Lent 5-Judica
Dear friends in Christ. Today we begin the final two weeks of Lent. The spirit of these concluding weeks of Lent becomes more and more solemn as we get closer to Good Friday, the Passion of our Lord, His suffering and death. As we approach Good Friday our attention turns to our Savior and His Suffering. As we approach Good Friday, we remember especially the rejection Jesus suffered at the hands of the people; we remember that each of our sins is us turning away from Jesus, a rejection of Him. By each of our sins we join the chorus, “Crucify Him!”
In today’s Introit from Psalm 43, we hear the voice of Jesus as He already spoke by the OT Psalmist: Vindicate Me, O God and plead My cause against an ungodly nation. During these next few weeks, Passiontide, we, as it were, accompany Jesus and see Him in the midst of His sufferings and rejection. We hear Him, the holy, sinless One who being rejected, commit Himself to God His heavenly Father, Who is the righteous Judge: Vindicate Me, O God and plead My cause against an ungodly nation. By this, in His sufferings and in His rejection, Jesus stands out all the more wonderfully clear and pure and holy and patient. As Peter [1 2.23] writes: When [Jesus] when He suffered He did not threaten but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously.
In our text, we then hear the apostle telling us of Jesus: For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens. What does that mean when the apostle here calls Jesus a High Priest? A priest has a two-fold duty. First, he is to offer up sacrifices; and second, a priest is to intercede, be the go-between, between man and God. As we study our text this morning we will see that Jesus is precisely that High Priest that we need, first, because of Who He is and, second, because of what He sacrificed.
1. Part of Jesus’ work for us is His priestly work. And part of that work is His offering up sacrifice to reconcile us sinners to the holy God. That’s the part of Jesus’ work that we especially focus on during these last weeks of Lent. But why is Jesus that priest, that High Priest? Why is Jesus the one who truly reconciles sinners to God? After all, other religions, pagans, have priests. Isn’t their work just as good? What about the Jews at the time of Christ and before? They had a priesthood descended from Aaron, Moses’ brother, that offered up sacrifices. Didn’t they reconcile sinners to God, after all God even set up that priesthood? To put it all differently: Can a person really reconcile sinners to the holy God? Can we be our own priests, so to speak? Or to put it in a little more “up to date” language: Can we make ourselves right before God by our works? Can we appease God, reconcile Him by doing a few good things—even things He told us to do? Of course, the answer from Scripture is a resounding: No!
Our text: For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens. Jesus is a different priest; Jesus is such a High Priest. He is distinguished, separated from the rest of the priests—be it the pagan priest, be it the person who wants to reconcile God by his own works or be it even the OT priest. Jesus is a different Priest, but precisely the One we need, the One who was fitting for us. And why? Again, our text: Because He is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens. Jesus had to be sinless to carry out His priestly work, to carry out the work of saving us.
Why did Jesus have to be holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners? Because our desperate condition as lost, condemned sinners requires it. Sin is a serious matter; our sin puts us in deepest spiritual distress and straits. How dare we sinners approach the holy God on our own! But because of the seriousness of our sin, not just any priest or any sacrifice will do. Even the OT priests following Aaron couldn’t do the job—that’s shown by the fact that there were a lot of them; one High Priest followed the other—and why? Because the job of reconciling sinners to the holy God was not done and could not be done by sinful people. This is the folly of those who think that by various ceremonies or actions of a sinful human priest—or of those who want to be their own priest and do their own good deeds—think they can appease God and make themselves worthy of Him and eternal life in heaven. The one who is that priest must be holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners.
Only Jesus is. He is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners for God’s sake so that He would be a worthy—holy and sinless—priest Whom God would listen to and accept. Jesus is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, for our sake so that He might sanctify us to make us like Himself—blameless, untainted, separate—as through faith we cling to Him. In these final weeks of Lent, as we see Jesus being rejected and crucified, we remember that He is the High Priest we need-- is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners. We hear Jesus’ cry to the Father in today’s Introit: Vindicate Me, O God and plead My cause against an ungodly nation and we remember that the Father most wonderfully vindicated Him, proved Him innocent, as He raised Him from the dead Easter Sunday. Jesus truly is the Priest that we need: holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners. The Father has so declared and given His seal of approval on Him.
