“Now I am coming to you. I told them many things while I was with them in this world so they would be filled with my joy. I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. They do not belong to this world any more than I do. Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth.”
John 17:13-19 NLT
That was the thing about Jesus’ death – He made Himself a holy sacrifice. He allowed His death to take place, even though He had every option at His Father’s disposal to stop it. And His sacrifice involved the death of a sinless Person so it was the ultimate miscarriage of justice. So why did Jesus go through with one of the most painful deaths mankind has ever so cruelly invented?
Right at the beginning of His ministry Jesus told Nicodemus how His life would end. John 3:14-15, “And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life“. Throughout Jesus’ three years or so in His ministry to His people, the spectre of the Cross was hanging over Him. To a human person with that knowledge, that would immediately initiate a mode of life focussed on self-preservation, and if Jesus adopted the attitude, then that would have fatally skewed the impact of His ministry years. And we of course remember the Old Testament prophetic ministries that didn’t end well – we can read about some of them in Hebrews 11. These were prophets and men of God who cared little for their lives, in the light of their focus and dedication to speaking out God’s message. But how was Jesus’ death a “holy sacrifice”?
Jesus’ ministry was to His own people, the Jews. They were a people who were well used to blood sacrifices as part of their religion. To them, blood had a special significance. In Leviticus 5:5-6, 9 we read, “When you become aware of your guilt in any of these ways, you must confess your sin. Then you must bring to the Lord as the penalty for your sin a female from the flock, either a sheep or a goat. This is a sin offering with which the priest will purify you from your sin, making you right with the Lord … Then he will sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering against the sides of the altar, and the rest of the blood will be drained out at the base of the altar. This is an offering for sin“. But we can find out Jesus’ mission in Hebrews 10:8-10, “First, Christ said, “You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings or burnt offerings or other offerings for sin, nor were you pleased with them” (though they are required by the law of Moses). Then he said, “Look, I have come to do your will.” He cancels the first covenant in order to put the second into effect. For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time“. Accepting the sacrifice of Jesus would be of seismic proportions to the Jews. To do away with the old covenant of blood sacrifices with a once and for all sacrifice by the sinless God-Man Jesus was too big a leap for most of them, even though there had been so many Old Testament prophecies about the coming Messiah.
The writer of the Hebrews epistle put his finger on the truth and purpose of Jesus’ sacrifice when he wrote, “For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time”. The blood of Jesus was and is sufficient to fulfil the demands of a sacrifice to appease God’s judgement for sin. And it is for that reason that when people come to stand before God it will not be their good works that will save them. There is only one remedy for sin and that is through Jesus’ “holy sacrifice”. There are heart-wrenching stories of good people who have gone to extraordinary lengths to help their friends and relatives, even putting their own lives in danger in the process. There are also many stories of people who sit at the bedside of a dying relative comforting themselves in their grief with the thought that they will see them again one day, thinking that their grandmother will soon be comforted in Heaven by their husband/mother/father who died before them. Such feelings also emerge in the crematorium as the coffin disappears behind the curtain, fuelled by thoughts that there must be something good the other side of the Great Divide. And I’m sure that God’s mercy will be present in the case of all human beings who die and leave this life. But His love has to be tempered by His holiness and righteousness. Nothing sinful can ever enter into heaven to be in the presence of God. If God allows everyone into Heaven, regardless of whether or not the person believed in Him, regardless of whether or not they have confessed their sins, then what was the point of Jesus’ “holy sacrifice”? Hmmm….
Dear Father God. You are holy and righteous, and perfect in all Your ways. We worship You today. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 