Jesus is our Prophet, Priest, and King

 

Series: Growing Together in God's Grace

First Sunday in Lent February 17, 2013

Dear friends in Christ.

When I was a kid, one of my favorite things about Saturday morning cartoons was School House Rock. If you are not familiar with it or simply don’t remember it, School House Rock, was a series of animated musical and educational short films that aired from 1973-1979, airing on ABC during Saturday morning cartoons.  Each video was roughly 3 minutes long and they were designed to teach children on a number of different subjects.  There were videos that dealt with math, grammar, science, and even our Government.  From the familiar Conjunction Junction, What’s Your Function? to I’m Just a Bill, these videos inspired many of the children of my generation and even instilled some of these concepts that would later be expanded teachers in our Schools.  Case in point, one of these vides from this series was designed to teach children about the three offices or branches of our federal government.  Using the concept of a three ring circus they showed that in the same way that a single circus can have three different rings so also our government has three branches.  Each of those branches has a specific purpose and each branch was designed to be a check and a balance for the other branches so that our government would run smoothly and be a benefit to our nation.

Well, just as our government has three branches to it, our Savior also holds three different offices, or jobs, you could say.  As we know from our days in Sunday school and Confirmation class, we know that the three offices our Savior holds are, Prophet, Priest, and King.  We know that these offices were given to him by his heavenly Father so that he might be a benefit and a blessing to us, making us his own through his life, his death, and his resurrection.  This is what Jesus did for us while on earth serving as our Prophet, our Priest, and our King. 

“But why,” you might be asking, “why did Jesus serve in these three offices?”  What was the point of them?  What was the point of him serving as our Prophet, our Priest, and our King?  Well, as we know, everything that was written about the coming Savior was written to teach us and instruct us, and just about everything in the Old Testament was designed to foreshadow what the Savior would do when he came.  Take for example the office of prophet.  We know from the Old Testament Scriptures that the job of the prophet was to go and tell people the word of God.  All you have to do is page through the Old Testament and you see example after example of prophets proclaiming to the people all the things that the Lord wanted them to say.  This is exactly what prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah did.  This is exactly what Elijah and Elisha did.  This is exactly what Nathan did when he came to King David, and this is what Moses did as he led the people of Israel from Egypt to the Promised Land.  In fact, it was Moses who prophesied that Jesus would serve as a Prophet of the Lord, when Moses proclaimed, “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.” (Deuteronomy 18:15, NIV84)

Isn’t this exactly what Jesus did when he was here on the earth?  All we have to do is read the gospels and we learn that in the short three years of his earthly ministry Jesus was constantly traveling.  He was moving from place to place so that he might continually proclaim to all the Israelites the message of the Lord’s salvation through faith in him.  For in the same way that the Old Testament Prophets proclaimed the Word of God and pointed people toward the coming Savior, Jesus continually proclaimed the Word of God and pointed people to himself, the Savior of the World.  In fact, if you ever have the opportunity to see a map of all the places that Jesus traveled, you will quickly realize that he traveled throughout all of the territory that had once been held by the twelve tribe of Israel.  He preached God’s Law, convicting the people of their sins, and he preached the gospel message of God’s forgiveness—forgiveness that would be completely and fully won for us when he sacrificed himself on the cross for our sins. 

In this way the Lord Jesus served as our prophet while he lived here on earth, yet, this is an office that our Savior still holds today.  For after he rose from the dead and returned to his Father in heaven, he sent his apostles out to proclaim the message of salvation.  They went out and proclaimed all that Jesus said and did and the message of salvation continued to spread from generation to generation.  Even today as the Lord sends us out to proclaim the message of salvation, we proclaim the very words that he spoke while he was here on earth.  We read and study the very message of salvation that he proclaimed, and through his word he continues to proclaim to us the message that he once proclaimed to his people.  But the office of prophet is not the only office Jesus held, for in the same way that our government is more than just the office of the President, not only did our Savior hold the office of Prophet, he also held the office of Priest. 

