Tag: christ's sacrifice

Jesus Is Better (Hebrews 7:1-10)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
Abraham meets Melchizedek, 13th century mosaic, Basilica di San Marco, Venice, Italy

This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him, and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, the name Melchizedek means “king of righteousness;” then also, “king of Salem” means “king of peace.” Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever.

Just think how great he was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder! Now the law requires the descendants of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people—that is, from their fellow Israelites—even though they also are descended from Abraham. This man, however, did not trace his descent from Levi, yet he collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. And without doubt the lesser is blessed by the greater. In the one case, the tenth is collected by people who die; but in the other case, by him who is declared to be living. One might even say that Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham, because when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the body of his ancestor. (New International Version)

We all become discouraged at various times in our lives; it’s part of being human. Chronic discouragement, however, can turn into a resignation to one’s apparent fate. It can cause us to give up.

That is where the Jewish Christians were, both spiritually and emotionally, in the New Testament Book of Hebrews. As Jews, they were living in a pagan Gentile world which did not appreciate their religious and cultural differences. As Christians, they lived with isolation from their Jewish families who did not understand their faith commitment to Christ and the Church.

It’s one thing to become discouraged. It’s another thing altogether to never have your situation change. Day after day, the Jewish Christians faced hardship, even persecution. So, over time, their faith and resolve to serve Jesus began weakening. They were in danger of reneging on their cherished beliefs and way of life.

This is why the author of Hebrews stepped in to address the situation. He wanted to encourage the struggling believers to not give up, to persevere in their faith. In order to do that, the Christians would need to fix their eyes on Jesus.

Instead of returning to Judaism, the Jewish Christians were encouraged to see how Jesus is superior to every important person in history, and better than the legal and sacrificial systems that they came from.

In chapter 7 of Hebrews, the author is continuing an argument that Jesus is better than the high priest Aaron (Hebrews 4:14-10:18). Part of that argument was to highlight the significance of an ancient king, Melchizedek, who was both a king and a priest of the Most High God.

The line of reasoning goes like this:

  • Melchizedek was a king and a priest in the time of Abraham.
  • Abraham acknowledged Melchizedek as such, and recognized his greatness and authority.
  • Therefore, Melchizedek is superior to the founder and patriarch of Jewish faith, Abraham.
  • Jesus is both a king and a priest, like Melchizedek.
  • Aaron is a priest, not a king.
  • Jesus is superior to Aaron; Aaron’s ministry was temporary, and Christ’s reign is permanent.

Specifically, regarding the lesson today, the argument is this:

  • Descendants of Levi were priests in Israel.
  • Levi was the ancestor of Aaron, the original Levitical high priest.
  • Abraham was the great grandfather of Levi.
  • Abraham was patriarch, and therefore, greater than Levi.
  • Melchizedek is greater than Abraham.

And so, the author of Hebrews was making this argument:

Jesus is a priest and king, like Melchizedek. Therefore, Jesus is superior to Abraham, Levi, Aaron, and all of the Levitical priests.

The Book of Hebrews insists that Jesus is greater than all other Jewish persons in history; and is superior to the old Levitical sacrificial system. Every Levitical priest lived and died. Jesus lived and died and rose from death. Therefore, Christ’s priesthood is still in existence. It is permanent.

From the New Testament perspective, Christ’s death and resurrection has replaced the Levitical priesthood as a new and better system of order. It’s new and better because, whereas the Levitical priests offered sacrifices day after day, Christ offered himself, once for all. The Cross of Christ was the sacrifice to end all sacrifices.

This spiritual reality, presented to the Jewish Christians in the ancient world, was meant to encourage them to hold fast in their commitment to Jesus.

We now have the privilege of coming to God without any spiritual hurdles to jump or obstacles to overcome, because Jesus made it possible.

God is available to us at all times, without having to offer a sacrifice in order to enter God’s presence, because the curtain of the temple has been torn in two.

Christ Jesus has finished the sacrificial work, and made it possible for every believer to come to God by faith alone.

So, don’t give up. Be encouraged with Jesus, the Savior and Sovereign of the universe, the Sustainer and Helper in a time of need, and the great King and High Priest who lives even now to intercede for us.

