DYNAMIS!
A publication of St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral
Wichita, KS
Hebrews 7:26-8:3
(11/7)
Epistle for the Feast of Saint Raphael Bishop of Brooklyn
Offering Up Sacrifices: Hebrews 7:26-8:3, especially
vss. 8:1,2: “We have such a
High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in
the heavens, a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the
Lord erected, and not man.” The Apostle does not once name the Lord Jesus Christ in
this passage, yet, of course, he is speaking of Him throughout: God’s
People have a High Priest “...fitting for us...” (vs. 26). Christ
our God, in taking on our humanity, joined Himself to us eternally. He was, and is, and ever shall be
“...holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and...higher than the heavens...” (vs.
26).
Thus, Christ is an incomparable High Priest, uniquely able
to offer up sacrifices for us who are corrupt, harmed and harmful, defiled,
immersed in sin, and separated from God.
What is more, His offering to God on our behalf is profound and lasting,
being offered “...once for all when He offered up Himself” (vs.
27). He is indeed, the Son of God,
God of God, Who in His assumed humanity “...has been perfected
forever” (vs. 28). Being one
of us, He has established Himself as our High Priest forever: “...We have
such a High Priest...” (vs. 1), One Who intercedes for us even now as we
consider the matter - God acting for us Himself, “...and not man”
(vs. 2).
Notice the assumption underlying the Apostle’s
thought: we are all sinners.
That is to say, across-the-board, everyone of us is opposite to
the Lord Jesus as described in verse 26: Christ is “holy,” and we
are anything but - being impure, corrupt, and debased with respect to what God
originally created us to be. We
have no ground for self-satisfaction, despite any one’s delusions. As a result, while Christ has shown
Himself to be harmless (vs. 26), we, as fellow human beings, plainly are
dangerously harmful - to ourselves, the planet, and one another. Not one of us remains unharmed by the
universal debasement that plagues us all and our societies.
But go on!
Jesus Christ was undefiled (vs. 26) by the world around Him. None of its allurements, charms, nor provocations attracted or effected Him. In this respect, although He is fully
human, yet He is separate from sinners (vs. 26). We, by contrast, are forever being
attracted to, seduced by, and aroused to commit many petty wrongs and sometimes
the most egregious crimes against God and man. Thus, Christ has “...become higher
than the heavens...” (vs. 26), while we languish daily
in moral squalor. What is
the answer to our plight?
God has answered our need as the Apostle outlines in this
passage. On those occasions when we
wrong others and, by God’s grace recognize our sins, we may well be moved
again by God’s grace to make amends.
We are forever trying to make things right. In our societies, we create courts and
law enforcement systems to straighten out the mess. But as the Apostle notes: “...the
law appoints as high priests men who have weakness...” (vs. 28) - like all of us!
Too often our straightening out only makes things worse. But notice what the Epistle says: these
poor efforts of ours are shadows of the eternally
effective thing God has done in Christ Jesus (vs. 28).
Every sin ever committed has been set right in the
Self-offering of Christ our God, “...for this He did once for all when He
offered up Himself” on the Cross (vs. 27). We have a perfect High Priest,
ministering in the heavenly sanctuary - “...the true tabernacle...”
(vs. 2).
He made the single offering that corrects all wrongs between us and
God. True, we cannot take back what
our sins have unleashed, but God has fixed an eternal and new starting point in
our relationship with Him. Thereby,
He has made it possible for us, even in this life, to help in straightening out
every mess we create. Let us
rejoice, for God has done this reliable act, “...and not man” (vs.
2).
O Thou Who didst not cease to do all things until Thou hadst brought us back to heaven and endowed us with Thy
kingdom which is to come, receive our thanks, help us, and save us!
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