Our Sermons

Bible Passage: Hebrews 1:1-3
Pastor: Pastor Berg
Sermon Date:  February 21, 2018

Did you happen to see the story in the news a while back about the completion of the Tzitz? “The what?” you may be asking. The Tzitz. Tzitz is the Hebrew word for the golden plate that was fastened to the headpiece worn by the high priest of Israel. The news that it was finished came from the Temple Institute in Jerusalem. This group is very carefully refashioning all the garments and vessels that were used in the temple and the tabernacle. Why, you ask? So that everything will be ready when a new high priest appears to lead the Jews  in worship in a new temple in Jerusalem. Sound familiar? If not, I’m not surprised. The story first appeared more than ten years ago—and that’s pretty much the point. There isn’t a any need to watch and wait for a new high priest to appear. The writer of the Hebrews makes that clear when he says, “We have a great high priest.” Notice that he says, “we have,” not we had, not we will have. We have a Great High Priest. That’s our focus during these midweek services. Jesus is Our Great High Priest. A High Priest who is qualified, by whom we’re purified, and with whom we will be glorified.

Hebrews begins abruptly—there’s no time spent on introductions or greetings; the author gets right to the point. But what we do know is that these Hebrews were Christians of Jewish background who were suffering for their faith. These Jewish believers were strongly tempted to turn back to the old ways of Judaism. No doubt, in their troubles they became nostalgic for the familiar old forms of Judaism. They were tempted to look back to what they had left behind to follow Jesus. The message to these wavering believers was simply this: You have something better in Jesus—he’s better than everything the people of Israel had in the past, as glorious as it was.

He says, “In the past, God spoke to our forefathers by the prophets at many times and in many ways. In these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son.” The writer directs his readers back to the Old Testament, back to their Jewish ancestors in Israel and reminds them that God spoke to their ancestors through men—great men to be sure, like Moses, David, and Isaiah—but still mere men. The men were used by God to deliver the promises of a great Savior from sin to come. These men delivered the gospel message over many years in many ways, however none of them had the whole picture. Like a puzzle, each contributed a piece or two, but the puzzle wasn’t completed until we see the picture of Jesus—his birth, life, ministry, death and resurrection. Get the point? “What the fathers most desired, what the prophets’ heart inspired, what they longed for many a year stands fulfilled in glory here.”

So the author of Hebrews urges his readers: Consider what you have in Christ. Your fathers believed the prophets—they were men of God. How much more should we stand firm in our faith because “in these last days, God has spoken to us by his Son.” Jesus is the true and eternal Son of God. Just listen to his credentials. “In these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact imprint of the divine nature. He sustains all things by his powerful word.” Notice how the author heaps up expressions to magnify the greatness of Christ in language that has been adopted by our Christian creeds, especially the Nicene Creed, “God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God…Through him all things were made.” The writer’s point is clear to his wavering readers: Don’t turn a deaf ear to God as he speaks to you through his own Son. Christ is fully qualified to speak to you of heavenly things—listen to him!

Above all, the author demonstrates these credentials to show that Christ is truly The Great High Priest. Notice what he adds right after that impressive list of credentials. “After he had provided purification for sins…” That phrase would have immediately caught the Hebrews attention. They knew that the main work of the high priest was to provide purification for sins. Their most important day of the year, the Day of Atonement, demonstrated that vividly. God told his people in Leviticus 16, “On this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the Lᴏʀᴅ, you will be clean from all your sins.” Only Jesus, as the true Son of God, is qualified as our Great High Priest. But it’s not only his qualifications, but his actions that make him our Great High Priest.

As you observe Jesus celebrating the Last Supper, you might wonder whether he should qualify as our Great High Priest. After all, you see the One described in such glowing terms on his hands and knees washing his disciples feet. But before we’re too quick to dismiss Jesus, we should remember again the Great Day of Atonement. Ordinarily, the high priest wore fancy garments that made him look almost like a king, but on the Day of Atonement, on the day he made purification for sin, the high priest looked more like a slave than a king.