Hebrews is a somewhat long book in the New Testament of the Bible, encompassing thirteen chapters in all. It’s contents may sometimes seem dense and/or confusing. Yet, if you read through it, in one sitting, I believe you will come away encouraged and motivated to persevere and keep going.

Be patient, my friend. The situations which are now discouraging you will not last. And there is a King and High Priest who will last forever, and who has your back through all of the icky sticky circumstances of your life.

Fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith.

Accept, O Lord, our thanks and praise for all that you have done for us. We thank you for the splendor of the whole creation, for the beauty of this world, for the wonder of life, and for the mystery of love.

Above all, we thank you for your Son Jesus Christ; for the truth of his Word and the example of his life; for his steadfast obedience, by which he overcame temptation; for his dying, through which he overcame death; and for his rising to life again, in which we are raised to the life of your kingdom.

Grant us the gift of your Spirit; that we may know you and make you known; and through your Spirit, at all times and in all places, may give thanks to you in all things. Amen.

Saints, Sinners, and Sacrifice (Mark 8:31-38)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment

Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes and be killed and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”

He called the crowd with his disciples and said to them, “If any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” (New Revised Standard Version)

Saintly Sinners and Sinning Saints

People cannot be separated easily into the categories of saints or sinners. We are much more like saintly sinners or sinning saints. 

If we look closely, everyone is, at the same time, both beautiful and hideous; holy and depraved; full of faith and full of fear. And when it comes to the church, it is both the place of spiritual sensitivity toward others, as well as a den of decadent self-interested individuals. 

So, anyone searching for a church or a community that is a nice clean upward path of success with everything done to perfection with no one ever being hurt or unhappy, will be sorely disappointed. Such an organization or institution does not exist; and, it never did.

Yet, with that reality in mind, Jesus stands right alongside imperfect people, despite all their flaws, shallowness, and self-interest. Jesus is very well acquainted with people’s damaged emotions and open putrid spiritual abscesses. Yet, Christ treats everyone with mercy; Jesus never tires of rehabilitating and reforming.

Christ’s disciple, Peter, is the poster child for humanity’s mix of faith and failure. He stepped out of a boat in great faith and walked on the water, only to begin sinking because of his great fear. (Matthew 14:22-33)

It was Peter who made a bold and right confession of faith, and then turned around and bought into a satanic agenda. Yet, Jesus was right there, next to Peter all the way. Christ both rebukes and loves, all the while never abandoning us, but always working in and through us to accomplish good and right purposes.

The bald fact of the matter is that following Jesus involves pain and sacrifice. That’s the reality of living in a broken mixed-up world. What’s more, Christ’s Church is still imperfect and in the process of becoming holy. So, if we will admit it, we are all like Peter – a little devil who needs to get in line behind Jesus.

Everyone gets frustrated or disgusted with church, or really any consistent gathering of people. It’s easy to complain and even avoid others. It’s much harder to take up our cross and lose our life for the sake of Christ and others. We truly can choose to put love where love is not, even when we do not feel loved.

Imagine that your family has gathered for a holiday. Everyone is together. But you are struggling with tiredness and anger. Your spouse is sulking. Your teenage kids don’t want to be there. You worry about your aging parent. And you’re anxious about whether your crazy uncle is going to be nice or go on some weird political rant.

You want to be present, to celebrate the holiday. Your family is anything but a Hallmark card. Everyone’s hurts and hang-ups are not far from the surface. But you are together for a reason, to celebrate and experience joy. It may be a twisted human version of togetherness and spirituality, but it’s still a foretaste of the heavenly banquet that is to come. So, you deal with it all, and find some peace and satisfaction, transcending the carnal and experiencing the sacred.

In much the same way, the church gathers together in an imperfect way, a crazy mix of sinner and saint. But we gather in and around Jesus – and that makes all the difference. There’s a reason for doing this that is bigger than all our dysfunctional ways and dyspeptic attitudes. 

Jesus Christ is building his church, and he will keep it going until the end of the age. Fellow saints and sinners, Jesus isn’t finished with us yet!

The Sacrifice of Jesus Is Needed

Jesus openly stated openly that it is necessary for him to suffer deeply and die a cruel death. It’s God’s plan. But Peter didn’t like that plan, at all. So, he took Jesus aside and rebuked him, believing Jesus to be off his rocker for even suggesting such a terrible scenario. Jesus, however, turned the tables on Peter and rebuked him right back because being Christ-centered without being cross-centered is satanic.

