Philip Yancey , in his book “The Jesus I Never Knew” (Zondervan, 2002, p. 25) told of a Jesuit missionary - Matteo Ricci who went to China in 16th century. The missionary took along samples of religious art to illustrate the Christian story for people who had never heard it. He was pleased that the Chinese audiences were intrigued by the portraits of Mary holding Jesus. But when he showed them paintings of the crucifixion, and tried to explain that the baby-Jesus grew up only to be executed, his audiences reacted with revulsion and horror. They much preferred the Virgin and they insisted on worshiping her rather than the crucified Christ.
It’s hard for some people to see beyond the manger and see what Jesus ultimately came to do. His birth is comforting, but His death on the cross can almost seem senseless… until you understand WHY He came to die.
Now the past 4 weeks we’ve focusing on Jesus having been born to be our Savior, our Sanctifier, our Mediator and our Redeemer. And all of those were tied into… Christ’s death on the cross. If Jesus hadn’t died on the cross, He couldn’t have been our Savior, Sanctifier, Mediator, or our Redeemer.
But this week’s text explains a little more about WHY Jesus died on the cross. This week, we’re going to focus on Jesus as our High Priest. Hebrews 2:17 says “(Jesus) had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful HIGH PRIEST in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
JESUS WAS BORN TO BE OUR HIGH PRIEST
In fact, this concept - of Jesus being our High Priest was so important that a HUGE part of Hebrews was dedicated to explaining why we should care whether Jesus came to be a High Priest or not. But before we get into that … let’s start with a couple basic truths.
1st – You and I were created in the image of God. In Genesis we’re told that God created Adam and Eve in His image and He gave them a beautiful place to live - the Garden of Eden. There are scholars who believe there were times when God would come down and walk in the garden with them.
You remember the hymn “In The Garden”? Sing it with me: “I come to the Garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses. And the voice I hear, falling on my ear the Son of God discloses. (Chorus) And He walks with me and He talks with me. And He tells me I am His own. And the joy we share as we tarry there none other has ever known.” (Merle Haggard)
The idea behind that song is that God wants to walk with us and talk with us.
But there was… a problem. And the problem was called sin - our sin! God is a holy and righteous, and (because of our sins) we’re not! And that created a problem. Psalm 5:4 tells us Our God “is not a God who delights in wickedness; EVIL MAY NOT DWELL WITH YOU.” Habakkuk 1:13 says of God “Your eyes are TOO PURE to look on evil.”
Our sins created a WALL that separated us from God. To burn that image into the minds of the Israelites (of a wall between man and God) God had them build a tabernacle that would always be in the middle of their tribes as they traveled thru Wilderness. (We showed a picture of the tabernacle in the wilderness setting in the middle of the Israelite camp).
This Tabernacle declared that god was in their midst. In Exodus 25:8 God declared: “Have the people of Israel build me a holy sanctuary so I can live among them.” The Tabernacle was a statement declaring that God wanted them to know that He wanted to be with them, and He desired to walk with them and talk with them.
But the TABERNACLE was also a declaration that there was A WALL between their sin and God’s righteousness (we showed a picture of the inside of tabernacle with an arrow pointing to the curtain). God was pictured as living inside the Holy of Holies where the Ark was. Now God actually wasn’t “living” there. You can’t put God in a box, and there’s no building on earth that could hold Him, but that was the image God wanted them see.
So God wanted them to visualize Him in the Holy of Holies and there was a curtain. And that curtain separated God from EVERYONE else. No one was allowed beyond that curtain; no one was allowed back where the ark was and where God was; NO ONE… (PAUSE) except the High Priest. And He was only allowed back there one day out of the year.
In order to enter into the Holy of Holies where God was, the High Priest had to offer a sacrifice for the people’s sins… and for HIS sins. And he would take the blood from those sacrifices he’d take back into the Holy of Holies. He’d place that blood from the sin sacrifice… on the Mercy Seat (we showed a picture of the Mercy Seat). The Mercy Seat on the top of the Ark.
If you’ll look real close at the Mercy Seat in this picture, you’ll notice that INSIDE the ark was the Law of God. The Law represented the holiness of God. This was God’ righteousness. His holiness. This was what our sins violated… this was the wall we faced. But, the blood (placed on the Mercy Seat) covered the sins of the people for the year, so that Israel could continue to be in God’s presence.
