Introduction
At
this season each year it is the solemn joy of Christians to take time to
meditate on the death of the Lord Jesus. How, at the season of Passover He
voluntarily laid down His life as a sacrifice for sin, in accordance with the
will of His Father, before rising on the third day. And the more we consider
His death and resurrection, the more we marvel at what a mighty achievement it
was. How the events that took place over that particular Passover were
according to the Scriptures in every detail. Jesus, Himself, confirmed it. Luke
records it for us:
“Then
He took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to
Jerusalem, and all things which are written through the prophets about the
Son of Man will be accomplished. “For He will be handed over to the
Gentiles, and will be mocked and mistreated and spit upon, and after they have
scourged Him, they will kill Him; and the third day He will rise again.””
(Luke 18:31–33
John
also remarked on it when he recorded the final moments of the life of the
Saviour:
“After
this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, to
fulfil the Scripture, said, “I am thirsty.” A jar full of sour wine was
standing there; so they put a sponge full of the sour wine upon a branch of
hyssop and brought it up to His mouth.
Therefore
when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He
bowed His head and gave up His spirit.” (John 19:28–30)
While
these verses encapsulate, in just a few phrases, the fullness of the
accomplishment of the Redeemer, an examination of Scriptures will reveal how
that which appeared impossible in its conception was not only made possible,
but carried out in every detail by the One who was determined to:
“render powerless
him who had the power of death, that is, the
devil, and free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery
all their lives.” (Heb. 2:14–15)
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The Work
of Christ
The
Superior Sacrifice
Offered by
A Superior
High Priest
In a
Superior
Sanctuary
Establishing
A Superior
Covenant
The education of the nation of Israel was extensive,
detailed and comprehensive. It was founded by covenant which established a
priestly system that was meticulously organized and designed to function
continuously. At its heart was a purpose-built Sanctuary where the priesthood
could operate as mediators between the nation and the Lord. In addition to
daily offerings, the divinely inspired Law provided for a calendar of
pre-ordained festivals where Israel could articulate their appreciation for the
bounty and mercy of their God. All of these, the Priesthood, the Sanctuary, the
Sacrifices and the Festivals, were needed to prepare Israel for the coming of
their Messiah, the One whose multi-faceted ministry would require Him:
to be a High Priest of the order
of Melchizedek,
operate in the heavenly Sanctuary
where He would offer a superior
sacrifice
in accordance with the
pre-ordained timetable
to
inaugurate a superior covenant.
The greatness and glory of the
Lord Jesus is seen in that He fulfilled in every detail that which was
prefigured by the priestly culture of Israel.
The Death of the
Messiah
His was no ordinary death: the
biographical part of the New Testament speaks of His dying as being different
to the death of any other individual, even different to those who were executed
at the same time and in the same location. What was the difference? His decease
is put forward as a death that He accomplished (see Luke 9:31; cf.
12:50). Not in the terms of a
suicide but rather the ordering of events to fulfill those necessary
pre-conditions published by the Creator God for a substitutionary sacrifice
that would provide the grounds for the reconciliation of sinful humanity.
Others might suffer death but He accomplished His. His decease had to be at a
very specific time, on a very specific date, in a very specific place, in a
very specific way. Although it seemed He was always in imminent danger of
losing His life, He declared that none of the attempts on His life would
succeed until He presented Himself to die in Jerusalem, on a day that He chose,
at a time that He selected, in a pre-ordained location as a ransom for
humanity. In other words His death was the sacrificial offering that in itself
satisfied every demand of a holy God and needed nothing further to perfect it,
while at the same time it ministered meaning to all of Israel’s previous
sacrifices.
Moreover, a sacrifice needs a
priest to offer it. Instructions contained in the Bible declare that a
qualified, gifted and called intermediary was necessary for the offering to be
acceptable to God. The wonder of the cross is, that in the purposes of God, the
office of priest is occupied by the same One who was the sacrifice. If we may
give a particular emphasis to the words of Abraham when he was on a similar
quest; he said, “My son, God will
provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering” (Gen. 22:8,
KJV). Jesus, Israel’s Messiah, as High Priest brought the perfect sacrifice
(Himself) and lay down His life for the sins of the world; then continuing in His
office as High Priest entered the presence of God with the blood of the
sacrifice, that is, His own precious blood. The objection that He was not of
the tribe of Levi and the family of Aaron is overcome by the knowledge that
there was another order of High Priest in the Bible; an order that is
identified as being superior to the Aaronic order; an order that allows for a
King/Priest. It is the order of Melchizedek. The Scriptures put forward the
case that Jesus of Nazareth was called to be High Priest of that order (Hebrews
7).
The Purpose of the
Law
As we have said, the Priesthood
of Israel, at the heart of the Torah (Law), was designed and authorized by God
to prepare the nation for the coming of their Messiah. Paul
spells out its purpose -
“the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ,
so that we may be justified by faith.” (Gal. 3:24).
