Advent Reflection

Zechariah 6:12-13 (New International Version)
“Tell him this is what the LORD Almighty says: 'Here is the man whose name is the Branch, and he will branch out from his place and build the temple of the LORD. It is he who will build the temple of the LORD, and he will be clothed with majesty and will sit and rule on his throne. And he will be a priest on his throne. And there will be harmony between the two.'”



During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.” -Hebrews 5:7-10

Advent reflection: Arriving

For we affirm His divinity so joined and united with His humanity that each retains its distinctive nature unimpaired, and yet those two natures constitute one Christ- JOHN CALVIN

As the snow falls down outside and the evidence of winter approaches, my soul is stilled by the wonder of advent…the arriving…the intersection of the divine unto the earth. For the son of God came into this world as a wonderful child. The whole of history hinges on this arrival. The promise, the hope, the mediator and the destination on a small village, inside a manger…with two reluctant parents, awestruck shepherds and animals…among hay and manure, the wonderful Lamb of God came…

Upon his arrival I am moved by the singular devotion of Christ to mediate fallen man to a holy God in the form of person;a person with a name.

Emmanuel. Yeshua.

I wonder sometimes how it would change us if we were there with the odor of animals, leaning next to the shepherds and beholding this little Yeshua as he pierced the silence with a cry. This body of flesh had taken form and what was eternal and boundless was confined in this wrinkled baby and wrapped in ragged cloths.

I wonder how we would be changed if we understood the depths He traveled. We would begin to see the distance He traveled? In the midst of our misguided sense of worship and pilgrimage we spend most of our time in our personal agendas or creating our ministries and forget the beauty of this child and how we don’t adore the God who walked away from His heavenly throne to be present here…

To be here with us and to save us. Emmanuel. Yeshua.

In Hebrews, the writer gives an amazing picture of Jesus and his office as a King/Priest.

Louis Berkhof writes that whereas a prophet represents God before men, a priest represents man before God. I will focus on the priesthood…in this entry…

Wayne Grudem gives this further description of the priestly office: "In the Old Testament, the priests were appointed by God to offer sacrifices. They also offered prayers and praise to God on behalf of the people. In so doing they `sanctified' the people or made them acceptable to come into God's presence, albeit in a limited way during the Old Testament period. In the New Testament Jesus becomes our high priest."

There is a hint of it predicts that Christ would be our priest (Psalm 110:4), and the priest in the Old Testament was a first source of the echo of Christ's priesthood.

The book of Hebrews contains teaching on Christ's priesthood, calling Jesus "the Apostle and High Priest of our confession" (3:1) and our "great high priest" (4:14). As scholars have underscored this when they present Christ acts as our priest in two ways, the first way during His humiliation (as a sacrifice), the second way during His exaltation (as a mediator).

In the days of the Israelites, the priests had the special office of approaching God, and of speaking and acting in behalf of the people. In Hebrews 5, it teaches us that a priest is taken from among men to be their representative, is appointed by God, is active before God in the interests of men, and offers gifts and sacrifices for sins. He also makes intercession for the people.

The priestly work of Christ was, first of all, to be a sacrifice for sin. On that fateful Passover dinner, the man, the Lamb of God had to proceed towards the will of the Father. He became the Priest and the atonement. As part of the Passover meal, there is no Lamb but rather the wine and the bread…Second, he was also the Priest as presenting the sacrifice with the shedding of blood.

Atonement

Matt Perman says, “He presents His sacrifice to God, on the ground of it claims all spiritual blessings for His people, defends them against the charges of Satan, the law, and conscience, secures forgiveness for everything justly charged against them, and sanctifies their worship and service through the operation of the Holy Spirit. This intercessory work is limited in character; it has reference only to the elect, but includes all the elect, whether they are already believers or still live in unbelief, John 17:9, 20.”

My prayer is that as we meditate through advent, that we remember these approaching days towards advent of this birth. I am reminded that with every arrival there is a departure, and as He left everything so that we can eat at the dinner table with Him for eternity…He became mortal so we can conquer death along with Him and it all started with this troubling scene of this child…this child who will reconcile us as priest…