The One Sacrifice

Have you ever fallen asleep watching television? Fallen so asleep that no one in the house is able to wake you up, or perhaps it happened when you were home alone, which is why, a) you were watching television, and b) you fell asleep in front of it?

When you woke up, you were enthralled to see on TV an infomercial. Which is like a commercial, only worse! It is longer, way longer. They have people who come on and give testimonies about the products. They go into the information about the product. And then, when you’ve been hoodwinked into watching, at the end of the pitch, you get an offer, a one-time deal. If you miss the deal, then you miss a golden opportunity, not only to get something they’ve convinced you you desperately need, but also to get a once in a life time opportunity to get this great product at the lowest price it will ever be offered.

Sure enough, though, the same thing happens a week later, you fall asleep in front of the TV, wake up, the same commercial is on, same one-time offer!

God also offers a one-time deal. It is His Son, Jesus. Jesus’ offer was once and for all. So then, we might ask, what about all the stuff in the Old Testament? Why did Israel have to do all the rituals, all the sacrifices, all the law keeping? All that was placed there to instruct us, to teach us about our situation, about our need, and about the mediator, Christ.

A Mediator

When God called His people out of Egypt, He formed a covenant with them, through Moses. He appointed Aaron’s family, Aaron and his descendants as priests, people who would act as mediators between God and His people. Because of sin, because of Adam’s and the human race’s disobedience, there was a rift, a separation between humanity and God.

Through the years, Canada Post, University of Lethbridge, and other such institutions have gone on strike. This happens because the Union, who represents the employees, is in disagreement with the employer. Often, there are negotiations that happen when contracts come up for renewal. But when an agreement can’t be reached, the two sides will have to find a mediator. The mediator tries to reconcile the two sides so that they can come to an agreement and so that they can work together in peace.

The same thing can happen when a married couple finds themselves in a prolonged conflict. Eventually, they are so removed, so far from what had originally caused the conflict, or they’ve changed, or whatever, they sometimes need to see a counsellor, someone who can mediate between the spouses, so that clear communication can happen, so that they can once again live in peace.

BC Article 21 teaches us that the Aaronic priesthood was a temporary priesthood. It was a temporary mediation service. It was a shadow of something greater to come. It was not the thing, but it was pointing to the thing.

We can easily call to mind John the Baptist, who said of himself, I am not the one; I come before the one. I am not worthy to untie the sandals of the one who is coming. I’m the forerunner. People looked at John and thought he was the coming messiah, the coming mediator. But he also was just a shadow of the one to come. The priestly OT system was always intended to be replaced.

It reminds me of something that the philosopher Plato wrote. In his short philosophical piece called The Line and the Cave, he describes a group of people who live their entire lives chained to the floor of a cave. Directly in front of them is a small rise in the ground. Beyond that, a fire, which casts shadows on the far wall of the cave. They can’t see the fire; they can only see the shadows from the fire. There are people, who walk around the fire and they do all sorts of things. The people who are chained make up stories about the shadows they see on the wall.

One day, one of the chained people gets free. He’s able to stand up, and see over the small rise. He can see the fire, the source of the light. He can see the people, walking around the fire, casting the shadows. He’s able to move out of the cave altogether and see sunlight and everything. It is totally amazing.

He goes back in, and tries to explain what he’s seen. But the people who are still chained to the floor can’t reconcile, can’t understand what he’s describing. They are stuck on the shadows. That’s the reality they can see, that’s all they know.

Christ’s coming set people free from seeing only the projected shadows on the wall. The projected shadows told the story of Christ’s coming, so that when He came, people would recognise Him and put their trust in Him.

Limited in Its Scope

The scriptures teach us that the Aaronic priesthood was limited in its scope. It was only in place for a relatively short period of time, and it was only for the people of Israel. But God’s plan of salvation was for far more.

God planned from the beginning to save people from their sins. Adam was placed in a priestly position, representing God and His commandments to those who would come. But when Adam sinned, he was unable to fulfill the position because he himself was in need of a mediator.

When we read that Jesus was a priest of the order of Melchizedek, He was priest in the sense of Adam, not Aaron. He was a priest in the scope of all humanity, not just a select few!

Furthermore, the duties that Aaron performed were never ever good enough. They had to be repeated. There were morning and evening sacrifices, atoning sacrifices, sin sacrifices, sacrifices for sins of omission, for sins of commission, for fellowship, for peace, for dedication, etc. And in our OT lesson, we see the prescribed offering for certain sins done by the entire nation of Israel.

All these many sacrifices show that sin has affected every area of life. We don’t see each other as we should, we don’t relate, we don’t love, we don’t obey, nothing is perfect. We all miss the mark.

