The Risen Priest and King

The work of the Servant is finished; the reign of the King is forever. Stop striving to earn what Christ already purchased. Join us this Easter Sunday at 10:30 in person or online live as we celebrate the empty tomb and the occupied throne!

Title: The Risen Priest and King

Subtitle: The Exaltation of the Ultimate Servant

Main Scripture: Hebrews 10:11-18 (NASB)

Supporting Scriptures: Psalm 110:1-4; Matthew 28:5-6

Main Idea: The work of the Servant is finished; the reign of the King is forever.

Introduction: The True Triumph: In the ancient world, there was no spectacle more magnificent or absolute than a Roman Triumph. When a general won a decisive, war-ending victory for the Empire, the Senate would grant him this ultimate honor. The victorious commander would ride into the capital city in a four-horse chariot, wearing a purple robe and a crown of laurel leaves. Behind him marched his victorious army, and before him—dragged in chains—were the defeated enemy kings and commanders. The parade would culminate at the highest point in the city, where the conquering hero would finally take his seat, and his defeated enemies would literally be forced to bow at his feet. It was the ancient world’s ultimate declaration that the war was over, the victory was secure, and the conqueror was taking his rightful place.

Last week, we watched as a Roman cohort gathered in the Praetorium. But they didn’t give Jesus Christ a Triumph. Instead, after a corrupt kangaroo court condemned an innocent man, the soldiers staged a twisted, ironic mockery of a coronation. They threw a faded purple sash over His bleeding shoulders. They wove a crown, not of laurel leaves, but of Judean thorns. They placed a reed in His hand, only to rip it away and smash it over His head. And then, they stripped Him bare and nailed Him to a Roman cross under a sign that sarcastically proclaimed Him "King of the Jews."

Although that sign was meant as an insult, we were reminded that it mirrored a legal declaration of a Roman court.

Although they perceived that they were wielding their authority over the Jews by executing Jesus, they were in fact mirroring the exact Roman practice of a kingly coronation.

Before the sun set on Friday, His lifeless body was wrapped in linen, laid in a borrowed tomb, and sealed behind a massive stone guarded by the very military machine that had just mocked Him. To the world, the Servant had been crushed. The Romans, and in their own minds the Jewish leaders had won. They thought the story was over.

But the authorities of both had severely miscalculated the authority of Heaven.

Matthew's gospel tells us exactly what happened at the dawn of the first day of the week. There was a severe earthquake, not caused by shifting tectonic plates, but by an angel of the Lord descending from heaven. The angel rolled the heavy stone away from the tomb and, in a beautiful picture of divine rest and absolute triumph, he sat upon that rock he had just moved.

The gospels tell us that his appearance was like lightning, and the Roman guards—the brave, battle proven soldiers of the Roman empire—shook with fear and became like dead men.

The angel turned to the women who had come to mourn and delivered the greatest news in human history, the first message of God’s gospel of Jesus Christ:

"Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying." (Matthew 28:5-6).

The tomb was empty.

The grave clothes were folded.

The Suffering Servant was alive.

But the resurrection of Jesus Christ was not just a miracle to prove there is life after death; it was the historical and eternal receipt that His sacrifice had been accepted.

And yet, walking out of the tomb was not the final step of His exaltation. The resurrection was the prerequisite for His true coronation.

To see where Christ is right now, we have to look past the empty tomb and gaze directly into the throne room of heaven. Turn in your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 10.

In these eight verses, the Holy Spirit draws a massive contrast between the exhausting, endless rituals of earthly religion and the absolute, triumphant finality of what Jesus accomplished. The mock coronation of the Praetorium has been replaced by the sovereign reality of Heaven. We are going to see this morning that the work of the Servant is finished, and the reign of the King is forever.

Transition: But to truly grasp the magnitude of what it means for Jesus to sit down on heaven's throne, we first have to understand the exhausting, bloody reality of the system He replaced. Look with me at verse 11...

I. The Empty Rituals of Earthly Religion Exhausts Us but Never Forgives us (Hebrews 10:11)

Hebrews 10:11 “11 Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins;”

Day after day, the priests would offer sacrifices for the people of Israel. There was so much blood from the daily sacrifices that they had to create an elaborate drainage system specifically to handle the massive amounts of blood and waste from animal sacrifices.

According to ancient historical records, including the Jewish Mishnah (a collection of oral traditions compiled around 200 CE) and modern archaeological findings, the system worked like this:

The Altar Drains: At the southwestern corner of the massive sacrificial altar's foundation, there were two small openings described as being shaped "like two small nostrils."

The Underground Channels: When the priests poured the blood of the sacrifices against the western and southern bases of the altar, it drained down into these holes. Beneath the Temple courtyard was an extensive network of underground aqueducts and channels.

Flushing the System: Because of the sheer volume of sacrifices—especially during major festivals like Passover—the priests needed a constant supply of fresh water to keep the area clean. Water from the city's pools and cisterns was used to flush the courtyard.

