#Christ the High Priest

[apenitentialprayer]

When we receive the Eucharist, we experience God's salvation. We taste the love of God. Now we must give witness to God's love to all whom we meet. When we leave our church, we must share the love that we have experienced. As Saint Augustine says in one of his Easter homilies [227], we must become that which we have eaten. We must become bread that is broken to satisfy the hunger of the world.

Rev. Jude Winkler, O.F.M. Conv.

First Communion, by Maurice Denis.

[christliche-kunstwerke]

Christus vor dem Hohenpriester, 1617 von Gerrit van Honthorst (1617, Öl auf Leinwand)

[spacetrashpile]

2012 broadway revival of jesus christ superstar starring josh young as judas save me.... save me 2012 broadway revival of jesus christ superstar starring josh young as judas.....

[bibleversegarden]

Jesus Christ, Our Great High Priest, Redeemer, Savior and Lord

Jesus Christ, our Great High Priest, has atoned for our sins, once for all, and has reconciled us to God our Maker. 

God's perfect sacrificial Lamb without blemish, offered Himself for our redemption, and is the only Mediator between God and men.

John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

Ephesians 1:7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Hebrews 10:1-7 For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect.

For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.

Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: "Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. Then I said, 'Behold, I have come—In the volume of the book it is written of Me—To do Your will, O God.' "

Isaiah 53:4-6 Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Hebrews 10:14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. Hebrews 10:19-23 Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. (See also Hebrews Chapters 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 in its entirety.)

Matthew 27:50-53 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many. Ephesians 2:13-18 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.

(See Ephesians Chapter 2 in its entirety.) The good news of God's salvation is to be proclaimed in all the earth. Whosoever will may come, both Jew and Gentile; receive God's pardon and walk in newness of life. - A Walk In The Garden Devotions

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Christ's Perfect Sacrifice

Jesus our priest offered one sacrifice for sins for all time. Then he sat down at the right hand of God. — Hebrews 10:12 | New International Reader’s Version (NIRV) Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version® Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide. Cross References: Psalm 110:1; Mark 16:19; Ephesians 5:2; Hebrews 1:3; Hebrews 5:1; Hebrews 5:3; Hebrews 7:27

[queenlucythevaliant]

There is something about sitting still while someone else stabs you with needles - about helping her find the places where the injections need to go - that's a very little like Jesus going willingly to the cross.

[kdmiller55]

The Mercy Seat

10 “They shall make an ark of acacia wood. Two cubits and a half shall be its length, a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. 11 You shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and outside shall you overlay it, and you shall make on it a molding of gold around it. 12 You shall cast four rings of gold for it and put them on its four feet, two rings on the one side of it, and…

[craigtowens]

“We don’t have to pray majestic prayers in order for God to take notice. We can pray very human prayers, we can groan with real human pain, we can growl with real human anger. Our totally human Jesus understands us, and the totally divine Christ runs to help us! 

“Don’t try to sanitize your prayers to make them sound acceptable. Jesus didn’t! How awesome it is to have a High Priest who is both fully human and fully divine!” —Craig T. Owens

[reformedontheweb]

The Wednesday Word: Saved to the Uttermost

“Wherefore, He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever lives to make intercession for them.” — Hebrews 7:25. One of the biggest words in our language is the word “Uttermost.” No one has ever seen the uttermost nor travelled there. We have mapped the earth, pinpointed the stars and measured the distances between the planets, but in spite of all our…

[numbersbythebook]

Number 4, Dalet, Judah, Passover & Revelation 4

by Will Schumacher

I have posted on the number 4 a few times. You can view my old post on the number 4 or my post on the 4th book of Revelation. I also alluded to the number 4 in my prior post about the Euphrates.

The number 4 is the first divisible number. Physical creation is divided by the number 4. There are 4 seasons. There are 4 directions-north, south, east, and west. There are 4 elements - earth, wind, air, and fire.

In the Bible the number 4 seems to always be associated with division of the physical. Its first use is with the river flowing out of Eden dividing into 4 rivers:

Genesis 2:10 And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.

The 4th letter of the Hebrew alphabet is dalet. It means “door”. A door divides what is inside and what is outside.

Jesus says twice He is the door/dalet:

John 10:7 Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.