This is what Jesus did for us. His blood covered our sins so we could be in God’s presence. Except that He did FAR MORE than any MORTAL High Priest could have done. Even though the yearly sacrifices the High Priest would cover the sins of man, the Israelites still couldn’t get directly into God’s presence.
THE CURTAIN (separation/wall) WAS STILL THERE
But when Jesus died for our sins, that curtain was torn (we showed a picture that imagined what that must have looked like). Matthew 27:50-51 tells us that while He was on the cross “Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.”
The wall of our sins, that would have separated us from God was ripped apart - AND GOD DID IT!!!! He ripped it FROM THE TOP to the bottom. God tore the curtain so that it would no longer be a wall between us & Him.
Hebrews 10:19-23 says “Since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by THE NEW AND LIVING WAY THAT HE OPENED FOR US THROUGH THE CURTAIN, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.”
Charles Spurgeon made this observation about the torn curtain: “When Jesus died on the cross, the veil in the Temple was torn from top to bottom so that big sinners like me might fit through.”
And now, because of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, we have confidence to enter into the very presence of God. Our sins have not just been covered - they’ve been forgiven. His blood has cleansed our hearts and (in baptism) our bodies were washed pure. And now, when you and I pray to God we enter into God’s very throne room. And you are allowed to walk with God, and talk with God, just like Adam and Eve in the garden.
But wait … there’s more! Let’s go back to our original text for the sermon: “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, (Jesus) himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery… Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” Hebrews 2:14-17
So what is that passage telling us? It’s telling us that Jesus came as our High Priest to do two things
#1 = To make propitiation for the sins of the people. Now, folks don’t use words like propitiation much anymore. But the word here means that Jesus RECONCILED US to God. That’s the idea behind the tearing the curtain in two - Jesus ripped apart the wall between us and God. HE RECONCILED US TO GOD.
Secondly – Jesus became our High Priest to give us peace.
ILLUS: I read of a man who went to Jerusalem and took a taxi down to the old city. He said: “The cab driver was a young Jewish man by the name of Asi and I wanted to witness to him, and so I began to ask him questions about his faith. I asked him this question: ‘what do you believe about the messiah?’ He said: ‘I believe the most important thing that can ever happen to Israel is for messiah to come.’ I asked: ‘Why do you believe that?’ And he said: ‘because he will bring peace. We want peace in our homes, we want peace in our hearts.’” (James Merritt)
That’s the idea behind the message in Hebrews 2:14-15 – He came to give us peace. Jesus became like us, so “that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.”
ILLUS: On Wednesday nights I teach the kids in JAM (Jesus And Me). It was a class of 9 and 10 year olds and I was telling the story about Jairus asking Jesus to come to his home to heal his dying daughter. But as they’ve on they’re way, a servant comes and says to Jairus: “Don’t bother the teacher anymore… your little girl is dead.” You could hear the GASPS of the kids in the class. That wasn’t supposed to happen. Jesus WAS ON HIS WAY. That child shouldn’t have died… but she did. Now Jesus brought that girl back to life, but the death in the story shocked the kids in the class. So I asked them if they were afraid of death… and they all said they were. THEY WEREN’T AT PEACE… BECAUSE THEY FEARED DEATH.
But Jesus became our High Priest so He could destroy death. Jesus came so we wouldn’t have to be afraid of death anymore.
ILLUS: Remember that Jesus caused the curtain to be ripped apart? Max Lucado noted that when Jesus rose from the dead, he did more than that. He ripped the gates off the hinges of hell, and He yanked the fangs from Satan’s mouth. And because He did that, He gave us a reason to be at peace.
CLOSE: But the world (without Jesus) is NOT at peace. On Christmas Eve 1932, a man named Robert McGimsey attended a midnight church service in NYC and then headed back to his one-room apartment. As he walked home, he passed the open doors of private clubs where people were shouting and swearing and singing. Others were so drunk they had passed out on the sidewalk. And he thought to himself: “What a strange way to celebrate the birth of the most perfect Person who ever lived on this earth. We seem to have missed the whole significance of His life.”
That night McGimsey wrote his thoughts on the back of an envelope. And those words became the inspiration for the song he wrote: “Sweet Little Jesus Boy, they made you be born in a manger. Sweet little Holy Child, didn’t know who You was. Didn’t know You’d come to save us, Lord - to take our sins away. Our eyes was blind, we couldn’t see. We didn’t know who you was.”
INVITATION
