Leviticus 8:1-17
The Ordination of Aaron and His Sons
The Lord said to Moses, “Bring Aaron and his sons, their garments, the anointing oil, the bull for the sin offering, the two rams and the basket containing bread made without yeast, and gather the entire assembly at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.” Moses did as the Lord commanded him, and the assembly gathered at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
Moses said to the assembly, “This is what the Lord has commanded to be done.” Then Moses brought Aaron and his sons forward and washed them with water. He put the tunic on Aaron, tied the sash around him, clothed him with the robe and put the ephod on him. He also tied the ephod to him by its skilfully woven waistband; so it was fastened on him. He placed the breastpiece on him and put the Urim and Thummim in the breastpiece. Then he placed the turban on Aaron’s head and set the gold plate, the sacred diadem, on the front of it, as the Lord commanded Moses.
Then Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and everything in it, and so consecrated them. He sprinkled some of the oil on the altar seven times, anointing the altar and all its utensils and the basin with its stand, to consecrate them. He poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron’s head and anointed him to consecrate him. Then he brought Aaron’s sons forward, put tunics on them, tied sashes around them and put headbands on them, as the Lord commanded Moses.
He then presented the bull for the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on its head. Moses slaughtered the bull and took some of the blood, and with his finger he put it on all the horns of the altar to purify the altar. He poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. So he consecrated it to make atonement for it. Moses also took all the fat around the inner parts, the covering of the liver, and both kidneys and their fat, and burned it on the altar. But the bull with its hide and its flesh and its offal he burned up outside the camp, as the Lord commanded Moses.
John 17:6–19
Jesus Prays for His Disciples
“I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.
“I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.
John 10: 1-18
The Shepherd and His Flock
“I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognise a stranger’s voice.” Jesus used this figure of speech, but they did not understand what he was telling them.
Therefore Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”
Christians are a holy priesthood under Jesus
A few years ago Alison and I spent a long weekend in Rome. It's a fabulous place - full of character and history, with ancient artefacts and modern shops, cobbled alleyways and wide piazzas. It's also full of people, with noisy streets and mad drivers. When we visited St Peter's Basilica early in the day, it was so busy that we couldn't get in - the queues snaked back through the square so we gave up and went in search of a coffee.
And as we left, we stumbled across the papal outfitters. It's a small shop just behind the Basilica in a side-street, with a window full of priestly garments in all sorts of brocades and golds with gorgeous embroidery. And a few statues of saints thrown in for good measure. And there, at the bottom of the display, a pair of red velvet slippers that the Pope apparently wears beneath his white cassock, perhaps when he has his feet up in front of the TV.
It all made my black & white Church of England robes look a little dull by comparison. We just don't do that level of decoration, at least at our reformed end of the Anglican spectrum. And I think the priestly robes that we heard about in our Leviticus reading would also make mine look a little dull.
We've just started a new 5-Sunday series from the book of Leviticus, that strange and sometimes confusing OT book that's full of the rules and regulations God set for the Israelites as they wandered in the wilderness. Last Sunday at HAO we heard about the blood sacrifices to purify the people from their sins; this week we have the ordination of the priests who will manage those temple sacrifices.
You'll remember that Aaron was the brother of Moses, who led the people out of Egypt; and he had four sons, who were to serve as priests alongside him. And the reason the people needed priests, as Oliver explained last week, was that a sinful people, tainted with the sin of Adam, cannot exist alongside a holy God, in the same way that darkness cannot co-exist with light; and blood sacrifices were required to remind the people of the gravity of their sin and to enable them to be cleansed. And priests were needed to administer those sacrifices.
These priests were literally playing with fire, hence the detailed instructions from God. This was no religious game - the priests were ministering before a frighteningly holy God - frighteningly holy but also abounding with love and compassion such that he gave the people this complex set of rules for their own preservation. Beginning with the priests.
In this Chapter 8 we see the priests being set aside, and washed and clothed for service in the sanctuary. So let's look a little closer and see what we can learn about what they had to do - and more importantly, what that means for us now some 3500 years later.
1. Dressed for the part
Leviticus 8:6-9 Moses brought Aaron and his sons forward and washed them with water. He put the tunic on Aaron, tied the sash around him, clothed him with the robe and put the ephod on him. He also tied the ephod to him .. He placed the breastpiece on him and put the Urim and Thummim in the breastpiece. Then he placed the turban on Aaron's head and set the gold plate, the sacred diadem, on the front of it, as the LORD commanded Moses.
Special robes marked the priests out as having special significance, being in a special state - analagous to wearing black for mourning or white for a bride. It marked them out as serving God on behalf of the people. Exodus 28 gives us more detail on these robes. There were layers of clothing:
First, having been ceremonially washed, there was a tunic of fine woven linen, decently covering the body. Then a sash to keep it in place, made from woven threads of expensive and colourful yarns - blue, purple and scarlet.
