Sunday April 2, 2023

Nothing Is a Coincidence

The Bible is amazing! It is beautiful, inspired, and unchanging. And when a revelation, such as you are about to read, comes into focus, one can only be astounded by the perfection and power of His Word. And it proves that nothing is a coincidence…everything is planned and purposed by God. This will light up your heart!

We are told in the book of Hebrews that the Jewish priests who served in the tabernacle and the temple were mere shadows and copies of the one and true heavenly High Priest.

Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man. For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore it is necessary that this One also have something to offer. For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law; who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, “See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain. (Heb.8:1-5)

We have a High Priest who is the Mediator of a new covenant (Heb.9:15). But that new covenant was not established until after the death of Jesus. That means the old covenant, or everything ordered and set forth in the Old Testament, was still in effect. It was only after the crucifixion of the Messiah that the new covenant was enacted.

Until the new covenant was established, Jesus operated under the laws and precepts of the Old Testament. If Jesus was to become our great High Priest, He needed to be consecrated as prescribed by God in the Old Testament.

Chapters 28 and 29 in the book of Exodus detail the hallowing of priests to set them apart for the Lord’s use as a minster of the covenant. From the priests’ under garments to the outer ephod, God laid out seven days of ceremony and consecration. (See WORD WISDOM for a deeper study of priests)

When Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and the week of Passion, leading up to His glorious resurrection, He made Himself ready to become our High Priest (Heb.9:11). He followed the priestly pattern of consecration and fulfilled all the requirements necessary to become our High Priest…one that could enter the Holy of Holies and apply the blood to the Mercy Seat…His very own blood. Here is what He did:

Exodus 29:2 – The priests were required to offer unleavened bread > This was fulfilled at the Last Supper (Matt.26:26)

Exodus 29:4 – The priests had to be washed with water > This was fulfilled when Mary washed the feet of Jesus with her hair (Jn.12:3)

Exodus 29:5 – The priests were given a new tunic > This was fulfilled when Jesus was given a new robe after being beaten (Matt.27:28)

Exodus 29:6 – The priests were given a new turban for their heads > This was fulfilled when Jesus was given the crown of thorns (Mk.15:17)

Exodus 29:7 – The priests were anointed with oil > This was fulfilled when Mary anointed Jesus with perfume (Lk.7:46)

Exodus 29:10 – The sacrificial bull was seized to be led to the altar > This was fulfilled when Jesus, the Lamb, was seized in the garden (Matt.26:50)

Exodus 29:12 – The priests had to apply the blood to the altar > This was fulfilled when the blood of Jesus covered the cross (Jn.19:34)

Exodus 29:14 – The priests were required to take the sin offering outside the gate > This was fulfilled when Jesus was taken outside the gate to Calvary (Heb.13:12)

Exodus 29:37 – God declares that after seven days even the altar and anything that touches the altar must be holy > This was fulfilled when Jesus, the only sinless sacrifice was nailed to the cross (1 Pet.1:15)

Our complete and full salvation demands a perfect High Priest and a perfect sacrifice for sin. Is it not amazing that Jesus became both?

Then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.” He takes away the first that He may establish the second. By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. (Heb.10:9-13)

One other important point about Jesus’ priesthood: every priest is appointed from among men. Jesus, though God from eternity, became a man in order to suffer death and serve as our High Priest. As a man, He was subject to all the weaknesses and temptations that we are, so that He could personally relate to us in our struggles. Jesus is greater than any other priest, so He is called our “Great High Priest,” and that gives us the boldness to come “unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb.4:16).

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. (Heb.4:14)

Amen, and amen! Praise God for our great High Priest!!!

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