PLAYING "SPIRITUAL" INDIANA JONES
Action: Display of Picture of Indiana Jones in action
Yes, Indiana Jones stories are juicy and spicy, for they stoke the fires of inherent sense of discovery in all of us. Add to that breathtaking stunts and adventure, you have a heady mix guaranteed to give one some goose bumps. Trust that ace archeologist to always “dig up” some rare, priceless treasure outwitting and even outmuscling “formidable competition” in search of the same. Now what does this “super hero” usually aspire to lay his hands on, going the whole hog, so to speak? Nine times out of ten, it would be a Biblical treasure like the Ark of the Covenant or the Holy Grail. Stepping into the shoes of this great treasure hunter, what would ordinary folks not do to get close to these invaluable items of indescribable spiritual and historical import? However by strange contrast, while the Biblical Holy items seem to evoke unrivaled interest in the public sadly the Original Bible or the God of the Bible do not seem to be generating same kind of interest in the hearts and minds of the common folk?
Oh yes, coming back to the innate “sense of discovery” in all of us and the associated excitement which comes as an irresistible package deal on discovering “something rare”, can anybody forget the joyous exclamation “Eureka” and the related Archimedean story of that “Genius Dude” running out nude after an mental acquisition of a historical scientific truth in a bath tub! Trust me, the “same treasures” (read illuminative knowledge-the punch line of the story of Crystal skull!)) Indy sets out to discover are available in plenty in God’s Word which on discovery is bound to make us go gaga with Eurekas’…nay…Hallelujahs’!
Take the Scripture portion Zechariah 6:13 for instance which prophesies the Royal and Priestly ministry of the Messiah…Yes, he will build the Temple of the LORD. Then he will receive royal honor and will rule as king from his throne. He will also serve as priest from his throne, and there will be perfect harmony between his two roles.’
There is no dispute amongst Christians that Christ the Saviour is both their King and High Priest but what is discomfiting is lack of Scripture-based emphasis in the Pulpits on the Priestly work of Christ. For one thing if the Redeemer is also the High-Priest, then he has to have connection with the Priestly tribe of Levi. While the Melchizedek order (Heb 8:4) is for showing Christ is a Kingly Priest, where then is the Scripture portion which links Christ to the Priestly tribe of Levi?
In this Essay, I propose to weave around some important (sadly not stressed often in the Church pulpits) Scripture portions the truths about Christ’s priestly role, using three sub-headings…
1.ORIGINATION
As mentioned before in this message, if Christ is called our great High Priest, then firstly a clear Priesthood connection has to be established with the Priestly tribe of Levi, just as the roots of His Kinghood (in the manner of Melchizedek, who also ruled from Jerusalem like David-Genesis 14:18) is traced to King David through comprehensive genealogical accounts of Matthew’s (Matt 1:6-16) and the Luke’s Gospel (Luke 3:23-32), with the former enlisting the ancestry of Joseph (earthly guardian of Christ) and the latter enlisting that of Mary (double proof, if one was needed that Jesus was Royal descendant of the greatest King of Israel…David, both from the earthly father and the mother’s side).
So do these Gospels with the elaborate Davidic genealogies close all routes on mapping Jesus’ ancestry to the Levitical Tribe? NAY! Praise God for the good Doctor Jones…opps sorry… I mean Doctor Luke “who having carefully investigated everything from the beginning, decided to write a careful account of the Jesus story (Luke 1:3)… starting with some very important history…oh boy…oh boy…the account of the Priestly family of Zacharias and Elizabeth (a direct descendant of the Aaron). Now who was Elizabeth? OK, OK, mother of John the Baptist but is that all? As we “dig through the tunnels of Lukes Gospel”- oh boy..oh boy… we discover that she was A RELATIVE OF MARY (Luke 1:36)! You want “double witness” (another Scripture portion besides the AFORE-REFFERED ONE where Mary and Elizabeth are seen together) in line with the Scriptural instructions (John 8:17/Deu 19:15) that there have to be “two witnesses” to authenticate a fact? Then hurry with me –now Dr. Jones, doesn’t believe in waiting once he wears the hat of an explorer- to Luke 1:40-45 , which reads thus: A few days later Mary hurried to the hill country of Judea, to the town where Zechariah lived. She entered the house and greeted Elizabeth. At the sound of Mary’s greeting, Elizabeth’s child leaped within her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
Elizabeth gave a glad cry and exclaimed to Mary, “God has blessed you above all women, and your child is blessed. Why am I so honored, that the mother of my Lord should visit me? When I heard your greeting, the baby in my womb jumped for joy. You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said.”
Action: Display of the picture of Elizabeth and Mary greeting each other
From the visible blessed warmth in the interaction of these two blessed Biblical mothers, you get a picture of two strangers meeting or two close relatives greeting one another? The answer is obvious, isn’t not? While Mary’s father was a Judean, Mary’s mother could have been a Levite and a sister of Elizabeth. A precedent of Judeans and Levites intermarrying is very much there in the Scriptures (2 Chronicles 22:11)! While the Scripture involving Elizabeth and Mary is quite familiar, it is the ANGLE from which the Holy Spirit makes us perceive the well-known account that makes the whole story revelatory. Thank you, Holy Spirit, there is no teacher greater than you (John 14:26/1 John 2:27)!
