“Wholly Burned”
[Leviticus 6:8-7:21]
March 28, 2010 Second Reformed Church
We have looked at the first five offerings that God gave in the book of Leviticus: the Burnt Offering, the Grain Offering, the Sin Offering, the Guilt Offering, and the Peace Offering. And in this morning’s Scripture, we turn to see, more specifically, what the priests were to do with each of these offerings.
We read that each offering is to “be on the altar all night until the morning, and the fire of the altar shall be kept burning on it. ... Fire shall be kept burning on the altar continually; it shall not go out.” When an offering was made to God it was to be wholly burned – the sacrifice turned to ashes by the continually burning fire. This not only signified complete dedication of the offering to God, but it symbolized the fact that “our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29, ESV).
Then we saw, and we may remember, that the Law of God said that if a person touched something that was unclean, he would become unclean, as we see in 7:19 and following. What we may not remember is what we see in 6:18, if anyone touches an offering that is holy to the Lord, he will become holy.
Now, in theology, we talk about the humiliation and exaltation of Jesus.
Remember that from all of eternity, the Son of God reigned with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit – One God. Our Triune God exists in perfect harmony and love with Himself. And God decided to create, and in deciding to create, God also knew humans would need a Savior, and the Son of God volunteered to submit to the Father and become the Savior of all those who would believe in Him.
The humiliation of Jesus began with the Incarnation – with the Son of God becoming the God-Man. The Son of God left His Throne and took on the Person of Jesus by being born through the woman, Mary, as an infant human being. While remaining the One Holy God, the Son of God spent nine months in Mary’s womb and then was born through the normal human process, a helpless little baby.
The humiliation continued as Jesus lived under God’s Law – God, living in the Person of Jesus, submitted to His Own Law – and because He is God, He kept it perfectly. Yet, we call this all part of His humiliation, because He lived as we lived and experienced what we experienced. Whatever you and I have faced, Jesus faced the same, only He did so and did not sin. He, like the offerings that we have looked at, was wholly devoted to the service of His Father. He did not turn to the left or to the right but was wholly consumed with the Will of God the Father.
And what was the Will of the Father? Why did Jesus come? To live. Yes. But also to die. Jesus had to live under the Law of God the Father perfectly so He would be able to credit those who would believe with His Holy Life, so we could be seen by the Father as holy, but sin had to be paid for. The debt of sin had to be paid to the Father.
After Peter confessed that Jesus is the Christ [the Savior], the Son of the Living God (Matthew 16:16), we read, “From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised” (Matthew 16:21, ESV).
“As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, ‘The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.’ And they were greatly distressed” (Matthew 17:22-23, ESV).
“And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, ‘See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day’” (Matthew 20:17-19, ESV).
We remember today Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. We call it the “Triumphal Entry,” but Jesus knew once He entered Jerusalem, He would face the final days of His Humiliation. Judas would betray Him. The crowd would turn against Him. Peter would deny Him.
As Jesus approached Jerusalem, some of the Pharisees who had begun to follow Jesus tried to turn Him away: “At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, ‘Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.’ And he said to them, ‘Go and tell that fox, “Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course. Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.” O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord ”’” (Luke 13:31-35, ESV).
“And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, ‘Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation’” (Luke 19:41-44, ESV).
This final week of Jesus’ Life on earth marked the culmination of His Humiliation as He rode into Jerusalem to fulfill the Levitical Offerings. Jesus surrendered Himself to the people who rejected Him – even to death on a cross. Paul wrote, “For our sake [God] made [Jesus] sin who knew no sin, so that in [Jesus] we might become the righteousness of God” (II Corinthians 5:21, ESV).
It was not a move anyone could have expected – even with the Scriptures, everyone was at a loss when Jesus died. But here we have the Plan of God from before the Creation: Before the Creation, God knew that humans would fall into sin and God would give the nation of Israel the offerings by which they could be made right with God for the moment. But also in these offerings was the reality that no one would ever be right with God, because all humans are unholy. We all continue to sin and could not possibly offer enough sacrifices to make ourselves holy again and accepted in the sight of God.
So it was the Plan of God from before the Creation that the Son of God would become Man. He would come to earth, not as the Almighty King, but as the Suffering Servant, Who would live out His life under the Law, die as a sinless offering, wholly burned, wholly sacrificed to God for our sake and to the Glory of the Father.
As we consider these things, especially over this next week, let us also remember these words of Paul, “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So Glorify God in your body” (I Corinthians 6:19b-20, ESV).
Let us pray:
Almighty God, we thank You that Jesus was not merely a man who sinned like us, otherwise we would lose all hope. Thank You for sending Your Son – the Son of Man – the Son of God – the Sinless One, Who Alone could live a perfect life and then willingly give Himself up, freely fulfilling all of the offerings, being wholly burned and devoted to You from Birth to Death. And then to Easter morn. For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.
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