NAMES AND TITLES OF CHRIST
THE GREAT HIGH PRIEST
DR. JIM DIXON
HEBREWS 4:14-16, HEBREWS 5:1-10
JANUARY 4, 1998
The High Priest of Israel wore the breastplate of righteousness, and that breastplate was made of fine gold. It was adorned with twelve precious stones in four rows with three jewels in each row. There was jasper, sapphire, agate, emerald, onyx, carnelian, chrysolite, beryl, topaz, chrysoprase, jacinth and amethyst. These twelve jewels, these twelve precious stones, represented the twelve tribes of Israel, each of which were precious to the Lord God. The High Priest of Israel wore these stones on the breastplate inscribed with the Hebrew names of the twelve tribes because he represented the twelve tribes. He represented the people of God before the throne of God.
Beneath the breastplate of the High Priest there was a vest woven in gold called the ephod. Between the ephod and the breastplate of righteousness there was a pouch. In the pouch there were the mysterious oracles called urim and thummim, supernatural stones which somehow enabled the high priest to discern the will of God for the people of God. But this was not the primary function of the High Priest of Israel. The primary function of the High Priest of Israel was two-fold, and these comprise our two teachings this morning.
First of all, the function of the High Priest of Israel was to represent the people of God before the throne of God in atonement. The High Priest was to offer atonement for the sin of the people.
This last Friday, Barb and I and our son, Drew, went to see the move “Amistad.” This powerful movie by Steven Spielberg portrays the tragedy of slavery. And we live in a world where all too often slavery has flourished. This was true in ancient times. Even today, slavery in various forms continues to exist in corners of the world. In this nation, tragically, slavery flourished for more than one hundred years. Some slaves were treated well, some were treated poorly, but their lives were not their own and their freedom was taken from them. There are no words to describe the horror of slavery. Those hundred plus years are a blight on the history of this nation.
Now, there are some political leaders, both black and white, who feel that there must be atonement, that white America today should, in some manner, atone for the inhumanity of those hundred plus years. There are some evangelical leaders who agree with this. This is extremely controversial. There are some who feel that white America should atone with a public apology or some act of contrition or expression of repentance. There are some who feel that white America should atone through the adoption of policies such as affirmative action. There are some leaders in this nation, both white and black, who feel that an apology or that atonement is not necessary since these misdeeds were perpetrated by prior generations.
I’m sure that all of us wish that we lived in a nation where there was not white America and black America but just Americans who were equal, all equal, under God. Whatever our opinion of this subject, we understand the meaning of atonement. We understand that to atone means to make restitution. It means to pay a penalty for sins committed.
Most of you know that in the wake of World War II in Nuremberg, Germany, there were the Nuremberg war trials where Nazi criminals were tried of sins committed: the gassing and incineration of 6 million Jews and the execution of millions of additional people whose mere existence for some reason was unacceptable to the Nazi state. At the Nuremberg war trials, some Nazi war criminals were executed in manners far more merciful than they had executed their victims with. Some Nazi war criminals were incarcerated. Some were given life sentences. Some were given lesser terms. They tried to make the penalty fit the crime that there might be atonement, and we understand the meaning of atonement.
I think many of you know that on December 26 of 1996, JonBenét Ramsey was brutally, tragically murdered in her home in Boulder. Here we are today, 53 weeks later, and no one has been apprehended. No one has been charged with this crime. No one has been convicted. The person or persons who are guilty are known only to God and to themselves. There are some people who are outraged because they want to see some atonement for this hideous crime.
Most of you know that on April 19, in the year 1995, the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City was devastated by a truck bomb and 168 people were killed, 19 of them little children. You know that Timothy McVeigh was tried and convicted of first-degree murder. He was given the death sentence. You know that Terry Nichols has been convicted of lesser crimes. He is in the penalty phase, awaiting sentencing. You see, they’re longing for atonement, to see some atonement for this hideous crime. We understand this. We understand that we live in a society where when sins are committed against society there needs to be atonement. But what about God? What about sins committed against God? Because the Bible tells us that all sins are ultimately truly committed against God. The Bible tells us that we are all sinners and we’ve all fallen short of the glory of God. The Bible says, “There is none righteous, no, not one.” Do we need to make atonement before God for our sin? The Bible is clear. There does need to be atonement. There must be atonement for human sin, sins of omission, sins of commission. There must be atonement.
