Year 7, Day 105: Leviticus 16

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Do you ever wonder why there is all of this focus on sacrificing in the book of Leviticus?  I do.  I wonder it just about every chapter that I read.  I think I wonder it because verses like Hosea 6:6 and Psalm 51:15-17 are some of my favorite verses in the Old Testament.  Why would a God who detests our sacrifices so often spend all of this time telling us to make sacrifices?

I truly think that all of this focus on sacrifice is actually an attempt to get us to see Christ.  After all, let’s look at one really important detail of this chapter.  A sacrifice is made for the sinfulness of the high priest.  Let’s see where that point of sacrifice leads us.

The high priest is sinful.  Don’t forget that in Christ, we are all God’s high priests.  So we can put ourselves in the place of this high priest.  We are sinful.  We therefore need a sacrifice for our sinfulness.  Christ is the sacrifice for all of His high priests.

What this point does is actually turn this passage onto us as well as Christ.  The focus on the sacrificing focuses us on Christ.  That focus inevitably should lead back to us and how Christ’s sacrifice impacts our reality.  So let’s continue to look at what happens to the high priest.

Notice that the high priest is washed.  Some may think of this as a symbol of baptism, and perhaps on one level it is.  However, I think that it is a little more literal than this.  In Christ, we are washed clean.  Christ purifies us.

Then, notice that the high priest puts on his priestly garments.  In Christ, we are given new clothing to wear.  No longer do we need to deal with our filthy sinful rags of this world.  We can replace our filthy unrighteousness with His righteousness that He gives to us.

Then, the priest goes out and works among the people, helping them to deal with their unrighteousness.  Because of the sacrifice of Christ, we can meaningfully participate with Him in work of redemption.  This is part of the point of this chapter – which starts with a sacrifice.

In the end, it is uncomfortable for many of us to read through all of these words about sacrifices.  We often question where it leads and why we should care.  The reality is that we should care because these are the very chapters that lay the foundation for what Christ came to do in us.  When we red these chapters, we know that this is where our salvation began.

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