of Jesus’ resurrection. These skeptics say they can’t believe in the resurrection because they don’t see people rising from the dead.
If, however, you start with the presupposition that God is all-powerful, then it’s easy to believe that not only can God raise Jesus, but someday God will also raise us from the dead.
Jesus quotes from Exodus to explain God’s power to raise the dead, and Jesus quotes from the book of Exodus also to describe his ministry of bringing eternal life. John 6:30-35
So, they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ” Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
Jesus is referring back to an event recorded in the book of Exodus. “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not (Exodus 16:4).”
Jesus relates the story about bread from heaven to himself. Jesus says that he is God’s heavenly bread given to those who need spiritual life. Jesus says, “Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
Moses prophesied: “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him (Deuteronomy 18:15).” Jesus is this prophet. Jesus is like a new Moses. Just as God used Moses to deliver his people from slavery in Egypt, so too God used Jesus to deliver us from slavery to sin. Just as with Moses, God sent manna to feed the people in the wilderness, so too Jesus is the bread of life who gives eternal life to everyone who believes.
Jesus is a prophet like Moses, but Jesus is greater than Moses. The Bible says, “Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses (Hebrews 3:3a).” Jesus’ message is superior to Moses’ message because Jesus’ message goes beyond physical, material concerns and deals with our heart and soul. Jesus is superior to Moses because Jesus’ work of redemption is spiritual and eternal.
One of the places we see Jesus’ message taking precedence over the message of Moses is in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. In this great sermon, Jesus quotes from the book of Exodus and shows how his teaching supersedes the message of Moses.
Let’s first read Moses’ message in Exodus 20:1–19 and Exodus 21:22-25.
Next, let’s read what Jesus says about some of these verses. Jesus says:
You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. Matthew 5:21-22
Jesus is saying that his message supersedes Moses’ message. We should not think that Jesus is trying to change or contradict God’s laws or abolish God’s laws. Jesus says, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them (Matthew 5:17).”
Jesus is not trying to do away with the Old Testament law. Jesus is saying there’s more to God’s word than meets the eye. God wants us to think about the implications of the law. The law of Moses said murder is wrong. Jesus expands on that law. Jesus draws out the law’s implications. Jesus elaborates and expands the message. Jesus says that although Moses said not to commit murder, Jesus says don’t even express hatred.
Jesus’ apostles remembered Jesus’ teaching about hate and included it in their writings. The Apostle John, for example, says, “Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.” (1 John 3:15).
You may pride yourself on not being a criminal. You may think that you’re a good person because you’ve never killed anyone. Yet, according to Jesus, some of us are guilty of murder. In fact, some of us are serial killers. We’re serial killers because of our hateful attitudes. We may not stab someone with a real knife, but we go around stabbing people in the back.
Jesus gets right down to the heart of the matter when he says, Matthew 5:22
“But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.”
Raca means “empty-headed.” From the Greek word for “fool,” we get the word “moron.” Sometimes when I’m frustrated, I may call someone an “idiot,” or a “moron”. Many of us use more colorful words like “dingbat” or “doofus”. We have a lot of words to say: “You meathead. You big dummy. You nitwit.”
Now maybe you’re a very polite person and would never call anyone these kinds of names, but have you ever thought them? Jesus wants us to look inside and see what is there so that he can heal our brokenness and take away our bad attitudes.
Next, Jesus says that his message supersedes Moses’ message about lust.
Matthew 5:27 says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ ”
Here again, Jesus’ point is not to abrogate the command against adultery, but to expand the meaning of the commandment to include lust.
The sins we commit begin in our heart and mind. Our behavior is a reflection of what is happening inside—in our inner person.
Lust is a beast in the lives of many men. Lust is a beast that is difficult to tame. It can pounce on a man when he least expects it. Lust sometimes overpowers a man and leads him to do things that afterwards makes him feel ashamed.
Many men would never cheat on their wives. They are good, faithful husbands. They love their wives, but they struggle with lust. Jesus equates lusting after a woman with adultery because Jesus wants us to face our problem and deal with it.
If you are struggling with this problem, don’t ignore it. Do something about it before it becomes a bigger problem.
Finally, Jesus says that his message supersedes Moses’ message about retribution. Matthew 5:38-39 says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.”
Jesus says that his message supersedes Moses’ message about retribution.
Retribution is taking revenge for something someone has done to you. Retribution is inflicting punishment on someone as a way to avenge a wrong they have committed. Most societies have laws protecting people from violence. When someone breaks the law and injures someone else, that society has the right to pay back the wrongdoer and punish him or her with a punishment that fits the crime.
The law of Moses held the Jewish legal authorities to a high standard of justice. The law of Moses bound the legal authorities—judges, law clerks, magistrates, and law officials—to punish any and every crime, especially crimes against a person’s life. Punishment for harming someone was to be fair and just. Retribution was not to be more or less than the actual crime ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’
Jesus’ comments on this law of retribution were not an attempt to do away with the law. Jesus is not trying to overturn judicial law. Jesus is not saying that judges and magistrates should not hold criminals accountable for their crimes. Jesus is talking about what action an individual should take when someone tries to provoke him or her to violence. Jesus says that when someone tries to provoke us, we should do everything we can to defuse the situation. Let’s look closer at Jesus’ words. “But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also (Matthew 5:39).”
To slap someone on the right cheek means that the assailant used the back of his or her hand. This is not a punch or slap. It’s a slap with the back of the hand. To slap someone with the back of the hand is an insult and a provocation to fight.
When someone tries to provoke us, what should we do? What should be our response? Well, if I followed my dad’s advice, then I would accept the challenge and get into a fight. Believe me, as a kid, I was in plenty of fights. No one was ever going to call me a chicken. It wasn’t until I started seeing people use guns and knives that I decided it was time to stop fighting.
The advice my dad gave me was much different from the advice my father-in-law gave his boys. Kathy’s father discouraged his boys from fighting. Kathy’s dad taught his boys that fighting only leads to jail or the hospital. Kathy’s dad encouraged his boys to walk away from a fight.
Jesus says the same thing. If someone offends you or tries to goad you into a fight, walk away. Jesus wants us to do whatever it takes to de-escalate violence. When it comes to our own involvement in a fight. Even if it’s only a war of words, we are not to get involved. Someone calls you a name. Smile and walk away. Someone makes fun of you or ridicules you or puts you down. Don’t fight back. Someone pushes you; don’t push back. Your role in life is to be a peacemaker. Jesus says, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” Matthew 5:9
We can learn a lot about God and about ourselves by seeing how Jesus used the Old Testament.
Let me suggest that before we jump into the New Testament, we need to know the Old Testament. Reading the Bible is a lot like swimming. Before you jump into the deep water, you need to learn how to swim. The Old Testament is where we learn to swim. The Apostle Paul says that the events recorded in the Old Testament “occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did . . . These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us.” 1 Corinthians 10:6,11)
In other words, the Old Testament was written for people who lived long ago, but there are important lessons there for us. If we are going to understand Jesus, we must first know his Bible, the Old Testament.