The Jewish people understood this and that is why they had the sacrificial system. That is why Jewish women and men gave the best of their flocks and of their herds in sacrifice, in blood offerings, on the altars of Israel, that somehow they might find atonement for sin. All of the sacrificial system in Israel was administrated by the priesthood and over the priesthood, the great high priest. You know that once a year on Yom Kippur which means “the day of atonement,” the high priest went into the Holy of Holies and there he sprinkled the blood of animals over the mercy seat of the Arc of the Covenant, seeking to atone for the sin of the people. On that same day, on Yom Kippur, on the day of atonement, the high priest imputed the sin of the people onto the scapegoat and sent the scapegoat into the wilderness, symbolically removing the sin of the people from them.
But the Bible tells us that none of these things really atoned for the sin of humanity. None of these things could atone. They were simply prototypical. They were a foreshadowing of the true atonement which would later come on the true day of atonement, the true Yom Kippur, which we call Good Friday, that day when Jesus Christ went to the cross. There He offered His own blood in atonement, substitutionary atonement for the sin of the world. For your sin and my sin He died. He is the Great High Priest who has offered atonement for the sin of His people. The Bible says that if you believe in Him and you receive Him as Lord and Savior and you take Him as your Great High Priest, your sin is forgiven you. Your sin, past, present, and future has found atonement. The penalty has been paid. This is the incredible glorious truth of the gospel, and this is the gift of our Great High Priest. And yet, tragically, there are many Christians who somehow still seek to atone for their sin. My guess is some of you are still seeking to atone for your sin and you cannot do that, and you must not do that.
I suppose that most of you have heard of monasticism and the monastic movement which really has its roots in Egypt and in India, in ancient Greece and in ancient Israel. Monasticism comes from the word “monos,” which means “alone.” Monastics were those and are those who seek to live a life in seclusion, in isolation from humanity. Christian monasticism began in the 3rd century AD, and it took many forms. There were the hermits such as Paul of Thebes who lived in the abandoned ruins of the ancient city of Noh and the hermit called Anthony of Egypt who died in the Egyptian desert. These were Christians, early Christians, who became monastics, and they lived as hermits in isolation and complete seclusion. They lived alone in desolate places.
Another form that monasticism took was the form of the solitaries. The solitaries, which were sometimes called “loras,” consisted of individuals who lived alone but reported to an Abbott, a kind of priest who governed their spiritual growth as they lived in isolation and with whom they would meet from time to time for guidance. Then there was the third form of monasticism we call the monasteries, which was really modified monasticism. People sometimes living alone, sometimes living in communities. What did the monastics do? Whether they were hermits or members of solitaries or monasteries, what did they do? They fasted. They entered into rigorous discipline fasting. They took vows of celibacy. Some of them took vows of silence, which was no big deal when you lived alone. Some of them participated in self-flagellation, from the word “flagellare,” which means “whipped or scourged.”
Why did they do these things? Many of them did these things because they were seeking to atone for their own sins. Of course, when you fast, you can do that for proper reasons, or you can do it for wrong reasons. If you fast and you’re feeling led of God to do that, and you are doing that simply because you want to draw nearer to Christ and you want to hear more clearly His voice and you want to be focused more singularly on Him, then that’s proper. But if you’re fasting because you’re trying to atone, God wants you to stop that. He’s not honored by that. In fact, He is grieved when you seek to atone for your own sins because you dishonor the cross upon which atonement was made. If you go into prayer vigils and you’re doing that because you long to be close to Christ, great. But if you’re trying in some way to atone, it’s wrong.
All Christians are called to celibacy until they are married because the Bible tells us that sex is a beautiful gift meant to be opened in the context of marriage. We should wait until marriage to open this gift, not because we’re trying to atone but because we love God and we love the person we’re going to marry.
Of course, self-flagellation is always done because of a desire to atone for sin. I’m sure that there is no one in this room that participates in scourging or whipping of self for atonement, but sometimes people participate in a kind of emotional self-flagellation where people almost want to suffer. They hold onto their pain, and they hold onto their suffering because consciously or subconsciously they seek atonement before God. You see, Christ wants to set us free from all of that. He wants to set us free from all of that because He has already atoned for our sins. We don’t need to atone for our sin. We seek to live life in such a manner that is pleasing to Him because we love Him, not because we’re seeking to atone. Atonement has already been made. We will never have to atone—not in this life, not in the next life.
I know some of you have heard of purgatory. Purgatory refers to the intermediate realm where people suffer in penal suffering, in punishment for their sins. This intermediate realm is, according to the doctrine of purgatory, said to be somewhere between heaven and hell. It’s for Christians who have not reached Christian perfection which means that it’s for all Christians since no Christian has reached perfection. Some people, according to the doctrine, will have to spend a thousand years in purgatory and some just a few months in purgatory but it’s penal and it’s for the purpose of atonement. This doctrine has been held by the Roman Catholic Church and by the Greek Orthodox Church and it has been rejected by Protestants. And why? It has been rejected by Protestants because it is not taught in the Bible. It’s not taught in holy scripture.