John 10:9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

As the door, Jesus says He is here to divide as a sword divides. Those who are His become a different creation with a different purpose in life.

Matthew 10:34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.

God’s sacred name, called the “Tetragrammaton”meaning “the four letters” is spelled with 4 letters, yod-hey-vav-hey. This is the primary way how God reveals Himself to creation.

Judah is the 4th son of Jacob. Judah’s name is spelled with the same 4 letters of God’s sacred name but the 4th letter dalet is inserted in the 4th position. Judah is thus spelled yod-hey-vav-dalet-hey.

This is seen as saying Judah is the door to God, the yod-hey-vav-hey. Jesus is the door of Judah, the lion of the tribe of Judah. Jesus told the Samaritan woman that salvation is from the jews/Judah:

John 4:22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.

Strong’s H702 =”four”.

There is only one verse with a gematria of 702 in the bible. It is about the tribe of Judah and it’s leader in the wilderness, Nahshon, the son of Amminadab.

Numbers 1:7 Of Judah; Nahshon the son of Amminadab.

This Nahshon is the brother and Amminadab is the father of Elisheba the wife of the first high priest. We are the wife of the High Priest, Jesus the Lion of the tribe of Judah.

Exodus 6:23 Aaron married Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

Nahshon has the same root as “serpent” and “brass”, as in the serpent of brass lifted upon a pole to save the people.

Numbers 21:9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived

Jesus referred to Himself as this serpent of brass lifted up for the salvation of His bride:

John 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:

Jesus is our Passover lamb. He is the door. In the Exodus story the blood of the lamb was put on the door posts.

Exodus 12:7 And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.

To the jewish people the Passover seder meal is tied to the number 4. There are 4 cups of wine. There are 4 questions asked. There are 4 sons.

There are 4 gospels that tell the story of Jesus and His redemption.

Jesus’ garment was divided into 4 pieces at His sacrifice as the Passover Lamb:

John 19:23 Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout.

Jesus was sacrificed on the altar of the cross which has 4 points. At the same time that he was nailed to the cross, the high priest tied the Passover lamb to the temple altar. All Israelites who killed the Passover lamb as prescribed by God in the old testament would have the blood of the lamb poured out at the altar.

Jesus is the door. Strong’s G 2374=”door”. Verse 2374 is about the altar.

Exodus 29:37 Seven days thou shalt make an atonement for the altar, and sanctify it; and it shall be an altar most holy: whatsoever toucheth the altar shall be holy.

The altar is foursquare with 4 horns.

Exodus 27:1-2 And thou shalt make an altar of shittim wood, five cubits long, and five cubits broad; the altar shall be foursquare: and the height thereof shall be three cubits. 2 And thou shalt make the horns of it upon the four corners thereof: his horns shall be of the same: and thou shalt overlay it with brass.

Judah, the altar, the Passover meal, and the atoning death of Christ as the Passover lamb are all tied to the number 4. Why? Because by his death we are physically divided when we come to faith. We walk through the door from being children of this world to being Sons of the Living God.

John, who wrote the 4th gospel, shows us this when he goes through a door in the 4th chapter of the book of Revelation and sees the church seated in the heavenlies in the 4th verse.

Revelation 4:4 And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.

Ephesians says we are already seated in the heavenlies:

Ephesians 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

In Revelation 4 there are 4 groups shown:

1) the yod-hey-vav-hey on the throne.

Revelation 4:2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.

2) the 24 elders; see Revelation 4:4 above.

3) the 7 Spirits of God:

Revelation 4:5 And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.

4) the 4 beasts:

Revelation 4:6 And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.

Notice what they praise God for, creation.

Revelation 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

As I posted on the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet and the 22 chapters of Revelation, each chapter is a reflection of its corresponding Hebrew letter. Revelation chapter 4 is about the physical creation and its division.

God relates to His creation as the yod-hey-vav-hey. The Holy Spirit is sent to His creation. The church/24 elders is God’s creation that has been divided from the physical to the spiritual, we have been spiritually reborn. The number 24 is an allusion to the 24 divisions of the Levitical priesthood of the OT. We as priests filled with the Holy Spirit represent the yod-hey-vav-hey to His creation. We sound the trumpet in Revelation 8. The 4 beasts are somehow related to God’s power/Spirit in action. The 4 banners of Israel’s 4 camps match the 4 faces, which match the distinct message of each of the 4 gospels. We see their associated work in Revelation 6.

