Over the past few weeks, and also for the next few weeks, our second  reading comes from the letter to the Hebrews.  It is called the letter to the Hebrews because it was most likely a letter written to Jewish ( or Hebrew) Christians who were facing a time of severe persecution.  What the letter sets out to do is to show how Jesus Christ is the full and final revelation of God –the completion of all the Old Testament promises.    When your life is on the line – as was the case with the recipients of this letter – it is important to be sure that the one whom you are risking your life for, can be depended upon, both for this life and for the next.  

So the author begins his letter with those beautiful and reassuring words about the eternal nature of Jesus Christ – “In the past God spoke to our ancestors many times and in many ways through the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us through his Son.  He is the one through whom God created the universe, the one whom God has chosen to possess all things at the end. He reflects the brightness of God’s glory and is the exact likeness of God’s own being, sustaining the universe with his powerful word.”

 The letter to the Hebrews shows Christ’s superiority over all created beings; his superiority over Moses and Joshua, the superiority of Christ’s priesthood, of Christs’ new covenant, of Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross, and the primacy of faith.  So  the Letter to the Hebrews is worth our reading and our reflection probably far  more often than we do.

One of the key descriptions used of Jesus in the Letter to the Hebrews, is of Jesus as our High Priest.  Now, unless we have seen Jesus Christ Superstar, or Godspel, or read the Bible, we wont have much of a clue as to who or what a High Priest is or does- because today, we no longer use a system of sacrifices as the means by which we try to get right with God. And the High Priest was the one who was involved with those sacrifices and did all of that.      But the reason we no longer use that system of offering sacrifices is that 2000 years ago, Jesus brought it all to an end, he completed it, fulfilled it, and did away with it, through the offering of Himself as a perfect sacrifice, on our behalf.   The concept of sacrifice, and the offering of sacrifices, in one way or another, has throughout the world – and for all of history – been a recognised and part of an almost inborn requirement and necessity in our search to re-establish a right relationship with God.   We often think that if we “give up” something, or do something special for God then we will be more acceptable to him than we presently are.   Even that has the idea of sacrifice in it.

In the Old Testament we see the prescribed way of dealing with our sin as the offering of animals and birds as sacrifices.   The one who dealt with these sacrifices and offered the rituals associated with them was the Priests. And from among the priests each year was appointed the High Priest.

Once a year the High priest represented, and prayed for, the whole nation before God.   He, and he alone, was allowed to pass through a large veil or curtain which screened off the Holy of Holies from the rest of the Temple – signifying the separation of a Holy God from sinful man – and there he prayed for and offered sacrifices for the nation.  No one else was allowed to approach that close into the presence of God. When Jesus died on the Cross, the gospels tell us that that veil, or curtain in the Temple was torn in two. Symbolically, that which separated God and man was now removed. Through Jesus Christ – and his death on the cross - the way had been opened for anyone and everyone to now come directly into the presence of God.  So Jesus is seen here in the Letter to the Hebrews, as the High Priest who comes directly into God’s presence for two purposes.

            1. As High Priest, Jesus Intercedes for us.  On the Day of atonement – the One day of the year when the High Priest entered into the Holy of Holies – he prayed for the nation. He represented the nation before God.     When Jesus ascended into heaven ten days after the resurrection, this is seen as his High Priestly moment when he returns into the Holy of Holies – heaven itself – is seated at the right hand of Father – and there forever – intercedes for us. In verse 25 it says that Jesus is “able, now and always, to save those who come to God through him, because he lives for ever to plead with God for them.”   St.John records one of Jesus’ prayers in which Jesus prays – “Father, I thank you that you always hear me.”   Because Jesus came from the Father, lived a sinless life  and returned  to the Father, we can be sure that his prayers for us are effectual. So when we pray to God we know that our prayers are being taken up by Jesus – and presented by Him to the Father.  Because Jesus is the eternal High Priest we know that even now Jesus is bringing our needs, or concerns, our cares, our worries before the Father who loves us with an eternal love.  So Jesus is our High Priest who intercedes for us. Praise God that we are never without someone praying for us!

2. The Second role of a High Priest was to make atonement for sin.  The High Priest offered the prescribed sacrifices which symbolised the need for an exchange wherever sin was involved. The animal sacrifices were the outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual repentance and surrender of the individual to God.  Here, in the offering of a sacrifice was a recognition of the price of sin and the cost of restoration and redemption.  But instead of offering animal sacrifices – he offered himself as a “full, perfect, sufficient, sacrifice  - oblation and satisfaction, for the sins of the whole world.”      But for that to take effect  for ourselves – for us to benefit from Christ’s offering of himself  - then we must personally and individually place our faith in the value and effectiveness of Jesus Christ as that perfect sacrifice.

So Jesus made atonement for our sin. Jesus was the perfect sacrifice because there was no fault, or sin or pride in him. His perfect sinless life was therefore able to be a perfect substitute for us. The letter to the Hebrews puts it this way – “vs26.  “Jesus, then , is the High Priest who meets our needs. He is holy, he has no fault or sin in him; he has been set apart from sinners and raised above the heavens. He is not like other high priests; he does not need to offer sacrifices every day for his own sins first and then for the sins of the people. He offered one sacrifice, once and for all, when he offered himself.” (Vs 26-27).

Jesus, as the Letter to the Hebrews points out, is our perfect high priest.

He Intercedes for us; He has made atonement for our sin. He has done for us all that is needed for us to be reconciled to God.  The decision as to whether or not we will accept all that Christ has done for us, is for each of us to decide and to act upon. What, for me, is assuring is the words  - I quote – that “He is able now and always, to save those who come to God through him.” Vs. 25.  

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