Joy to the World - Pt 14

Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man. For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.” But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. (Hebrews 8:1-7 ESV).

Some of the pictures coming from friends living in North Carolina are as spectacular as the sunset I’ve chosen for today’s devotional. We lived in that area for nearly six years and saw one snow like they have had over the weekend. Since we were not needed in our jobs during the few days it made travel a safety hazard, it was beautiful to just witness. Having been raised in Galveston, Texas, snow has always been an elusive attraction to me. Over the years I’ve been able to go to various places where the snow was no more than a draw for the tourists and a serious inconvenience for the natives. We’ve been to the Rockies and skied the slopes where the snow was often ten feet deep. I’ve traveled to Alaska and flown in a small plane across the Great Alaskan Range to the tundra on the coast of the Bearing Sea. These and other places have not diminished my fascination with a blanketed landscape of white snow. That being said, I still have one experience I have not been able to cross off my list. I have never been hunting in the snow. Some would say I haven’t missed anything at all! Yet, I think it would be exciting to actually walk through the woods when the ground was covered in snow. Some would warn me that it would only make it easier for me to get lost in the woods! I have been “lost” in the woods before. It isn’t a very pleasant experience. Walking in a direction you think is correct, only doubting the truth of that path the further you seem to trek deeper into the woods. It is quite a relief to get to a point when you seem to hear or see some familiar point in the distance. Then breaking through the think cover of the woods, when you actually know for sure you are safe is quite the relief. This is the point of the book of Hebrews in our reading today. Jesus has not just come to fit into the earthly system of priestly ministry as the best and final human priest, but he has come to fulfill and put an end to that system and to orient all our attention on himself ministering for us in heaven. The Old Testament tabernacle and priests and sacrifices were shadows. We were lost in those shadows, disoriented and unable to be sure of our direction. Now the reality has come, and the shadows pass away. That’s the way it is when Jesus comes to be our High Priest. That’s what Christmas is. Christmas is the replacement of shadows with the real thing!