[apenitentialprayer]

Christ is Truly One With Us, By His Flesh and Blood, and Also One With God, by Elizabeth Wang.

Eternal Truth united with us to reunite us with It. vérité éternelle . . . ne s'est unie avec nous . . . pour nous réunir avec elle.

Nicolas Malebranche, Conclusion of Book VI of The Search After Truth

[scripture-pictures]

[biblebloodhound]

It's In the Details (Exodus 28:29-38)

The fact of the details lets us know that the plan is important.

Aaron the High Priest “Whenever Aaron enters the Holy Place, he will bear the names of the sons of Israel over his heart on the breast-piece of decision as a continuing memorial before the Lord. Also put the Urim and the Thummim in the breast-piece, so they may be over Aaron’s heart whenever he enters the presence of the Lord. Thus Aaron will always bear the means of making decisions for the…

[sanctespiritus]

Day 08: The Priest

And there came a man of God to Eli and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Did I indeed reveal myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt subject to the house of Pharaoh? Did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? I gave to the house of your father all my offerings by fire from the people of…

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

A High Priest must be duly qualified and divinely appointed

1-3 Note that when a man is chosen as High Priest he is appointed on men’s behalf as their representative in the things of God—he offers gifts to God and makes the necessary sacrifices for sins on behalf of his fellow-men. He must be able to deal sympathetically with the ignorant and foolish because he realises that he is himself prone to human weakness. This naturally means that the offering which he makes for sin is made on his own personal behalf as well as on behalf of those whom he represents.

4 Note also that nobody chooses for himself the honour of being a High Priest, but he is called by God to the work, as was Aaron, the first High Priest in ancient times.

5 Thus we see that the Christ did not choose for himself the glory of being High Priest, but he was honoured by the one who said: ‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you’.

6 And he says in another passage: ‘You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek’.

Christ, the perfect High Priest, was the perfect Son

7-10 Christ, in the days when he was a man on earth, appealed to the one who could save him from death in desperate prayer and the agony of tears. His prayers were heard; he was freed from his shrinking from death but, Son though he was, he had to prove the meaning of obedience through all that he suffered. Then, when he had been proved the perfect Son, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who should obey him, being now recognised by God himself as High Priest “after the order of Melchizedek.

There is much food for thought here—but only for the mature Christian

11-14 There is a great deal that we should like to say about this high priesthood, but it is not easy to explain to you since you seem so slow to grasp spiritual truth. At a time when you should be teaching others, you need teachers yourselves to repeat to you the ABC of God’s Revelation to men. You have become people who need a milk diet and cannot face solid food! For anyone who continues to live on “milk” is obviously immature—he simply has not grown up. “Solid food” is only for the adult, that is, for the man who has developed by experience his power to discriminate between what is good and bad for him. — Hebrews 5 | J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS) The New Testament in Modern English by J.B Phillips copyright © 1960, 1972 J. B. Phillips. Cross References: Genesis 14:18; Exodus 28:1; Leviticus 9:7; Leviticus 16:6; Numbers 16;40; Numbers 18:7; 1 Kings 3:9; Psalm 2:7; Psalm 22:24; Psalm 110:4; Isaiah 29:24; Isaiah 50:5; Isaiah 53:5; Matthew 13:15; Matthew 26:39; Luke 13:32; John 8:54; Acts 7:38; Romans 15:17; 1 Corinthians 3:2; 1 Corinthians 14:20; Ephesians 4:13; Ephesians 4:18; Philippians 2:12; Hebrews 2:17; Hebrews 3:1; 1 Peter 2:2; 2 Peter 3:16

Hebrews 5 Bible Commentary - Matthew Henry (concise)

[superbdonutpoetry]

Whilst on the Subject of Reconciliation..

How reconciliation was obtained during Old Testament times: by atoning for sins with the blood of animal sacrifices. Leviticus 8:14-15And he brought the bullock for the sin offering: and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of the bullock for the sin offering. And he slew it ; and Moses took the blood, and put it upon the horns of the altar round about with his finger, and purified…