Now, when the Lord established the Tabernacle in the wilderness, and later the Temple in Jerusalem, the whole system of worship was designed to show how they had been separated from their God by sin, and that they needed someone to intercede on their behalf.  This was another Old Testament picture of what the coming Savior would do for them, and this picture was vividly revealed in the office of the Priests.  You see, in Moses day, and until the need for the daily sacrifice was done away with by Jesus’ death and resurrection, the priests served as the intermediaries between God and the People.  So, if you had been living in those days and you became so angry with a person that you initiated a fist fight with him, the Law of Moses said that you had to make a very specific sacrifice to receive forgiveness for that sin.  But the thing was, you couldn’t do it yourself.  You would have to go to the priest at the Tabernacle or at the Temple with your offering.  The priest would make the sacrifice on your behalf and then tell you that your sin had been forgiven because the sacrifice to God had been made on your behalf.

As our High Priest, Jesus represented us before the Lord when he, as our Priest, sacrificed himself as the offering of atonement to pay for our sins.  In fact, the writer to the Hebrews tells us, “For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. 25 Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. 26 Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him." (Hebrews 9:24–28, NIV84)  And as John tells us, “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world." (1 John 2:1–2, NIV84)

Though countless animals were offered day after day at the Temple in the Old Testament times, not one of those was able to completely take away sins, because each one of those sacrifices was a picture of the complete atonement that Jesus would make as our High Priest.  When people brought sheep and watched the priest burn their offerings on the altar for their sins, they were viewing a vivid picture of how the coming Savior was pay for all their sins.  All sins would be put on him and he, rather than they, or rather than we, would be put to death for that sin.  That is the amazing thing!  Jesus was not only the priest who offered the sacrifice on behalf of sins of the world, he was also the sacrifice that paid the price our sins deserved. 

Yet, this was not the end of Jesus’ roll as our priest, for still today he serves as our intercessor in heaven.  As we heard from John only a moment ago, “we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.” (1 John 2:1, NIV 84)  Or as Paul tells us, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time." (1 Timothy 2:5–6, NIV84)  As our Priest it is Jesus who continually intercedes for us before his Father’s throne in heaven.  He is the one who speaks to the Father in our defense, who reminds our Father that we are now innocent because he has washed us clean of every spot and stain of sin, and he is the one who carries our prayers to our Father’s throne as well.  No longer do we need a human priest to intercede for us before our God, because we can approach our God with full confidence, through Jesus who is our High Priest in heaven.

Yet, there is one final office of our Savior at which we want to look today, and that is the office of King.  We know that Jesus is our King because he himself declared it to be so, when Pilate asked him if he was a king.  Now, in the days of the Old Testament, the king was kind of like the president of the country.  He wasn’t elected by the people rather he was elected, or chosen by God.  As the king, two of his main duties were to make decisions that were beneficial to the welfare of the people, as well as to take the lead in defending the nation when an enemy attacks.  This is exactly what Jesus did as our King while he was here on earth, he fought the battle against sin and death and won the victory for us, as the writer to the Hebrews tells us, “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—" (Hebrews 2:14, NIV84)  and as Paul tells us, “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Corinthians 15:56–57, NIV84)

Before the Super Bowl was played this year, both teams received all sorts of press and praise in the news papers.  But since the Ravens were victorious, they are the ones who are receiving all the praise and accolades of victory.  Both teams worked hard throughout the season.  They battled ferociously on the field in the final game, and when it was all said and done it was the Ravens who had won it for themselves and for their fans.  As our King Jesus deserves all our praise because he is the one who fought the battle against sin and satan and won the victory over death for each and every one of us.  Now, because of his victory, we know that he lives and reigns in our hearts.  He still fights for us and cares for us our King who is still leading us through this life on our way to the life that is to come, where we will live by his side, forever, in his heavenly kingdom.

How amazing it is that Jesus, our redeemer, served these three offices while he was here on earth and still continues to serve them from heaven.  What a blessing that we are blessed so completely by his willing obedience.  As our Prophet, Priest, and King, Jesus has freed us from our sins, made us his own by faith, and continues to lead us on the path to heaven.  May we always live as his children, praising him that we are his own, that he has forgiven us, and that we will one day live with him forever. 

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

GraceEvangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

Jesus is our High Priest (Hebrews 9:24-28)

November 6, 2011 

 

Dear friends in Christ.

Believe it or not, the Letter to the Hebrews is one of the few books of the Bible to which we do not know the author.  Though there are many people who believe that it must have been the Apostle Paul who wrote it, there is more than enough evidence to support the idea that it was written by Apollos or even Barnabus.  But whoever wrote this letter was one who had both the solid conviction of salvation through Jesus Christ alone, and knowledge of how Jesus completely fulfilled all foreshadowing of the Jewish religion.  In fact, as the author writes in our lesson this morning, he shows us in no uncertain terms how Jesus is, in fact, our High Priest. 