2. FUNCTION
While men of the High Priestly clan of Kohath (second son of Levi-Genesis 46:11) had some functions to perform in the affairs of the Tabernacle, the indispensable one amongst them was that of carrying the Ark of the Covenant (Numbers 7:9). It needs to be noted here that while, objects of the Holy Tabernacle such as the Brazen altar, the Bronze laver could be transported by an oxcart, the Most Holy Ark of the Covenant (the title itself says it all) which symbolized the very covenant relationship between God and the chosen nation of Israel, had to be carried on the shoulders of those of the Priestly clan. MIND YOU, NOT ANY OTHER LEVITICAL CLAN LIKE GERSHONITES OR THE MERARITES BUT ONLY THE KOHATHITE CLAN TO WHICH BELONGED AARON, THE HIGH PRIEST. Any volition of this Law would entail severe punishment, as King David tragically would “discover” later (1 Chronicles 13/15:11-15)!!!
Action: Display of picture of the Kohathites carrying the Ark of the Covenant
In our prevalent dispensation of Grace, THE CROSS is the symbol of the covenant relationship between God and Christians. Period (Galatians 5:11/6:14). In this context, would not tears of gratitude flow copiously from our eyes, when we consider the fact that our unparalleled High Priest too carried the New Testament “Ark of the Covenant” i,e THE CROSS on His shoulders? The Almighty who can guide a King’s heart like a stream of water (Pro 21:1) had doubtless historically moved a Roman ruler’s heart too, to pass an edict on “the guilty” bearing their own cross, in order the situation described in the Scripture (John 19:17) comes to pass. OUR HIGH PRIEST HAD TO BEAR THE COVENANT SYMBOL OF THE GRACE DISPENSATION ON HIS SHOULDERS.
Action: Display of picture of our Lord and High Priest carrying the Cross to CALVARY
The genesis of many of the startling New Testament events can be traced to acts which symbolized them in the Old Testament. However to grasp the beautiful meaning behind those acts and connect them to New Testament epoch-making events we need to make the Psalmist’s prayer our own “Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law.” –Psalm 119:18
3. GLORIFICATION
Action: Display of a picture of Glorified Christ in Purple clothing appearing to John the Apostle in the island of Patmos
Now our Saviour is a Glorified High Priest that at His matchless Royal Name, every knee would bow and every tongue in the universe confess that He is the Lord (Philippians 2:10-11). No wonder, when He appeared in all His glory to His beloved disciple John in the Island of Patmos, that the latter simply couldn’t take it in and hence simply gave up the ghost (figuratively speaking that is- Rev 1:17).
Ever wondered why High Priests and Kings (they too were intercessors-David and Solomon prayed on behalf of the people- 2 Sam 24:17/25/I Kings 8:22/54) would wear predominantly PURPLE clothing (Exodus 39:29), doubtless the color of our Lord’s Divine attire too, during His glorious appearance to the exiled Apostle? Consider the following two Scripture portions and the answer would emerge…firstly Numbers 15:37-40
Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel: Tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a blue thread in the tassels of the corners. And you shall have the tassel, that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the LORD and do them, and that you may not follow the harlotry to which your own heart and your own eyes are inclined, and that you may remember and do all My commandments, and be holy for your God.”
The Blue hem in their attire would remind the Jews of the Almighty up and beyond the blue sky, as it were, whenever tempted to sin thus restraining them from lustful acts of flesh. So virtually blue symbolized the Divine presence. Now consider this Scripture-Isaiah 1:18- which reminds one of the color of man’s sins…
“Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the LORD, “ Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.”
Time to reflect on an ethereal scene…on one side is the Almighty symbolized by blue and on the other is a sinful man symbolized by red color with the High-Priest (who carries the best interest of both the parties in his heart) standing in the middle bringing about the reconciliation between the two. Literally the High-Priest is God’s representative before men and vice versa. You mix blue and red, and lo and behold, what do you get PURPLE-THE MIDDLE COLOR, so to speak! Eureka…no… Hallelujah!!!
Action: Display of picture of the mixture of red and blue colors "giving birth" to purple color
Dear Friends, what I shared with you taking a single, singular topic of Christ’s priesthood with a mind of an “explorer of God’s Word” (for the glory of God alone) is only a tip of an ice-berg, as it were. There are several priceless nuggets of truth, waiting to be explored in God’s Word. It would serve the Christian community well, if it shows some Indy-like resolve in discovering the “treasures in the Word”. Let Psalmist’s prayer be ours always (no harm reciting it wholeheartedly, every single time, you open the Bible with an air of expectancy)-
Open my eyes, that I may see, wondrous things from Your law.-Psalm 119:18 .
Now no prizes for guessing what would be the response (to a seeker’s prayer) from the ONE who satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things (Psalm 107:9). Hallelujah!
Suresh Manoharan
Ps...This sermon replete with pics is available on the following URL...
http://www.jandsmministries.com/message_sep1_11.asp
