We need to ask our Lord about the sacrifices we make every week...
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This passage is a quote from the Psalms. How much Old Testament scripture refers to the coming Messiah! The writer of Hebrews throws this in the face of the Pharisees. Nothing could be more opposite to their idea of "sacrifice" but they can't argue with scripture. Here the writer quotes from the scripture so they are stuck with it. How can they deny what is written in their accepted Word? The Messiah replaces their traditional sacrifices, which had to be repeated over and over!
We need to ask our Lord about the sacrifices we make every week when the plate comes around. Are they sufficient? We might even ask if our offering could be called a sacrifice! Something in us rebels against the idea that we have to humbly accept what someone else has done for us. It goes against our American spirit. But an offering doesn't make up for it. God is not saying we should not make sacrifices to him. That is a duty. He is saying that only Christ can make an acceptable sacrifice for our sin.
Christ the Messiah opens up much of the Old Testament and explains it in unique ways. He lives it out but only those with the Holy Spirit can understand this. Without the Spirit it is so easy to interpret passages like this to mean David and not the one promised to follow him. Jesus also introduced the Jews to a different kind of priesthood.
When we visited Morocco one year, our Muslim guide had many questions about our interpretations of scripture. Their "prophet" had as many interpretations as the Pharisees had in Jesus' day. When they asked about us believing in three Gods, I asked him, "How many men am I?" He said, "One, of course." But I told him that I am really at least three! I am a father and have children, but I am also a son and have a father. I am also a husband and have a wife. I even use different language when I address the three. That took him by surprise and he said he would have to think about that. Jesus used only parables, as he said, to open the meaning of God's Word, so we often have to think in terms of parables and analogies to get a clearer picture of God's word.
All Jews were looking forward to a Messiah, but they had trouble when he was standing in front of them, especially when he was quoting their word and finding things that they had not found -- or refused to find.
Don't we have trouble when someone quotes scripture differently than we expected? Sometimes it is the other fellow who is reading it wrong like the Mormons or Jehovah's Witnesses who come to our door. We should not invite them in unless we are familiar enough with the Bible and have the Holy Spirit to guide us in showing them the error of their interpretations.
We need to ask our Lord about the sacrifices we make every week when the plate comes around. Are they sufficient? We might even ask if our offering could be called a sacrifice! Something in us rebels against the idea that we have to humbly accept what someone else has done for us. It goes against our American spirit. But an offering doesn't make up for it. God is not saying we should not make sacrifices to him. That is a duty. He is saying that only Christ can make an acceptable sacrifice for our sin.
Christ the Messiah opens up much of the Old Testament and explains it in unique ways. He lives it out but only those with the Holy Spirit can understand this. Without the Spirit it is so easy to interpret passages like this to mean David and not the one promised to follow him. Jesus also introduced the Jews to a different kind of priesthood.
When we visited Morocco one year, our Muslim guide had many questions about our interpretations of scripture. Their "prophet" had as many interpretations as the Pharisees had in Jesus' day. When they asked about us believing in three Gods, I asked him, "How many men am I?" He said, "One, of course." But I told him that I am really at least three! I am a father and have children, but I am also a son and have a father. I am also a husband and have a wife. I even use different language when I address the three. That took him by surprise and he said he would have to think about that. Jesus used only parables, as he said, to open the meaning of God's Word, so we often have to think in terms of parables and analogies to get a clearer picture of God's word.
All Jews were looking forward to a Messiah, but they had trouble when he was standing in front of them, especially when he was quoting their word and finding things that they had not found -- or refused to find.
Don't we have trouble when someone quotes scripture differently than we expected? Sometimes it is the other fellow who is reading it wrong like the Mormons or Jehovah's Witnesses who come to our door. We should not invite them in unless we are familiar enough with the Bible and have the Holy Spirit to guide us in showing them the error of their interpretations.