B. Not only Jesus is that Great High Priest we need because He alone was worthy to offer the perfect sacrifice to reconcile us sinners with the holy God, but He continues in that office as our High Priest. Remember, a priest offers sacrifices and a priest also intercedes between God and man; he is a go-between. Jesus is the High Priest we need because not only could He and did He make that sacrifice to reconcile humanity with God, but He continues His work today as our go-between, Intercessor, with God. St. Paul [1 Ti. 2.5; Rm 8.34] writes: There is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus; and: Christ…died, and furthermore is also risen…[and] is even at the right hand of God, [and] makes intercession for us. When Jesus ascended into heaven, His office as High Priest did not end. Instead, it continued. Our text: But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. Because Jesus rose from the dead on Easter, since He went from death to life, since He always lives, He has no successor. He is the One perfect High Priest forever; as God the Father tells the Son in the Psalm [110.4]: You are a priest forever.
Jesus is our High Priest forever: as Priest, He offered one perfect Sacrifice for sin –on the cross almost 2000 years ago—now He continues as our High Priest and is our Mediator forever: since He always lives to make intercession for them. Now Jesus is praying for His Church and for each of His Christians. He is praying that people would be gathered into the Church by His holy word and sacrament and that they would be preserved in that one true saving faith until the end. That means that as our High Priest, He is praying to the Father for you and me. Listen to what Jesus told Peter [Lk. 22.32]: But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and in a prayer Jesus prayed to the Father on the night He was betrayed, He prayed for His disciples [Jn 17.9]: I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. What a glorious comfort—Jesus, our High Priest prays for us; because He is the holy, innocent, spotless High Priest who has ascended into heaven, His high priestly work here on earth finished, His prayer is heard!
2. But that now raises the question: why can Jesus now pray for, intercede on behalf of His Church and His dear Christians? What’s the foundation, basis, of that prayer? Answer: Jesus’ work now as High Priest, as our Intercessor, is based entirely and alone on His High Priestly work in which He offered up the one sacrifice to reconcile sinful humanity with the holy God. Because of that sacrifice that Jesus offered up, man is reconciled to God; and God wants to and does answer Jesus’ prayer for His Church and for His Christians.
That one perfect sacrifice He, our great High Priest, offered up is the sacrifice of Himself on the cross. Other than Jesus’ sacrifice, the sacrifice offered up by that High Priest who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, all the other sacrifices could not reconcile sinners to the holy God—be it the sacrifices of the pagan priests, be it the deeds of those who want to appease God by their works and earn His favor, or be it the sacrifices of the OT priests. All these sacrifices of the OT could only remind and point the people forward to that one perfect sacrifice of the one perfect eternal High Priest, Christ Jesus.
What made Jesus’ sacrifice perfect and once for all, was that it was not only offered by that Priest who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners; but He Himself was that Sacrifice. In the OT the sacrifices were distinct from the priest making the offering, but Jesus sacrificed Himself; He was both the Priest and the Victim, the Sacrifice. That means that the Sacrifice, the Victim itself was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners. What a glorious superiority Jesus had over the beasts slain on the altars. They were unwilling victims—grabbed from the flock. The very fact that those sacrifices kept being repeated means they didn’t/ couldn’t do the job! But Jesus is different. He is the true God, who in obedience to His Father’s will and in love for us sinners came from heaven and became also true man. Becoming also true man, Jesus placed Himself under the Law of God to keep every single part of it completely for us. That means that the very law that God demands we keep—but we don’t and can’t because of sin—Jesus has kept for us. Not only did Jesus never break a commandment and sin but He also willingly kept the commandments; He actively went out to obey them for us. Our text: [Jesus] does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins. He had no sins. The holy Law of God has been kept—by Jesus, for us. That’s why Jesus can claim His innocence on the cross: Vindicate Me, O God and plead My cause against an ungodly nation. He had no sins of His own; that’s why He is the High Priest we need—because He alone could offer that sinless sacrifice--Himself.
But remember, our text tells us that the high priests would also offer sacrifices for the sins of the people. Because Jesus had no sins of His own, He took our sins upon Himself and made them His own, was made sin itself for us [2 Cor. 5.21], and now, in our place as sin itself, stood under the wrath of God suffering His anger and punishment over our sin that we are born in and commit day in and day out. Jesus, the holy God, was made sin and by this, as He offered on the cross His holy, sinless life, and shed His divine blood, made the one, perfect sacrifice to reconcile us sinners to the holy God!
The perfect priest—Jesus—offered the perfect sacrifice—Jesus. The only way this sacrifice/ any sacrifice would be pleasing and acceptable and sufficient for us is if both the priest and victim were holy and perfect—which Jesus is. The very nature of this sacrifice makes it once/ one time and valid for all. Jesus is the High Priest we need because of who He is holy, harmless, undefiled, and because of what He sacrificed—Himself, the very God-man Himself. Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him. The forgiveness and salvation He earned is complete in every detail. In faith let us continue to come to Christ, receive His graces and blessings and give Him thanks that He is the High Priest we need because of Who He is and because of what He sacrificed. INJ Amen.