The image proposed here is of a
son in a wealthy family who is under a tutor until he comes to the age of
maturity. It is then he takes on the responsibilities and enters into the
privileges of sonship. If the Jewish people had accepted Jesus, they would have
entered into the full privileges and responsibilities of God’s first-born
(Exod.4:22). Indeed, that seems to have been the first objective of Christ’s
coming:
“But when the fullness of the time had come, God
sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who
were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons” (Gal.
4:4–5).
So as we examine the
sacerdotal (priestly) culture of the Hebrew people we will find finger-posts
and pointers to the coming of the One who would be Saviour, Priest and
Offering.
For
example, the Law provided for a priestly caste including a High Priest. Jesus, if He is to fulfil the Law, will need to be a High
Priest.
The
Law also prescribed what constituted an acceptable sacrifice. Jesus, if He
is to fulfil the Law, will need to offer a sacrifice which would meet those
legal constraints.
The
Law prescribed where the sacrifice should take place. Jesus, if He is to fulfil the Law will have to suffer in the
place sanctified for such offerings.
The
Law also provided a calendar when the sacrifices for the nation had to take
place. To fulfil the Law Jesus will have to meet the constraints of
this timetable.
Furthermore,
His sacrifice will have to be superior to all previous sacrifices since none of those previously
offered provided a cleansed conscience for the offerer (Heb. 9:9). His will
have to be of a quality that will totally cleanse from sin.
In
other words, if the death of Jesus is to be that acceptable offering then the
conditional covenant, the Mosaic, will dictate how, where and when His mighty
sacrifice should take place. He will have to die
in a specific location, in the specified way,
at a specific time on a specified day.
The Sacrifice He Offered
So
it was within the culture of the priestly government of Israel that Jesus took
on Himself the task of occupying the Office of High Priest of the order of
Melchizedek, to offer a sacrifice of such worth and variety that it would, at
one and the same time, be:
1. a substitutionary sin offering that would be
both an expiation and a propitiation,
2. a sacrifice of purification that would
enable the pollutions of birth and death to be cleansed.
3. a peace offering which would allow humanity
to have fellowship with a holy God.
4. a sweet savour offering that would
compensate God for the shortcomings of our duties towards our fellows.
5. a
whole burnt offering that would compensate God for the our failure to render to
him the obedience, honour and praise to which He is entitled.
(The
death of Christ had, of course, a wider application than just the nation of
Israel. Isaiah reported the message of God to the Suffering Servant;
“It is too small a thing that You should be My
Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of
Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations So that My salvation may
reach to the end of the earth” (Isaiah 49:6)).
However,
the first requirement of the death of the Redeemer was it had to fulfil all
that was included in the Torah for Israel.
When should it take place?
The
prophecy of Daniel will give us the year in which it should take place. The
message from heaven was that Messiah the Prince would be ‘cut off’ (an idiom
for executed) in the 483rd year after the edict was issued to rebuild Jerusalem
(after the Babylonian captivity) (See Dan. 9:25,26)
Added
to that, the Law of Moses contained a calendar of festivals which included
instructions as to when the substitutionary sacrifices for the nation should
take place. The first of national importance was the offering of the Passover
Lamb. Since the national redemption of Israel, the birth of the nation,
occurred in the month of Abib (later known as Nisan) that would be when it
would be remembered, and since Jesus was to be “the Lamb of God who takes
away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29; see also v. 36)) then that will be
the date of the mighty substitutionary
sacrifice of Christ.
Furthermore,
in the counsels of God it had been decided that it would be between the very
times when the High Priest of Israel sacrificed a Passover Lamb for the nation
that is, between 9 a.m. (the time of the morning sacrifice) and 3 p.m. (the
time of the evening sacrifice) on the day of the Feast.
Where should it take place?
Since
its main thrust was as a sin offering and the carcases of the sin offerings
were disposed of ‘outside the camp’ then that would be the place of sacrifice.
The writer of the Hebrew epistle comments on it:
“Therefore Jesus also, that He might
sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate.”
(Heb. 13:12,)
That
this location was also where the sacrifice of the red heifer took place made it
doubly suitable. The place for the burning of the sin offerings and the
sacrifice of the offering for purification had already been sanctified and
declared ritually clean by the High Priest. It was on the Mount of Olives,
directly to the east of the Sanctuary, at an elevation and in a location that
provided a direct line of sight to the veil that separated the Holy Place from
the Holy of Holies. THAT WOULD BE WHERE THE SACRIFICE WOULD TAKE PLACE!
How should it happen?
The
details of the execution of Christ was revealed in prophecy in so many ways.
