Christ, Our Great High Priest

Christ, Our Great High Priest

Hebrews 9:11-22

     The Epistle reading for today presents us with a visual image that is not very familiar to most of us.  It talks about a high priest.  I don’t think that any of us has ever seen a high priest so we might miss out on what the writer is trying to say.  The writer directed this letter to people who did know all about a high priest and what he would look like and what he did.  His point was, as you heard in the reading, that Jesus is our great high priest.  The original readers of this letter were Hebrews who knew all about Hebrew tradition and Hebrew worship and the work of the high priest.  They were people who had become believers or who were interested in Jesus and wanted to know more.  The writer does a wonderful job of starting with what they already knew about God and His promise of rescue through the Messiah and showing them that Jesus is truly the one who fulfilled all the prophecies about the Messiah, the Christ.  In this section he is showing how Jesus is our great high priest.  As we think for a few moments about what a high priest did and how Jesus carried out that role on our behalf, may we also see how that role was carried out on that night when Jesus ate the Passover meal with His disciples and instituted the Lord’s Supper for all His followers in the years to come.

     The priests who served the people of Israel came from the tribe of Levi.  When the land was divided after Israel came into the promised land after their forty years of wandering in the wilderness, the tribe of Levi did not receive their own land.  They were spread out throughout the other tribes so that they could serve as the religious leaders of the people.  They were trained in the law, especially as it applies to the religious lives of the people.  They carried out the sacrifices that were required in the law.  They served as examples of a Godly life and they brought the prayers of the people to the Lord.  Aaron, the brother of Moses, was the first high priest.  The robes and the breastplate containing the precious jewels that represented the twelve tribes and the head piece were all part of the clothing that the high priest would wear, following the Lord’s specific commands.  At the time of Jesus, the high priest was still very distinctive in the robes that were worn.  The high priest was also very powerful leader of the people and had a great influence over their religious lives.  As often is the case when someone has great power, there is the danger that the power can cause them to follow their own desires rather than the will of God.  We see that in the Passion Story as the leaders of the Jews ignored their own laws and customs in bringing Jesus to trial.  In spite of all of that, they were still the religious leaders of the people carrying out their traditional roles as priests.  They were seen as examples of a righteous life.  They knew all the customs and traditions and led the people in the observances of all the festivals.  They prayed for the people.  They brought the prayers of the people before the Lord in the Temple.  They were also the ones who carried out the sacrifices of the animals that were brought as atonement for the sins of the people. 

     Into this context then the writer to the Hebrews identifies Jesus as our great High Priest.  In order for this to make sense to the people then and for us now we need to see how Jesus fits the role of the High Priest according to God’s direction.  As the priests were to serve as an example to the people of a Godly life, Jesus, the Son of God, lived a perfect life.  You can’t get a better example than that.  His life and His teaching showed that a true Godly life is not just a matter of putting on a good show for the folks around you.  It is a life that sincerely responds to God’s love and mercy and follows the summary of the Law, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. “  One thing about looking to Jesus and His life and His teaching is that we are confronted with how badly we have fallen short of His example and His teaching.  We have sinned.  But it is important that we realize that so that we look to Him alone for the forgiveness of our sins.  We can’t imitate His righteousness perfectly so we need the help that only He can give.

     Another part of the role of the priest was to pray for the people.  He would intercede for them to the Father.  As we look at the life of Jesus, we see how He prayed for His disciples, not only the ones who were with Him but for all disciples of all time.  Sometime in the same evening when Jesus celebrated the Passover and instituted the Lord’s Supper that we celebrate today, He spoke with them at length about many things.  We find this especially in the Gospel of John.  In chapter 17 of John’s Gospel we find a long prayer that has become known as Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer, where He prays for their safety and for their faithfulness.  In Romans 8:34, we hear that Jesus intercedes for us with the Father.  He knows that we have sinned and He places Himself and His crucifixion as the punishment for our sins so that we could be declared righteous and be reconciled to the Father.  In that way He is also our Great High Priest. 

     As I mentioned before, the priests would also be the ones who would actually carry out the sacrifices that the people would bring to the temple as the atonement for their sins.  All of that sacrificing, the shedding of blood as the punishment for sin, pointed ahead to the one great sacrifice that would be made for the sins of all people.  Jesus was that sacrifice when He gave up Himself on the cross.  The shedding of His holy, precious blood and His innocent suffering and death paid the price for our sins.  He knew that was going to happen.  He prayed that night in the Garden of Gethsemane that, if it were possible, the cup would pass from Him, but not according to His will but according to the Father’s will.  Of course, it was the Father’s plan from the beginning that the power of the devil would be overcome by the sacrifice of His only Son.  It was foretold by the prophets in the Old Testament and now it was going to happen, once for all.  He is truly our great high priest.  He carried out all the functions of a priest and He did it for you and for me. 

     On this Maundy Thursday, commemorating His new command to His disciples, we are gathered to be reminded of that command and to be strengthened by the Holy Spirit, working in us through the Means of Grace, the Word and the Sacraments.  He reminds you that you are to serve one another as He has served you.  When He washed His disciples’ feet that night, He was making it clear that true discipleship means humble service to one another. 

     He also gave a new command as He instituted a special part of the Passover meal to be used to remember His suffering and death.  In the bread and the wine of the meal, He gives you His body and blood, that was shed for the forgiveness of your sins.  It becomes a part of you through your eating and drinking.  As you receive it with faith in the words, “given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins,” you receive exactly what He promises. 

     You also receive the power of the Holy Spirit, working through the Sacrament to strengthen you for your new life in Christ.  You are brought back to Jesus’ life and His teaching as the example for your life.  It is through the power of the Holy Spirit in the Sacrament that you are strengthened to love the Lord with all your heart, soul and mind and love your neighbor as yourself.  You are given the power to overcome the influence of the devil, the world and your own human nature.  When the temptations come, you know that you are not alone.  You have the power that Jesus, your High Priest, has given to you to

overcome all that tries to separate you from God.  May that power be with you throughout your life as you follow your Great High Priest’s commands.   Amen.

Rev. Gerald Matzke

Zion Lutheran Church

Painesville, Ohio

April 17, 2014  Maundy Thursday