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Thursday – Second Week – OT1
Readings: Heb 7:25 – 8:6; Mk 3:7-12.
1/ Reading I: NAB Hebrews 7:25 Therefore, he is always able to save those who approach God through him, since he lives forever to make intercession for them. 26 It was fitting that we should have such a high priest: holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, higher than the heavens. 27 He has no need, as did the high priests, to offer sacrifice day after day, first for his own sins and then for those of the people; he did that once for all when he offered himself. 28 For the law appoints men subject to weakness to be high priests, but the word of the oath, which was taken after the law, appoints a son, who has been made perfect forever. 8:1 The main point of what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2 a minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle that the Lord, not man, set up. 3 Now every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus, the necessity for this one also to have something to offer. 4 If then he were on earth, he would not be a priest, since there are those who offer gifts according to the law. 5 They worship in a copy and shadow of the heavenly sanctuary, as Moses was warned when he was about to erect the tabernacle. For he says, “See that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.” 6 Now he has obtained so much more excellent a ministry as he is mediator of a better covenant, enacted on better promises.
2/ Gospel: NAB Mark 3:7 Jesus withdrew toward the sea with his disciples. A large number of people (followed) from Galilee and from Judea. 8 Hearing what he was doing, a large number of people came to him also from Jerusalem, from Idumea, from beyond the Jordan, and from the neighborhood of Tyre and Sidon. 9 He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him. 10 He had cured many and, as a result, those who had diseases were pressing upon him to touch him. 11 And whenever unclean spirits saw him they would fall down before him and shout, “You are the Son of God.” 12 He warned them sternly not to make him known.
I. THEME: Christ is God’s perfection.
In life, people must go through many trials and sufferings before they can reach perfection. The Vietnamese has an adage, “Failure is the mother of success.” The author of the Letter to the Hebrews mentioned this concept from the beginning of his Letter: “In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways to our ancestors through the prophets; in these last days, he spoke to us through a son, whom he made heir of all things and through whom he created the universe” (Heb 1:1-2). When the perfection comes, the imperfection is passed. The important thing is for people to recognize the perfection has come and to believe it, not to stubbornly hang on to the imperfection.
Today readings highlight Jesus’ important role in God’s mystery of salvation. In the first reading, the author of the Letter to the Hebrews emphasized on three important elements of Jesus’ sacrifice to redeem human sins: first, he is the priest according to the order of Melchizedek; secondly, he is the perfect sacrifice; and lastly, the sanctuary where he is offering his sacrifice is God’s sanctuary in heaven. In the Gospel, when people of many places heard of what Jesus has done, they came to him to hear his preaching and be healed by his power; even the evil spirits must fear him.
II. ANALYSIS:
1/ Reading I: Christ is both the perfect priest and sacrifice.
1.1/ Christ’s sacrifice is better and more holy than the Old Testament’s sacrifices: To prove this, the author listed out some of Jesus’ qualities, “It was fitting that we should have such a high priest: holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, higher than the heavens.”
(1) Christ offered his sacrifice once for all: He said, “He has no need, as did the high priests, to offer sacrifice day after day, first for his own sins and then for those of the people; he did that once for all when he offered himself.” In order to understand the author’s intention, we need to compare Jesus’ role as the high priest according to the order of Melchizedek with the high priest’s role according to the order of Aaron:
– The high priest: has a prominent role on the Day of Atonement, happened once a year. In this Day, he is permitted to enter the Most Holy to offer the sin offering for people. Before he can offer the sin offering for people, he must offer the sin offering for himself by his own sacrifice. Then, he can offer for people to expiate their sins. The Day of Atonement continues to happen every year.
– Christ, the High Priest: Since he is holy and perfect, he has no need to offer a sacrifice for himself. To atone people’s sins, he offered himself as their sin offering. This is the most holy and blameless sacrifice, there is no other sacrifice can be compared with. Because of this, he offered only once for all. Therefore, Christ is both the High Priest and the sacrifice; and because he lives forever, what happened on the Golgotha replaced the sin offering on the Day of Atonement. People have no need of any sacrifice according to the Old Testament’s law.
(2) Christ is the High Priest of both God and human beings: The author concluded, “For the law appoints men subject to weakness to be high priests, but the word of the oath, which was taken after the law, appoints a son, who has been made perfect forever.” In other words, Christ is both the perfect High Priest, and his sacrifice is also perfect because it is his own body.
1.2/ The sanctuary where Christ offered his sacrifice is the heavenly sanctuary: After talked about Christ’s priesthood and sacrifice, the author proceeded to the sanctuary where the sacrifice is offered. In the Old Testament, the sanctuary is the Most Holy of the Jerusalem temple. In the New Testament, the sanctuary is God’s throne, as the author said: “The main point of what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, a minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle that the Lord, not man, set up.”
(1) The sanctuary of the earthly temple is the place where God presents with people. This temple was built according to the pattern which God prescribed for Moses on the mountain; but this temple is only “a copy and shadow of the heavenly sanctuary.”
(2) God’s throne is the heavenly sanctuary: When Christ offers his sacrifice, he offers in “the true tabernacle that the Lord, not man, set up.”
In short, Christ “has obtained so much more excellent a ministry as he is mediator of a better covenant, enacted on better promises.”
2/ Gospel: People from everywhere came to Jesus.
The beginning of Jesus’ ministry was very successful due partly to his new teaching and partly to his healing on people. The good news spread out and many people of the Ancient Near East flowed to Jesus, as Mark reported: “Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great multitude from Galilee followed; also, from Judea and Jerusalem and Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from about Tyre and Sidon a great multitude, hearing all that he did, came to him.”
(1) Jesus healed people from all kinds of diseases: What attracts people the most is to be healed from their sickness. People came to Jesus to be healed because Jesus has God’s power, so that “all who had diseases pressed upon him to touch him.” If Jesus let people press upon each other like that, some accidents might happen; moreover, he came not only to heal, but also to teach people about God’s revelation, Jesus wisely told his disciples “to have a boat ready for him.”
(2) The unclean spirits knew Jesus is the son of God: The title “son of God” isn’t necessary meant Jesus’ divine nature; because this title was used to indicate many different people: the angels (Gen 6:2), the Israel was “a child of God” (Hos 11:1), the Israel king is the son of God, “I will be his father, and he shall be my son” (2 Sam 7:14), the righteous is the son of God (Sir 4:10)… The unclean spirits might recognize a holy power coming from Jesus which opposed to their uncleanliness and were about to destroy them, so they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” And he strictly ordered them not to make him known.
III. APPLICATION IN LIFE:
– Jesus is God’s perfection. We should believe in him and learn from him to know about God’s truth.
– Since we don’t have much time to learn everything, we should set priority for the more important and necessary thing which is the knowledge about God.
– Only the person who can bring salvation for us is Jesus through his sacrifice on the cross.