Flowing out of the City: The water mingled with the sacrificial blood in the subterranean channels and flowed eastward, eventually pouring out of the Temple Mount and down into the Kidron Valley (a deep ravine separating the Temple Mount from the Mount of Olives).

Interestingly, the Mishnah (Middot 3:2) records that this mixture of water and blood didn't just go to waste. The blood-rich runoff that emptied into the Kidron Valley was highly prized as fertilizer, and the temple treasurers actually sold it to local gardeners and farmers who cultivated land in the valley below.

It seems that even the empty practices of Judaism as the object of their faith that were commanded by God to do as evidence of their faith in Him, still brought life through God’s design.

In the end of times, the Bible tells us that there will be a different river that will flow out from the city, through the Kidron valley, all the way to the Dead Sea and will in that time, bring that Dead Sea back to life.

Ezekiel 47:1–2 “1 Then he brought me back to the door of the house; and behold, water was flowing from under the threshold of the house toward the east, for the house faced east. And the water was flowing down from under, from the right side of the house, from south of the altar. 2 He brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate by way of the gate that faces east. And behold, water was trickling from the south side.”

Ezekiel 47:8–9 “8 Then he said to me, “These waters go out toward the eastern region and go down into the Arabah; then they go toward the sea, being made to flow into the sea, and the waters of the sea become fresh. 9 “It will come about that every living creature which swarms in every place where the river goes, will live. And there will be very many fish, for these waters go there and the others become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes.”

Ezekiel 47:12 “12 “By the river on its bank, on one side and on the other, will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither and their fruit will not fail. They will bear every month because their water flows from the sanctuary, and their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing.””

Zechariah 14:8 “8 And in that day living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea; it will be in summer as well as in winter.”

Revelation 22:1–2 “1 Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, 2 in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”

In the time of Christ, the life that was brought by that flowing blood of the sacrifices was limited, no matter how much sacrifice they did. All day long, on a daily basis, these sacrifices were made as a down payment to a holy God, to stay off His judgement of their sins, but by the next day, more sacrifice was needed all over again. Never could that sacrifice bring a lasting forgiveness of their sins, only a “kicking of the can” of God’s judgement for their sin. That practice of earthly religious sacrifice was exhausting, never done, and could never fully satisfy a holy God’s judgement of their sins. So...

A. God Intentionally Left Chairs Out of the Tabernacle to Prove the Work Was Never Done.

(No chair meant no rest; the priests were trapped on an endless treadmill of religious labor.)

B. The Blood of Animals Could Only Cover Sin, But It Could Never Cure It.

(A physical reminder that despite all their standing and striving, humanity's sin debt was still outstanding.)

(Transition: For fifteen hundred years, that was the grim reality. Millions of gallons of blood, thousands of priests, tens if not hundreds of thousands of slain animals, and not a single sin truly washed away. The system was crying out for a final Lamb. And in Hebrews 10:12, that Lamb stepped up to the altar.)

Hebrews 10:12 “12 but He [Jesus], having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God,”

II. The Endless Slaughter of the Old Covenant was Silenced by the Purchase of the New Covenant through One Perfect Sacrifice for All Time (Hebrews 10:12)

(Now in the tabernacle of God in heaven, Jesus our High Priest, sat down. The work of the priests was done and through it, rest came to all.)

Matthew 11:28–30 “28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 29 “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.””

The offer to escape the burden of sacrifice has now been offered, for the eternal work of the eternal Christ was finished.

A. The Contrast is Staggering: They Stood Daily Because They Failed Daily; He Sat Down Once Because He Succeeded Once, Forever.

(His single eternal offering actually removed what centuries of human practiced religion could only temporarily accomplish.)

B. The Seated Priest is now offered to be Our Eternal Receipt as the guarantee that the Debt of Sin is Paid in Full.

(He took His seat not out of fatigue, but out of divine, triumphant finality.)

(Transition: But when Jesus took that seat at the right hand of God, He wasn't just resting as a Priest whose shift was over; He was taking His throne as a Sovereign King. The altar work was done, but the royal reign was just beginning.)

III. The Cross Secured the Ultimate Victory; The Seated King Now Awaits Its Final Enforcement in History (Hebrews 10:12b-13)

Hebrews 10:12–13 “12 but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet.”

A. He Traded the Mockery of the Roman Coronation for the Absolute Authority of Heaven's Coronation.

(He is currently reigning as our Priest-King at the right hand of God, fulfilling Psalm 110.), where the Lord promises future dominion to the rightful King, Jesus Christ.

B. Christ Did Not Sit Down to Pause the Fight; He Sat Down Because the Enemies of God are Already Defeated.

(Jesus awaits the prophesied moment when every rebel authority will be permanently placed under His feet.)

(Transition: It is thrilling to think about the cosmic, global victory of our King. But the writer of Hebrews doesn't leave this in the high heavens. In verse 14, he brings this massive, royal victory right down into your daily life, showing you exactly what the Seated King means for your soul.)

IV. Because the King is Seated, Your Eternal Security is Permanently Secured (Hebrews 10:14)

Hebrews 10:14 “14 For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.”