In the same way, as Jesus the Great High Priest prepared to provide purification for the sins of the world, once for all, he laid aside his garments of glory. Now, it’s true that Jesus didn’t walk around in fancy garments normally. You see, it wasn’t clothes that Jesus was laying aside here as he washed his disciples’ feet. No, Jesus laid aside the fill and constant use of his divine power and glory to serve his disciples and us. Luther says it well in Hymn 377: “No garb of pomp or power he wore; a servant’s form like mine he bore to lead the devil captive.”

So we see the Son of God down on the floor, washing the feet of his disciples. But there is much more here than meets the eye. In his act of washing his disciples’ feet, we have a foreshadowing of another purification. We see that in Jesus’ words to Peter, who objected when Jesus wanted to wash his feet. “Unless I wash you,” Jesus said, “you have no part with me.” Clearly Jesus wasn’t talking only about washing feet; he was talking about needing to be washed clean of sin. To provide that purification, Jesus would stoop far lower than the floor to wash feet. He would stoop to dying in shame on Calvary’s cross, and by his death there, he would provide purification for the sins of the world—yours and mine.

This is the great purification Jesus the Great High Priest provides—the purification from sins. What sins? Consider the scene in the upper room. Doesn’t what we see of the Lord with his disciples look a bit like our homes sometimes? At your home, do you ever see one person on hands and knees doing the dirty work while others are either sitting back and watching or avoiding helping at all costs? What about at church? Does it happen that the work is done by a few, while many sit back watching or complaining about the way the work is being done? It is not to be that way with Jesus’ followers. Jesus says, “I have set you an examples that you should do as I have done for you.” Scripture says, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” Yet how easy it is to be like the disciples and act at home like jobs like putting away the laundry or washing the dishes or cleaning up around the house are for someone else to do. How easy it is to act all proud and important at church, but then leave time-and energy-consuming projects at church to others and give the impression that our time and energy are so much more precious than theirs. Those are our sins.

We need to be purified from our sinful pride and laziness and the sins that result from it. The only one qualified to purify us from our sins is Jesus Christ our Great High Priest. He is the one who not only bowed down to wash his disciples’ feet, but stooped to carry a cross. He was the one who “was pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities.” By his blood that flowed, by the blood of God’s one and only son, “the radiance of God’s glory and the exact imprint of the divine nature,”  by whom the universe was made and by whose powerful Word it is still sustained; by the blood of Jesus applied to our hearts and mouths and hands and feet by faith, we are cleansed from every sin. Instead of objecting to his purifying like Peter did, let us plead for it as David did. “Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me of my sin…Wash me and I will be whiter than snow.”

The hymn of praise to Christ in these first three verses of Hebrews closes with these words: “he took his seat at the right hand of the Majesty on high.” “A head that once was crown with thorns is crowned with glory now.” Christ’s glorification and exaltation assures us that his work of providing purification for our sins was completely successful. By exalting Christ, God confirmed him to truly be the Great High Priest who completed the work of purifying every sinner from every sin. This was Jesus’ goal. This is what moved him to “endure the cross and scorn its shame.”

But wonder of wonders, Jesus’ exaltation wasn’t just for him alone. Jesus made it clear that the glory that awaited him beyond the cross and the grave was not for him alone. Before he went to the cross he prayed: “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am so that they may see my glory—the glory you gave me because you loved me before the world’s foundation.” Our Savior’s great exaltation inspires us! God knows the weakness of our flesh—that if all we heard about the Christian life is that it requires us to follow Christ’s example and humble ourselves in self-denying service to others as long as we live, we would soon tire of such a way of life. But what do we hear? Where does God point us? To Jesus own glorification and promises: “If anyone serves me, let him follow me. And where I am, there my servant will be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.” Think about that: the Father will honor the one who serves Jesus. Is this glorification a reward that we earn by humbly imitating Christ? No, that could never be. Look at how poorly we serve and imitate Christ! Our selfishness, our pride, and our disobedience certainly disqualifies us from earning any reward. But because Jesus humbled himself, because Jesus purified us from our sins by his blood, we can be assured that we will be glorified with him! May the glory promised to us by God’s grace inspire us to more humble service to others where we live and work and worship! Amen.