high priest

Job Satisfaction

Posted on by Betsy

I truly dislike doing the laundry. I am that person who waits until the hamper is full, and then I finally and begrudgingly haul it down two flights of stairs to process it through the washer and dryer. Too often it ends up in the dryer for a day, requiring it to have to be fluffed again to de-wrinkle the load. Then I fold it all and haul it back upstairs, where it sits neatly folded in the laundry basket for several more days. When I need the laundry basket again, I finally put the last of the clean clothes away and start the process all over again. Like I said, I dislike doing the laundry! Why? BECAUSE IT IS NEVER REALLY FINISHED. It just goes on, and on, and on … wash, rinse, repeat. The same goes for housework, grocery shopping, cooking … there is no such thing as job satisfaction with any of that nonsense!

Before Jesus came, the people of Israel had the same problem with all of their ritual sacrifices and offerings. Just as they would complete one, it needed to be repeated. Remember the time when Jesus turned over the money lenders’ tables at the Temple in Jerusalem? They had set up shop to provide animals for the yearly altar sacrifices that were part of the annual pilgrimage to the Temple. Making these offerings was something that was never really finished … wash, rinse, repeat every year.

Jesus did more than turn over the tables … he turned over the world. He replaced the priests and their offering systems. He replaced the offering. He became the once and for all sacrifice that never needs repeating, because he is the holy, incorrupt, innocent, and ultimate sacrifice for our sins:

Hebrews 7 (Common English Bible)

23 The others who became priests are numerous because death prevented them from continuing to serve. 24 In contrast, he holds the office of priest permanently because he continues to serve forever. 25 This is why he can completely save those who are approaching God through him, because he always lives to speak with God for them.

The supremacy of Christ as the mediator for our sins is cleanly laid out in this chapter. What a marvelous gift! He is the only one who can save us, and he lives to speak with God for us. What do you wish he would say about you right now? What intercession do you need Jesus to make on your behalf as he and his father are chatting today?

26 It’s appropriate for us to have this kind of high priest: holy, innocent, incorrupt, separate from sinners, and raised high above the heavens. 27 He doesn’t need to offer sacrifices every day like the other high priests, first for their own sins and then for the sins of the people. He did this once for all when he offered himself. 28 The Law appoints people who are prone to weakness as high priests, but the content of the solemn pledge, which came after the Law, appointed a Son who has been made perfect forever.

Jesus is the one and done, the end all, the be all, and the real deal. When he sacrificed himself for the sins of the world, the need for us to keep repeating the same useless burnt offerings to cleanse our sins ended forever. The only offering we need to make now is our repentance.

Need to get something off your chest today? Go to Jesus. He and his father are listening.

Burnt Offering by Michelle Robertson

The Last Word

Posted on by Betsy

Have you ever known someone who just had to get the last word in every argument? Infuriating, isn’t it?? You know that they aren’t doing it because they necessarily think they are right all the time … no indeed, they do it out of a stubbornness to simply be the final and unimpeachable word on a subject.

But not all last words are annoying. Some last words are life-giving. Take, for example, God’s last word to humanity: Jesus. Yes, Jesus is the final Word from God about how humanity will be saved. This Word is life-giving and unimpeachable, and fulfills all the words that came before him:

Hebrews 2 (Common English Bible)

1 In the past, God spoke through the prophets to our ancestors in many times and many ways. 2 In these final days, though, he spoke to us through a Son. God made his Son the heir of everything and created the world through him. 3 The Son is the light of God’s glory and the imprint of God’s being. He maintains everything with his powerful message. After he carried out the cleansing of people from their sins, he sat down at the right side of the highest majesty. 4 And the Son became so much greater than the other messengers, such as angels, that he received a more important title than theirs.

I always chuckle when I read this passage from Hebrews. It takes me back to a class I took in seminary called ”Survey of the Bible.” It was a Bible introduction class, and the curriculum was focused on getting us to learn the entire scope of the scriptures. We were tested on the meaning, theme, content, and writers of all 66 books. I was glad for the years I had spent in Disciple Bible Study, which did the same thing at a much slower pace. One of my memory tricks for remembering the theme of Hebrews was ”HE is Better than the REst, Without Substitute.” That helped me put Hebrews into context with the other New Testament writings, and it really does explain the writer’s perspective:

5 God didn’t put the world that is coming (the world we are talking about) under the angels’ control. 6 Instead, someone declared somewhere,

What is humanity that you think about them?
        Or what are the human beings that you care about them?
7 For a while you made them lower than angels.
        You crowned the human beings with glory and honor.
8         You put everything under their control.

When he puts everything under their control, he doesn’t leave anything out of control. But right now, we don’t see everything under their control yet. 9 However, we do see the one who was made lower in order than the angels for a little while—it’s Jesus! He’s the one who is now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of his death. He suffered death so that he could taste death for everyone through God’s grace.

The good news for Christ followers in this passage is that we worship the One who is able to make us holy and redeemed. Burnt offerings, sacrifices made at the altar, ”The Universe” … nothing else can accomplish what Jesus did when he died and rose again. He is the power of salvation, delivered as the final Word of God.

Qualified to be a high priest

10 It was appropriate for God, for whom and through whom everything exists, to use experiences of suffering to make perfect the pioneer of salvation. This salvation belongs to many sons and daughters whom he’s leading to glory. 11 This is because the one who makes people holy and the people who are being made holy all come from one source. That is why Jesus isn’t ashamed to call them brothers and sisters when he says,

12 I will publicly announce your name to my brothers and sisters.
        I will praise you in the middle of the assembly.

Jesus invites us to become part of his kingdom and follow him. We are heirs of God and brothers and sisters of the last Word. Will you listen?

He really is better than the rest, without substitute.

No Substitute by Michelle Robertson