Next a robe - made of expensive blue material, probably a bit like a long poncho in design with a hole for the head. The hem was embroidered with pomegranates and had golden bells stitched to the rim.
Then the Ephod - possibly a bit like a tabard, made of colourful blue, purple and scarlet threads, but this time with gold embroidery also. Attached to the ephod were onyx stones engraved with the names of the tribes of Israel.
And then the breast piece, a pouch of expensive coloured cloth about 18" square, tied to the ephod with gold rings, containing the urim and thummim. We're not sure what these were made from but they were articles used to cast lots at God's command.
And finally a linen turban, with a pure gold coronet tied to its front by a blue cord and engraved with the words 'Holy to the Lord'.
It must have been quite a spectacle for this nomadic tribe whose regular garments were probably in simple black or earth colours. Here were sparkling, dramatic, costly robes that must have looked astonishing - beautiful and majestic, perhaps even a bit frightening. And all of this would have conveyed an impression of royalty - priests in royal robes, in royal colours, with a royal diadem on the head.
But not evoking an earthly sovereign - for the people had no king at this point - their king was God himself. These priests were attendants of the heavenly King, who was dwelling in the midst of his people in a holy place, the tent or tabernacle that served as their temple while they wandered in the desert.
2. Commissioned for service
Leviticus 8:10-12 Then Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and everything in it, and so consecrated them. He sprinkled some of the oil on the altar seven times, anointing the altar and all its utensils and the basin with its stand, to consecrate them. He poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron's head and anointed him to consecrate him.
Their ordination began with anointing with oil, just like a king; but continued, if we read on, with sacrifices being offered for Aaron and his sons to purify them of their sin, before they could minister on behalf of the people before the Lord with the daily sacrifices.
And that's the point here - these men, these priests, were representing the people before God, and representing God before the people. They were his intermediaries - they stood between the people and their God. There was no way the people could approach God without being consumed because of their sinful hearts; they needed priests to go for them. And the people knew this. Back in Exodus 20 we read this:
When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw Mount Sinai in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, "Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die."
It was only through the priests and the sacrifices that the people could relate to God; and the role was handed down through their descendants into the promised land and the stone temple of Solomon that would replace the temporary tabernacle. But this scheme was only ever intended to be temporary, albeit it was to last 1500 years. For. like much of what we read in the OT, it was foreshadowing something better that was to come. Because eventually those daily sacrifices ceased to be required - and those priests also ceased to be required. How was that to be?
3. A greater Priest
Listen to this passage from Hebrews. It refers to the Lord Jesus Christ:
Hebrews 10:11-14 Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest (Jesus) had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. ... by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.
Jesus came to fulfill all that the OT regulations and rules had pre-figured. Rather than needing to offer animal sacrifices for sin, he offered himself in his body on the cross - the perfect sacrifice that takes away the sin of the world. Thus he became our great high priest, who removed forever the barrier separating mankind from God. Jesus takes away the need for any intermediaries. For it is Jesus himself - God himself - who now represents us to the Father, and represents God the Father to us. Through him and his completed work we have direct access to the throne room of God. We don't need priests.
So what am I doing here in my robes? Yes, I am called a priest - but that word does not appear in our New Testaments. The early church in the Acts of the Apostles was led by elders, not priests.
I am an elder in the church, not a priest. You don't need me to intervene between you and God. I am here simply as an elder to help lead and encourage you in your faith. That's why I wear simple robes, not brocades and golds and fancy stoles - because these things are no longer needed.
Because it's through the blood of Jesus, not animals that we stand before our Heavenly Father - that we may boldly approach his eternal throne. But there is more.
4. Sharing the Priesthood
Listen to these words from the Apostle Peter, written to ordinary Christians in his first epistle:
1 Peter 2:9 you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
A chosen people, a royal priesthood. I've just said we no longer need priests since Jesus became the one perfect mediator between mankind and God.
And yet there is a sense in which you and I are all priests - not in the role of intervening between man and God, and offering sacrifices for sin - but in the role of proclamation - in Peter's words,
that we may declare the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light.
You and I are called to represent God to the world — as a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. That's quite a calling.
Are you up for that, Christian? Being his representatives to the world around us, making him known through our lives and our words? For that is our calling. It's the calling of every Christian. To be, in our own way, a Priest of God Most High.
And you know we even get to wear robes - but not the glittery robes of Aaron and his sons. For our robes are metaphorical - they are the robes of salvation, the robes of righteousness. The prophet Isaiah expressed it like this:
my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. Isaiah 61:10
These robes, the robes that every Christian is given, cover our sin and present us to God as if we were spotless, washed clean in the blood of Jesus. These robes may not be highly coloured, embroidered, brocade garments - they do not sparkle with jewels and gold. And yet they do sparkle - with the joy that Christ brings to our hearts, bubbling over as a witness to the world of the power and love of God. Will you join in that priestly ministry to the lost world around us? For that is our challenge. Even here, even today. To be:
a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that we may declare the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light.