Jesus, Our Great High Priest

Grace, mercy and peace be unto you from God our Father and our Lord, and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

How many of you think you know what all those burnt offerings that were offered at the temple smelled like?

Nobody knows. Or too shy to answer. I imagine that many of us think that the smell coming from that burnt offering on the altar, well, that must have been kind of like when you're outside and you can smell your neighbor grilling steak a couple blocks away, and the wind just carries it over. That's a nice, pleasing smell, isn't it? You're probably getting hungry right now just thinking about it. But you can visualize that, you can almost smell that. Or maybe it's burgers and brats. But it didn't smell anything like that.

Imagine that the animal isn't just the part that you would eat, but it includes the hair and skin as well. Ever singed a hair on your arm or hand because you got too close to the grill? Doesn't smell very good, does it? Doesn't smell very good. And so, arising off of this altar, in front of the temple, all these sacrifices, that'd be pretty smelly. In fact, we might say that in our nostrils, it would be kind of a stench, a stench or stink.

And our sin is a stanch. And all those sacrifices and their blood was to cover people's sin. And every day, there were hundreds upon hundreds of sacrifices being made. They'd go all day into the night, till the next morning, it would continuously be going. That fire would never go out. And the priest, well first, he had to offer up a sacrifice for his own sin. And then all the others. And then sometimes, that blood would be sprinkled upon the people.

Now, granted in our day and age, that would not be considered very sanitary, would it? But that blood on the people, that would remind them that their sin was covered by that blood. And those priests, that's what they would do day in and day out: offer up those sacrifices.

Now, I suppose if, oh maybe if I had 30 assistant pastors here, we could be going 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. I don't know that there'd be an ongoing flow of people all that time. That would be nice. But no more does that offering need to be made for sin.

The author of the letter to the Hebrews last week, he had concluded the reading with: "since we have this great High Priest, let us come before the Throne of God that we might find help, mercy and grace to help in time of need." And today, he goes on, and he speaks about that priest who intercedes on behalf of His people. And unlike those priests of the past, He did not need to offer a sacrifice for His sin, cuz He is without sin. And He did not need to continue to offer a sacrifice for the people's sin, because He did that once for all time, when He offered up Himself as the sacrifice on the cross.

And in that sacrifice, as Isaiah said, many nations were sprinkled with that blood. To cover their sin. In baptism, we were covered. We were sprinkled with that blood. Evy was sprinkled with that blood this morning. She was joined to Christ's death and Christ's resurrection. And all of her sin has been covered. All of her sin from this moment onward has been covered by Jesus. As have your sins, and my sins.

Now, the author says the law set up priests in their weakness. They would die. I mean, wouldn't it be nice - there's been lots of pastors here at Immanuel. You can go downstairs and can see all of their pictures. There's been lots of pastors out at St. John Kellner. You can go downstairs and see all their pictures. And now, we're in the midst, we're calling a pastor. Wouldn't it be wonderful if that pastor that we called would just stay forever? I see some heads nodding, but we know that's impossible, isn't it? No pastor can live forever. At least, not physically forever. We grow old. We grow tired. We pass away.

And so there's that line of pastors. And there will continue to be a line of pastors for as long as Immanuel and St. John continue to exist and proclaim the message of Jesus. We don't need another high priest, but we do need pastors and other church workers to continue to proclaim that word, that saving message. But thanks be to God we do not need to offer up sacrifice.

I do not like blood. I can handle my own, but somebody else's and it makes me a little queasy. And I especially don't like it - you know, you're in the grocery store. And you're in the meat department, and you pick up that package of hamburger. And you get that blood, water, whatever it is that's oozing out of the bottom of the package, all over your hand. And it gets sticky, doesn't it? I bet you don't like that feeling either. And it's like then, you look at that paper towel dispenser, and there's no paper towel there to wipe your hand off.

We don't have to continue to offer the sacrifice. Jesus has performed the sacrifice. And, well, I didn't sprinkle you with blood, cuz I'd probably get in trouble with that. Especially if you got a nice white sweater or shirt on, and it's all blood-splattered. But when I stood up here and I announced the forgiveness, it was as good as me sprinkling that blood of Jesus upon you because that forgiveness of your sin covers your sin. It is no more. So whatever you came in here, whatever sin you were bearing, God's forgiven it.

