Deuteronomy 34:1-12, Psalm 90: 1-6, 13-17, 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8

In our Old Testament reading Moses has been forbidden entry to the promised land. The reason for this is detailed in the book of Numbers, chapter 20; basically he disobeyed the instructions God had given him, displayed unbelief and frustration in front of the Israelites he was leading and failed to uphold God’s holiness by appearing to take credit for God’s miraculous action instead of treating God as holy.

But just before his death, out of God’s kind grace, Moses was permitted to see from a distance the land God was giving to Israel.

This was the result of Moses’s life work – leading Israel to Canaan and hearing God say “Here it is! This is the land promised!”

And then Moses died. He died and was buried and the location of his grave was to be unknown.

There are many potential reasons why Moses’s grave was unmarked and its location unknown. There is the incident in Jude chapter one where the devil and Archangel Michael are arguing over the body of Moses. There is the theory that the reason God buried Moses was so that the Israelites would not know where he lay. This would both stop the Israelites turning the grave into a shrine and Moses into an idol; and also prevent them from digging him up to take him into the promised land against the judgement of the Lord.

It’s a bit like my grandmother’s grave. She is buried in a natural burial ground with nothing marking the grave. It blends in and is practically impossible to find unless you know exactly where it is is and even then there is that nagging doubt of ‘am I in the right place’ as the surrounding nature grows and changes.

Moses died under the penalty of his own sin. He died, was buried, and remained dead!

Jesus also died under the penalty of sin but not His own sin. Jesus died as a payment to satisfy the debt for the sins of His people.

Jesus died and was buried but Jesus did not remain dead, as He gloriously rose from the grave.

As great as Moses was, Jesus is the one greater than Moses.

Yet what an epitaph Moses is given. There is no greater epitaph than this:

Moses, the Servant of the Lord.

Moses was 120 years old when he died, having spent 40 years as the crown prince of Egypt, 40 years as a shepherd in the wilderness and 40 years leading the children of Israel to the threshold of the promised land. The first two thirds were in preparation for the vital work of the last third.

Moses was willing for God to prepare him for 80 years.

We are approaching the season of Advent. A time of preparation as we, once again, prepare our lives, hearts and minds to celebrate when Jesus became man, incarnated to save us, that He is with us through His Holy Spirit and that, as promised, He will come in His full glory.

The preparation time may seem a long time in comparison to the time taken to complete the task itself. But how many times we hear (especially from teachers) that preparation is everything and that we can only succeed if we have done that preparation properly.

The husband will happily tell you that he thinks I spend too many hours on preparing a talk that takes minutes to deliver and he is entitled to his opinion. But this is part of my service to God and to my brothers and sisters in Christ and that requires the appropriate preparation.

Immersing ourselves in God’s word and in prayer is vital if we are to fulfil the great works He would have us do.

Moses died because it was time not because he was old or infirm – indeed we are told that his eyes were not dim and his body had not diminished. Moses’s task was complete. He had led Israel to the promised land but being unable to go any further himself meant it was time for him to die.

But God’s great work did not die with Moses. It continues with us through Joshua who would go on to lead the Israelites into the land promised.

Our psalm links with our reading from Deuteronomy; attributed to Moses and is titled ‘A prayer of Moses, the man of God’. It is a reflective prayer contrasting the eternal unchanging nature of God with the short, fragile, sin-marred lives of humans.

The Lord is our dwelling place. As we sing, God is our strength and refuge.

God is eternal, living outside of time with no beginning and no end. God’s perspective of time passing is very different to our own.

Consider the judgement of God, His mercy, compassion and love.

Without God we can do nothing. We need the right relationship of man in his frailty to the eternal Lord.

Our reading from Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians starts with Paul defending the integrity of his ministry because of his enemies trying to discredit him.

This is important to Paul, not for himself but for the Gospel, because if he is discredited so will his message of the Gospel be.

Paul’s demeanour, behaviour, words and actions witness to his integrity and motives but they also witness to the message he spreads of the Gospel; as should ours.

Paul swept away the false and then moves forward positively presenting the truth.

As we move onto our Gospel reading from Matthew to Jesus, the one who is greater than Moses, we continue with the theme of the greatest. Yet again, the Pharisees were trying to trap Jesus with their question. This time they ask Him which one is the greatest commandment, hoping that in answering Jesus would show neglect of other laws so that they would have justification to arrest Him. They were also trying to undermine, embarrass and humiliate Him.

However, Jesus perfectly understood the essence of the law and neatly side-stepped the trap set for Him. Instead of quoting one specific law, Jesus took the core principles that define all the laws.

Love the Lord with everything you are and love your neighbour as yourself.

We are to love the Lord our God with our whole selves and, in the same way we take care of ourselves and are concerned about our own interests, we should take care of and have concerns for the interests of others.

If the life of God is real in our lives, it will show by the presence of this love for God and for others.

Whilst the Pharisees were contemplating Jesus’s answer and before they could ask Him another question, Jesus asked them one.

He asked them what they think about the Messiah and whose son He is (similar to when He asked His disciples “Who do you think I am?”)

They answered ‘the son of David’. The Scriptures clearly identified that the Messiah would be a descendant of King David’s and, as we know, the Pharisees knew what the Scriptures said.

Jesus was indeed a descendant of David through Mary, His mother. His step-father Joseph was also a descendant of David. It is unclear whether the Pharisees were aware of or remembered this.

However, Jesus’s response was: “How then does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord’?”

The Pharisees were partially right in saying the Messiah was the son of David in that He was descended from David’s line, but, they forgot or didn’t comprehend that the Messiah – Jesus – is also the Son of God.

God Incarnate

Emmanuel

We must not neglect either facet of Jesus. He is truly man and truly God. It is by being both that He could truly be our Saviour. As the Son of God, Jesus was also David’s Lord.

Jesus’s questions and His explanations of the Scriptures made the Pharisees defensive because, despite Jesus showing them the truth from the Scriptures, they did not want to admit that the Messiah was the Son of God.

The Pharisees had hoped to trap Jesus and embarrass Him in front of the crowds and Passover pilgrims. But Jesus turned it all around and the Pharisees had to retreat with the proverbial egg on their faces.

Jesus’s enemies were unable to succeed in trapping Jesus in this way resulting in them changing their tack to use treachery and violence instead.

Jesus would no longer debate with these authority groups, He concentrated on teaching the crowds and continuing to prepare His disciples

We call it a new commandment given by Jesus, but actually it is the oldest and the very foundational essence of all the laws and commandments.

So, Love God with everything, with your whole being and love your neighbour as yourself!