Peter presumed to know what was best for Jesus. He believed the suffering of the cross would never happen. Peter’s perceptions were dim and limited. He did not the reality of how the world truly is; and that Jesus needed to offer himself as a sacrifice for the sins of the entire planet. 

Sometimes, like Peter, we may believe that the way I see and the way I perceive is the way things really are; or, at least, how I think they should be. 

Peter had been walking with Jesus for a few years, watching and enjoying him. It was all good. So, in his mind, it should never change; why try and fix something that isn’t broken? Oh my, but broken the world is!

Just because it was good for Peter did not mean it was good for everybody or should always be this way. If Peter had his way, we would likely be in hell. We, like Peter, are finite humans with limited understanding and perceptions.

One can easily slip into a satanic mode of believing that because something is going fine for me that everyone else is doing okay, too. I like it, I want it, so what’s the problem? 

The problem is that we too easily view life through selfish lenses. In such a state, we fail to:

  • see other people’s needs
  • perceive a lost world with any sense of reality
  • understand that Jesus has an agenda different from our own

Our limited perceptions come out in saying things such as:

  • “Oh, she’s just depressed because she is avoiding responsibility.” 
  • “People on government welfare are lazy.” 
  • “He’s addicted because he doesn’t want to help himself.” 
  • “They’re picketing because they’re a bunch of malcontents.”

Statements like those are legion, and betray a satanic worldview devoid of grace. It’s a compulsive need to find blame. It’s a belief that if there’s personal suffering, there must be personal sin. 

We belong to one human family, and therefore, we are all in this life together. One person’s joys are our joys; one person’s struggles are our struggles. The detachment we can have toward other humans is completely foreign to the words of Jesus. 

The Christian life always involves suffering, and Jesus invites us to follow him in his way of sacrifice.

The Sacrifice of Christ’s Followers Is Needed

There is a way to reverse a satanic agenda and demonic thinking: self-denial. Jesus issued an invitation to fall in line behind him and walk with him in his suffering. 

Self-denial is not so much doing something like giving up chocolate for Lent; rather, it’s giving up on ourselves as our own masters. It’s a decision to make the words and ways of Jesus the guiding direction for life. It’s the choice to quit holding onto the way I believe things ought to be, and take the time to listen to Jesus.

The logic of Jesus is relentless. Life comes through death. We give up our lives to find life. It’s unhelpful to adulterate our lives by serving the gods of success and perfectionism. Jesus invites us to quit our moonlighting job with the world, and go all in with him. In this way, we find abundant life. 

Jesus was encouraging not only submission to suffering, but also an embrace of suffering. In doing so, we find reward and joy. For those familiar with this path, suffering is a blessing. In walking this road, they find the true purpose and meaning of life. 

Few people suffered as much as the nineteenth-century missionary medical doctor to Africa, David Livingstone.  He was a pioneer explorer who opened up the interior of Africa to the outside world. He had two reasons for doing so: To take the good news of Christ’s suffering to the African people; and, to open Africa to legitimate trade, so that the illicit slave trade would end. 

Dr. Livingstone’s hand was bitten and maimed by a lion. His wife died while on the mission field. The one house he built was destroyed in a fire. He was often wracked with dysentery and fever, or some other illness in the jungle. 

Someone once commented to him that he had sacrificed a lot for following Jesus. His response: “Sacrifice? The only sacrifice is to live outside the will of God.” When asked what helped him get through the hardship, he said,  “The words of Jesus to take up my cross are always ringing in my ears.”

We may mistakenly believe that we must watch out for ourselves; push for our personal preferences; that if I accept the invitation to follow Jesus in the way of self-denial, I will be miserable and people will walk all over me. Those thoughts are merely demonic whispers in the ear.

There are two differing ways of thinking and acting: 

  1. The way of success, perfection, and a pain-free life as the evidence of God’s working. 
  2. The way of suffering as right and necessary in order to connect with God and be in solidarity with those who suffer. 

Suffering, rejection, and execution did not fit into Peter’s church growth plan. But according to Jesus, we do not exist only for ourselves, to be in some sort of spiritual country club. We exist to follow Jesus in his path of sacrifice and suffering for a world of people who desperately need to know the grace of forgiveness, and the mercy of Christ.

