Have A Seat

Unlike those other high priests, [Jesus] does not need to offer sacrifices every day.   Hebrews 7:27

The Old Testament high priest had a tough job. Sacrifices were offered for specific sins, and since there were always new sins, there was a constant need for sacrifices. Today we use the phrase, “A woman’s work is never done.” You could definitely say that about the high priest.

Old Testament law required that people who sinned unintentionally must come to the priest with a goat as a sin offering (see Leviticus 4:27-31). The priest would then pour the blood of the animal around the base of the altar, remove the fat from the animal, and burn the carcass on the altar. Some job—I’m truly thankful I was called to be a New Testament pastor, not an Old Testament priest!

Some jobs involve a lot of repetition and can become boring, but the work of the priest was about as repetitive as they come. Imagine the priest at the end of a hard day’s work offering prayers and sacrifices. It’s three minutes to five, and he’s just about to go home when John Doe turns up with his scrawny goat and announces that he has sinned unintentionally. Not again!

The priest asks John what he has done this time. It’s a familiar routine. The priest offers the sacrifice, and John goes back to his tent, but the priest knows it won’t be long before John is back with another goat.

The relentlessness of the high priest’s work was illustrated by the way the Tabernacle was designed. The main area was where the priests operated—there was a lamp and a table with some bread, but no chair. The priest could never sit down in the Tabernacle because his work was never done.

Now God has given us a High Priest who made a sacrifice for the sins of his people “once for all” (Hebrews 7:27). In Old Testament times, the priests offered one sacrifice for one sin. But Jesus has offered one sacrifice for every sin. And after his death, resurrection, and ascension, “he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven” (1:3). He sat down because his work was completed. No other sacrifice for sin would ever be needed again.

For further reading, see Leviticus 4