Now, in order to understand just how Jesus is our High Priest, we have to look back into the Old Testament so that we might see what the duties of the High Priest were.  In those days the High Priest was the one who acted as a representative between the people of Israel and the Lord God, as he was the one who presided over the worship lives of the people.  Though there were quite a number of priests who took care of the temple courts and offered the daily sacrifices, it was the High Priest who took care of the inner sanctuary and offered the sacrifices required for the great Day of Atonement.  On that special day, the High Priest made atonement for the sins of the people as he carried the blood of the sacrifice into the most holy place and sprinkled it on the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant.  On that special day, all sins from the previous year were purged away by an offering that foreshadowed the sacrifice that would be made by our Savior.  For on that day the High Priest was to take a bull and two goats for the sin offering.  He would take the bull, sacrifice it on the altar for his own sins.  Then he would cast lots for the goats, and sacrifice the one that had been chosen by lot.  He would then take the blood of the sacrifice and carry it into the most holy place where he would sprinkle it on he Ark to atone for the sins of the Israelites.  After this had been done, he would come back out, place his hands on the remaining goat, confess all the sins of the people over the goat, and when this was completed, someone would lead that goat out into the wilderness where it would be left to die, symbolizing the departure of Israel's sin and their right relationship with the Lord.

In such a vivid way the Lord foreshadowed exactly what Jesus would do for his people as our High Priest.  For the writer to the Hebrews tells us: "For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence. Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people;" (Hebrews 9:24-28)

In the same way that the High Priest sacrificed the Sin offering for the sins of the people, so also Jesus, our High Priest, sacrificed himself for our sins. In the same way that the High Priest would offer the blood of animals sacrificed on the altar for the sins of the Israelites, Jesus, our High Priest offered his blood which he poured out for us on the altar of the cross.  And, as we discovered in Bible Class this past Wednesday, it is very possible that in the same way that the High Priest sprinkled the blood of the sacrifice on the Ark of the Covenant, so also Jesus sprinkled his own blood on the Ark of the Covenant in payment of our sins.  Though I cannot prove what I just said, as we learned in Bible Study on Wednesday, it is possible that the Ark of the Covenant was hidden in a cave that was directly under where Jesus was crucified.  It is possible that the blood that Jesus shed and that poured out from him when the soldiers pierced his side flowed down through the crack that opened when the earth quaked at Jesus’ death and dripped down on to the ark below.  Though I cannot prove that things happened this way other than to the testimony of a man named Ron Wyatt, whose discoveries we looked at in Bible Study, considering how God the Father orchestrated the perfect time in history for his Son to be born, die and rise again so that Jesus could completely fulfilled all of God’s law, it becomes completely plausible that the Lord could have made certain that our High Priest’s blood fell on the Mercy Seat of the Ark for our atonement.

Though I realize that this is conjecture and there is nothing in Scripture that clearly says this is the way it happened, we can take comfort in the fact that Scripture does tell us that through his offering, Jesus, our High Priest, made us perfect in the eyes of the Lord our God. Through his atonement, Jesus, our High Priest brought to an end the daily sacrifice.  For even though the Lord had commanded the slaughter of animals for the forgiveness of sins, by the simple fact that those offerings had to be repeated show us that the blood of animals could never take away sins once and for all.  But when Jesus, our High Priest appeared, he sacrificed himself once for all!  When Jesus cried out, "It is finished!" we knew that our salvation was complete!  We knew then that through Jesus' sacrifice our sins have been forgiven and our guilt has been washed away! 

This is the beautiful truth that the writer to the Hebrews is proclaiming in our text today.  For when he wrote these words the Christian Church was feeling the pressure of persecution and the hardships of suffering for the name of Jesus.  Because of this, there were many Jewish Christians who were simply lapsing back into Judaism rather than remaining true to the Christian faith.  Though there was undoubtedly some comfort and assurance that the Jews found in all the rituals and sacrifices that they had grown up with, those who lapsed back into Judaism were giving up so much more than they ever realized.  For those Christians who gave up Christianity for the safety of Judaism were actually giving up and letting go of their eternal Salvation.  This, in fact is what the writer to the Hebrews tells them as he writes: "For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence. Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself."  (Hebrews 9:24-27).