Since Jesus died, we are to die to ourselves. Since Christ lives, we are to live a new life. In God’s upside-down kingdom, joy comes through suffering. We follow Jesus as the mix of sinner and saint that we are. Amen.

The Lamb of God (John 1:29-34)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
Stained glass of the Agnus Dei (Lamb of God), Chamonix, France

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”

Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.” (New International Version)

The Gospel of John is all about finding and seeing Jesus – and then believing. Jesus is seen from various angles, namely because, as the embodiment of God, he requires a multi-perspectival look. In today’s lesson, we see John the Baptist exhorting everyone to take a look at Jesus as the Lamb of God.

Throughout the Apostle John’s Gospel, we see the gradual unfolding of belief amongst people, including the faith of John the Baptist. The Baptist’s initial understanding was that he was in the presence of someone of much greater worth than himself. Only by means of God’s Spirit is John able to gain increased insight concerning Jesus.

It’s important to point out that faith is never a static sort of thing. Rather, faith is always moving in a direction; it’s dynamic. Faith is more than a gift that’s put in a box and given and received. There is continual discovery to faith. It’s as if we’ve been given the gift of a Russian doll, and there are ever-increasing gifts within the gift. There are multiple levels of belief to explore and discover.

Spiritual insight is an initial gift of faith. There is, however, more. With insight there follows the ability to distinguish between material and immaterial realities. This is one reason why the Gospel of John can be difficult to understand – because within one verse, statement, or story, there are double, even triple, meanings to it.

John often invites us to see the spiritual reality that is there underneath the physical. It will take eyes of faith to see, because sheer physical sight will not see the entire reality. And at the end of faith is Jesus, to confess and believe that he is indeed the very Son of God.

The Holy Spirit in today’s lesson actually serves as the divine witness to John the Baptist’s burgeoning development of faith in Christ; John sees Jesus not only as coming from God, but as God.

The confirming voice of the Spirit at the baptism of Jesus lets everyone know that this Lamb of God, Jesus, the Son of God, will take away the sin of the world in his eventual Passover death.

Stained glass of the Agnus Dei, El Cajon, California

To take away sin means to remove it and purify the person from it. John’s increased understanding discerns that his words and his baptism with water don’t bring this removal and purification; but they do point to Jesus. Christ as the one who is able to immerse people in the cleansing bath of grace.

Jesus Christ is qualified and able to call, gather, and cleanse not only Israel, but also the world and all the scattered children of God. Thus, John the Baptist’s ministry is to reveal Jesus to Israel; it’s directed to the entire world and to the taking away of the world’s great sin, once and for all.

The reference to Jesus as the “Lamb of God” is a familiar one to Christians. Lambs are common throughout the Bible. A lamb, however, that takes away sin is somewhat novel (although a scapegoat symbolically takes aways Israel’s sin into the desert, Leviticus 16:8-10). Passover lambs, lambs offered twice daily and in several offerings and acts of worship, were a part of many guilt and purification rituals in the Old Testament. (Leviticus 9:1-13; 14:1-13)

It seems to me that the Apostle John understood Jesus as the Lamb which removes sin by being the representative and once for all sacrifice to end all sacrifices. There is no longer any need to keep offering these various lambs day after day, festival after festival, year after year; Jesus is the efficacious one who ends it all and finally purifies and atones with potent deliverance from sin.

Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest [Jesus] had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. (Hebrews 10:11-14, NIV)

And what is more, it’s this same Lamb of God who will again show up – even though slain, and yet lives – to gather together all the nations of the earth, lead them as the singular Good Shepherd, vanquish all the enemies who oppose goodness, and establish divine light in a sort of eternally lit menorah that blesses the world. (Revelation 5:6-12; 6:1; 7:17; 14:1: 1714; 21:22-23)

The baptism with water of Jesus by John the Baptist, therefore, confirmed and anticipated the baptizing (purifying) work of the Holy Spirit that only Jesus would accomplish. For John baptized with water, but Jesus baptizes with both water and Spirit – demonstrating his singular ability as Savior and Lord.

In this Christian season of Epiphany, Jesus – the Lamb of God who takes away sin and purifies with the Spirit – is Christianity’s eternal light and life.

