Jesus, Our Great High PriestSample

Jesus, the Perfect Offering

We all make sacrifices of time, energy, money, and other resources to support those we love. The wonderful truth is that Jesus sacrificed Himself for us. So great was His love that He died for sins He hadn’t committed. Jesus, our great High Priest, has made atonement for our sins once and for all. We don’t have to make continuous sacrifices or involve ourselves in any traditions that are not rooted in the understanding that He is the perfect sacrifice. He offered Himself in our place and took the punishment we were supposed to take. Jesus invites us into a new covenant with Him: a permanent, intimate relationship in which we’re guaranteed that He has completely covered the debt we owe.

Traditional sacrifices still practised in some cultures are not unlike the process the ancient Jews followed, returning over and over to the temple where the high priests would make sacrifice after sacrifice. The people were never fully and finally in right standing with God. Of course, temple sacrifice was a foreshadowing of something – or Someone – to come: the ultimate sacrifice, Jesus.

Today’s passage in Hebrews succinctly explains the better covenant offered by Jesus. The former high priests were limited by death, they offered sacrifices daily, and they were weak. Jesus, on the other hand, holds His priesthood permanently, and He lives forever. He is innocent of sin and perfect in power.

Perhaps you’ve read The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis, or seen the movie? Aslan voluntarily offers his life in the place of guilty, traitorous Edmund. We’re all Edmund in that story, guilty as charged and deserving of death, but God being rich in mercy sent the perfect offering in our place so that we may be reconciled to Him. God desires a relationship with us, so He sent His Son, Jesus, to reconcile us to Himself. Salvation was always His idea, not ours, and He made a way.

Thank God that Jesus is the only perfect sacrifice for your sin. You don’t need to make offerings to ancestors or anyone else. Jesus, your everlasting High Priest, offered Himself once and for all. As you surrender to Him, He invites you into a life-giving relationship with God the Father, and your inheritance is eternal.