The first lesson starts in a strange place, speaking of the
two sons of Aaron who came near the Lord and died but it doesn’t give the
context for that statement. These two
sons, Nadab and Abihu, brought strange fire to the altar of the Lord, fire they
got from another altar rather than the fire with which God lighted the original
altar of sacrifice. They were bringing
other gods into the mix (Leviticus 10).
Aaron is told that in order to come into the holy of holies he must obey
the commands given him or he would die.
He is told to make offering as atonement for his own sins and then given
specific instructions for the sacrifice, including what we know as the
scapegoat who is released to Azazel, the demonic presence. This is the Yom Kippur service, the Day of
Atonement, when the nation mourns its sin and asks the Lord to forgive them
those things for which no other sacrifice is possible. Sins of a high hand, deliberate and willing
sin, fall into this category. When Aaron
goes into the holy of holies he takes the blood with him as expiation for those
sins and it may not be forgiven depending on their repentance and Aaron’s
preparation. Sin is serious business and
the judgments of God are sealed by the blood of the sacrifice.
Jesus uses harsh language to say that true righteousness is
the opposite of the practices of the leaders.
A hypocrite was literally someone who put on a mask so that their real
face wasn’t shown, only the face they wanted to present to the world. The word was related to the theater. Jesus says that a hypocrite is indeed an
actor, one who pretends to be something he really isn’t. We are called to acts of charity, to prayer,
and to fasting, but those things are between us and God. They are not to be done for show or credit,
in order that others might think well of us, they are to be done because they
are commanded of us. That does not mean
that we are never to make known that we do these things, but they are to point
to obedience not to our magnanimity.
Obedience doesn’t get praise in most cases. The baseball player, Cal Ripken, Jr was a guy
who gained notoriety for showing up and playing every day, he thought it was
just his responsibility to do his job.
This passage tells us what happens at the end of time. The dead in Christ will rise first and then
we will join them. The language used
implies not that the dead remain behind until this day but that they are
already raised, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. Paul uses the language of sleep because we do
not believe that we are indeed dead, we have eternal life. Dead is finality and the end of this life is
not final for us. Jesus has gone ahead
and provided the sacrifice we need to escape judgment. Now we can live for Him who died for us.
Come, thou incarnate Word,
gird on thy mighty sword,
our prayer attend!
Come, and thy people bless,
and give thy word success,
Spirit of holiness,
on us descend!
gird on thy mighty sword,
our prayer attend!
Come, and thy people bless,
and give thy word success,
Spirit of holiness,
on us descend!
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