The doctrine of purgatory is based on one of the thirteen books of the Apocrypha, the book of 2 Maccabees, the 12th chapter, verses 39 to 45. While the Catholic Church and the Orthodox churches have embraced the Apocrypha, Bible scholars have rejected the Apocrypha from the beginning and have never viewed the Apocrypha as God-breathed or God-inspired. The doctrine of purgatory has been rejected by Protestants not only because it is not biblical but because it is just horrible theology. I mean, the Bible makes it so clear that when Christ died on the cross, He atoned for all sin. We cannot atone for our own sin, and we should not try. We belittle the cross when we seek to atone for our own sin.
I must say even most Catholic theologians today (and Catholic theologians today are changing the doctrine of purgatory, recognizing the fact that it’s not biblical) are acknowledging that while they believe in purgatory, they no longer view it as penal but as purifying. It is not for punishment but for sanctification. It is not for atonement. Catholic theologians today acknowledge that all atonement took place on the cross at Calvary. So, Catholics and Protestants agree on this.
I might say this also. Roman Catholics have also now decided, their theologians have determined, that purgatory as they understand it is no longer an intermediate state between heaven and hell but part of heaven because they recognize the fact that the Bible tells us that when a Christian dies, the Christian goes immediately into heaven, into paradise, into the presence of the Lord. So, now Catholic theologians view purgatory as part of heaven and no longer penal.
But the point that I want to make biblically is atonement took place on the cross and Christians do not need to atone—not in this life, not in the life to come. Atonement has already been made. And so, people in this world have two choices. They can accept Jesus Christ and by virtue of His High Priesthood have atonement for their sins or they can reject Christ and they can seek to atone for their own sins. These are ultimately the only two choices.
I saw a billboard outside a church recently. It said, “Satisfaction in Christ guaranteed, or all your sins cheerfully refunded.” That statement is true.
Secondly and finally, the High Priest of Israel and the high priesthood of Christ exist to represent the people of God before the throne of God in intercession. It is first to represent the people of God before the throne of God in atonement and then secondly to represent the people of God before the throne of God in intercession. Jesus Christ lives, exalted at the right hand of the Father and He intercedes for His people.
In Joel, chapter 2, verse 17, the Bible says, “Let the priests weep between the temple porch and the temple altar. Let them say ‘Spare thy people, O Lord.’” You see, this was the priestly function of intercession: To pray for the people of God, to intercede for the needs of the people of God. In our passage of scripture for today, the Bible tells us that every high priest was appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God. The high priest was appointed, was directed, was chosen to represent the needs of people before the throne of God. We’re told in our passage of scripture for today that the high priest really did this in two ways. The high priest sought mercy for the people and the high priest sought grace for the people. First then, the high priest sought mercy for the people and Jesus Christ seeks mercy for you.
I think most of you understand the concept of mercy and what it means to intercede for mercy. Some of you know that on December 1, Latrell Sprewell, an NBA basketball player who played for the Golden State Warriors, approached his coach in rage, P.J. Carlesimo, and took hold of his neck and began to strangle him, seeking to choke him to death and saying, “I’m going to kill you. I’m going to kill you. I’m going to kill you.” Latrell Sprewell was removed from the roster of the Golden State Warriors and can no longer play for them, and he has been banished from the NBA for one year by NBA Commissioner David Stern. After a year, he can play in the NBA again. Latrell Sprewell’s agent has said that this is not fair because Latrell Sprewell who he represents will be deprived of a livelihood for one year. The NBA Players Association has stepped forward and they have petitioned the NBA authorities and David Stern saying the penalty is excessive and it’s not fair and it needs to be diminished and there needs to be mercy.
Most of you know (I’m sure it’s occurred to many of you) that if you went into your place of employment tomorrow and you went to the boss and you grabbed him or her by the throat and began to choke him or her to death saying, “I’m going to kill you. I’m going to kill you. I’m going to kill you,” you wouldn’t be back to work a year later. You would never work there again, and you would probably face litigation. It is another controversial event in our culture and society. But we understand, don’t we, that Latrell Sprewell’s agent and the NBA Players Association are acting in a priestly role, seeking mercy for this person, seeking mercy for Latrell Sprewell (appropriately or inappropriately). We understand what it means to intercede for mercy.
You see, the Bible tells us that this is what Jesus does as our High Priest and for us as the people of Christ. He intercedes for us, seeking mercy for us. Perhaps you’re thinking, “Well, if my sin is atoned for, why do I need mercy?” But of course we still need mercy because we live in a fallen world and a dangerous world. Bad things happen to good people, and we desperately need mercy.
