Act 2: The Priest Prepares

When Aaron enters the sanctuary area, he must follow these instructions fully. He must bring a young bull for a sin offering.   Leviticus 16:3

Aaron, the first high priest, had led God’s people into the worship of the golden calf. No doubt he tried to honor God and live by the commandments, but before he could enter the presence of God to deal with the people’s sins, his first priority was to deal with his own.

A bull was brought forward and slaughtered in public view. Then Aaron took some of the blood behind the curtain into the Most Holy Place, where God had said he would come. There, Aaron sprinkled the bull’s blood as a sacrifice for his own sins.

This must have made a powerful impression. The high priest was saying, “Before we get to offering a sacrifice for the people, I want to recognize publicly that I stand in need of a sacrifice myself.” He was saying, like every other priest, pastor, or religious leader of any denomination would always have to say, “I have sins of my own, and therefore I am in no position to deal with yours.”

As we read through the Gospels, we find that Jesus Christ lived a life that was different from any other life that has ever been lived. He did the will of the Father and fulfilled all the work that the Father had given him to do.

When Jesus asked his enemies if they could find even one sin in him, they responded by calling him names, but not by naming any sins (see John 8:46-48). This high priest was unlike any other. He did not need to offer a sacrifice for his own sin, because he had committed no sin (see 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:22).

Jesus was what every other priest wished he could be. He lived the life that no other high priest was able to live, and his perfect life qualified him to achieve the atonement that all the other high priests could only illustrate.

For further reading, see Hebrews 5