Year 1, Day 93: Leviticus 4

Categories Within The Sin Offering

Leviticus 4 gives us the words describing the Sin Offering.  This is an offering made for anyone who sins unintentionally.  One of the things that first struck me was the fact that there are different categories of sin offerings.  There is the category of when the priest sins, when the leader sins, and when a common person sins.  I think it is clear that while all people are indeed held to the same standard – after all, the law is the law – it is more egregious when someone who knows better sins against the law.  Therefore, what we see is not categories of sin but rather categories of people who sin.

We do the same thing today.  Think about how many sins are committed by people every day.  Most of them go by unnoticed – especially unpunished.  The really bad sins among the laity are tried in court and justice is handed out.  But when a leader sins – or the CEO of a company sins – the scale and public outcry increases substantially.  This is justified, and it is especially true if the sin is in a manner that the CEO or leader should have known better.

Now think about what happens when a pastor or a priest sins – especially in a manner that they should have known better.  The cry for justice goes up even more greatly.  I believe that this is justifiably so.  When people sin, they make themselves look bad and risk damaging their own life.  When leaders sin, then make themselves and those under them look bad in addition to risking damage their own life and the lives of those under them.  When religious leaders sin, they make themselves and everyone under them look bad in addition to unfortunately casting a shadow of doubt upon the righteousness of God.

Of course, we know in reality that God’s righteousness is not harmed by our sinfulness.  But the world doesn’t always see it that way.  The people looking to the spiritual leader as an example don’t always see it that way.  Therefore, I think this escalation of penance based upon the role of a person in the community is justified.

Entrance To The Tabernacl

For the rest of the blog, I’d like to speak a little New Testament here.  Have you ever wondered how many times Christ said something to the effect of “I am the door” or “I am the gate?”  Yes, we traditionally understood this to mean that “no one can get to the father but through Christ.”  (See John 14:6)

But I think there is also a symbolic meaning, too.  All of these sacrifices involving the death of an animal begin with “bring the animal to the entrance of the tent of meeting.” Remember that there was only one entrance into the tabernacle.  It was the place where the altar for sacrifices was located.  The sacrifices happened at the gate/door of the tabernacle/temple.

Thus, when Jesus is saying I am the gate/door, He is absolutely speaking about being the only way to the Father.  But I think He is also locating Himself at the place where religious sacrifices were offered up before God.  Jesus is the gate and the door because Jesus is the sacrificial offering for the real forgiveness and removal of our sins.  He is the only way to the Father because He is the only sacrifice that could truly atone for our sinfulness.  He is not only the gatekeeper; He is literally the gate of sacrifice through which we must walk in order to have our sins cleansed so we can find ourselves in the presence of God.

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