“Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, transitory though it was, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. And if what was transitory came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!” (2 Corinthians 3:7-11)

For a moment, let’s think about a journalist doing their job in the late 1700’s. In that time, newspapers would have been in print for a few decades and would have represented the best that technology had to offer. Now take that same journalist from around 1780 and transport him to our present time in 2024. Imagine the look of amazement as you describe things like computers, cell phones, and the internet. The impressive accomplishments of the printing press would seem inconsequential to the “wonders” invented in our time. Likewise, in today’s scripture, Paul emphasizes the glory of God in heaven giving His people the commandments (The Law). He focuses on the glory seen on Moses after coming in contact with the creator of the universe. But then Paul fast forwards to the time of Christ Jesus and gets his readers to see the power of life eternally through His death and His conquering of death. For all the glory assigned to the law, which pointed out sin, how much more glory is given to Christ who gives life.

This is the main argument of these verses. Paul states that for centuries, God’s Law was cherished by the Jews. Seeing that the law couldn’t do anything more than point out right from wrong, shouldn’t Jesus – who saves us from sin – be cherished all the more. And “how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!”