A. You Cannot Add to a Completed Masterpiece: by faith, Your Standing Before God is Perfected Forever.

(Although in this life we are not completed, our standing before God cannot be improved upon; it is fully perfected.)

In fact, this reality—that you cannot add to your own standing before God through religious effort—is exactly where we are picking up next Sunday. We are diving back into our study of the Book of Romans. In Romans chapter 10, the Apostle Paul is going to show us exactly why all of our good works and cultural efforts fail, and why faith in this finished work of Christ is the only thing that succeeds in bringing us into this forgiven standing before a holy God.

If you struggle with feeling like you have to earn God's love, I want to strongly encourage you to be here next week as we look at the pursuit of true righteousness

B. You Can Freely Pursue Sanctification Because Your Final Destination is Already Locked In.

(We don't work to earn the Kingdom; we walk in holiness because our unshakeable reality is already purchased by the blood of the Lamb.)

(Transition: If this sounds too good to be true—that your standing is completely perfected while you are still struggling with sin on earth—you don't just have to take the Son's word for it. In verse 15, God calls His final witness to the stand to guarantee the promise.)

V. The Holy Spirit Issues the Final Decree: The Case Against You is Permanently Closed (Hebrews 10:15-18)

Hebrews 10:15–18 “15 And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying, 16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them After those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws upon their heart, And on their mind I will write them,” He then says, 17 “And their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” 18 Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.”

A. The Promise of the New Covenant: The Judge Will Never Bring Up Your Record Again.

(The Spirit testifies that because of the cross, God chooses to remember your lawless deeds no more.)

B. The Ultimate Conclusion: Because the Forgiveness is Final, the Altar is Closed Forever.

(Verse 18 is the absolute end of the argument: there is no longer any offering for sin because no further offering could ever be needed or could ever improve upon that which Jesus finished.)

The Altar is Closed, but the Throne is Open:

To the Exhausted Believer: Stop Striving and Take Your Seat

++To the Condemned-feeling Believer: Point Your Accuser to the Throne

++To the Unbeliever: The Urgent Invitation of the Empty Tomb is offered for you to accept

(Transition: We have looked directly into the throne room of heaven this morning and seen the absolute truth of the text: The work of the Servant is finished, and the reign of the King is forever. But what does the reality of the Seated King demand of you today?)

1. To the Exhausted Believer: Stop Striving and Take Your Seat. Many of you are living your Christian life like an Old Testament priest. You are constantly standing, constantly working, and constantly exhausted, secretly wondering if you have done enough to keep God happy with you. You are trying to add your own works to a completed masterpiece. Hear the Word of the Lord today: There are no chairs in your theology because you are trying to earn what Christ already bought. Stop trying to pay for what has already been purchased. Your standing before God is perfected forever.

The command of Easter is not "work harder."

The command of Easter is to spiritually take your seat and rest entirely in the finished work of your High Priest. From that place of secure rest, you will find the true strength to pursue a holy life.

2. To the Condemned-feeling Believer: Point Your Accuser to the Throne. Some of you walked in here this morning weighed down by the guilt of your past. The enemy—or perhaps your own conscience—loves to drag out your record of lawless deeds and present them to you, whispering that you could never truly be forgiven. When that happens, you do not need to defend yourself. You simply need to point to the right hand of God, point to jesus Christ. God the Father accepted Christ’s sacrifice for you. God the Son sat down. God the Holy Spirit has officially testified that your case is permanently closed. When your sins are brought up, remind your accuser that the Judge of the Universe has legally chosen to remember them no more.

3. To the Unbeliever: The Urgent Invitation of the Empty Tomb is offered for you to accept. If you have never placed your faith in Jesus Christ, Hebrews 10:18 is the most terrifying and the most beautiful verse in the Bible. It tells you that the altar is permanently closed. There is no human offering for sin. That means you cannot pay for your own sins. No amount of church attendance, moral living, or charitable giving will ever wash away your guilt. If you reject the single sacrifice of Jesus Christ, there is no backup plan. Jesus is the only, “way, the truth and the life. No man comes unto the Father...” except by Him. You will face the King on the day He makes His enemies His footstool. But today, that King is offering you total, complete amnesty. He was stripped and mocked on Friday so that you could be clothed in His righteousness today. Surrender your life to Him and accept Him. Trade the heavy burden of your sin and good works offerings for the unshakeable security of His finished work.

Final Charge: the tomb outside Jerusalem is completely empty, but the throne in heaven is gloriously occupied.

We do not just serve a Savior who survived death; we serve a Sovereign King who conquered it. We do not just look back at a cross; we look up to a throne, and we look forward to the day when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that the Lord Jesus Christ reigns forever.

When we truly grasp what our Priest-King has done for us—that He endured the mockery, the cross, and the grave just so He could offer us complete amnesty and eternal rest—there is only one response our hearts can have. We can only stand in awe and ask, "What kind of love is this?"

Main Idea: The work of the Servant is finished; the reign of the King is forever.

He is Risen!