Commentary by M.L. Wilson

A Biblical Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew 27:46

By M. L. Wilson

Continued from Page 3.

There is little doubt that the Ten Commandments are good for all concerned. Most people are at least familiar with some of the Ten Commandments. Yet the Ten Commandments are only a small part of the whole Law. There are six hundred and thirteen Levitical Laws on top of the Ten Commandments. Few outside of the Jewish Rabbinical line know what these laws encompass, yet this is what is referred to when talking about the Law. These six hundred, twenty three total laws and commands paint a very severe picture of a god that is not easy to satisfy or to please. It is these Laws which Christ countermanded in His Sermon on the Mount. The full implication of the Law and its effect upon man is illustrated by Paul in Ephesians:

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
- Ephesians 6:12

Why is it that Paul is so insistent that we need to use Christ to protect ourselves from these angels. Why do we need protection from angels if they are messengers of God’s? That doesn’t seem to make much sense. One might presume that these are the fallen angels who are talked about, but fallen angels would hardly be placed in positions as Rulers and Authorities. Certainly such a fallen angel could not rightfully give all of the kingdoms of the earth to Christ. Further it would have been folly for them to attempt to lie about their rights to Christ. These Rulers and Authorities knew quite well who Christ was as He wandered in the desert. Lying to God Most High about ownership is ridiculous. Christ was tempted by that which could have been legally given to Him by these Rulers and Authorities. So if these angels do not fall into the traditional mold that has been created for them, then just exactly what are they?

In the 2nd century AD, around the year140, a man named Marcion of Sinope (modern-day Turkey) arrived in Rome. He met with and became a student of a Gnostic leader named Cerdo. Cerdo had arrived at a rather unorthodox conclusion with respect to the identity of God and Jesus Christ which Marcion found fascinating. Cerdo taught that the God of the Old Testament was a different God than the one manifest in the New Testament through Christ. In his argument, he raised some interesting points:

1. The god of the Old Testament was unknowable. With the exception of just a handful of people throughout history, this god really had no direct relationship with his creation, leaving them to their own devices.

2. Christ, by contrast, was approachable to all within proximity and had been very well known by all around him. Further His Spirit continued with His people after His death and resurrection.

3. The Old Testament God was sheer justice. He was replete with laws and edicts that were very strict. To violate some of these laws meant death.

4. Christ took some of these very laws and turned them on their head, in one case dismissing an Old Testament violation punishable by death via stoning with a simple admonition to, “...Go and sin no more.” In fact, in teaching basic principles, Jesus seemed to contradict aspects of Levitical law.“An eye for an eye” became “Turn the other cheek.”

5. He exemplified an intimate relationship with his creation through his love and graciousness whereas the Old Testament God was more imperious and demanding.

Within the last century and a half, a theology called “Dispensationalism” has been created which partly answers the stark contrast respecting the two different aspects of God’s character. The reason he was such a distant, remote, stern disciplinarian in the Old Testament times was because that was what he was supposed to be for that period of time. The Dispensation of the Law more or less guided God’s behavior just as the Dispensation of Grace guides Jesus’. There were four dispensations before the Law dispensation stretching back to Adam and Eve, but god essentially acted the same way towards man throughout all of them.

Marcion and Cerdo didn’t have to wade through any of that convoluted thinking as it hadn’t been conceived during their lifetimes. No, much of the prevailing Dispensationalistic theology promulgated in the church today came out of the teachings of French theologian and Pastor, John Calvin (1509 – 1564) and then was modified by the inventive mind of John Nelson Darby (1800 – 1882), who regarded Dispensationalism as the answer to the question of why God and Christ do not act alike.

The salient point in all of this is that all of these people: Marcion, Cerdo, Calvin, Darby, et al, stretching out over a period of almost two thousand years, came to recognize that the god of the Old Testament and Jesus didn’t seem to act the same. When Christ says, “If you have seen me, you have seen the father,” and “I and the Father are One.” It is a clear indicator that both incarnations should act pretty much in one accord. Yet is it clear that even with a cursory read of the Old Testament, one will leave with the impression of an angry, aloof God that doesn’t suffer fools gladly—or at all; not exactly the image of Christ which is described so eloquently by Paul in 1st Corinthians 13.

So then, what is the truth? Well Marcion took what Cerdo had taught him and expounded upon it. His thought was that there were actually two Gods at work. The Old Testament God was called Yahweh. This god was basically vengeful and the author of all evil. This god was concerned only for his people—the Jewish people—and he’d happily kill any and all of the others that got in his way. By contrast, the New Testament God was full of grace and love for all mankind, being a respecter of no one people in particular, and promising life to all. This God disclosed himself in the personage of Jesus Christ.

Marcion’s views could be seen as convoluted and errant as those of John Nelson Darby’s, but unlike today where dispensationalism is still eagerly taught as absolute truth in seminaries and in church pulpits, Marcion’s supposed errors were quickly brought to light and stamped out—primarily through an early church father named Augustine. The reason I say “supposed” is that there are no writings of Marcion which remain. All we do know of him and his teachings are through the jaundiced eyes of Augustine who made something of a career out of pointing out Marcion’s errors. In the end, most people decided that Marcion was too controversial and with the Orthodox Church having branded him a heretic, Marcionism soon died out.

What is of note, however, is that the disparity of God’s behavior as seen between the Old and New Testaments never went away. Here is an example of two different people separated by about sixteen hundred years—Marcion and Darby, confronting the same problem and arriving at two conclusions which wound up having the effect of rewriting who God really is and thus our understanding of Him.

Marcion was partly correct in his conclusions as was John Nelson Darby. You need to understand this in order to understand what Christ said as he hung on the cross in the ninth hour. Here we enter a concept that can be somewhat provocative, but it needs to be researched and understood before it is dismissed. There is and has only ever been one God. No one knows his name as God is simply a title. Therefore Marcion was correct in that there are two different gods at work here: The god that he referred to as Yahweh is in all probability, one of several mighty angels—one of these Rulers and Authorities which were cited in various scripture verses earlier.

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