2 Corinthians 3:7-11. 7Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, 8will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? 9For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. 10Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. 11For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory.
Yesterday we connected Pentecost to the Jewish Feast of Weeks, the harvest festival of new grain that commemorated the collecting of manna in the wilderness.
Today we want to focus on another historic aspect of Pentecost – the giving of the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai. You remember the story. Moses goes to the top of the mountain, a mountain roaring in thunder, lightning, and earthquakes, and he receives the Ten Commandments from the hand of God himself, God enters into covenant with his people, and they all lived happily ever after. (OK, maybe not)
The Bible doesn’t explicitly say that the Israelites got to Mount Sinai fifty days after the Passover, but it does say that they were there in the third month (Ex. 19:1), so the timing adds up. Other Jewish sources, like the Book of Jubilees and the Dead Sea Scrolls, do explicitly say that the Israelites gathered at Mount Sinai to receive the Law seven weeks after Passover, at Pentecost.
So assuming it is true that the Law was given to Moses at “Pentecost” (day 50), the question is why would this be something to celebrate? Celebrating the Passover makes sense. Passover is about liberation, freedom, victory, and salvation. Here in America we celebrate our freedom (Independence Day) but we don’t really have holidays to celebrate our laws, penal codes, or legal institutions. Typically, we tolerate laws, we don’t celebrate them.
Well, for the Israelites, Pentecost wasn’t just about receiving God’s rules, I was about being received into God’s covenant. A covenant that was meant to bring freedom for humanity through the Law. A law that promoted equity, justice, kindness, and love. A law that, if obeyed, would keep them living under the covenant blessings of Yahweh.
Seven weeks after Passover they received this law. God’s perfect law. Unfortunately, they, like us, were an imperfect people. And that’s where 2 Corinthians 3 comes in. Paul calls the Law of God given at Pentecost, a ministry of death. Why does Paul use such strong language? Because he knows that the Law (and all law living) places us under a standard that is unachievable. It takes, and it takes, and it takes, and it never gives. It demands love without offering any power to love. It requires no faith and it steals all freedom. It controls and condemns. It literally sends us to Hell.
Is Paul antinomian (anti-law)? Not at all. He’s honest. He knows the problem isn’t actually the Law, the problem is us. The Law of God is perfect and holy. In fact, when the Law of God sentences us to death it’s just doing its job. When God’s law reveals our inability, our unrighteousness, and our self-righteousness, it has actually succeeded in its goal – condemnation.
All of this is why we needed a better way. A way that does not in any way depend on our obedience. We needed an even greater glory, the glory of Christ. This will require a new Pentecost, and with it a new gift. A greater gift. A more perfect ministry. The ministry of the Spirit.
Christian, only the ministry of the Spirit can produce real change in your life. Real love, real joy, real holiness, and real Christ-likeness. Only the ministry of the Spirit can produce the freedom we need to truly change. Only the ministry of the Spirit fills us with the glory of Christ, an unending, all-encompassing glory that outshines all of our self-generated, pride filled, false glory that attempting to keep the law brings.
What is this ministry of the Spirit? The ministry of the Spirit is the unveiling of the surpassing glory of the cross of Christ. Only our union with Christ’s cross can kill the deeds of the flesh. Not law keeping, no matter how perfect that law may be. The Law can reveal my holy God and my unholy self, but only the ministry of the Spirit by the application of the cross can kill the old self-life and resurrect the life of Christ in me. And here’s the good news – it already has. We HAVE BEEN crucified with Christ. We ARE dead to sin and alive to God.
Will you let the Spirit of Christ minister these life changing truths to your heart today? Will you receive the gift that is better even than God’s law – the gift of God’s life?
You: In what ways has law keeping been a ministry of death to you in the past?
You in Christ: To be in Christ is to be one with his death. You have died with Christ to the law. How does knowing this actually allow us to obey Christ from freedom and love?
Christ in you: What different choices does the ministry of the Spirit empower in you, choices from faith in Christ, not from faith in your law keeping ability?
Prayer: Father, I know I spend way too much time trying to prove myself by keeping the Law’s demands. Help me to trust the ministry of the Spirit, the application of the cross of Christ in my life instead. Amen.
To Live is Christ 