And in a few moments, we'll come and we'll receive that very Body and Blood that Jesus sacrificed for the forgiveness of our sins, but we don't have to re-sacrifice it. But in a very miraculous way, our Lord Jesus comes to us in that bread and wine with that very Body and Blood that He offered up on the cross. And not only at our altar here at Immanuel, but at all places where His people gather to receive His Eucharist.

But we need to remember that not only as our High Priest did Jesus offer Himself as the sacrifice, but He also, as Priest, intercedes before us. Intercedes for us before the Father in heaven. And so, the author, then, tells us that He is able to intercede for His people always. He is able to save to the uttermost, those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

Intercession is a fancy word for prayer. We make intercessions, don't we? For comort to those who grieve, for healing for those that are ill. For wisdom and guidance for those who are making decisions: both leaders in our government, as well as leaders in our congregations. We intercede for ourselves and we intercede for others. In the Gospel reading, Bartimaeus is pleading with Jesus: "Son of David, have mercy on me." And Jesus asked him, "What do you want me to do for you?" What do you want me to do for you?

And he asked that his sight might be regained. And his sight is regained. We are assured that as our High Priest, Jesus always hears our prayer and always answers them, but not always the way we want. Evy can't ask you anything right now, but she'll make her wishes known. But someday she's going to be old enough to say "Dad, I want this." Or they usually first just say, "I want, I want, I want." And there are going to be times when you're going to say no. And you know what'll happen then. There will be crying and fussing and "But Daddy!" Or "But Mommy!" And then also, there might be times when you say yes, and there might be some times - which is a parent's famous way of buying time - "Well, maybe. We'll see." And so, too, God answers. Yes, no, maybe but not right now.

So, what would we ask of our great High Priest this day to intercede for us for? Well, we might ask that He would increase faith in Evy, that she grow strong in faith all the days of her life. Or we might pray for increased faith for ourselves, that we might continue to believe His promises and trust in Him for the fullness of our salvation.

But would we stop and ask - if Jesus said, what do you want me to do for you - would we be bold enough to say: we want You to send us a pastor. You know you want a pastor. You know you have a great High Priest in the heavens who intercedes for you before the Father's throne. He certainly knows you need a pastor. But do you ask Him for a pastor?

Lord of the church, send us a pastor. The pastor you have already chosen to serve here.

And are we fervent in that intercession? I don't mean as a church body here, Sunday morning or Wednesday evening, but as individual members of this congregation in our homes, are we praying God, send us a pastor?

And are we persistent in that, or well, we prayed awhile and you know, He didn't really answer. We're still waiting.

Well, you know, God isn't like the drive-up window at your favorite restaurant. Where generally, you pay and your thing's there to pick up on their way out, right? Nothing worse than having to wait at the drive-thru. Especially at lunch time when you're pressed for time - as is everybody else waiting there.

But if we truly believe that we have a High Priest that is always making intercession before the Father, shouldn't we include that in our petitions? Who knows. He may very well surprise us. After all, He already knows who He'll send here.

And He's not slow as you and I think of slowness, but He's patient. Maybe we need to come alongside of Him a little more. Maybe He's waiting for us to catch up with His plan. But, you know, whether there's a resident pastor here or not, we still have a great High Priest in the heavens who offered Himself as a sacrifice for all our sins. His word continues to go forth to proclaim not only the law to convict us of our sin, but also that good news of the Gospel reminding us of our forgiveness. The sacraments are still administered. People are being baptized in the name of the Triune God. We receive the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ with the bread and the wine, and in those, we also receive all those gifts that come through them - namely God's grace. The forgiveness of our sins.

All because God knew that we would more importantly need someone who could offer the ultimate sacrifice that would put to an end all the sacrifices. And who knew that, as human beings in our weakness, we don't endure forever in this time and space. But we do have one great High Priest. Jesus Christ.

And He is more than sufficient in meeting our needs. Hearing our intercessions. And pleading for us before the Father. Sometimes, even interceding in ways that we cannot even imagine. So let us give thanks. No more bloody sacrifices to cover our sins. One sacrifice for all time: the Son of God, High Priest and sacrifice at the same time, whose blood covers us all sufficiently. But our sin is covered, and the Father sees only the righteousness of His Son, Jesus Christ. A great High Priest who intercedes for us.

So then, indeed, let us boldly approach His throne of mercy, that we might find grace and mercy to help in our time of need. As individuals, as congregations, as God's people. Amen.

And now may the peace of God, which surpasses our understanding, keep our hearts and our minds in faith in Christ Jesus, unto life everlasting. Amen.