The bright star still compels people to come and see, as well as leads the little Christs called “Christians” to take their light and let it shine wherever they go. It is a light of mercy and mystery, grace and goodness, wonder and wisdom. It is, I believe wholeheartedly, the light the world needs in order to bring an end to division and connect one another in peace and goodwill.

May it be so, to the glory of God. Amen.

Living Stones (1 Peter 2:4-10)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment

As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says:

“See, I lay a stone in Zion,
    a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
    will never be put to shame.”

Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,

“The stone the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone,”

and,

“A stone that causes people to stumble
    and a rock that makes them fall.”

They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (New International Version)

The Apostle Peter describes Christians as “living stones” that form the temple of the Lord. In our worship we are like priests, carrying the sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving into the presence of God.

This is who we are; it is our identity. Christians belong to God in Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. We have been formed – and continue to be formed – into the people of God as one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.

The word for stones in today’s text (Greek λίθος) specifically refers to large stones that have been hewn into shape. So Christians, as God’s holy people, have been set apart and shaped for the purpose of worshiping Jesus Christ. Instead of offering the blood of bulls and goats, like the select group of Old Testament priests did, we are all priests who now offer spiritual sacrifices because Jesus has taken care of the sin issue once for all. 

Christians continually offer to God the worship of Christ, and a holy life, in grateful response to Christ’s sacrificial death on our behalf. Jesus Christ is the Christian’s cornerstone and center, and is to be the Church’s passion and priority. In worship, God builds us into a community of faith who dedicate ourselves to knowing Jesus and making him known.

All of life (and not just a Sunday worship service) is to be a daily rhythm of God’s revelation to us, and our response to God in faith, thanksgiving, and an obedient life.

We were chosen to serve God, and to exist for worship. Worship is grounded in the triune God and centered in Christ. Worship is the heart and life response to the revelation of God in Christ. Genuine encounters of God’s revelation to us, and our response to those experiences, form us into disciples of Jesus.

For those who refuse God’s perspective, Jesus Christ is experienced as an obstacle. He becomes the rock which causes them to stumble and fall. Although the early Christians for whom the Apostle Peter addressed were often humiliated and ostracized, they are nevertheless God’s elect, honored, and precious people.

Peter, who was named “Rock” by the Lord himself, wanted his audience to know that they, too, are known by God as rocks, as precious living stones. So, he explained their identity by pointing out the parallels between them and Christ:

  • Christ is the living cornerstone—Christians are living stones
  • Christ was rejected by humans—Christians are strangers in the world
  • Christ is God’s chosen One—Christians are God’s elect
  • Christ is venerated by God—Christians are esteemed by God

Jesus has so closely identified with us, God’s people, that we are in a vital union with him. On account of Christ’s rising from death, Christians are like living stones who are acceptable to God through Christ.

As the late salesman on television from decades ago, Ron Popeil, used to say, “But wait, there’s more!” Christians have been born again, experiencing rebirth into a new life. Our identity has given us great privilege as building blocks into the following:

  • Incorporation into a new community, a temple that shares in God’s honor and symbolizes God’s presence and power
  • Membership in a holy and royal priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices of holiness and love (1 Peter 1:15, 22)
  • Inclusion into the chosen people—a disparate people who share together in common values, patterns of living, and redemption
  • Citizens of a holy nation who enjoy a covenant relationship with God and worship the Lord who brought them out of darkness and into light

God has created a community of people in Christ who did not previously exist. Together as Christians and people of God, we celebrate Jesus in worship and revel in his saving mercy, which has given us fresh hope and new life.

Therefore, I humbly and proudly adopt the identification of “Christian.” I am here because of Jesus Christ and all the faithful believers who came before me on the firm foundation of the apostles and prophets. I am part of the great stone structure called the Church. I know who I am. I know who my people are. And that sense of belonging no one can ever take from me.

Soli Deo Gloria

Lord of heaven and earth, we pray that you will bring justice, faith and salvation to all peoples. You chose us in Christ to be your people and to be the temple of your Holy Spirit; we pray that you will fill your Church with vision and hope. In the baptism and birth of Jesus, you have opened heaven to us and enabled us to share in your glory: the joy of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. May your whole Church, living and departed,

come to a joyful resurrection in your city of light. Amen.