Gene prayed this morning in our service, and we all prayed with Gene that God would move in mercy on those who are sick and afflicted and hurting. We pray that way every day through the priesthood of Christ for mercy. Some of our sins, even though they’re atoned for, have natural consequences, don’t they? They’re not penal. It’s not a question of divine punishment but natural consequences. If we participate in what the Bible calls the sin of gluttony, there might be natural consequences. If we participate in sexual immorality, there might be natural consequences. That’s true of all sin. As we seek holiness, we also seek mercy in God’s dealing with us that He might intervene in compassion.
Is that not true? Our Great High Priest intercedes. What a precious teaching. He intercedes, seeking mercy for you and mercy for me.
He also seeks grace because this was the other intercessory role of the high priest, to seek grace. Of course, grace includes mercy but it’s far more than mercy. The word grace is the Greek word “charis,” which also could be translated “gift.” In fact, the Greek words for gift are “doro” and then the word “charisma.” The word charisma is related to the word charis, the word grace. When we think of grace, we should think of gifts, unmerited favor. We should realize that when we say that Christ intercedes for us with regard to grace, that means Christ seeks gifts from the throne of God for us. Did you know that? That if you belong to Christ and if you believe in Christ, He is seeking gifts for you, gifts from the throne of His Father. He wants to bless you.
There’s this beautiful teaching in scripture. I saw in the September issue of Business Week there was an article which explained how a newspaper in Texas called the Fort Worth Star Telegram conducted an amazing experiment with regard to the stock market. They decided to take their newspaper’s mascot, a 1,700-pound bull, and use the bull as a stockbroker in a kind of financial guide. They built a corral. On the ground of the corral, they put a hundred squares. In each of those hundred squares were the name of a different company on the stock market, whether on the Dow or the NASDAQ, a hundred different companies that you could invest in. Each company was represented in these hundred squares on the floor of the corral. Then they sent the bull into the corral, and they let the bull pick the companies to invest in. How shall I say this? They did this by letting the chips fall where they may! The bull chose seven companies to invest in. This newspaper, the Fort Worth Star Telegram, invested theoretically (whatever that means) $10,000 per company. In the course of time, they checked the results and they found that they had made a profit of 43%, which did better than the so-called experts and better than the Standard and Poor’s Stock Exchange.
I think we all know that that bull could have just as easily been a bear and they could have lost money. I know some of you are stockbrokers and you’re wonderful. I know that. And you’re wise. I know that. I know that you can do far better than a bull over time. Certainly it’s tough though, isn’t it? It’s tough in the stock market. The stock market we understand is capable of being a source of blessing. A stockbroker is functioning in a priestly role. If you’re a stockbroker, you’re functioning in a priestly role. If you’re a financial advisor, you are, biblically speaking, functioning in a priestly role. You are interceding for your people, seeking to bless them through this potential source of blessing called the stock market. You are seeking to bless them through your wisdom. You are seeking to bless them through your intercession. And the Bible tells us that Jesus Christ is seeking to bless us through intercession. The source of blessing is far greater than the stock market. Obviously, God is far more powerful and far less capricious than the stock market. Jesus Christ intercedes before the throne of God, seeking blessing for you and for me. Those blessings may not be financial. Sometimes they are. Those blessings make take other forms, but we have the privilege of praying in the name of Christ who is our Great High Priest, knowing that He intercedes for grace, that He intercedes for gifts.
This doesn’t mean that we can pray today for the Broncos to win and Christ is going to appeal to the Father on behalf of the Denver Broncos. This is not what that means. The Broncos may win. The Broncos may lose. But we cannot intercede for something like that. I know because I’ve tried. The truth is that God doesn’t care about the outcome of a football game. God cares about the outcome of our lives. He cares about the outcome of your life, and He cares about the outcome of my life. He seeks gifts that will help make us the people we want to be. When you pray, you should remember to pray for those things that would reflect the will of God, that would help you become more the person that God wants you to be.
Of course, we should also remember as we close this morning that in Christ who is our Great High Priest, we are a community of priests. We are a royal priesthood, the Bible says. Every single one of you who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, you are, under the Great High Priest, a priest. This doesn’t mean that you make atonement, because atonement was already made on Calvary’s cross, but it does mean you have the privilege of intercession for other people, the privilege of interceding in the name of Christ for other people. And what a privilege this is. We hope you take this seriously, that every day you’re interceding in prayer for others, seeking mercy and seeking grace through our Lord Jesus Christ who is the Great High Priest. Let’s close with a word of prayer.