Hebrews is a New Testament book that God has given us. In Hebrews, the Holy Spirit

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1 1 Hebrews is a New Testament book that God has given us. In Hebrews, the Holy Spirit teaches us how the Old Testament animal sacrifices relate to Jesus Christ. The LORD established the position of high priest in the Old Testament. His main work was to offer animal sacrifices at the temple. Our Good Friday text from Hebrews calls Jesus the Great High Priest. To understand this name of our Lord, let s look at the Old Testament book of Leviticus where the LORD established the position of high priest on behalf of the Israelites. The first high priest was Aaron, the brother of Moses. The position of high priest would always come from the family of Aaron. He would always be a son of Aaron, until we get to the great high priest. He has a unique lineage, an ancestry all his own, but we ll get to that later. For now, let s look at the deeply important work that God had the Old Testament high priest do. The LORD said to Moses: Tell your brother Aaron not to come whenever he chooses into the Most Holy Place behind the curtain in front of the atonement cover on the ark, or else he will die, because I appear in the cloud over the atonement cover.... Aaron shall bring the bull for his own sin offering to make atonement for himself and his household, and he is to slaughter the bull for his own sin offering. He is to take some of the bull s blood and with his finger sprinkle it on the front of the atonement cover; then he shall sprinkle some of it with his finger seven times before the atonement cover.... He shall then slaughter the goat for the sin offering for the people and take its blood behind the curtain and do with it as he did with the bull s blood: He shall sprinkle it on the atonement cover and in front of it. In this way he will make atonement for the Most Holy Place because of the uncleanness and rebellion of the Israelites, whatever their sins have been. This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: Atonement is to be made once a year for all the sins of the Israelites. And it was done, as the LORD commanded Moses. The most holy place was the section of the tabernacle, and later the temple, that signified being in the presence of the LORD. The atonement cover represented the LORD himself. As you heard, the high priest of the Israelites could only enter the most holy place once a year. And he had enter bringing with him the blood of a bull that he had just killed, for his

2 2 own sins. Then he had to enter bringing the blood of a goat for the sins of the people. If he didn t enter the Most Holy Place with the blood of a bull and goat that he had freshly killed, Aaron would have been struck dead by God on the spot. That is how serious the LORD is about sin. He has no tolerance for sin. The blood of a lamb and goat that the high priest had to sprinkle on the atonement cover once a year showed the people, what Hebrews 9 declares. The law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. The LORD spared the Israelites even though as Hebrews 12 tells us, our God is a consuming fire. The living God is a consuming fire in that he is unfathomably terrifying in his hatred of sin. If we could fully fathom our sinfulness and God s wrath, we would be overwhelmed and terrified to the point of death. And it s not just the ugly moments of our past. Every second of our lives we are falling short of God s heavenly perfection. Today, we commemorate the true day of Atonement, when the Great High Priest entered the Most Holy Place and sprinkled his own blood on the altar of God s throne. Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. The blood of the Great High Priest has been shed, and now there is limitless forgiveness. Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. That is such a soaring and awe-inspiring picture. The Son of God has gone through the heavens. Greater than a space shuttle taking off, or an airplane having liftoff. This is our

3 3 Defender who has risen up from the world that he has redeemed, and he has gone through the heavens, which means our faith is on solid ground. We can hold firmly to his promises. We can pray to him in every need, and he will answer us and help us. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are yet was without sin. On our own we would be weaklings and losers. We would be pushovers and pathetic wimps, spiritually speaking. Too often, we have been pushovers. We have been pathetic punching bags for the devil, getting pummeled by his temptations, getting knocked down and stomped on as if there is no fight left in us. But there is fight still in us because our Great High Priest has knocked out the devil for us. He crushed the devil s head by enduring every temptation that we have endured. Every sin that you have committed, Jesus was tempted to commit. He knows how very difficult temptation can be but he did not give in. Ever. And where we stumbled, Jesus was pummeled. Where we sinned, Jesus bled. Where we disobeyed God, Jesus was abandoned by God. And by his wounds we are healed. The pure blood that pooled up on Calvary s dirt has washed away our every stain. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. That means we re not alone in our fight against sin. You know, as the devil s head is crushed and his days are numbered, that s he s going to be attacking us with ever greater desperation, but the Great High Priest is there to help us in our daily battle against temptation.

4 4 During the days of Jesus life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Consider again the Old Testament high priest. His offering of a sheep and a goat on the day of atonement was an intense experience. Having to slaughter an unblemished animal, feeling the warm blood of the animal on your hands. When the Great High Priest made his offering, he prayed with tears and loud cries. His own warm blood was about to flow. To erase our rebellion, he submitted to the one who could save him from death. You know his loud and reverent cry. Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him. I thought our Great High Priest was always perfect? That s true, as our text judge mentioned, he was tempted in every way just as we are, yet was without sin. But Jesus was made perfect, in the sense that he was made complete as our Savior. Before the cross he had never had to obey death, he had never before had to be crushed for human sin. But he completed his mission. He was obedient to the end. And so he is now our perfect source of salvation. Like a fresh spring, a living fountain, Jesus is our ever flowing source of eternal life. Hebrews says he is the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him. So how do we obey him? By faith. Hebrews 12 tells we ve been called to the obedience that comes from faith. Our faith is not something we must produce. It is a gift from God through the gospel. Just as God gave the Israelites the Old Testament High Priesthood, just as God gave us the Great High Priest who died for us and has gone through the heavens, God has also given us

5 5 repentance and faith. Praise God for the simple obedience he has worked in us, where we admit. Lord, I am a sinner. There s no denying it. Please have mercy on me. And we know that Jesus is our perfect Savior. By his blood we are no longer threatened by God s fierce wrath. Thanks to the Great High Priest and the unblemished sacrifice of himself, it is God s fierce love that cherishes us and protects us. He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek. We mentioned at the beginning of this sermon how the Old Testament high priest was always a son of Aaron. Well, Melchizedek was a priest of the LORD that Moses and the Israelites encountered before God had even established the high priesthood through Aaron. So Melichizedek was this mysterious priest who seemed to have no origins to his office. Jesus is from the line of Melchizedek. Even as he was born of the virgin Mary, still he has no origin, no beginning to his role as high priest, because he is from all eternity. He is the eternal Son of God. Behold, the Great High Priest. He separated us from our sins, when he was separated from the land of the living. Let s remember that dead sacrifice that was left on the tree, and that had to be taken down and buried. That wasn t a sheep. That wasn t a goat. That was our Savior. And as we ll mention on Sunday. He is risen. Amen. And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.