You see, it was with these words that the writer was telling the people that Jesus was their High Priest who had not only sacrificed himself for their sins, but that he was now sitting at the right hand of God interceding on their behalf.  As we know, after Jesus rose from the dead, he stayed around on the earth appearing to his disciples and many of the faithful believers during a period of forty days.  But after that time, Jesus returned to his Fathers throne in heaven where he now sits at the Father's right hand interceding for us.  But he does not do it as the High Priests of the Old Testament did.  For when they interceded for the people, they came before the throne of God only one time each year and then only with the blood of the sacrifice.  When they did so, they sprinkled that blood on the cover of the Ark of the Covenant where the two cherubim stood.  It was there, at the mercy seat of God, that the priest who carried the sins of the Israelites before the Lord interceded for the people with the blood of the sacrifice.  But, because that blood could not do away with sin once for all, the High Priest had to offer that same sacrifice annually and approach the throne of God to make intercession for the people of Israel.

Jesus, however, did not need to do this.  For when he had sacrificed himself, once for all, Jesus entered heaven once for all so that he might sit at the Father's right hand and make intercession for us.  Now, whenever God the Father looks down on the earth and sees our sins, Jesus does not need to offer his blood again and again to intercede for us.  He does not need to sacrifice himself again and again, as some churches believe, to cover our iniquity.  Rather, Jesus simply points to that single moment in time.  He turns to God our Father and says, "Yes, they are sinners.  They do deserve your wrath and punishment.  But remember the sacrifice you sent me to make.  Remember how I willingly gave my live and shed my blood for their sins.  Remember how I earned the forgiveness that they could not, and made them right in your sight."  It is then, that through Jesus intercession on our behalf, that God the Father turns away from his anger and sees our sins no more.  For through the intercession of Jesus, our High Priest, our God is continually reminded of Jesus' sacrifice made one time for all people, and we are credited with his righteousness and look forward to life forever with him in heaven.

Yes, this is what we as Christians are looking forward to even today.  Though there are times that our sinful natures get the better of us and make us fearful of death, death is something we never need to fear!  We never need to fear it because we have been made right through faith in Jesus Christ our High Priest.  He is the one who sacrificed himself on the cross in order to save us from our sins.  He is the one who sits at the Father's right hand and intercedes on our behalf, and he is the one for whom we are waiting.  For one day, not long from now, Jesus our High Priest will return proclaiming our salvation.  This, in fact, is what the writer to the Hebrews assures us of when he writes: "Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him." (Hebrews 9:27-28).

This is the day that we are waiting for!  For on that day when the last trumpet sounds, if we are still living on the earth, we will look up to heaven and see our Savior and High Priest returning in the clouds.  We will watch as the bodies of all who died before us are raised from the earth, their souls are reunited with their bodies, and all are gathered before Jesus Christ for Judgment.  For in the same way that the Old Testament High Priest was often called on to decide guilt or innocence in criminal trials, Jesus will decide the guilt or innocence of all who have ever lived on the earth.  For on that day, Jesus will separate the believers from the unbelievers as easily as a shepherd divides the sheep from the goats.  Those who did not believe in Jesus will be sent away to eternal punishment, but he will gather those who believed in him to himself and take them to his heavenly kingdom where we will live with him forever.

But even if we don't live to see that day from the earth, we do not need to worry.  For when we finally do close our eyes in death, Jesus will send his angels to carry our souls to his side in his heavenly kingdom.  There will live with the Lord forever, returning to the earth only briefly on the Last Day to collect our bodies from the earth.  For on that day when they are raised from the ground Christ will transform them into the glories bodies that we will have in heaven from that time on and forever.  Though on that day we will be gathered before the Lord with all people we will have nothing to fear, because we will be among the believers on his right hand to whom our High Priest will say, "Come, you who are blessed by my Father, take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the beginning of the world."

This is the super sufficiency of Jesus Christ our High Priest.  Though all who served as High Priest in the Old Testament fulfilled the roles the Lord would have them play, they were only shadows of what was to come in Jesus Christ our Lord.  For Jesus is our High Priest.  He is the one who sacrificed himself for our sins.  He is the one who entered heaven as our intercessor, and he is the one who will return to give salvation to all who are waiting for him.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN