Song: We Three Kings
Priests get a lot of bad press. Some of it, sadly, is warranted. The news is full of awful stories documenting the abuse of children and vulnerable adults at the hands of men and women who are meant to be serving and protecting them. The church fares little better in the news cycle. It is all too common to hear of men and women left hurting by churches that failed to demonstrate the love and goodness of God.
But, this is what the Bible tells us all of humanity was waiting for. Just as Israel were waiting for a good shepherd rather than a bad shepherd, so too were they waiting for a good priest.
In the Old Testament, the priests were the ones who risked their lives for the people. They were responsible for bringing a sinful people before God. They carried the twelve tribes of Israel into God's presence on their breastplate (Exodus 28:15-30) They took the blood of animal sacrifices into the holiest part of the temple, the Holy of Holies, to cleanse the people of their sin.
The only problem was that the priests were sinful themselves. They could not ever really deal with the problem of our separation from God because they too were separate from him; they too knew that they could not stand before a perfect God; they too were fearful of coming into his terrifyingly and beautifully Holy presence because they knew that his holiness would not endure their sin.
This isn't a picture of God that is held up very often at Christmas time; we coo over the baby in the manger and forget that our God is a consuming fire. (Hebrews 12:29) We forget that Isaiah was so terrified of standing before God that he thought he was going to die (Isaiah 6:5). We forget that the most normal response in the bible to encountering God is to fall flat on your face because you know that he is worthy and you are not. We have no right to come into God's presence and no means of getting there by ourselves.
And yet, on that first Christmas, the Magi gave Jesus the gift of frankincense because they knew he was going to be a priest (Exodus 30:23, 34); he was the one we needed to come to give an altogether better kind of sacrifice which would deal with the problem of sin forever. He would give himself.
And, he would keep on giving of himself. The incredible thing about Jesus' priesthood is that it isn't just about the one act of the cross. He died to bring us near to God, to bring us back to him, but that isn't the only way in which he is a priest. His priestliness isn't defined by a single act of sacrifice. He is still a priest. Even now, he sits beside the Heavenly Father and he prays for his people. He prays for us to draw near. He prays for us to have faith. He prays like he did for Peter that we will keep going even when it seems impossible to do so. (Luke 22:32) He prays that we will know him better. He prays that we will be with him. He prays for us in our every hurt and weakness. At this very moment Jesus is interceding for the people he loves. (Romans 8:34)
Reflection: Sometimes, when I pray with my daughter she says that she wants me to pray instead. And of course I do. But I also, gently, remind her that Jesus loves the unique sound of her voice; he is waiting for a conversation with her; her prayers, and worries and thoughts and dreams have a special place in Jesus' heart.
Spend a few moments this morning in conversation with Jesus - our High Priest - - knowing that we can approach his throne of Grace with confidence, knowing that we can run to him and spill our hearts out to him, knowing that he is praying for us even as we pray to him. (Hebrews 7:25)
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