What the shadow services did, those Old Testament sacrifices showed was God’s perfection and our imperfection. They showed our separation from God, and our need to be reconciled to God. They pointed to the future when Christ would come.

The End of the Sacrificial System

Jesus, the Christ, the messiah, the anointed one, the one destined to make everyone right with God, was going to come. And when He came, He would put an end to the entire sacrificial system.

This is why we don’t do weird rituals. This is why we don’t have a gigantic barbeque outside where we can burn the carcasses of sacrificial animals. Christ came and His single sacrifice completed it all, finally.

This is why he said, from the cross, just before giving up his spirit, “It is finished.” As I’ve mentioned before, the Greek word is tetelestai. When archaeologists were digging up documents in the middle east, they came across all kinds of bills and deeds, and stuff like that.

They went like this, “Saul of Tarsus, owes Barnabas, one cow.” But on many of these documents, the word tetelestai was written right across it, at an obviously later date. They understood that the word tetelestai means paid in full. You have a bill, you pay it, and they stamp it with the words paid in full. If we still spoke Greek, presumably they’d write, tetelestai across it.

When Jesus said it, He wasn’t telling John, oh, by the way, that thing I owed you, Mom’s got you covered, it’s paid in full. No, of course, on the cross Jesus was saying, to all humanity, the sin you are guilty of, the payments you’ve tried to make, but never ever put a dent against the principle, I’ve paid them all for you, in full.

All the sacrifices that have been offered in the temple have pointed to this exact moment. Paid in full. Don’t keep offering them. Don’t try to offer anything else. Don’t look anywhere else for another kind of sacrifice. Look at me; look at what I’ve done. It is all finished.

The sacrifice on the cross was the most important moment in time. It was the hinge point in history. All the events before looked forward to it, and all the events afterward reflect upon it. When we tell people the Gospel, we’re pointing them to Jesus Christ crucified.

Do you ever wonder if you can truly say with Paul, “I know nothing except Jesus Christ and Him crucified?”

I don’t mean it in a sense where we seek to empty our heads of useful knowledge we’ve gained through life and education, that we somehow mediate on the phrase, “I seek to know only Christ and Him crucified.”

The Cost

That’s not what this verse means. It means that we seek to fully embrace the gospel. We seek to put no confidence in anything or anyone else, least of all ourselves. It means that we reflect on the cost that was owed by us. The judgement we deserved, but do not have to pay, and the perfect sacrifice that paid for our sins.

Have you ever been to court? It’s interesting, I once had to attend traffic court—probably to pay a fine or ticket, I can’t remember, it was ten or fifteen years ago. You can go in and watch. It is rather intimidating. Even though the people, the reporter, the judge, the crown prosecutor are mere humans like us, they represent a significant authority.

It was strange hearing people’s names being called up, hearing their charge, hearing the people plead guilty and then be given the fine. Do you know that the fine, which came up often, the fine for driving an uninsured vehicle is $2500.00 for the first time and $5000 for the second time?

Do you know what’s even more amazing? Being in the court, waiting to hear your name, going to talk to the crown prosecutor, knowing that you’re guilty, and then finding out that the charge isn’t there. You know that you’ve broken the law. The lawman has already told you your exact infraction, you know that you should plead guilty and receive the fine.

But then, the prosecutor says, “It’s not there. The officer who enforces the law didn’t file the ticket with the court. It is null and void.”

What Christ did, was even better. He doesn’t try to hoodwink the judge by forgetting to file. He steps up the court and says, “Though innocent, I’ll take on all these guilty offenses. I’ll pay them in full, each and every one of them.

I wonder what would happen if someone did that in traffic court. Do you think it would change people? Sure, they’d be happy and content for a while, very relieved. But would they really understand?

Some would, some wouldn’t. It’s the same with the gospel. Some get it, some don’t. Thankfully, it isn’t for us to figure out who is whom.

What we do need to figure out is this. Do we really seek to know Christ crucified. In this, do we really seek to understand the price He paid? The weight of my sin, my sin that held Him there until it was accomplished? Do we?

And does the contemplation of the crucifixion motivate us to live for Christ? Does it bring into sharp contrast just how bad our aim is? Does it motivate us to move closer and closer to Christ through whom we can do all things?

As you go forth this week, remember Christ. Remember Christ when temptation comes, as it surely will. Remember that He’s paid it all, in full. Remember that Christ is in you, in the Holy Spirit. Remember that you’re not your own, you were bought at a price, a great price, not to do whatever you want to do, but to do what Christ has called you to do.

So go forth in a quiet confidence, in Christ. Know that you’re forgiven. Know that you’re a new creation. Know that Christ is at work in you to bring you to greater and greater faithfulness, bringing your aim closer and closer to the target, becoming more and more like Christ. Trust in him to work in you. He’s began the new work, He is faithful; he will complete it in you. Amen.