Here are just a few:
(Note Cf. = compare)
He would be betrayed
for money. (Cf. Zech. 11:12 to Matt. 26:15)
He was accused by
false witnesses (Cf. P. 27:12 to Matt. 26:60,61)
He was silent when
accused (Cf. Isa. 53:7 to Matt. 26:62,63)
He was smitten and
spat upon (Cf. Isa. 50:6 to Mark 14:65)
He was hated without
a cause (Cf. Ps. 69:4 to Jn. 15:23-25)
He suffered
vicariously (Cf. Isa. 53:4,5 to Matt. 8:16.17)
He was crucified with
sinners (Cf. Isa. 53:12 to Matt. 27:38)
His hands and feet
were pierced (Cf. Ps. 26:16 to Jn. 20:27)
He was mocked and
insulted (Cf. Ps. 22:6-8 to Matt. 27:39,40)
Given gall and
vinegar (Cf. Ps. 69:21 to Jn. 19:29)
His side was pierced
(Cf. Zech. 12:10 to Jn. 10:34)
Soldiers cast lots
for His coat (Cf. Ps. 22:18 to Mk. 15:24)
Not a bone to be
broken (Cf. Ps. 34:20 to Jn. 19:33)
To be buried with the
rich (Cf. Isa. 53:9 to Matt. 27:57-60)
But
it would be Paul who would draw from Scripture the over-riding reason for the
crucifixion. “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a
curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed
is everyone who hangs on a tree” (Gal. 3:13). Here then, is
perhaps the main reason, why the death of the Messiah had to be by crucifixion.
A ‘cursed’ Messiah, might be despised by the Jewish people, but nevertheless
was absolutely necessary for them. The Jewish people were under the ‘curse of
the Law’ because they could not keep it. R. Levi said, if they could only keep
the Sabbath fully for one day, then Messiah would come. (Midrash Rabbah on
Ps.95.7) But they could not even keep one day perfectly. But they were saved
from the wrath of God because He had given them a remedy in the sacrificial
system. But that remedy was only effective because it anticipated the death of
the Messiah whose execution could “redeem those who were under the law” if they would exercise faith in His sacrificial death.
To Summarise thus far:
What
we are suggesting is: the Law sets out the requirements laid down for an
acceptable sacrifice for sin. However, the One who would seek to redeem Israel
would need to fulfil the spirit and letter of the Law. He would have to make a
superior sacrifice in the heavenly sanctuary while occupying the office of High
Priest of the order of Melchizedek.
But there is more!
The
Mosaic covenant, while effective for those of faith, was still a weak
instrument. God had planned something more—something better. The Messiah would
inaugurate a New Covenant, a superior covenant. His current ministry under that
covenant is therefore a more excellent ministry. He is “the mediator of a
better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises.” (Heb. 8:6).
Under Law - God requires!
But
Jesus died so we are no longer
under
law but under grace, and
Under Grace - God Provides
To Conclude
It
appears that the overwhelming evidence of Scripture would tell us that Jesus fulfilled all that the Mosaic
Covenant demanded for a superior sacrifice. The place of
crucifixion was to
the east of the Temple on the Mount of Olives at the ‘clean site’ already sanctified for the
slaying of the Red Heifer and the disposal of the sin-offerings. It took place in
the 483rd year after the edict to rebuild Jerusalem (as
prophesied by Daniel); at the time of the evening sacrifice on the 14th
Nisan (as required by feast calendar of Leviticus 23); fulfilling in detail the
prophecies of Isaiah (chapter 53) and David (Psalm 22) and others; and directly
to the east of the veil as required in the Law, that is, ‘before the Lord’
(Exod. 29:10, etc).
In other words
He died in the specified manner
In the specified place
At the specified time
On the specified date
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A fuller treatment of this study can be found in the
following:
The
Messiah and the Priesthood of Israel
For
Israel, the Priesthood, the Sanctuary, the Sacrifices and the Festivals, were needed
to prepare them for the coming of their Messiah, who would be a High Priest of
the order of Melchizedek, operate in the heavenly Sanctuary where He would
offer a superior sacrifice in accordance with the pre-ordained timetable to
inaugurate a superior covenant. This book seeks to set forth the glory of the
Lord Jesus as He fulfilled in every detail that which was prefigured by the
priestly culture of Israel
Book: A5: 309 pages Price £12
(Also available from Gospel Folio
Press ($16.99)
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12 Reasons Why I Believe Jesus was crucified on the Mount of
Olives
This
is a biblical study demonstrating that the Law dictated by God required that
all sacrifices had to take place to the east of the Sanctuary, and since the
Bible declares that the death of Jesus was a sacrifice for sin then it had to
take place to the east of the Temple, hence on the Mount of Olives.
This
title traces the journey of the Saviour to the place of execution where the
requirements of the Torah were met and prophecy fulfilled.
Book:
A5: 42 pages Price £5
These can be ordered from Bryan
(Contact details below).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This Bible study/newsletter is authored by:
Bryan W. Sheldon.
He can be contacted
By post: 26 Park Drive, Newport. NP20 3AL
