Sunday, April 11, 2010

The temple of his body.

Leviticus 9:1 says that the Mishkan (tabernacle) was established on the eighth day. The Rabbi's ask why the "eighth" day. BaMidbar Rabba Chapter 13, reads:

"Rabbi Yossi used to say, 'When did the Inauguration of the Mishkan(Tabernacle) occur? It began on the twenty third of Adar, and concluded on the first of Nisan. And on all of the first seven days, Moshe used to set up the Mishkan and take it apart at the end of the day. On the eighth day, he set it up, and did not take it apart... On that day, Aharon and his sons arose and washed their hands and feet from the sacred fountain, they worshipped the Divine Service in proper order..."

The established order of time is a seven day (or year in the case of the shmitah cycle) cycle. Kli Yakar explains that “the number seven is always mundane, while the number eight is holy.” The early Rabbis understood the dedication of the tabernacle/temple as something outside the the ordered nature.
Christ, after cleansing the Temple tells those who were selling sacrifices that

"18So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” 19Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 22When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week and in the context of a weekly cycle he rose on the eighth day establishing the Temple of his body.